Читать книгу Out of the Hitler Time trilogy: When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit, Bombs on Aunt Dainty, A Small Person Far Away - Judith Kerr - Страница 18

The summer wore on and suddenly it was the end of term. On the last day there was a celebration at school with a speech by Herr Graupe, an exhibition of needlework by the girls, a gym display by the boys and much singing and yodelling by everyone. At the end of the afternoon each child was presented with a sausage and a hunk of bread, and they wandered home through the village chewing and laughing and making plans for the next day. The summer holidays had begun.

Max did not finish until a day or two later. At the High School in Zurich the term did not end with yodelling and sausages but with reports. Max brought home his usual quota of comments like, “Does not try” and “Shows no interest”, and he and Anna sat through the usual gloomy lunch while Mama and Papa read them. Mama was particularly disappointed because, while she had got used to Max not trying and showing no interest in Germany, she had somehow hoped it might be different in Switzerland – because Max was clever, only he did not work. But the only difference was that whereas in Germany Max had neglected his work to play football, in Switzerland he neglected it in order to fish, and the results were much the same.

It was amazing, thought Anna, how he went on with his fishing even though he never caught anything. Even the Zwirn children had begun to tease him about it. “Bathing worms again?” they would say as they passed him and he would scowl at them furiously, unable to shout an insult back for fear of disturbing some fish that might just be going to bite.

When Max was not fishing he and Anna and the three Zwirn children swam in the lake and played together or went for walks in the woods. Max got on well with Franz, and Anna had become quite fond of Vreneli. Trudi was only six, but she trailed along behind no matter what the others were doing. Sometimes they were joined by Roesli and once even by the red-haired boy who studiously ignored both Anna and Vreneli and only talked about football to Max.

Then one morning Anna and Max came down to find the Zwirn children playing with a boy and a girl they had never seen before. They were German, about their own ages, and were spending a holiday with their parents at the inn.

“Which part of Germany do you come from?” asked Max.

“Munich,” said the boy.

“We used to live in Berlin,” said Anna.

“Gosh,” said the boy, “Berlin must be marvellous.”

They all played chase together. It had never been much fun before because there had only been four of them – (Trudi did not count because she could not run fast enough and always cried when anyone caught her). But the German children were both very quick on their feet and for the first time the game was really exciting. Vreneli had just caught the German boy, and he caught Anna, so now it was Anna’s turn to catch someone and she chased after the German girl. They raced round and round the courtyard of the inn, doubling back and forth and leaping over things until Anna thought she was just going to catch her – but all at once her path was blocked by a tall thin lady with a disagreeable expression. The lady appeared so suddenly, apparently from nowhere, that Anna was barely able to stop and almost collided with her.

“Sorry,” she said, but the lady did not reply.

“Siegfried!” she called shrilly. “Gudrun! I told you you were not to play with these children!” She grabbed hold of the German girl and pulled her away. The boy followed, but when his mother was not looking he made a funny face at Anna and waved his hands apologetically. Then the three of them disappeared into the inn.

“What a cross woman,” said Vreneli.

“Perhaps she thinks we’re badly brought up,” said Anna.

They tried to go on playing chase without the German children, but it was no good and ended in the usual shambles, with Trudi in tears because she had been caught.

Anna did not see the German children again until the late afternoon. They must have been shopping in Zurich for they were each carrying a parcel and their mother had several large ones. As they were about to go into the inn Anna thought this was her chance to show that she was not badly brought up. She leapt forward and opened the door for them.

But the German lady did not seem at all pleased. “Gudrun! Siegfried!” she said and pushed her children quickly inside. Then, with a sour expression and keeping as far away from Anna as possible, she squeezed past herself. It was difficult because of the parcels which nearly stuck in the doorway, but at last she was through and disappeared. With never a word of thanks thought Anna – the German lady was badly brought up herself!

The next day she and Max had arranged to go up into the woods with the Zwirn children, and the day after that it rained, and the day after that Mama took them to Zurich to buy them some socks – so they did not see the German children. But after breakfast on the following morning when Anna and Max went out into the yard, there they were again playing with the Zwirns. Anna rushed up to them.

“Shall we have a game of chase?” she said.

“No,” said Vreneli, looking rather pink. “And anyway you can’t play.”

Anna was so surprised that for a moment she could think of nothing to say. Was Vreneli upset about the red-haired boy again? But she hadn’t seen him for ages.

“Why can’t Anna play?” asked Max.

Franz was as embarrassed as his sister.

“Neither of you can,” he said and indicated the German children. “They say they’re not allowed to play with you.”

The German children had clearly not only been forbidden to play but even to talk to them, for the boy looked as though he wanted to say something. But in the end he only made his funny apologetic face and shrugged.

Anna and Max looked at each other. They had never met such a situation before. Then Trudi who had been listening suddenly sang out, “Anna and Max can’t play! Anna and Max can’t play!”

“Oh, shut up!” said Franz. “Come on!” and he and Vreneli ran off towards the lake with the German children following. For a moment Trudi was taken aback. Then she sang out one last defiant “Anna and Max can’t play!” and scampered after them on her short legs.

Anna and Max were left standing.

“Why aren’t they allowed to play with us?” asked Anna, but Max didn’t know either. There seemed nothing to do but wander back to the dining room where Mama and Papa were still finishing breakfast.

“I thought you were playing with Franz and Vreneli,” said Mama.

Max explained what had happened.

“That’s very odd,” said Mama.

“Perhaps you could speak to the mother,” said Anna. She had just noticed the German lady and a man who must be her husband sitting at a table in the corner.

“I certainly will,” said Mama.

Just then the German lady and her husband got up to leave the dining room and Mama went to intercept them. They met too far away for Anna to hear what they said, but Mama had only spoken a few words when the German lady answered something which caused Mama to flush with anger. The German lady said something more and made as though to move off. But Mama grabbed her arm.

“Oh no, it isn’t!” shouted Mama in a voice which echoed right across the dining room. “It’s not the end of it at all!” Then she turned on her heel and marched back to the table while the German lady and her husband went out looking down their noses.

“The whole room could hear you,” said Papa crossly as Mama sat down. He hated scenes.

“Good!” said Mama in such ringing tones that Papa whispered “Ssssh!” and made calming motions with his hands. Trying to speak quietly made Mama angrier than ever and she could hardly get the words out.

“They’re Nazis,” she said at last. “They’ve forbidden their children to play with ours because our children are Jewish!” Her voice rose higher in indignation. “And you want me to keep my voice down!” she shouted so that an old lady still finishing breakfast was startled into almost spilling her coffee.

Papa’s mouth tightened. “I would not dream of allowing Anna and Max to play with the children of Nazis,” he said, “so there is no difficulty.”

“But what about Vreneli and Franz?” asked Max. “It means that if they’re playing with the German children they can’t play with us.”

“I think Vreneli and Franz will have to decide who their friends are,” said Papa. “Swiss neutrality is all very well, but it can be taken too far.” He got up from the table. “I’ll have a word with their father now.”

A little while later Papa returned. He had told Herr Zwirn that his children must choose whether they wished to play with Anna and Max or with the German visitors. They could not play with both. Papa had asked them not to decide in a hurry but to let him know that evening.

“I suppose they’ll choose us,” said Max. “After all we’ll be here long after those other children have gone.”

But it was difficult to know what to do with the rest of the day. Max went down to the lake with his fishing rod and his worms and his bits of bread. Anna could not settle to anything. At last she decided to write a poem about an avalanche which engulfed an entire city, but it did not turn out very well. When she came to do the illustration she was so bored at the thought of making it all white that she gave up. Max, as usual caught no fish, and by mid-afternoon they were both so depressed that Mama gave them half a franc to buy themselves some chocolate – although she had previously said it was too expensive.

On their way back from the sweet-shop they caught a glimpse of Vreneli and Franz talking earnestly in the doorway of the inn and walked past self-consciously, looking straight ahead. This made them feel worse than ever.

Then Max went back to his fishing and Anna decided to go for a bathe, to try and salvage something from the day. She floated on her back which she had only just learned to do, but it did not cheer her up. It all seemed so silly. Why couldn’t she and Max and the Zwirns and the German children all play together? Why did they have to have all this business of decisions and taking sides?

Suddenly there was a splash in the water beside her. It was Vreneli. Her long thin plaits were tied in a knot on top of her head so as not to get wet and her long thin face looked pinker and more worried than ever.

“I’m sorry about this morning,” said Vreneli breathlessly. “We’ve decided we’d rather play with you even if it does mean that we can’t play with Siegfried and Gudrun.”

Then Franz appeared on the bank. “Hello, Max!” he shouted. “Worms enjoying their swim?”

“I’d have caught a great big fish just then,” said Max, “if you hadn’t frightened it away.” But he was very pleased just the same.

At supper that evening Anna saw the German children for the last time. They were sitting stiffly in the dining room with their parents. Their mother was talking to them quietly and insistently, and even the boy never turned round once to look at Anna and Max. At the end of the meal he walked right past their table as though he could not see them.

The whole family left the next morning.

“I’m afraid we’ve lost Herr Zwirn some customers,” said Papa.

Mama was triumphant.

“But it seems such a pity,” said Anna. “I’m sure that boy really liked us.”

Max shook his head. “He didn’t like us any more at the end,” he said. “Not by the time his mother had finished with him.”

It was true, thought Anna. She wondered what the German boy was thinking now, what his mother had told him about her and Max, and what he would be like when he grew up.