A View Across the Rooftops: An epic, heart-wrenching and gripping World War Two historical novel

by Suzanne Kelman

  Hannah dropped the tray down on the table a little heavier than appropriate, her face flushed as she moved quickly from the room. “I forgot something,” she said absently.

  Josef was only vaguely aware of what was going on around him, as all of his concentration and his senses were tuned into the sounds above his head. He registered every single creak of stair and floorboard as Ingrid moved along the landing. He followed her in his mind’s eye as she traveled from room to room, as doors and bed springs creaked and she searched in wardrobes and cupboards, with just the whisper of her voice drifting down through the ceiling.

  “Come on, I have your dinner.”

  Josef was only half aware of Heinrich relaying a very animated story to him, and in the midst of it he took out his pistol to illustrate what had happened the day before. Josef didn’t notice because he was following the sound of the lower attic door opening, and as a dry breath caught in his throat, he closed his eyes to listen more intently.

  When he opened his eyes again, he was staring down the barrel of Heinrich’s gun as he used it as a prop to tell his story. All Josef could see was Mrs. Epstein’s face. All he could hear was the sound of that pistol shot, and all he could smell was the stench of cordite. He winced, keeping his eyes closed as he prepared for the Major to shoot him, prepared to die.

  Just then, Hannah moved back toward the front room. She must have caught sight of the gun, because she screamed and dropped a jug. It crashed to the floor, shattering into a hundred pieces. Josef opened his eyes as Heinrich holstered his pistol.

  Hannah rushed back into the kitchen then a second later screamed again.

  She suddenly appeared at the foot of the stairs, a furry bundle in her arms. “I found the cat!” she shouted up to Ingrid, the tremor in her voice very obvious. “He was hiding in the cupboard. I found him when I pulled out a broom.”

  With a great sense of relief, Josef heard Ingrid close the lower attic door and her feet patter along the landing and back down the stairs. He laid his head on the back of the chair. Sweat poured down the side of his face, puddling at the collar of his shirt. His hands were clammy and damp. He took off his spectacles, carefully wiped them, and replaced them one hooked wire at a time, his hands shaking the entire time.

  Her task completed, Ingrid made her way into the hallway, and Heinrich joined her side, impatiently ready to leave. Josef watched them through the window as Hannah saw them out.

  She approached him, and kneeling down beside him took his hand, and even with all the extreme tension coursing through his body he felt that familiar connection. He wanted more than anything to tell her about Michael, but something Heinrich had just said, about maybe knowing her, put all his senses on guard.

  It was as if she sensed his thoughts though. “Are you telling me everything, Professor? I want to help you in any way I can. I greatly value our…” she searched to find the right word and then settled on, “friendship.”

  Kneeling next to him, her face was so close to his it was unbearable and he could smell the scent of her hair. But he reminded himself there was a Mr. Pender somewhere and really all he could think of was Michael and getting her out the house without her suspecting anything.

  “I am very tired and just want to rest here for a while, thank you for your kindness,” he whispered.

  She nodded, understanding that he wanted to be alone, and only lingered momentarily at the door to the room before nodding and vowing to check on him the next day.

  After he heard the front door close Josef pulled himself to his feet and, exerting all of his energy, shuffled into the hallway and up the stairs. Four days! He couldn’t believe he’d been unconscious for that long.

  As he reached the landing, he had to stop for a second to catch his breath. Peering up toward the attic door, he prayed with all his might that Michael would still be alive. Dantes wove in and out of his legs nervously, as if he too was wondering the same thing.

  Slowly, Josef clawed his way up the last set of stairs, breathing heavily. As he stretched toward the doorknob, his hand shook, not only with the exertion but also with the fear of what awaited him on the other side. Slowly, he turned the knob and pushed it open.

  The room was dark and the air hung heavy with the mantle of illness. Not even daring to put the light on, he listened, holding his breath. Hoping for any signs of life.

  Josef dropped to his knees beside the bed. Michael’s face was ashen, his dark hair matted on the pillow. He couldn’t see if he was breathing or not. He feared to even take his hand to find out.

  Dantes bound into the room and jumped upon the bed, landing heavily on Michael’s chest. “Oh, that damn cat,” Michael mumbled in a dry rasp.

  Josef’s heart leaped with joy. Had he imagined it or had Michael really spoken? He drew close to his young friend and gently covered his hand with his own. Michael opened his eyes and tried to focus.

  He seemed to have aged since Josef had seen him last, but his eyes were bright with some of their familiar twinkle. “Professor, it’s you.”

  Josef took both his hands in his own with joy.

  “What happened to you? Where did you go? Why didn’t you come back?” Michael asked.

  “I collapsed, four days ago.”

  Michael shook his head in disbelief. “I thought you were dead.”

  “I thought the same about you.”

  “Four days?” Michael repeated incredulously. “I thought one or maybe two. I’ve been somewhere else.”

  “The dreams,” Josef said. “Did you have the dreams?”

  Michael nodded.

  Josef felt Michael’s forehead. “You’re cooler,” he confirmed. “I think the medicine is working, even though you didn’t have much of it.”

  Michael began to cough, and Josef poured him a glass of water from the jug that was still by his side. He drank thirstily and then, closing his eyes, lay back on the pillow.

  “The air raids.” Michael swallowed. “They were terrible.” He gestured toward the end of the attic. Josef looked around him for the first time. In one corner, crumbled masonry and stone debris were scattered about the room, and a thin film of dust covered Michael’s desk and chair.

  All at once, there was a noise on the stairs behind them, the sound of footsteps. Both men froze in terror. There was no time and nowhere to hide. Josef instantly berated himself for not locking the front door. If Ingrid found them…

  Slowly, the attic door swung open, and Hannah Pender stood in the doorway. Taking in the sights around her, she nodded to herself, as if something was falling into place for her. The men were stunned into silence, and the air was thick with fear.

  “I wouldn’t exactly call this resting,” she stated with a smile on her face. “You forgot your medicine. The front door was open, and I was just going to leave your medication in the bedroom, but I was surprised to see you not in there. Then I heard voices coming from up here. I wanted to make sure that you weren’t hallucinating. Your temperature’s still pretty high.”

  All the times Josef had seen her talking to the Nazis, laughing and joking at a desk in the hallway, flashed across his mind. Now he would know for sure if she was working for the enemy.

  “Mrs. Pender?” Michael spluttered out.

  “Michael Blum?” she questioned. “Yes, I remember you. You were at the university a few years ago. Before…”

  She stopped to find the right words and Michael filled in the blanks.

  “Before I became vermin,” he said with a half-cocked smile.

  Hannah blushed a little at the insinuation. “I wouldn’t have put it quite that way,” she responded softly. She nodded to the wireless on Michael’s desk. “Glad to see that you’re using my gift.”

  “It was from you?” Josef responded, standing up.

  Hannah nodded. “I knew your wireless meant a lot to you, and let’s just say I acquired one. Well, Michael, the professor spoke a lot about you while he was in the hospital.”

  Josef blinked in surprise.


  “In your sleep,” she confirmed.

  He became alarmed. “Did anybody hear?”

  “Only the nurses. I wasn’t sure who Michael was, but I knew you lived alone and I knew you probably wouldn’t want questions. I just told them that he was your nephew.”

  She handed the medication bottle to Josef.

  “Michael needs it,” he responded firmly, shaking out a tablet and giving it straight to Michael with a glass of water.

  “You both need it,” she contested, taking the bottle and administering another to Josef himself. “I will go to the hospital tomorrow to get more.”

  Josef nodded. He felt his exhaustion again.

  Hannah helped him downstairs. Then once he was in bed, she brought him a jug of water and poured him a glass. As he sipped it, she sat on the end of his bed.

  “How long have you had him here?” she asked with great surprise.

  “From 1941,” he answered, grateful to be able to talk to somebody about it.

  “I am astonished. I had no idea you were hiding someone in your attic. I’ve heard of this happening elsewhere in Amsterdam. But… I didn’t expect it of you.”

  “It has not been easy to keep him hidden, especially when my niece decided to become engaged to the enemy.”

  She nodded. “We have all had to do so much more than we believed we were capable of. I have had my own illnesses to deal with at home too.”

  “Mr. Pender has been unwell?” he enquired.

  She looked taken aback and shook her head. “My mother, Professor. There hasn’t been a Mr. Pender in my life for many years, not since the Great War.”

  Josef’s hope soared. He’d never for a moment suspected she wasn’t married, and no one had ever talked at the university about her being widowed. This new realization stirred something deep within him. He started to quickly review all of their interactions over the years. The times they had been together in his classroom or at her desk and the way he had felt drawn to her, had she too, been attracted to him? He tried to think through all the times she may have displayed anything more than a passing friendship. Through this new lens he saw everything differently. The times she had touched his hand or watched him leave the university, had there been more to those interactions? Her invitation at Christmas and the disappointment on her face when he had refused to go, and now the gift of the wireless. Thinking she was married, he had barely given her kindness a second thought. But now that he was able to indulge the thought that she was single, he started to realize that there might be a chance his feelings were reciprocated. Though could he even ask her? With Sarah they had practically been thrown together, he didn’t really know how to talk to a woman in those terms. He looked expectantly into her large, concerned blue eyes, framed by soft, shiny brown curls, and he felt in over his head.

  Seemingly unaware he was studying her, she stood up and smoothed down her skirt. “I will take a key and lock the door on the way out. I’ll come back tomorrow to see you and bring you both some soup.”

  Josef nodded, feeling his heart starting to pound once again. Sarah’s face danced into his thoughts, along with her words of encouragement to live life. He had to do something, anything that communicated his feelings. Then, for the first time in decades, he reached forward and purposefully grabbed a woman’s hand, her hand. Hannah looked down surprised.

  “Thank you, for not reporting Michael—and me—to the authorities” he said. “You have no idea how much your kindness over the years has meant to me, and now more than ever for keeping my secret and my friend safe.” He wanted to say more, much more, but he was so out of practice and literally couldn’t think of anything else to say.

  Nevertheless, when her eyes met his, something genuine passed between them. A knowing, a connection on a deeper level. Without saying a word, they both heard the echo of one another’s stories. They had both been lonely for so long, courageously enduring hardships within their own worlds, and somehow they had survived and were now reaching out to one another.

  She swallowed hard before nodding and leaving the room.

  Josef’s head swam as he lay back down on his pillow and looked at the familiar crack in his ceiling. He closed his eyes, he was going to have to do better than that, if he hoped to win her heart, which he realized in that instant—he really did. But in the meantime, he was grateful to be experiencing something new, just a sliver, a hint of happiness. Something he hadn’t felt in a long time, even before the war. And he realized his wife had been right. As he chose to live and forgive himself, he felt lighter. When he drifted off to sleep that evening, there was no pain as he thought about Sarah one more time, before Hannah’s face was the last thing in his thoughts.

  Chapter 39

  Over the next couple of days Hannah came to visit them each day, bringing any food she could manage from home. She also administered medicine and cups of tea, taking care of them both. After a week, Michael turned a corner and Josef didn’t seem to be far behind him.

  One evening, Hannah entered the attic with a steaming bowl of food and some clean sheets for Michael’s bed. She fussed over him, and he scooped soup from a bowl as he watched her.

  “You’re a much better cook than the professor,” he stated. “You also smell better,” he added as she leaned forward to tuck his sheets into the bed. She stopped and considered him for a moment, the fact he was here and alive such a miracle, when so many had not been spared.

  He smiled at her. “Do you know, you’re the first woman I’ve seen up close in years?”

  Hannah blushed. “You’re still a rascal, Michael Blum. I remember you and all your charisma when you were at the university. Always having a charming comeback for never having the right form filled in, continually losing your books and skipping classes. Some students I will never forget, but I will remind you I’m almost old enough to be your mother.”

  “But not the professor’s,” he remarked playfully. “You like him, don’t you?”

  Hannah stopped tucking, a little taken aback. She had not admitted her feelings toward Josef to anyone but herself over the years, keeping her secret hidden in her heart. So having a virtual stranger blurt this out to her was disconcerting.

  She swallowed down her embarrassment, trying to find the right words. Not ready to share the feelings in her heart, without knowing if there was a chance of them being reciprocated.

  “I am amazed at his strength, what he has done here with you. Keeping you alive, risking his life, it is as if I don’t know him at all. He has been so brave in such a quiet way. I have always been very…” she looked for a safe word, “fond of him.” Then she added quickly, in case it exposed her, “He is one of my favorite professors.”

  Even so, Michael seemed to sense her true feelings and his face broke out into a mischievous grin. “Fond of him?”

  She blushed and followed up with, “Anyway, I don’t think it’s like that for him. He barely seems to notice me. We have worked together for years now.”

  Michael put his dish down and folded his arms behind his head. “Don’t be fooled by his indifference. He sees everything.”

  Hannah blushed again and busied herself tidying around the attic before leaving. Enjoying that she had a legitimate reason to spend time with Josef, even if he was sick and could barely acknowledge her presence.

  As she opened the door to Josef’s bedroom, she noticed he looked worn and tired. The illness had affected him, leaving his body languid and his face gaunt. He opened his eyes slowly as she entered.

  “I brought you some soup,” she whispered. “And some fresh water to take your pills with.”

  He nodded as he crawled out from under his sheets. Hannah administered the medicine.

  Josef shook his head. “How did you get them to give you more medication?”

  “I went back to the hospital and informed them I was an old friend,” she explained. “Then I told them you had a fear of hospitals and that I would be taking care of you from now on.”

&nb
sp; As she moved around his bed tucking in wayward sheets, she noticed that he watched her carefully, as if he felt exposed. Perhaps he felt it was too intimate, her being among his personal things in his bedroom.

  “Mrs. Pender, Hannah.”

  She stopped and her eyes met his. He seemed to struggle with the words he wanted to say, as if he had been practicing something he wanted to communicate. He finally settled on, “You are very resourceful.”

  She smiled, and nodded, a little disappointed. The way he had said her name with such intention she’d hoped for something more personal. Not a declaration of love or anything, but maybe something that hinted at more than just admiration.

  But as she looked into his eyes she saw something warm there, something reaching out to her, as if he wanted to say something else that he was unable to quite vocalize.

  As he took a sip of his soup, his usual awkward aloofness seemed drawn aside for a moment, and he genuinely seemed to be interested in conversing with her.

  “You look better today.”

  “I feel better,” he stated, taking a rather large spoonful of the soup.

  “I’m sorry it’s just cabbage,” she apologized. “Food is getting scarcer. I fear that soon there won’t be anything left to eat in Holland.”

  “It tastes like a feast to me.”

  Once he had finished eating, she stood to leave. As she did, she stopped in the doorway and as she turned, she caught him watching her intently again.

  She took the opportunity to say something that had been on her mind for a while. “You’re very brave, you know, Professor.” He looked shocked. “What you did for Michael. What you continue to do for him. That was, and is, a heroic thing to do.”

  Josef batted away the comment. “Other people are doing far more than me. Risking and losing their lives for our freedom. I just did what any person would do.”

  “Not anyone,” Hannah responded. “There are a lot of people who wouldn’t see the value, let alone have the desire, to risk everything to save a Jewish person.”