WEBVTT 00:00:01.500 --> 00:00:03.776 In the tall house Tocko lived Pim 00:00:04.096 --> 00:00:07.533 — and Pim heaved the sheet off the Hall tile, and went for the roof. 00:00:07.853 --> 00:00:12.218 The sheet was cold, and full of water. Pim held it up high. 00:00:12.538 --> 00:00:16.903 Hod from upstairs came out of the Hall, behind her, with the bag. 00:00:17.223 --> 00:00:23.400 Pim put one hand on the bannister, and looked all the way up. Six flights of it, to the roof door. 00:00:23.720 --> 00:00:25.345 Then Pim went up fast. 00:00:25.665 --> 00:00:29.566 Pim wanted to be up on the top landing, with the roof door open. 00:00:29.886 --> 00:00:32.858 Pim wanted her own hand flat on that door. 00:00:33.178 --> 00:00:39.958 Somebody on Six went up two at a time. Nobody knew who. Nobody in Tocko had ever got up there first. 00:00:40.278 --> 00:00:49.984 So Pim said it out loud, and Pim made it hard. Get to the top landing, before the feet go past. Or go back down to the Hall, and start again. 00:00:50.304 --> 00:00:54.019 Then Pim said, "Listen. I am going to be up there first." 00:00:54.339 --> 00:00:55.221 Hall. 00:00:55.541 --> 00:00:59.256 Which is it on Six — one stair at a time, or two? 00:00:59.576 --> 00:01:03.105 Ah. Two. It has always been two. 00:01:03.425 --> 00:01:05.422 Pim went up the first flight fast. 00:01:05.742 --> 00:01:10.479 One flight, and two, and three. The sheet got heavy. 00:01:10.799 --> 00:01:14.839 Pim heard the hoover on Four. Pim heard a cough behind a door. 00:01:15.159 --> 00:01:20.964 Then, far down at the bottom, a step. Another step, and it was a whole floor up. 00:01:21.284 --> 00:01:22.120 Here it comes. 00:01:22.440 --> 00:01:27.966 Pim listened. Tocko said — tud-TUD, tud-TUD. That was the rule. 00:01:28.286 --> 00:01:31.072 The feet came past Pim at the green door. 00:01:31.392 --> 00:01:38.822 It was somebody in a big— well. Nobody could see him. The feet went up, and the roof door banged open. 00:01:39.142 --> 00:01:44.854 Pim came up onto the top landing after them. The roof door stood open, and nobody had a hand on it. 00:01:45.174 --> 00:01:49.075 Hod from upstairs came up behind her, slow, with the bag. 00:01:49.395 --> 00:01:54.085 Hod from upstairs said, "Right, so. You dripped all the way up." 00:01:54.405 --> 00:01:57.656 Pim said, "Listen. I want to hold that door." 00:01:57.976 --> 00:02:00.252 Somebody's coming. Two at a time. 00:02:00.572 --> 00:02:03.498 So Pim said, "Hold the sheet. I am going without it." 00:02:03.818 --> 00:02:07.394 Then Hod from upstairs said, "Give it here. It is wet." 00:02:07.714 --> 00:02:14.216 Pim went back down, all the way down to the Hall. Pim stood on the tile that knocked, and waited. 00:02:14.536 --> 00:02:20.713 Behind a door on Six, a kettle began to hiss. The kettle clicked, and stopped. 00:02:21.033 --> 00:02:25.770 Then the step came, far down and far off. Pim ran. 00:02:26.090 --> 00:02:31.013 Two flights up, and Pim was in front. The green door went past. Five went past. 00:02:31.333 --> 00:02:37.138 Then the top flight, and Pim went up it fast. Pim put a foot out for the last stair. 00:02:37.458 --> 00:02:39.083 There was no last stair. 00:02:39.403 --> 00:02:40.239 Here it comes. 00:02:40.559 --> 00:02:44.831 Pim listened. Tocko said — FWUMP, fwump. That was the rule. 00:02:45.151 --> 00:02:51.095 Pim landed early, flat on the landing, and it thumped. Pim sat down hard on it. 00:02:51.415 --> 00:02:54.155 And the feet came past her, two at a time. 00:02:54.475 --> 00:02:58.051 Pim, and Hod, and Pim's mum, and Tocko. 00:02:58.371 --> 00:03:00.515 Hall. Green door. 00:03:00.835 --> 00:03:03.111 Somebody's coming. Two at a time. 00:03:03.431 --> 00:03:06.310 Then Hod from upstairs said, "Let me." 00:03:06.630 --> 00:03:08.627 They went all the way down to the Hall. 00:03:08.947 --> 00:03:12.476 Pim said, "Listen. The top flight is one stair short." 00:03:12.796 --> 00:03:16.047 And Pim said, "Your foot comes down early. It thumps." 00:03:16.367 --> 00:03:18.643 Hod from upstairs said, "Good." 00:03:18.963 --> 00:03:24.443 The kettle on Six went on again, far up. Then the step came, far down. 00:03:24.763 --> 00:03:27.039 Somebody's coming. Two at a time. 00:03:27.359 --> 00:03:34.604 Hod from upstairs went up the first flight. Almost nothing. A shoe, and a hand on the bannister. 00:03:34.924 --> 00:03:39.475 Hod from upstairs went up the second flight. Almost nothing again. 00:03:39.795 --> 00:03:44.996 Pim ran up behind Hod from upstairs. And behind Pim, the feet came, two at a time. 00:03:45.316 --> 00:03:46.570 Then the top flight. 00:03:46.890 --> 00:03:47.726 Here it comes. 00:03:48.046 --> 00:03:52.922 Pim listened. Tocko said — KA-DRANNG-a-lang-CLONK. That was the rule. 00:03:53.242 --> 00:03:57.793 Hod from upstairs came down on the top landing, all of him at once. 00:03:58.113 --> 00:04:03.779 The whole flight rang. A window shook on Five. Up on the roof, the pigeons all went up. 00:04:04.099 --> 00:04:10.229 And just below Pim, the feet stopped. The feet went to the wall, and stood aside for Pim. 00:04:10.549 --> 00:04:13.150 Somebody stopped. Two at the wall. 00:04:13.470 --> 00:04:19.182 So Pim went on up. Nobody went past. Pim got the top landing. Pim got the door. 00:04:19.502 --> 00:04:24.192 Hod from upstairs said, "Right, so. Did you hear that one?" 00:04:24.512 --> 00:04:26.648 Up the stairs to the landing at the top. 00:04:27.268 --> 00:04:30.705 Get there first, and hold the door. Do not stop. 00:04:31.325 --> 00:04:34.454 Hall. Green door. Roof. 00:04:34.774 --> 00:04:38.443 Which one is short — the top flight, or the bottom one? 00:04:38.763 --> 00:04:41.874 Ah. The top one, by one stair. 00:04:42.194 --> 00:04:44.934 Pim heard the whole of it again, backwards. 00:04:45.254 --> 00:04:52.452 KA-DRANNG-a-lang-CLONK. Hod from upstairs, all of him at once. The feet stopped below Pim, and went to the wall. 00:04:52.772 --> 00:04:58.113 FWUMP. No stair under Pim's foot, and Pim sat down hard. 00:04:58.433 --> 00:05:03.263 tud-TUD, tud-TUD past the green door. Nobody had the door. 00:05:03.583 --> 00:05:07.530 One pair of feet, and one thump, and one crash. 00:05:07.850 --> 00:05:11.426 Pim, and Hod, and Pim's mum, and Tocko. 00:05:11.746 --> 00:05:14.114 Short flight. Early foot. 00:05:14.434 --> 00:05:18.871 Hall. Green door. Roof. Home. 00:05:19.191 --> 00:05:25.460 Pim stood on the top landing, with her hand flat on the roof door. The door was open, because Pim held it. 00:05:25.780 --> 00:05:34.186 Hod from upstairs came through it with the bag. The sheet came too. Last of all, the feet came past Pim, and out on the roof. 00:05:34.506 --> 00:05:41.286 Then the sheet went up on the line. Down in Tocko, somebody turned a tap off, and the tank gulped twice. 00:05:41.606 --> 00:05:45.832 Hod from upstairs said, "I am the loudest, and I got you that door." 00:05:46.152 --> 00:05:48.985 Pim said, "You are. You got me the door." 00:05:49.305 --> 00:05:53.113 Up on the roof, Pim said, "This one is for the kettle on Six." 00:05:53.433 --> 00:05:57.520 And Pim said, "They clicked the kettle off, and I heard the step come." 00:05:57.840 --> 00:05:59.976 Up the stairs to the landing at the top. 00:06:00.596 --> 00:06:04.033 Get there first, and hold the door. Do not stop. 00:06:04.653 --> 00:06:10.179 Then down the stairs. Pim put the brass disc up on the board, and back up to Number Three. 00:06:10.499 --> 00:06:14.261 Roof, green door, hall — and home. 00:06:14.581 --> 00:06:18.157 Pim, and Hod, and Pim's mum, and Tocko. 00:06:18.477 --> 00:06:22.378 Which one made the crash — Hod from upstairs, or Pim? 00:06:22.698 --> 00:06:26.692 Ah. Hod from upstairs, and the landing shook. 00:06:27.012 --> 00:06:30.866 Two taps, and Tocko tapped back. Tock, tock.