A Different World Read Online Free PDF Page A

the noise and laughter so much she didn’t even notice her glass had been refilled. As she went up to bed that night, she was smiling.
    It seemed her head had only just hit the pillow when she waswoken by a loud rumbling which turned out to be thunder. She went to the window and drew back the curtains. Outside, lightning lit the sky, followed almost immediately by rolls of thunder. And the rain was lashing down, drenching the garden and the empty car park.
    ‘A fitting end to my first day in the country,’ she murmured before going back to bed.
     
    The next morning the rain had gone and the sun was shining. She took Tommy and Beattie to church and it was there that she learnt Mr Chamberlain’s efforts to avert war had come to nothing. The Reverend Mr Capstick told his congregation the news after he had finished his sermon. ‘It is war,’ he said, then offered a prayer for all those involved before giving the final blessing. Afterwards, as he stood in the porch shaking hands with everyone and discussing the situation, Louise introduced herself, knowing her father would expect her to do so. He would be bound to quiz her on what manner of man the incumbent was and his style of delivery. It was very different from her father’s, being gentler, more tolerant; there was nothing of the fire and brimstone that characterised her father’s sermons. He was younger, of course, not much older than she was, fresh-faced and smiling.
    ‘I am very pleased to meet you, Miss Fairhurst,’ he said. ‘The village school is a Church of England school and I go there once a week to teach the Gospel to the whole school. I hope your children will join us.’
    Louise explained about the arrangements for sharing which meant the London children would not be at the school as the same time as the village children. ‘Some of them are Catholic,’ she said. ‘And I have one or two who are Jews.’
    ‘No matter, my lessons are meant for all. I do not differentiate,but I leave it to you if you feel some should be excused. When you’re settled, I’ll make arrangements to come to your class separately. That is, if you agree.’
    ‘Yes, of course, always supposing we are not moved again.’
    ‘I do not think that is likely to happen in the near future, do you?’
    ‘No. It is all very worrying. I feel so responsible. I don’t want to let the children and the school down. I’ve only been teaching a year or two and am still groping my way.’
    His smile was engaging. ‘I am sure you will manage admirably, Miss Fairhurst.’
    She hoped and prayed she would. Her life up to then, protected and dominated as she had been, was not the best grounding for the task ahead of her. But she was not the only one to be asked to step outside the comfort of the familiar. Every single person, man, woman or child, young or old, was going to have to adapt if this war was to be won.

Chapter Two
    Rulka was filthy and exhausted. The daughter of a doctor and a nurse, she had never considered doing anything else but nursing, but never in her worst nightmare had she envisioned this horror of death and destruction. There had been so many casualties brought to hospital where she worked – torn and broken limbs, appalling burns, smashed faces – it was impossible to keep up with them. She had stayed on duty well over her allotted time but Lech Andersz, the doctor under whom she worked, had seen her exhaustion and sent her home. ‘Stay away at least twenty-four hours,’ he had said. ‘And get some sleep.’
    Realising he was right and she could not go on without rest, she left the hospital and picked her way over the rubble, making for the Ś l ą sko-D ą browski Bridge over the Vistula and her apartment in Zabowski Street. Warsaw had been known as the Paris of the East, with its wide boulevards, its beautiful parks where people went to enjoy the tranquillity, its shops, ancient churches and magnificent mansions whose window boxes in summer had been vibrant with