John worked all through the night and Mona stayed by his side, holding up the light for him to work by. The women seemed to love him rubbing his hands over their head and neck, and she honestly couldn't say she blamed them.
In the morning when John had finished all of the girls, Mona had to say that he did an excellent job.
They all excitedly examined themselves in mirrors and touched each other's face and hair. Some of them looked at John and gave him a thumbs-up to which Mona and John just had to smile.
One of the girls got really emotional at the sight of herself, but Ling was there to lighten up the mood again and get them all to laugh once more.
All of the women lined up by the stairs in front of John and Mona for them to see that they were now students.
George began counting them, but Mo said something to him in Chinese. Then she turned to John and Mona. "We are one short."
"How many did the Japanese say?" John asked. "How many?"
"Thirteen," George answered.
"How many?"
"Thirteen," Mo said. "We only have twelve here."
Mona put her hand to her head and sighed.
"This is a terrible joke," John whispered in defeat.
"Believe me, I would go in a heartbeat if I could," Mona told them. "But even if I wore a wig, I don't have the right facial features."
One of the women crossed her arms and said something in Chinese.
George looked back at John and Mona. "I will go," he said to them.
Both of their heads snapped up at him in disbelief. No words came to either of them.
"I will go," he said again.
"George…" John said.
Mo translated for the women and they all started murmuring things to themselves and to George.
George ran over to where Mona and John were sitting and knelt down before them. "Father Ingleman ask me to protect students. But I'm not good. I'm…I'm terrible. I'm…I'm bad."
"George, that's not true," Mona said to him. "You're not bad."
The women started saying things in Chinese again and whatever they said caused George to stand up and shout something at them. John and Mona could only watch as the awkward confrontation ensued.
Finally, he knelt down in front of them again. "If we have one missing, the Japanese will find out, then a big trouble. You are good at make-up. You can do for me."
"George, I'm not that good," John mumbled. "I'm not that good."
"No, you can."
"George, stop it. It can't work."
"You can!" George began to cry as he spoke, pleading with John to see things his way. "The church to the car just a short way! You are good at make-up, you can do for me! I will lower my head! It's possible, it just a short way!"
Mona put her hands together and placed them on her mouth. John looked over at her, and she could see the hundreds of emotions running through his eyes, clouding them over. This was such a nightmare.
"You can. It's possible," George pleaded.
Seeing no other options, John, Mona, and George all collected the black pieces of hair on the floor that were left behind from the women's haircuts.
John then took George's hat and put a cloth over it to use as a template for the wig he was going to make. He made up some hot tar and carefully sealed pieces of hair all over the piece of cloth. Mona and George cut up the hair for him and handed it to him to place onto the cloth. They ended up running out of hair and had to take some from a couple of the girls.
Meanwhile in the cellar, the girls rubbed dirt over their faces to hide themselves easier when the time came. The plan was for them to stay in the cellar until John and Mona came and got them when the Japanese had left the church.
Once the tar had dried on the cloth, John put it over top of George's head and styled it into a schoolgirl's hairstyle.
Then he took a deep breath and leaned back a little to get a better look. George really could pass for one of them if he kept his head down enough.
"You know what could happen?" John asked him.
"Yes, yes, I know," George answered. "I can do what Father Ingleman tell me."
"Amazing. I think I hear what the Father is saying right now."
"Yes?"
"Yeah."
"What he saying?"
"I think he's saying that you've done an incredible…an incredible job, taking care of the girls. And that you're good, so good."
George's face lit up in a way that Mona had never seen from him and it was beautiful.
"And I think he's also asking," John continued. He put on a foreign accent and said, "What are you doing with that awful wig on your head?"
All three of them laughed together at his small joke. John went back to fixing his wig and it broke Mona's heart to see John trying so hard to keep it together.
Once he had finished with George, he and Mona went back up to the room to get John's priest garments on and left George to dress in a uniform.
"I can't believe we're doing this," John muttered as Mona helped him into his garments.
"What choice do we have?" Mona said. "This is just…one huge nightmare. I just want to wake up and have all of this just be a bad dream."
"Me too. But Mona? While I do wish all of this wasn't happening, I'm glad I came here. Because I got to meet you."
"I feel the same way."
Their eyes met and they slowly drew towards one another and shared a soft kiss. She felt John's hand slide around her back while her hands rested on his arms. They parted and smiled a little at each other then headed downstairs. The women slammed mirrors onto the ground where they shattered into several pieces. They took the sharpest shards out of the bunch and tied them up with little pieces of cloth. Then they tucked them into their uniforms and Mona smiled as she realized they were making weapons to defend themselves from the Japanese.
As they did that, John, Mona, and George all sat on one of the pews.
"You know that you can't really go there," John said to him. "You gotta escape somehow before you get there. You gotta jump from the car or the truck or whatever. You wait until it slows down, goes around the corner, that's when you jump."
"No, I'm no jumping," George said firmly. "Don't teach me."
"Why not?"
"If I jump, Japanese will find out. I will go all the way, give you more time. Both of you and the girls get out of the church."
John patted him on his shoulder encouragingly. Mona smiled sadly at him, proud of him for doing such a very, very brave thing and sacrificing himself for the lives of all of the girls.
As they watched the women tuck their makeshift weapons into their uniforms, John asked, "Have you got something as well?"
George nodded, but said nothing. Mona emotional level had reached its peak and she was completely drained. However, now was the time when she needed to be most alert, so she forced herself to get it together.
John stood up from the pews and took Mona's hand, helping her stand up as well. She gave George a small squeeze and then she and John walked to the cathedral entrance to wait for the soldiers.
The doors to the cathedral walls banged open and Mona unconsciously grabbed onto John's shoulder, but quickly released once she realized she had done it. She straightened up her posture and tried to appear professional for the intruders.
A soldier came up to them and started speaking in Japanese. Another soldier came up beside him and offered John and Mona a small bag. John took it and opened it and inside was a small toy of a white cat that was smiling and waving.
The two of them went inside the cathedral and solemnly nodded to the women. In a single file line, they all began to exit the church.
At the entrance to the cathedral walls, John and Mona stood together to see them off. When each woman passed, John gave her a small little present and Mona gave her a warm hug and a small kiss on the cheek. The fearful look on their faces tore her up inside. Tears were starting to slide down her cheeks and try as she might, she just could not make them stop.
The soldier counted the women as they exited, making sure they had thirteen, then they were loaded up into the truck.
When Mo came out, Mona hugged her even tighter than the rest. "Thank you," she whispered softly into her ear before giving her a small kiss.
Following Mo was George and he was sobbing, knowing what was going to happen to him. Mona hugged him longest and gave him a warm soft kiss on the cheek. "Stay strong. We're so proud of you," she said.
Last to come out was Mosquito. John gently put his arm on her and Mona did the same for her as she had done for the others.
But when the soldiers tried to load her onto the truck, she started screaming and crying in Chinese and tried to pull away from them. John and Mona looked at each other, panicked that she would give them all away. John quickly ran up to her and took her up in his arms. Mosquito sobbed in his embrace and Mona joined in on the hug as well.
For a second, it almost felt like her daughter was back in her arms with a husband by her side. The mere thought of that made tears come down her cheeks even faster.
John took out the toy cat and handed it to her as her present. Mosquito looked at the present with wide eyes. Suddenly, the soldiers roughly pushed John and Mona away from the poor woman and loaded her onto the truck.
"Be gentle with her, she's just a girl," John begged.
Mo took Mosquito into her arms and the women in the truck all clung tightly to one another in fear. The curtain closed, and it was the last time Mona would ever see any of their faces.
A loud gunshot pierced the air and Mona turned to find that one of the Japanese had shot Mr. Meng at point-blank right in the forehead. John and Mona ran over to his body and knelt down beside him as the soldiers left the cathedral in their trucks.
John put Mr. Meng's hat over his face in respect, as there was no time to bury him. The both of them stood up and watched the trucks fade away into the distance, hidden by the smoke.
Mona looked over at John and began sobbing her heart out. John went up to her and wrapped his strong arms around her, gently stroking the back of her head. She cried and cried onto his shoulder, clinging onto him so much, her knuckles turned white.
She felt like she had lost her daughter all over again.
"We've gotta go," John said softly to her.
She nodded and they both ran back into the church and towards the cellar. John quickly leaned down and opened up the cellar door.
"Let's go," he ordered. "Come on."
They all brought up as many crates from the cellar as they could and bolted out to the awaiting truck.
The girls began climbing up into the truck bed, but John pulled Shu aside. "Shu. Come here." He firmly grasped her shoulder and looked straight into her eye. "Your father is a good man. Your father is a good man. We could never have done this without your father. He's a good man."
Mona hugged Shu tightly, feeling like she was getting the chance to see her daughter all grown up. She lightly gave her a kiss on the cheek, not caring about all of the dirt. Then Shu climbed up into the truck as well. The girls all lay flat and John covered them up with pieces of wood that looked like crates.
"Watch your legs. Watch it. Yeah."
Shu held firmly to Dou's instrument as if it was her tether to life itself. Once the girls were covered with the wood, John and Mona put crates over top of them to shield them even further. Then they firmly closed the truck bed, tied up the crates so they wouldn't fall over, and tied up a Japanese flag onto the front of the truck for easier access. It was the last thing Mona wanted to do, but it was necessary.
John began turning the crank to get the truck going, but it would not start. He gave a few frustrated grunts, and sank down for a second.
"You can do it," Mona said softly to him.
He stood up again and with a small prayer and one last firm crank, the engine turned over and the truck started.
Mona smiled at him and let out a small laugh.
"Get in," John ordered.
She obliged his request and quickly hopped into the passenger seat of the truck. John drove away from the cathedral, and they sadly looked on at Mr. Meng's lifeless body lying on the street.
They kept driving until they came to the border that was blocked by Japanese soldiers who ordered John and Mona out of the truck. A couple of the soldiers smiled lustfully when they saw Mona and she began to feel quite nervous. John lightly pulled her closer to him and showed them their permit to get out of the country.
"Is this good for us to go through?" John asked the soldier as he inspected the cloth.
The soldier pointed to the truck and asked something in Japanese before heading to the back.
"Empty wine cases," John explained, "but…four of them are full. They are…very good, very good. Here. You see, vintage. If you would like some."
The soldier motioned for John to open the truck. Mona's heart began pounding fiercely in her chest, hoping and praying that the girls would be able to stay quiet and not be discovered.
"These," John said as he showed them the wine. "Take."
It seemed to please the soldiers enough because they allowed John and Mona to get back into the truck.
Mona breathed a huge sigh of relief as they drove away. She never felt such euphoria in her entire life. She looked over at John and saw his eyes misting with large tears as some spilled from his eyes and traveled down his cheeks.
Mona took his hand in hers and squeezed it tightly as tears formed in her own eyes as well.
They were free, but their freedom had come at a terrible price.
While the nightmares of Nanking were now behind them, the memories would always be there. And while the future looked bright, no one would ever forget the darkness of the past.
But no one could ever shatter the bonds that were formed in the cathedral of Nanking in 1937.