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Eight-year-old Mariet van Kronenburg lives with her parents and eight brothers and sisters in the hamlet of De Vleut, which is exactly in the line of fire. One day, at the end of September 1944, an American commander decided that it was not responsible to let the children live in the farm. Father Jan and mother Tonia are allowed to stay, because the cattle need to be taken care of. And son Johan, who has an intellectual disability, is also allowed to stay, together with a brother or sister. But the other children have to go. Also Mariet.
Who knows, one of the American soldiers might have chocolate left over... It's not allowed, because Janus is already walking on, but they do it anyway: they walk towards the planes.
Father Jan van Kronenburg puts his children in the cart - a tub of pears also comes with him - and takes them to good acquaintances in Sint Oedenrode. In the Van Schijndel family farm, Mariet sleeps in the attic with her sisters and a few other female evacuees. The boys and men sleep in the hayloft. From the windows, Mariet can see the airstrips of Sonniuswijk, where American gliders and paratroopers land. The Van Kronenburg children are allowed to play in the vicinity of the farm. But the Van Schijndel family does not allow them to just come onto the runways. Only under supervision.
On October 20, 1944, Janus, one of Van Schijndel's sons, was working in the field near the runways. Mariet, her sister Jo, brother Kees and sister Sjaantje, together with two other children, are going to call him for lunch. They are allowed to return across the runways - after all, 21-year-old Janus is now there. Mariet and Jo linger, together with their girlfriend. Who knows, one of the American soldiers might have chocolate left over... It's not allowed, because Janus is already walking on, but they do it anyway: they walk towards the planes.
Then Mariet hears a bang. She looks up and sees a cloud. She runs there. Something has exploded, the children who were just walking there are no longer standing. 'I still see my sister lying there. In a green jacket with a white stripe through it.' Mariet runs away in panic. She remains standing at the corner of the field, in tears, with her sister and friend. The pastor from Sint Oedenrode takes the three girls back to the farm where they are staying.
Father and mother Van Kronenburg search for their children for three days. Thirteen-year-old Kees was killed instantly by the force of the explosion. They find him again in the monastery of Sint Oedenrode. Six-year-old Sjaantje is more difficult to find. It turns out that she was seriously injured and was taken from emergency hospital to hospital, but she did not survive her injuries. Eventually, father and mother find her in Zeelst. They take her body, wrapped in a blanket, to her house. The children are buried in Sint Oedenrode, in small coffins made of gliderwood. It is unclear exactly what exploded. Janus also died and cannot live to tell the story. One boy, eleven-year-old Ties, survives the blow. He describes the projectile as a small, shiny box. Kees picked it up and opened it.
