The Journey Back Read Online Free PDF

stepped out on the balcony, too. The road stretched out ahead of us. There was the Droppers’ farm. Then, a little farther away, Mulder’s, Ten Riet’s and Geerdes’, where the vanes of the w’mdmills were going around and around. I could even see Maria’s cottage at the very end of the road, and behind it, the woods, a long dark shape. Not safe.
    Might be mines there … There. I smiled. Old Geerdes and his two sons -one tall and one short-were rushing off to work, their shovels across their shoulders, exactly as they always had.
    “They never stop working,” Father used to say. “Maybe that’s why they have no furniture in their house. It would only tempt
    “Hurry up, boys,” old Geerdes was shouting. “We don’t want your mother to be the first one digging.”
    Back in the kitchen we kept offering each other chairs, but only I sat down. The others were too restless. They were talking, talking, talking-about the rubble on the other side of town, how lucky Father was to have a bicycle with real tires yet, how tall the weeds in the garden were when Rachel first came back.
    “And the house”-Rachel’s hands pointed everywhere-“filthy, Sini. Those traitors who lived here while we were gone must never have cleaned. The dirt on the floors and walls was an inch thick. There’s no soap. You can’t imagine how hard I worked.” She showed Sini her nails. “And it doesn’t even look as if I made a dent. Those Judases must have expected to go to jail, too. Everything was gone from the house-dishes, pots.
    Not even a spoon was left.
    “I borrowed a handcart, visited everyone we had stored our furniture with. “Please,” I said, ‘we’re back.” Those Droppers cried when they saw me, but not from happiness. They threw a few things out on the road, then slammed the door in my face. Some other people returned nothing. I wanted to go to the police, to complain, but Father would not let me.”
    “How could we prove it was ours?” he said. “I did not ask for a receipt.”
    He was afraid, Rachel said angrily; that was why. “Didn’t want people in town to think badly of US.”
    “Don’t or get I have to begin my business all over again. I can’t afford to start with trouble. “Look at that les,” they’ll say, ‘barely back and a big mouth already.” What if they continue to do business with the people they used while I was
    gone?” Impatiently, Father walked to the door.
    Would he take me with him? Yes, yes, I had been right.
    “Let’s go, Annie.”
    Quickly I followed him outside and climbed on the back of his bicycle.
    Rachel rushed after us. “Button your sweater,” she cautioned. “I don’t want you to catch a cold.”
    A cold? In this weather? Okay, if it was that important to her. I let her button it. Now we could leave, right?
    “Make sure you stop plenty of times to rest, Father. Yesterday you came home exhausted.”
    “Stop bothering about me, Rachel. I have to go.” Father’s voice sounded a little edgy.
    Rachel stepped back. Father put his leg over the bar, and off we went.
    It was wonderful, even more so than I had thought it would be. We whizzed along the road, leaving the poplars, the cow, the sheep, and the piglet behind us. Vrouw Droppers was gone. It did not matter that Father had no car. I could sit much closer to him this way.
    Contentedly, I rubbed my face against the back of his jacket. Even the sky was beautiful, with only a few clouds now, streaky ones, lacy almost, going east and rushing along fast like us. Which farmer would we go to? i had not thought to ask. Maybe to one who lived hours away.
    Oops, the cobblestone street. We were slowing down. A-bump, a-bump, we went.
    “Hang on, Annie.”
    I could not hold Father more tightly than I was. We were really slowing down. Maybe I should get off for a few seconds. “Father?”
    He had already stopped. Drops of sweat were running down his face.
    “I’ll have to leave you here, Annie. You won’t have too far to