Free The Journey Back by Johanna Reiss

that we wouldn’t see you till darl Now look at you.”
    “Ah, Dientje, that was this morning.
    C’mor
    I followed Johan out of the kitchen.
    “ja, ja, Annie, life’s not easy.” Johan sat down between the geranium beds in front of the hour his arms resting on his legs. “We’ve had not hi but trouble the last couple of months. First Op with the head. Then Dientje with the leg. All I’v done is work, Annie. I bet that’s what has kept me healthy. Remember, during the war Dientje and Ma always had to push me? “Go, Johan, what’s the matter with you? You can’t stay in the house all day. The grass, the turnips … No more. I run to work. What’s there to stay home for now that you and Sini are gone?“I took his hand.
    We sat close, saying nothing. When he began to talk again, he sounded more cheerful. “But you never know, Annie. You could come back and live here. Crazy things happen. Who would’ve thought you’d come here in the first place? Eh?”
    In front of us a butterfly kept waltzing by, its yellow wings glistening in the sun. The sounds of footsteps came from the road. I could see a farmer, a sickle across his shoulder. “Afternoon, Pict,” Johan called out to him. “How goes?”
    “That’s Annie,” Pict shouted, running over. “I was talking about you just a few minutes ago. Ji, we still can’t get over it. I was telling the wife’s cousin how I thought I wasn’t seeing right when you first hobbled out of the house in April. Who’s that? I asked everyone, but they didn’t know, either. That Johan, how he kept it hidden from us! And that’s’not easy in Ussdo, Annie-let me tell you.
    Here, we even thought Johan was crazy, never getting into the air-raid shelter with the rest of us,” Pict said, shaking his head. “I was home with the girls, Pict, under the table. I always said if a bomb hits the house I might just as well get killed with them. You should’ve seen Annie-trembled like a leaf.” Johan squeezed my hand. “Eh? How could I have left her?”
    “I’m telling you, Annie. That Johan is something.”
    “Listen to him talk,” Johan said modestly. “Well”-Piet put his sickle over his other shoulder-“I’ve got to begin cutting the rye, Johan. Koos has most of his down already, and you hate to be the last one. If you ask me, this weather can’t go
    Behind us someone was knocking loudly on the window. “Johan, Johan”-I could see Dientje’s head through the curtains-“get off the grass. What’s the matter with you, sitting there in broad daylight? No one else in Ussdo is doing it, I’ll bet. What’ll people think?”
    “Ahh-” But Johan got up. “C’mon, Annie. We’d better get go’ rag
    I followed them all afternoon, ducking first into the chicken coop where Opoe was. “That one, Annie, with the funny eyes, always takes her own time. I have to keep reminding her what she’s sitting there for. Come, chickie, I haven’t got all afternoon.” Vlekje was curled up in the corner, his paws on a layer of peat litter. “Quiet, Annie.” Opoe put her finger against her lips. “There, she’s doing it.” Opoe sounded relieved.
    A minute later she rushed over to the nest. “I’ve got to be quick with this one. She likes to eat the shell. She doesn’t want to wait till it’s empty, and I feed it to her. C’mon, get off now.” The chicken got up, turned around to see what she had done, looked again.
    Then, cackling angrily, she left the coop. “Nice egg, Annie. She got it a little dirty, but I’ll wash it. You’re going to have it for supper tonight.” With a damp rag Opoe carefully cleaned the egg. In the kitchen where steam was still rising and dripping again, Dientje and a neighbor were canning beans. They snipped off the ends, broke them in two, threw them into a pot, and took up new ones from the heap in their laps. “You want anything, Annie? An apple maybe?” Dientje asked.
    “Shall I get you one from the side of the house? No? A cookie? One