The Tide in the Attic

by Aleid Van Rhijn

‘You’d better have some milk,’ Jacob said, when they had all sat down again and passed him a mug.

  With his fingers cramped, Kees tried to get hold of the mug but he realized that he wouldn’t be able to hold it.

  ‘I can’t,’ he said, and Jacob had to feed him like a baby. The moment he had gulped down a little of the milk he felt quite sick. ‘I don’t want any more,’ he said pushing Jacob’s hand away. When his father offered him a couple of slices of ham he refused. He sat quite still and hunched up. He seemed to have lost all his strength and his spirits. Although it was daylight now, everything appeared to be enveloped in thick mist. And the voices of the others seemed to come from very far.

  All sorts of thoughts passed through Kees’s mind. How were Jaap and Geurt? Was the school under water, too?

  Now and then he dozed off without noticing it. But he never really fell asleep, and all the time knew that he was up on the roof with the others. Still, for a second he thought he saw Witje battling with the waves.

  ‘Be careful, Kees, don’t go off now.’

  His father’s voice woke Kees from his daydreams. Then he felt Jacob’s hand roughly rubbing his back. ‘That’ll wake you up,’ he said. Stabbing pains went right through his body but Kees didn’t protest.

  ‘Now you must wave your arms about hard,’ Jacob said. ‘Like this.’

  Kees tried to raise his arms but he couldn’t. ‘Try clapping your hands together,’ Jacob suggested. But all Kees could do was to bring his hands together very slowly. Jacob seized them and clapped them for him.

  ‘Are you terribly cold, Kees?’ Sjaantje asked. ‘I am quite warm.’ She had just woken up and was munching a piece of bread. She was sitting up between Mother and Trui.

  Suddenly Trui called out, ‘Look, I can see rowing boats over there.’ She pointed to the right, where two rowing boats, full of people, were dancing on the waves. ‘It won’t be long now before they come to fetch us, too,’ Trui said. ‘There’s no need to be gloomy, now.’ She pressed her hand to her side where she had had a pain for hours.

  ‘They must have seen our signal on the roof,’ Jacob said, ‘and they’ll be here any time now. Everybody has to wait his turn.’

  ‘I wonder whether the sheet is still up,’ Mr. Wielemaker said.

  ‘I’ll go and have a look,’ Jacob replied at once.

  But it was easier said than done. He had to climb right to the top of the roof so that he could look over the other side, and all the time he was so stiff that he could hardly lift his feet. And then he had to remove tile after tile in order to get a footing.

  When he had finally got to the top, he saw that the sheet was gone.

  ‘It’s been blown away,’ he shouted down.

  ‘Do come back, Jacob,’ Mrs. Wielemaker called. She was thinking of last night, when he had almost been killed. But today the wind wasn’t nearly as violent and Jacob was holding on tight.

  ‘There are a few aeroplanes flying low over the water,’ he said. ‘And over there, there’s one of those...what d’you call them?...one of those helicopters.’

  Kees felt a little happier. Rowing boats, aeroplanes, a helicopter—all these were signs of rescue close at hand. They were not alone and forgotten. Help would come soon.

  With an effort Kees sat up straight and looked across the water.

  Jacob had decided to stay on top of the roof as long as he could. His perch was not in the least bit comfortable and, even though it was not as stormy as it had been before, the wind was doing its utmost to tear him off.

  Still, he could see much better from where he was than from below. ‘I can see boats all over the place,’ he told the others. ‘There are some motor boats among them and a lot of aeroplanes up in the sky.’

  Every time a motor boat or an aeroplane came a little closer to them, Jacob waved his handkerchief. But no one seemed to take any notice.

  After an hour, Jacob came down for a rest. He tried to roll a cigarette but his fingers were much too stiff for that.

  ‘Wait a bit,’ Mr. Wielemaker said. He took out his pipe, lit it and handed it to Jacob. ‘Smoking a pipe is better than not smoking at all,’ he said. It was the first time that Kees had seen Jacob smoking a pipe.

  ‘Thank you, Mr. Wielemaker,’ Jacob said. ‘I think the...’

  ‘Quiet!’ Trui interrupted him. ‘I can hear an aeroplane quite close.’

  Then the others heard it, as well. The roar of the engine became louder and louder.

  ‘I’ll get back to my post,’ Jacob said. He climbed up as quickly as he could. On the way, Mr. Wielemaker’s pipe dropped out of his mouth; it rolled down the roof and fell into the water. But nobody paid any attention. They listened intently to the sound of the engine. When Jacob was sitting on the top of the roof again, he called out: ‘It’s coming straight towards us now.’ He waved his handkerchief wildly.

  The others could not see the aeroplane, because they were sitting on the other side of the roof. The roar of the engine was so loud now, though, that there was no doubt about its coming towards the house.

  Then, suddenly, they saw it, coming over from behind them. It was flying at only one hundred and twenty feet and they could see the pilot quite clearly. Jacob waved his handkerchief like a madman and all the others waved their hands as if to say, ‘Do please help us. Please take us away from here.’

  The aeroplane passed overhead and then swung round to come back again. ‘It’s coming towards us again,’ Jacob shouted out.

  Like a huge bird, it now flew towards them, very low indeed. It looked as if it might hit the house at any moment.

  The six of them on the roof stared at it with bated breath. Kees even forgot to wave. With their mouths wide open, they watched the aeroplane fly past them no more than fifty feet away. They could see a face in the cockpit and a waving hand.

  ‘He has seen us,’ Mr. Wielemaker called out. His voice sounded hoarse and Kees noticed his father wipe a tear away with the back of his hand.

  Kees, himself, felt his heart pounding against his chest. He was still cold; all his limbs ached and he was desperately tired. But now that they had been seen, he knew that it was only a matter of time before they were rescued.

  Jacob had returned from his look-out post. Though he was exhausted, his eyes twinkled with delight.

  ‘He saw us,’ he said. ‘Did you notice? It can’t be long now.’

  The six of them felt very happy. Even Bob, who had been barking furiously at the aeroplane, was wagging his tail wildly.

  Trui gave them all some sausage. ‘There’s some milk left, too, but we’d better be careful with it,’ she said.

  ‘I’ve lost your pipe, Mr. Wielemaker,’ Jacob said. ‘I hope I’ll be able to give you a new one soon.’

  The farmer shrugged his shoulders. He wasn’t worried about his pipe. He had lost so much more than that during the last few hours.

  Full of hope, they now waited for their rescuers. They knew they could not hold out for very much longer. Sjaantje was feeling ill. She was shivering all the time and had a headache. Her face was hot and she appeared to be running quite a high temperature. Mother and Trui wrapped her up as best they could, but she would not keep still. One minute she was sitting on her mother’s lap and the next on Trui’s.

  Meanwhile, Wiesje had jumped on to the roof. Now she was walking along the top making her way against the wind. But there was no need to worry about her. Cats know how to look after themselves.

  After an hour, Kees’s courage began to flag again. ‘Why aren’t they coming?’ he asked himself. Bob was beginning to be a nuisance. He was growling all the time, cross because he could not move about like Miesje.

  Mother and Trui sat close together, warming each other. Sjaantje’s eyes were feverish. Mr. Wielemaker and Jacob looked silently across the water. From time to time they turned their heads to listen. Was that an aeroplane? No, nothing but imagination. Meanwhile Jacob had rolled two cigarettes as best he could. One was for Mr. Wielemaker whose pipe had gone.


  There they all sat without a word, hoping and despairing at the same time. Gradually, they lost all sensation in their bodies. Kees no longer felt he was sitting down. It was as if he were floating on air. From time to time he saw black or brown objects float by. They were dead cows or horses, drowned animals dragged out of their warm sheds by the cold, raging, merciless sea.

  Another hour passed. Sjaantje’s cheeks seemed to be on fire, but her hands were ice-cold. ‘My poor child,’ Mrs. Wielemaker whispered over and over again, as she repeatedly tucked her little girl more snugly into her blankets.

  Jacob now took a piece of crumpled paper and a pencil out of his pocket. ‘Provincial capital in five letters,’ he said. Kees said nothing. ‘Come on,’ Jacob nudged him. ‘I want the capital of a Dutch province in five letters. You got a good mark in geography, didn’t you?’

  Although Kees heard what Jacob was saying, it was as if the words went right past him and as if he were not listening.

  ‘Oh, I know,’ Jacob said, ‘it’s Assen. That’s right.’ He tried to write it in, but his pencil slipped out of his hand. ‘Can’t be helped,’ he said and let go of the piece of newspaper with the crossword puzzle. It blew away, soared up and hovered for a moment; then it was off at great speed, danced above the water for a while, rose again and disappeared behind the corner of the cowshed. Kees hardly looked up; he was indifferent to everything now.

  CHAPTER TEN — The helicopter

  And then the miracle happened, and it happened quite unexpectedly.

  They hadn’t seen it coming—but there it was now, a huge bird hovering almost directly above them. A huge bird with its legs wide apart. They were so startled that all they could do was gape at it.

  The engine was running very quietly. They could barely hear the swish of the large propeller above the noise of the wind and the gushing water.

  Jacob was the first to move and he nearly fell off as he jumped up with a loud cry. Mr. Wielemaker caught hold of his arm just in time.

  ‘They’ve come at last. Here they are!’ Jacob shouted in a hoarse voice.

  Breathlessly they watched as the helicopter dropped lower and lower, circling all the time. ‘What’s going to happen?’ Mrs. Wielemaker asked anxiously. She could not understand how this strange aircraft was going to help them to get off the roof.

  ‘We are saved,’ her husband said, grasping her shoulders. ‘We are saved.’

  Kees watched in silence as the helicopter came down lower still. Now and then it looked as if it were quite motionless.

  ‘It’s going to land on the roof,’ Jacob shouted. He didn’t know himself how the pilot could possibly manage that. The helicopter was only twenty-five feet above them now. And it really was quite motionless, except for the propeller which was still swinging round. They could see the pilot sitting in his glass cabin. He waved at them and smiled encouragingly.

  For a moment Kees thought he was dreaming again. But then he knew that it was all quite real. Still dazed by all the privations of the night, he watched the helicopter descending, until it was no more than eight feet above them.

  But how were they to get in? They did not have to wait long for an answer, because the pilot let down a rope-ladder to them, almost at once.

  Jacob, who was nearest to it, caught hold of it. Now the cabin door opened and the pilot leaned over and called out: ‘Children first. I can take the two children together, but I only have room for one adult at a time.’ His voice sounded like music to them. It was a Dutch voice and it meant they had been saved.

  ‘Sjaantje first,’ Mr. Wielemaker said.

  ‘Into that thing?’ Mrs. Wielemaker asked anxiously and pressed her daughter closer to her, as if someone were trying to rob her of her.

  But Jacob had already taken Sjaantje from her arms. ‘I’ll take her up,’ he said. He put her on his shoulder and slowly climbed up the rope-ladder. Kees could see that it wasn’t so easy. When Jacob had got up high enough, he carefully pushed Sjaantje into the cabin. He said something to the pilot, who smiled at the little bundle, full of sympathy.

  Then Jacob came down again. ‘Your turn now,’ he said to Kees. ‘You’ve got to take Sjaantje on your lap. There is only one spare seat in there.’ Then he turned to Mr. and Mrs. Wielemaker. ‘He is taking them to Duivenisse. The flood hasn’t got as far as that.’

  Kees tried to get up, but failed. His legs seemed to be quite useless. He looked imploringly at his father. Father and Jacob held him up under his arms.

  ‘Come on now, I’ll help you,’ Jacob said. He put the end of the rope-ladder quite close to Kees. Kees now tried to lift his leg but it refused to move. Jacob lifted him up so that one foot was on the bottom rung.

  ‘Try now,’ he ordered while he supported Kees with all his remaining strength. Slowly and with a great deal of effort Kees took the first step. Then he took a second and a third, until he finally flopped into the cabin, utterly exhausted.

  ‘Well, my boy, are you pleased I’ve come to fetch you?’ Two friendly brown eyes looked at him from under a naval officer’s cap. ‘Can you manage to get on to that seat?’ Kees was quite dizzy, but he got up and then dropped down heavily on to the seat. He tried to smile but the attempt was rather a failure. There was so much he would have liked to say but he could not open his mouth. He was so terribly tired. The pilot placed Sjaantje on Kees’s lap.

  ‘Well, wave goodbye to your family. Then we’ll set off,’ the pilot said.

  Slowly, Kees raised his hand. He could see them all below him, on the roof: Father, Mother, Jacob and Trui, as well as Miesje and Bob, who was looking up at him, barking loudly.

  ‘Look after Sjaantje,’ his father called out to him. Kees nodded. Sjaantje still had her eyes shut. She was so tired that she hardly noticed what was happening to her.

  The pilot leant over Kees and called out to those below, ‘I’ll be back shortly to pick up the rest of you. Keep your chins up!’ He pulled up the rope-ladder and shut the cabin door.

  The pilot revved up the engine. Kees looked up and saw that the propeller was turning much faster now. The whole helicopter was shaking. Then Kees had a strange sensation, just as if he were being pressed down on his seat. And, in fact, that was what was happening for, when Kees looked out, he noticed they were climbing very fast. By now they were at least one hundred and twenty feet above the roof and the people on it had shrunk until they looked no bigger than small dots.

  Then the helicopter shot forward with a jerk. Below them was all that was left of the farm: a vast surface of water with two roofs sticking out.

  Kees wondered whether he was dreaming. But he wasn’t, he was sure of that. Still, it was all so much like a dream. There he was, Kees Wielemaker, high up in the sky, in a helicopter flying over the flooded land. Wasn’t it like a dream, soaring high above the water, right next to a naval officer?

  He was flying now! Experiencing himself what he had so often read about, what he had so often longed to do!

  He glanced across at the pilot who sat calmly at the controls, just like an ordinary motorist. The pilot noticed, and gave Kees a warm smile.

  ‘How are you feeling?’ he asked.

  ‘Wonderful,’ Kees said but his lips were trembling. And wonderful it all was, being rescued just in the nick of time, and in a helicopter, too! There he was sitting in the glass cabin, with a view over the earth below.

  And the earth seemed to be covered with water, water everywhere, nothing but water. Here and there, he could see a roof, a rowing boat or the top of a tree. So this was the countryside he knew so well, where he had walked so often! There was hardly a spot he recognized. Was that roof part of Jobse’s farmhouse? He wasn’t sure: it might just as well have been Bouman’s.

  ‘Whatever’s happening now?’ Kees wondered. The helicopter was behaving strangely; it seemed to be falling. And suddenly there was land below them, rising obliquely to meet them. The pilot smiled at him and said: ‘We’ve arrived.’

  And now Kees could see a
number of houses clustered round a church. The village looked like an island in a vast ocean. They had arrived at Duivenisse. He had been there a lot of times but it had never looked liked this. The helicopter was dropping all the time. Then Kees recognized a familiar spot. It was the football ground and it was dry. He could see the goalposts quite clearly. In the middle of the field there was a large white area. Kees realized what it was: bed-sheets, to tell the pilot where to land.

  There were a lot of people on the edge of the field. Kees could see them quite clearly now. A minute ago, they had only been little black dots. Now he could distinguish the men from the women. There were a lot of children there, too. As the helicopter passed over them they all waved, and Kees waved back. Now they were right above the field, no more than thirty feet up.

  Slowly the helicopter descended and Kees had a very peculiar sensation in his stomach. Then there was a gentle bump as they landed.

  ‘Right,’ the pilot said. ‘That’s the end of the journey. The sooner you get out, the sooner I can take off again to fetch the rest of your family.’

  Suddenly Kees remembered something and a look of anguish crossed his face. ‘Please, you won’t leave Bob and Miesje behind, will you? Please don’t.’

  The pilot looked surprised. ‘Bob and Miesje...who are they?’

  ‘The dog and the cat.’

  ‘Don’t worry, I shan’t forget to bring them along.’

  Now people were running up towards them from all sides. Everybody wanted to help. Somebody took Sjaantje off Kees. Then Kees got out slowly like an old, old man.

  ‘You must have had a wretched time of it, poor boy!’

  A pair of hands was extended and before he knew how, Kees was standing on firm land again. He felt dizzy and for a moment he just stood there without moving.

  ‘Well, my boy,’ a voice next to him said. Kees looked up. A strange man was standing by his side, while another man was carrying Sjaantje in his arms.

  ‘Are you glad to be here?’ the man asked. Kees nodded.