Already, a situation of dual power was emerging within the city. In theory, while the prince of Orange was away marshaling his forces in Overijssel, Amsterdam was under the authority of its city council-what the Dutch called the vroedschap. In practice, however, real power was beginning to slip more and more into the hands of Gretchen and her rapidly growing band of Dutch comrades. The civic militia's soldiers, if not many of the officers, were beginning-tacitly, if not openly-to consult with the leaders elected by the new CoC. Many of the soldiers were joining the CoC themselves.
The process was neither uniform nor smooth, of course. There had been any number of angry shouting matches, in the streets and in the civic militia's assemblies. But, so far, only one of those confrontations had escalated into outright violence.
And, even then, not much violence. A flurry of fists on a city corner, followed by a pause. Into the pause Gretchen had come stalking down the cobblestoned street. The news of Wismar had by then spread throughout Amsterdam as well, and with it the name of Hans Richter. That she was the older sister of the hero of Wismar was just as well known. As was her reputation for being the more ferocious of the siblings.
She had neither threatened with words, nor drawn her pistol. Simply stared at those who had taken it upon themselves to assault a handful of CoC streetcorner orators.
"Begone," she commanded, and they were.
The infant Rebecca had snatched from carnage was the center of attention in the room. That had also been true, since the news of Wismar came. Grief at the loss of brothers and friends, salved by the sight of a smiling babe.
A cheerful sort of boy, he seemed. Very curious, too, the way his fresh eyes seemed to study everything.
There came a knock on the door. Heinrich answered it.
"For you, Rebecca. A rabbi says he wants to speak to you. In private, he says."
Rebecca rose from the couch, handed the child to Gretchen, and went to the door.
Standing outside, looking very uncomfortable, was a man she recognized. She couldn't remember the old man's name, any longer. But she was certain it was the same rabbi who, two and a half years earlier, had led Amsterdam's Jewish community to expel her father Balthazar for heresy. Excommunicated and banned-what the Jews called in herem.
She'd detested the man then; and, judging from the sour look on his face, detested him still.
"Yes?" she asked coolly. "You have discovered the child's identity?"
"We knew that almost immediately," he replied. "The difficulty has been in deciding what to do."
"What is there to decide, for the sake of God? If he has family, we will return him to them. If not, we will care for him ourselves."
The rabbi glared at her. "Do not speak of 'God,' heretic. You do not have the right. Nor-" The old man's hard eyes went past her shoulder, looking into the interior of the house. "-does that boy. So we have decided. Even his kinfolk have agreed. He is in herem. Best you take him yourself."
"What?" Rebecca groped for the logic. The insane logic. "He's not even a year old! He can't be!"
"He was born less than a year ago. What does it matter? He is destined for heresy anyway. Best for all of us if we deal with it now."
Rebecca's temper was on the verge of cracking. She had to grit her teeth for a moment. Then, almost hissing the words:
"Let me explain something, you arrogant old man. Not even such as you can claim to read the future. And it gives me great pleasure to inform you that, centuries from now, you will be quite forgotten by everyone except for-if you are lucky-a handful of scholars. There is only one Jew from the Amsterdam of this era who will be remembered by the world, and that is-"
She slammed to a halt, almost choking.
"My God. But-"
Wildly, she turned her head, staring back at the infant perched on Gretchen's lap. "But he was born in…" This time she did choke.
"Oh, God," she finally managed to whisper. "What is his name?"
He told her. Then added: "November of 1632, yes. We have copies of those books also, heretic. Those which we found of interest. So take him now. We cast him out."
Vaguely, Rebecca felt him leave. Vaguely, she closed the door. Her eyes were fixed entirely on the child.
No one had ever heard Rebecca whoop with glee. It was quite a piercing sound, actually. Something of a cross between sheer unadulterated joy and a warrior counting coup-or collecting a scalp.
By the time they finished wincing, Rebecca had crossed the room and snatched up the baby. Then, holding him high:
"Do you know who this is? One of the world's dozen greatest philosophers! Baruch de Espinoza!"
She clutched the baby to her chest-the rather bewildered baby, judging from his expression-and babbled on:
"Better knowm as Benedict Spinoza, after they expelled him and he went to live with the Mennonites who took him in-an expert lens-grinder too, he was-although that's what probably killed him, ruining his lungs with the dust-and that won't happen now-be sure of that, my husband's a union man-oh, I must tell Michael! We'll adopt him ourselves!"
She thrust the child back into Gretchen's arms, and raced for the stairs leading up to the radio room. "Who is on duty? Jakob?"
"Yeah, he's up there, Becky. He's-"
No point in continuing, so Jimmy fell silent. Rebecca had already reached the first landing, her footsteps-normally so light-sounding like a herd of stampeding buffalo. They could hear her shouting to the radio operator in the room above. "Quickly! Quickly! While the window lasts!"
Everyone still in the room stared at the baby. The infant returned their scrutiny with one of his own. He seemed a bit puzzled by it all.
Which would not be surprising, of course, since the adults were more than simply puzzled. As the minutes went by, in fact, and the enormity of the event came into clear focus, they were downright aghast.
"We can't let this happen, buddy," muttered Jimmy. "I mean… it's like a crime against nature, or something."
"You got that right," said Jeff firmly. He reached over and lifted the baby out of his wife's arms. Then, holding him up, gave the little boy a look of stern resolve.
"Don't worry, kid. We'll protect you. Think of us as your uncles, or something."
"First thing we do is get him a little Caterpillar hat," opined Jimmy. "Then-fast as possible-teach him D D."
Jeff nodded. "And I'll tell you what, Jimmy. I actually tried to read the Ethics once. Got through the first chapter. This kid is gonna make a great dungeon master."
"You idiots," growled Gretchen. "Think big for once, can't you? If the boy can write great metaphysics, sure as hell he can write great political tracts."
"Teach him to ride a horse, maybe," chipped in Heinrich, ever the practical man.
"Naw, screw that," countered Jeff. "I've still got my dirt bike, y'know. Get this kid up on it-fast as possible, before he's totally ruined. Betcha I can take up a collection and have a little leather jacket made up for him. Then-"
"Oh, yeah!" exclaimed Jimmy. "That's perfect! I even got a spare one at home!"
"-put a Harley-Davidson decal on it. Plastered right across his little chest. For the arms, maybe-"
That was as far as he got. Rebecca, moving in her usual light-footed and graceful manner now, had come back into the room. Just in time to hear the last exchange.
"Hillbillies!" she shrieked. Snatching Baruch from Jeff's hands, she retreated into a corner; clutching the baby to her chest and bestowing upon everyone in the room the glare of a mother determined to save her child from the Devil's horned and cloven-hoofed minions. "You have no respect!"