Page 41 of Sisters Under The Rising Sun

‘I want each and every one of us to swear that what has been agreed today will never be revealed to another living soul. The names of’ – Nesta’s voice breaks as she recites the names of the four women – ‘shall remain with us until our dying day.’

Betty runs out of the house to fetch the Bible, almost colliding with Sister Catherina, who is about to knock on their door.

‘I’m sorry, I’m sorry,’ Betty gasps.

‘Sister Betty, I was on my way to see you. We need to talk about what is being asked of you by the Japanese.’

‘OK, but not now, Sister, I’m in a hurry.’

‘Where are you going?’

‘I need a Bible; I’m going to borrow Miss Dryburgh’s.’

‘Come with me, then,’ says the nun, taking her arm. ‘If there is one thing we have plenty of, it’s Bibles.’

They run to Sister Catherina’s house. There is a pile of Bibles on the kitchen table. The nun picks one up and hands it to Betty. ‘You can keep it.’

Betty returns to find all the nurses have come inside. All the doors and windows are shut.

Jean takes the Bible from Betty and, holding it up, she begins.

‘I swear that the decisions made today, the sacrifice made by the four volunteers, will never be spoken about to another living soul. The names of the four will be carried to our graves. I swear.’

Betty moves around the room, presenting the Bible to each nurse in turn, who places her right hand on the holy book and repeats, ‘I swear.’

After Nesta has sworn, she takes the Bible from Jean and flicks through a few pages.

‘Betty, where did you get this Bible?’

‘Oh, I ran into Sister Catherina; she offered it to me.’

‘Did you know it was in Dutch?’ Nesta says.

The sombre mood in the room lifts a little, and finally someone asks the question they are all thinking. ‘Does it still count if you’ve sworn on words you can’t read?’

‘It’s a Bible,’ Betty proclaims. ‘It’s a bloody Bible! What difference does the language it’s written in make?’

‘No difference at all, Betty,’ Nesta tells her with a hug.

The next morning, Nesta reports back from her visit with Dr McDowell.

‘Well, she’s promised to get a message to the senior doctor in the nearby men’s camp and the hope is that he’ll be able to tell someone higher up the chain exactly what’s going on here.’

Every night, and with a heavy heart, Nesta watches the four volunteers leave for the officers’ club. But even their safe return brings her little relief.

How much can they endure?

Chapter 7

Camp II, Irenelaan, Palembang

April 1942–October 1943

‘We’re using the garage of number 9, which we’ve renamed The Shed, to hold church services every Sunday,’ Margaret Dryburgh tells the nurses as she makes her way around the camp letting everyone know that spiritual comfort is available should they want it.

‘Thank you, Margaret,’ Nesta says. ‘Lord knows we need a blessing.’

The following Sunday, the nurses attend a service. It is the first time Nesta hears the beautiful singing voices of Margaret, Norah and Ena’s small choir. She sees, also for the first time, the musical brilliance that must be kept secret. Surely, they would be punished for doing something which gives them so much pleasure. For a few moments, Nesta forgets where she is, what her nurses have sacrificed and loses herself in the music.