Song of the Skylark by Erica James

Author:Erica James [James, Erica]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Orion Publishing Group
Published: 2016-02-02T23:00:00+00:00

Chapter Thirty-Five

August 1939, Shillingbury Grange, Suffolk

The days and weeks passed and before Clarissa knew it, it was August and she’d been at Shillingbury Grange for three months. Somehow they had all adapted in their different ways to the changes thrust upon them. Some days were easier than others, and it felt as though the household had never known any other routine.

The days Clarissa found difficult were those when tempers and frustrations flared. Like the day when Thomas had come home from school and angrily shut himself away in his room and refused to come out. With gentle encouragement, from both Clarissa and Walter, he had eventually opened the door and, with eyes brimming with tears, he had told her in faltering English of the taunts he’d received at school that day. Clarissa dealt with it swiftly the next morning by speaking to Mrs Russell. The thought that Thomas had escaped persecution in Germany only to be treated badly here in England incensed Clarissa. She had known from reading the newspapers that there were plenty in England who were pro-Fascism and anti-Semitic, just as there were people in America who were equally blinkered, but she’d be damned if she would stand back and do nothing about it. To her credit, Mrs Russell dealt with the matter firmly and threatened dire punishment to anybody who indulged in name-calling, whatever the reason. It transpired that the taunts had been as a result of Thomas coming top for the third time running in an arithmetic test. He was obviously a bright child of above average intelligence and that, of course, made any child a target, irrespective of culture or nationality.

But today, as the hot summer continued and with the school holidays still stretching languidly ahead of them, there were no angry tears of frustration to deal with. Today the garden echoed to the sound of what any observer might think was an ordinary family having fun. At lunch Charles had deemed it essential that Thomas and Walter should be taught to play the game of cricket, and now, while Clarissa and Lavinia watched from the terrace where they were shelling peas they had picked from the vegetable garden, she listened attentively to the instructions being given. She was as much in the dark as the children when it came to the rules, and knew that to compare the game to baseball would infuriate her grandfather. She had fond memories of her parents each extolling the merits of the game with which they had grown up.

‘This is what will make you truly English,’ Charles told them sternly as he handed Walter a bat and Thomas a ball. ‘Master this and you’ll have no trouble living in this country.’

Clarissa could see that teaching the boys to play, and all from his wheelchair, brought out a new side to Charles; it was one of those rare moments when she saw him truly involved in something and enjoying himself.

‘He always hoped he’d have a son to play cricket

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