The Swallows' Flight by Hilary McKay

Author:Hilary McKay [McKay, Hilary]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Pan Macmillan

EIGHTEEN

Ruby

Plymouth, Autumn 1939

Once they had begun, Ruby and her mother continued searching the newspapers for information about what was happening in the outside world. They quickly discovered that the more they read, the less they seemed to know. ‘Where’s Poland?’ Ruby asked. ‘What’s it got to do with Germany? How can there be battles in Russia? I thought it was all snow.’

‘Russia’s east,’ said Violet. ‘Poland’s . . . I don’t know one thing about Poland,’ she admitted. ‘We’d better go to the library.’

The library was a great help, and so was the librarian. All that spring and summer she’d found answers to their questions. Nothing ever dismayed her. When Ruby read from her latest list of things she didn’t understand: ‘Why do Americans speak English? Why did my dad fight Germany in France? How do ships not sink when they’re made of metal? What’s the Treaty of Versailles and is Russia all snow?’ the librarian said calmly, ‘I’ll show you where to look.’

A film called The Wizard of Oz came out. Ruby and Violet went to see it. It was shown with a newsreel. Hitler, making a speech to thousands of people.

‘How can anybody listen to him?’ asked Ruby. ‘He’s madder than the Tin Man. He’s madder than the Scarecrow. He’s madder than the Wicked Witch, he’s madder than that tornado. If he behaved like that round here they’d chuck him in the docks to calm him down.’

‘That’s just what we’ll do if he turns up on our street,’ said Violet cheerfully.

‘The librarian said he needs someone to stand up to him,’ said Ruby.

‘The sooner the better,’ agreed Violet. ‘Poor Will’s bored stiff.’

Ruby knew that all too well. They had just had another visit. Will had stayed two days, checked behind the clock, ridiculed the library books, said of course he knew where Poland was, the Treaty of Versailles was boring, ships didn’t sink because their engines kept them up, stupid, just the same as aeroplanes, and everyone knew that Russia was all snow.

‘It isn’t!’ Ruby had exclaimed. ‘You should look at this library book, and what about sailing ships that don’t have engines?’

Will had replied that she should stop trying to be so clever, sailing ships were made of wood, and had she realized that when the war came all the kids would be sent away from Plymouth, including her.

‘Good riddance,’ Will had finished.

Then September had arrived, Britain was at war with Germany, and to Ruby’s surprise her mother and Mrs Cohen, instead of saying, ‘Good, just what we wanted,’ had looked at each other with sober faces.

‘Sooner it’s begun, sooner it’s done,’ said Violet, at last.

‘I think your Will will be too young to be sent overseas,’ said Mrs Cohen hopefully, but she was wrong. Suddenly Will was on his way to France. He sailed as part of the BEF, the British Expeditionary Force in Europe, laden with baggage which included an emergency kit provided by his anxious mother. Violet had put so much thought and effort

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