Angel on the Square by Gloria Whelan

Author:Gloria Whelan [Whelan, Gloria]
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

The winter of 1914–15 was the coldest in years. The wounded soldiers who arrived at the Catherine Palace told stories of digging through the snow for a frozen carrot or turnip. Their fingers and toes were frostbitten. I asked myself why I should be warm and comfortable with a full belly when soldiers were suffering and dying. Even Stana no longer had easy answers.

“I wish Papa would find a way to end the war,” she said. It was the closest she had ever come to questioning her father. She sighed. “Mama says we must pray harder, but I pray as hard as I can.”

I prayed for Misha each night and thought of him all day long.

“Mama,” I begged, “can’t you ask the Tsar to find out where Misha is?”

“Katya, there are ten million Russian soldiers. Besides, think how much the Tsar has on his mind.” Yet I saw that Mama was as worried about Misha as I was. She nursed the dying soldiers, afraid that at any moment she might see Misha on one of the stretchers.

When I read in the newspaper that nearly a million Russian soldiers had been taken prisoner, I kept awake at night trying to count to a million. I thought somehow that if I could count each prisoner, and Misha with them, the prisoners would be protected. Often I would stay awake into the early-morning hours, but I only got into the thousands—not enough.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.