The Young Survivors by Debra Barnes

Author:Debra Barnes [Barnes, Debra]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780715653562
Publisher: Duckworth Books
Published: 2020-07-22T16:00:00+00:00

Georgette

Paris

July 1943

It was easy to pack our things. There wasn’t much to take; one change of clothes each and a toothbrush. Our hairbrush had been burned after they found the head lice. We didn’t need it now anyway. And, oh yes, we had our darling doll Bernadette, packed in Henriette’s case for safekeeping.

Jacqueline said she was really proud of us when she saw how quickly we got ready. She told us to wait in our room until she came to get us. The other children were running noisily down the stairs. I climbed up on the bed to look out of the window and saw a bus driving up the road, stopping outside the building. A group of older children piled on and scrambled to get the best seats. They looked excited, like they were going on an adventure. I couldn’t remember ever having been on a bus. I had been in a car, a train, in a trailer on the back of a bicycle being ridden by Pierre… I started to think of Maman for the first time in a long while. I remembered being in that horrible place with her and then Pierre coming to get Henriette and I. Where was Maman now? I tried desperately to remember her face, but I couldn’t picture it. I was about to ask my sister if she remembered, when Jacqueline came back and told us to make our way downstairs. We didn’t run down the stairs like the older children. We walked carefully, holding on to the handrail as we went. Soon enough we were boarding the bus and leaving the children’s home.

Henriette and I were, naturally, sitting together, but I sat next to the window and as we drove out of Paris I was fascinated by what I could see. The children’s home was on a high point of the city and there was a fantastic view as we drove away.

As we continued on our journey the streets narrowed, and we saw fewer people and buildings until the bus turned off the road, up a gravel driveway and stopped in front of a big house with a walled garden.

We were taken through the gate to our new home. Only some of the children came with us and, most importantly, Henriette, Claude and Jacqueline were with me. And Bernadette, of course.

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.