Posted by BDMHistorian

Please note that this is the very last chapter of the book "Summer days in Heidersdorf" by Suse Harms, which was originally published in 1939. If you want to read the whole book from the beginning, chapter by chapter, you will want to start with the beginning, which is found here.

Chapter 14
Ellie and the Bees

Now the last day at camp had dawned, the very last. In the morning the Jungmaedel had gone to the forest for the last time, to all the places they had come to love over the last three weeks: to the meadow with the yellow flowers, to the fox den and the swallow nest. The young swallows, whose small eggs they'd found on the first day, had left the nest in the meantime. Only one of the young lay dead on the ground below the nest.

"It was too weak," said Kathrin. "Only the strong animals stay alive in the forest." And then she'd told them about the hundreds of acorns that an oak tree dropped each year, from which only rarely grows a new young oak, from the butterflies and ants, from deer and rabbits. "Those that are weak and sick will be eaten by the others, or returns to the soil and turns it fruitful. But the strongest and best stays alive and keeps the species going."

"It's kind of the same with people where the strongest and best always get their way," Inge said and Kathrin had nodded. "Yes, among people, too. Only those who are strong get their way and can fulfill his tasks in life. It's good if you know that you're still a Jungmaedel."

Then they spoke about other things, and most of them had not given this matter any other thought. Of course you had to stand straight and strong in life, after all, that's what you were Jungmaedel for. That was nothing you had to think about.

Only one of them always returned to her thoughts on this matter through all the happy songs on the way home and through the especially good good-bye meal. That was Ellie. She walked through the hostel garden by herself during free time, even though she could have gone to throw the javelin with Shorty, or to visit the little chicks that had hatched yesterday with Irm. She could have also finished the book that she'd borrowed from the hostel library.

But Ellie didn't feel like any of those things. She kept having to think about what Kathrin had told her in the morning about the strong and the weak. Everyone belonged to the strong, Irm, Christel, Inge, Shorty… that was clear. They were all good at sports, swimming, running, they were always happy, and everyone liked them, everything they did went well.

But herself, Ellie? Maybe she really did belong to the weaker if she was so clumsy that everyone laughed about her, if she always tired right away on runs, and if she was excused from swimming? "You're a funny Jungmaedel," Shorty had told her. Back then Ellie had only been angry but now she thought tiredly: "Maybe Shorty is right!"

But then she threw her head back. "No, no, no," she said loudly into the afternoon silence. She was a Jungmaedel just like all the others. She would prove it to them, she decided.

She had reached the furthest corner of the garden in the meantime where the beehives stood that belonged to the youth hostel. She had always avoided going back here, but today she paid no attention. But suddenly, she stopped and listened. Above her, there was a strange buzzing, and when she looked up, she saw a busy brown grape hanging from the lowest branch of the old pear tree -- a swarm of bees.

Ellie backed away with a little scream and was nearly ready to run off, when she remembered. "It's a big loss when a swarm of bees flies away," the den mother had said the other day. So someone needed to tell her that there was a swarm in this pear tree that was getting ready to leave. It had to be caught again.

As fast as she could, Ellie ran back to the building and shook the locked kitchen door. "Den mother, Liese," she called, "Hurry up, the bees are swarming!"

Nothing moved inside. Did the den mother not hear her, or had she gone out? "Liese, Liese!" she yelled again, as loudly as she could, but everything remained quiet. Ellie ran around the house. Maybe they were in the shed out back? Carefully, she opened the door to the dark room which smelled of wood, honey, and fresh wax.

Nobody was here, either. Only the tools needed for keeping bees were there. The honey centrifuge, the racks for holding honeycombs, the grey smock and the protective hat, the gloves, and there -- in the corner -- the sack with which bees were caught. "Liese!" Ellie called again but she no longer believed anyone would come.

With a quick look she saw that the brown tangle in the pear tree had started to move. Many more bees than before were buzzing around the solid center of the swarm. Certainly, they would leave soon if nobody was there to catch them.

Suddenly she had a thought that scared herself. Should she maybe…? The tools were there, and she had even seen how it was done once. You just had to hold the sack underneath the swarm, and then cut the branch they were sitting on. Then they were caught. "It's a great loss when a swarm of bees leaves us," the den mother had said.

Ellie returned to the garden preoccupied with her own thoughts, and watched the pear tree from a sizable distance. The buzzing sounded very angry and she remembered that her mother had once told her just seven bee stings could kill a horse. And she wasn't even a horse, just a Jungmaedel.

"Exactly," Ellie suddenly said loudly to the garden. That she hadn't thought of this sooner! A real Jungmaedel would catch the swarm. Shorty would've most likely done so, and so would Irm.

Now there were no two things about it anymore for Ellie. She quickly got a garden chair and pushed it underneath the pear tree. Armed with the sack and pruning shears, Ellie climbed up. For a second, she had to grit her teeth as she placed the sack underneath the swarm of bees. So many bees were flying around, sat on her arms, and -- ow, now one had actually stung her! It wasn't pleasant, but not nearly as bad as her mother always told her. Ellie blew some air onto her arm and raised the pruning shears toward the branches.

"Ellie, Ellie," a voice suddenly called behind her, "Stop! Have you gone nuts!" -- Liese! -- Did she have to turn up just now that Ellie was almost done! Ellie just turned her head shortly: "I don't have time now, you can see that I'm catching the bees!" -- "Get over here right now! Do you want to chase off the whole swarm?" This sounded so angry that she had to listen immediately. Upset, Ellie jumped off the chair and ran, sack and shears in hand, to Liese who was walking down the garden path carrying a large watering can. "You're an idiot," Liese continued, "how are you going to catch a swarm if you don't water the bees first so they'll sit still. This way, they'll just fly off, and they'll sting you, too."

Ellie turned red and quickly hid her arm behind her back. But Liese had already seen the large red welt. "You see," she said, "What do you meddle with things you don't know anything about, anyway? How did you get the silly idea to catch our swarm?"

"Well," Ellie said, "Just so." How that had actually been, she couldn't tell her now that everything had gone so wrong. Silently, Ellie watched how Liese carefully wet the bees down, and then safely cut the branch. "There it is," she laughed when the hive plunged into the sack, "Good that we've caught it."

Then she took Ellie to the kitchen garden and cut a fresh onion for her. "There," she said, "put that onto your arm. Then it won't hurt anymore. Is it bad?" -- "No," Ellie said so shortly that Liese looked at her in surprise. She couldn't understand that you don't really feel like talking if you wanted to do something good and right and realized that it had once again only been a load of nonsense.

With a thick, red welt on her arm, Ellie appeared back with the others. She was quiet this afternoon but nobody could quite figure out what had happened…

In the middle of the night, Irm awoke. From the bed across she heard a quiet sounds. Listening, she lifted her head. Someone was crying? She listened intently; it didn't stop. "Ellie," Irm thought, "of course, her again! Crying in the middle of the night -- who does that!" Angrily, she rolled over. Don't listen. It wasn't her business, anyway.

But she couldn't go back to sleep. Of course it was comfortable and easy to pretend that she didn't hear anything, but it was -- and now she knew -- also very cowardly, absolutely cowardly. With a jolt, Irm sat up. "Ellie," she said quietly. On the other end, it got quiet. Ellie seemed to have stuck her head underneath the covers.

Carefully, Irm slid to the ground at the foot end of her bed and climbed up to Ellie. "What's going on?" she asked quietly. Ellie sobbed: "You're all so different, you can do anything! But me -- everything I do goes wrong!"

Irm pulled her nightgown to cover her naked feet and sat on the edge of the bed. She sat still and waited, because she had the feeling that this was something she shouldn't ask questions about. Then Ellie told her about sports and swimming and the mess with the bee hive, and Kathrin and the right of the stronger. "But if everything I do goes wrong, then I'm one of the weak ones, Irm!"

Irm didn't quite know what she should answer to this. She'd never thought about such difficult things, much less talked about them. Ellie really was very clumsy, she couldn't deny that, but….

"But you're so brave," Irm suddenly said quite earnestly. "And it's not true at all that that doesn't count for anything if things go wrong. The other day on the beach, I could tell you know you were going to get sick, but you still went on the trip and made it all the way to the end. And with the bees -- well, I wouldn't have done it, you know, and not because I would've been too smart, but because I wouldn't have dared."

Ellie lay quietly for awhile. She had stopped crying and seemed to be pondering the whole thing. "It wasn't anything special," she said then. "I was scared, too. But you can steel yourself."

"That's exactly it!" Irm was suddenly happy and sure again. "You belong to the strong ones if you can steel yourself!"

"Really?" Ellie lay quietly for awhile again, then she asked: "Do you really mean it? You're not just saying that because you want to make me feel better?" -- "I swear with a handshake!" Underneath the covers, Irm searched for Ellie's hand. Ellie pressed it hard. "I'm so happy," she said, "and I like you a lot!"

Irm nodded. But there was nothing useful you could answer to that. "As long as you're back to normal now. And besides, I'm getting cold feet," she said finally. Ellie laughed: "If you have a cold tomorrow, I'll get you cough drops," she said happily when Irm climbed back into bed. "I'll take you up on that," Irm replied. "Good night!"

Then she sat on her sleeping bag with her knees pulled to her chest for a bit. The trees rustled in front of the window, and behind the forest already stood a small red shimmer, and a finch started to sing his first morning song. Irm listened to the calm breathing of the sleeping Jungmaedel. Tomorrow, others would be sleeping here and she'd be back home and tell her mom about Heidersdorf. Mom would have her mending basket in front of her, she listened best while she was mending. And even though Irm would've never admitted to it yesterday, she could feel it clearly now: she was looking forward -- really looking forward -- to returning home.