The tiny town of Purwodadi sat one hundred kilometers east of Yogyakarta. Purwodadi also sat between two mountains. Those two mountains were called Pegunungan Kendeng and Pegunungan Kapur Utara. The mountains were responsible for most of the living in the village. Susi always liked the way the mountains seemed to protect the village.
"How is Queenie doing?" Reine asked her mother.
"She should be doing just fine. I fed her cabbage and carrots, just like you told me."
As soon as Reine put her luggage away, she hurried to the backyard. Susi followed closely behind.
"Queenie!" exclaimed Reine as she approached the rabbit hutch. The tiny wooden cage sat on four stilts. Reine stepped on the milk crate beside the hutch and opened the door. She reached inside and grabbed Queenie with both hands.
She sat Queenie in the lush green grass and kneeled beside the rabbit. The rabbit twitched, then hopped into a clump of weeds.
Meanwhile, Susi stretched out her arms to feel the soft mist landing on her hands and face. Susi noticed one of the mountains in the distance. Tall, sprawling rice terraces covered the mountainsides, like giant steps.
"I think rice terraces are pretty amazing things," said Susi.
"Why do you say that?"
"It takes a lot of work to create flat spots along the mountainside. Farmers have to bring soil on trucks to help grow the rice. Plus, they have to sculpt the steps to make sure they're level. Thirdly, they have to maintain the steps, so they aren't eroded by the rains."
"I never thought about it that way," replied Reine, "I guess it is a lot of work."
"So much work."
Susi nodded. "It sure is."
Reine stood up and outstretched her arms just like Susi. Dragonflies and crickets buzzed in the bamboo grove beside Susi's house. Wind blew through the bamboo trees, rustling the leaves. It was one of Reine's favorite sounds.
"It sounds like a waterfall," said Reine.
"It's so relaxing out here."
Susi sang softly.
Gelang Sipaku Gelang. Gelang si rama rama.
Gelang Sipaku Gelang. Gelang si rama rama.
Reine joined in.
Mari pulong marilah pulang marilah pulong bersamah sama
Mari bulong marilah pulang marilah pulong bersamah sama
Mrs. Urwani came to the back porch with the stockpot full of ginger root. She sat it on the steps and sang along with Susi and Reine. .
The song meant: I take pieces of bamboo. I cut them the same size. I sharpen and weight with string. I make kites. I play, I run, I play kites.
Gelang Sipaku Gelang was a song every Indonesian knew by heart. Often, teachers sang it at the end of the day. It was a song that even adults sang from time to time
"Why are you setting that stockpot there?" asked Reine.
"We have to let the ginger root sit in water for three days, or else it will taste bitter."
"That's so long," whined Reine.
"All sweet things come in time."
"You keep asking me to wait."
"That is because most of life is about patience."
"But I don't want to wait," whined Reine.
"None of us do, dear."
In fact, Reine and Susi did wait, because there was nothing they could do about the ginger root being bitter. They chased Queenie around the backyard, until the rabbit got tired of being chased and escaped into the rice field next to the backyard.
"Queenie! Where did you go?" called Reine.
"Here she is!" said Susi.
Queenie sat beneath a clump of Acacia, gnawing on a bamboo stalk. Reine hurried over to Susi's side and peered through the bush at the rabbit. As Reine reached her hands into the bramble, Susi grabbed Reine by the shoulders.
"You just can't reach in like that. You'll get stung by the thorns."
"I'll be fine."
Reine crawled through the Acacia and grabbed Queenie.
"See?" she said.
Just then, Queenie kicked her back paws, trying to escape again. She kicked so hard that Reine let her loose. The rabbit fell through the Acacia bush. Thorns stuck in the white and brown rabbit's fur. Queenie's eye grew wide in fear. The nettles stung the little rabbit.
Reine let out a blood-curdling scream.
Mrs. Urwani and Aunt Dona rushed out to the end of the backyard.
"What's wrong?" exclaimed Mrs. Urwani.
"Queenie's stuck!"
"Just hold her still."
Carefully, Mrs. Urwani peeled each thorn out of the poor rabbit's fur. Queenie's heart thumped rapidly.
"Hurry! She's squirming."
"I am going as fast as I can, dear."
Eventually, every thorn came out and Reine pulled the rabbit free. Susi held her hands over Queenie's hind legs, just in case. Everyone quickly went into the house. When Reine placed Queenie on the living room carpet, the rabbit laid still. Mrs. Urwani wrapped Queenie in a warm washcloth. Queenie's breathing relaxed in the safety of the house.
"Wait-a-while will get you every time," said Mrs. Urwani.
"What do you mean?"
"That's what farmers call those Acacia bushes. Sheep often get tangled in their thorns. So, the sheep have to 'wait awhile' until the farmer comes and clips away all the wool."
"Why don't we just cut those bushes down?"
"I do, but they keep growing back," said Reine's mother.
Reine laid on her belly, petting Queenie with her outstretched hands. The rabbit breathed deeply, still a little excited from the episode in the Acacia bush. Reine and Susi investigated the rabbit, picking through its fur.
"It's so interesting the way Queenie's fur cuts a line through the middle of her body."
"It's because she’s a Dutch rabbit. Dutchies are the only rabbits that have the back half of their body one color and the front half white."
"Don't forget the mask," added her mother.
"And Dutch rabbits also have matching spots over their eyes and ears, like a mask."
The unique Dutch Rabbit was one of the most common species in Indonesia. Dutch traders brought these rabbits from the Netherlands in the early 1900s. The Dutch traders had brought many things from Europe.
Reine inhaled deeply.
"Why does our house smell Dutch?" asked Reine.
"What do you mean?"
"You don't smell it?"
"I smell it," said Mrs. Urwani, "It's not a Dutch smell, it's just the smell of old buildings. Most old buildings were constructed by the Dutch."
"Why didn't the Indonesians build the houses?"
"They did, but the owners of the coffee and sugar plantations needed a place to live. They didn't only bring things like the Dutch rabbits, but they also brought their way of doing things. That's why so many things appear Dutch. I guess that's why they smell Dutch, too."
"It's a good smell," said Reine.
"I think so, too," said her mother.
"Me three," added Susi.
"Me four," said Mrs. Urwani.
Aunt Dona inhaled deeply, breathing in the Dutch smell.
"It reminds me of my childhood. We used to live a house just like this one. It had old wooden floorboards that squeaked wherever you walked. I always worried the house was going to fall down whenever monsoons rattled the window panes.”
“I remember that. I loved when storms shook the house. It felt like us against the storm,” said Mrs. Urwani.
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