Letting Sydney die was essential to make the plot more convoluted, as if having Alex lurking around isn't enough trouble, the little girl seeing angels, Miss Parker being descended from the Angel of Death (the Norse version ), as well as Jarod trying to find out where his ancestors came from which isn't easy because his father probably took a different last name.
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
Nicholas arrived later that day, along with his father's will, which requested that the funeral service and burial beheld at the Church in his beloved Belgium.
"But I was hoping for a Memorial service, here," said Miss Parker, glancing at the date. It was seven years old. Hadn't he updated it since then?
"There's a note attached to it. You can read it." He unstapled it and handed it to her.
In it, Sydney bemoaned his brother's death, and that with Jarod just escaping, his chances of survival were slim to none. He had indicated in his former will that he be interred at the cemetery of the Cathedral in Blue Cove (the Centre had a good funeral package, the best coffins, maintenance of the headstone and the grounds, a ten line obituary column in the Blue Cove Gazette along with a mention in the New York Times listing his accomplishments. Of course, no one mentioned the Centre, but substituted the name of another Think Tank to which The Centre had contributed millions of dollars.
No, in this will, Sydney reverted to the name he was born with until he Anglicized it. His brother Jakob had preceded him However, he had been without it so long, he had no idea how to spell it. He put down Sydney Verte and hoped that would suffice.
He left much of his money to his heir if he should have one, and a large amount to the Centre for Missing and Exploited Children. There was also an unspecified amount with a note explaining his action. "I was wrong in not letting Jarod know of the atrocities committed against those of our own race. Even though the Centre specifically told me to tell only about crimes committed against the Colored and Oriental races, I should have not kept silent about that committed by Stalin against the Ukrainians, those by the Nazis against the Jews, Gypsies, and Poles and against the white families by Mugabe in Zimbabwe as well as other atrocities.. Even if it meant my death, I should have refused. May God and the Holy Mother forgive me."
Nicholas promptly made out one bank draft to help those white farm families displaced by the upheaval in Rhodesia and another to help an organization that was finding jobs and homes for the poor in Eastern Europe. He also made out a check to the Simon Wiesenthal Foundation, and attached a memo that it was to go for a plaque to commemorate those Righteous Gentiles who helped Jews escape the Holocaust and been killed or imprisoned by the Nazis as well as any other expenses incurred..
Ironically, after Sydney had made the will, The Centre had gotten him to work with Miss Parker to bring Jarod back, and Sydney had no time to sit down to write another will.
It was their loss.
Nicholas bought a coffin and got Sydney's body ready for the long transport to Belgium where they would bury him in the little Churchyard. The coffin was quite expensive, but Jarod, Miss Parker, and Antonio all contributed most of the money to buy it. It had to cost a lot, lined so that Sydney's body would not deteriorate on the journey.
They got on the plane, bypassed Great Britain, and landed at the Brussels airport and drove out to the town where they had the funeral at the church where Sydney had attended as a boy. It was sad seeing not one of Sydney's family among the survivors, the old woman whose mother was a friend of Sydney's mother, the post master whose father often told how he and Sydney's father often threw rocks in the stream, the frock in the style of the late 1930s. There were not that many people there, which astonished Jarod.
"I had expected to see hundreds, no thousands coming out," he said.
"There was not much time to give any notice," said Miss Parker.
""I knew if I died, that there wouldn't be many people attending my funeral, but in Sydney's case, I expected more than this."
"So did I."
Nicolas was uncomfortable. He looked a bit like his father, not enough to recognize him as a distinct individual, but enough for others to see his father's eyes and shape of face. "I think the murderer of his family told them that Sydney had something to do with it," he said.
"I think you're right," said Miss Parker, seeing the undisguised hostility of the people.
They went to the Churchyard to bury Sydney, but the funeral oratory had been brief, no long memorials from beloved friends. The priest had whispered to Miss Parker that it would be best this way. "Considering what he did, I don't think you should say anything."
At that point, Miss Parker had assumed it was something to do with The Centre and made inquiries. What she learned shocked her. It involved the man who had held her friend prisoner.
"He informed on his own parents," said the old man between clenched teeth, "said they were Jews. We never saw them again until my father was on a work detail and had to dispose of the bodies."
"That's a lie!"
But the old man melted back into the background, before she could tell him the truth. Sydney never would have sold his family out to the Nazis.
Nicholas said a few words. He said that he only knew his father a short time and that he was kind and rather sad. He spoke of Jarod who was his father's surrogate son.
The priest gave Jarod— being a surrogate son — permission to say a few words.. He told how Sydney protected him from those who would harm him and how Sydney had changed from what he was when younger to be more caring. He told that Jakob's illness had turned Sydney around. "He often told me, that he should have done it sooner."
The congregation reluctantly agreed. After all, why tell this man that his foster father had done. The priest gave Jarod a little nod and he went back to the mourner's section. They were not going to let him speak anymore. There were too many false memories of what Sydney had supposedly done.
They buried Sydney in the small Churchyard graveyard and did not stay for the wake. All his good deeds, his donations to help the victims of World War II, to help locate missing children, to make up for the Centre's ills, had been destroyed by a lie!
"There won't be anyone there," said Miss Parker when Nicholas protested.
"I can find out the information on what really happened and let them know," he said, "but that means I won't be able to get back to the States,"
"You could have someone to substitute for you," said Antonio.
"But the children expect me."
"But not if you are doing research. You'll need a camcorder, tapes, a regular movie camera. You can make this a school project and send the information to your school."
"Is that all, Antonio?"
'"Oh you need makeup for the camera and we'll have to make part of the plane into a studio."
Miss Parker gave a large sigh as she listened to Antonio's spiel and what it would cost.
"At least if that would be a good cover," said Rachel.
"For who?" asked Jarod.
"Someone whom Interpol, Scotland Yard, and Interpol are after, a very intelligent criminal." She did not say anymore.