Great Historical Novels by Fay Weldon

Author:Fay Weldon [Weldon, Fay]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781781855447
Publisher: Head of Zeus
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Trying to lie

Elias was bored. Part of him marvelled at this: how could he be in a city so galvanised into action, yet feel so stultified? On the outskirts of Leningrad, ditches had been dug; in the city, bunkers were being built and guns mounted on rooftops. That morning he’d passed a dozen men digging around the base of a large statue, while others laboured along, ant-like, carrying planks of wood. Were they building a protective wooden shelter for the statue? Did they expect looting — or bombs? Elias, too intimidated to ask, had simply skirted around them and rushed on his way. Already, he felt like a shirker and a fool.

Here he sat, in the familiar low-ceilinged room, listening to his mother’s droning voice, while fear was seeping from the open drains, swamping the marketplaces and the drinking halls. All the same, he felt his face would split from yawning, that his eyes would grow bloodshot from the pressure of his boredom.

‘I’ve always been afraid of June. Everything bad happens in June.’ His mother rocked in her chair, which wasn’t intended for this purpose; its legs thumped unevenly on the floor. ‘Your Uncle Peter died in June, and your Aunt Ester also. Your dear father avoided a June death by a mere twenty-four hours. And now — now we have a June war on our hands!’ She rocked so vigorously at this latest grievance, she nearly toppled backwards.

‘Mother,’ said Elias, ‘I don’t know if it has escaped your notice, but your chair has no rockers.’ And you, he felt like adding, are completely off yours. Did she really believe that Hitler and his Luftwaffe were acting in accordance with her calendar of superstition?

His mother ignored him. ‘I’ve always felt nervous on entering June. I hold my breath until it is over. The trouble started, of course, when they adopted the Gregorian calendar. All that to-ing and fro-ing, mucking about with dates and names. It wasn’t good for stability.’

‘Yes, Mother, let’s blame Lenin. He’s a convenient scapegoat for so many things — why not this mess into the bargain?’

‘Karl! No Russian person can be blamed for this war! How can you say such a thing.’ She looked as if she’d like to scrub out his mouth with soap, just as she had done when he was eight and he’d called his aunt a greedy pig for scoffing the weekly cake ration in one sitting.

‘We have to stop this bickering.’ He took a deep breath. ‘There’s no knowing what the future holds. But, naturally, I’m concerned about you. On my way home from work, I made some enquiries about the new evacuation policy. They say —’ He forced himself to go on. ‘Apparently there may be trains to transport the elderly out of Leningrad as early as next week.’

It was suddenly quiet, so quiet he could hear the cartilage creak in his tired neck. ‘It’s for the best,’ he said. ‘Surely you can see that.’

His mother looked both stricken and mutinous. He got up and tried to put his arms around her.

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