A Different World Read Online Free PDF

geraniums. She stopped on the bridge to look backat the city that had been her home all her life. From here she had a good view of the river winding its way northwards and the old town which extended down to the river. By turning a little she could see the Royal Castle, standing proud on its hill despite the bombing.
    How much of it would be left by the time the Germans had finished with it? Already half its buildings were in ruins, its parks dug up to make air raid shelters, furniture and even trolley buses were piled up in the streets to make barricades. Every able-bodied person had been called upon to help dig defence ditches on the western outskirts of the city and they had answered the call in their thousands, digging in the mud and diving for cover whenever a German Stuka flew over and dropped its bombs. Many had died there. What good were trenches against bombers? They bombed indiscriminately: churches, schools, hospitals, people in the countryside tending their fields, nothing and no one was safe. And there was little the Polish air force could do about it; their out-of-date aircraft were no match for the German Messerschmitts and Stukas. Jan was flying with the Polish Air Force and she prayed for his safety.
    She had met Jan Grabowski in 1938 when he came to the hospital with a broken arm after crash-landing his fighter during a foolhardy manoeuvre. He had been disciplined for it, but as he was one of the famous Ko ś ciuszko Squadron’s best pilots, he had been let off with a caution. He was so handsome, so full of energy, so courteous and cheerful, she had fallen for him instantly. Theirs had been a whirlwind romance, which was typical of the way Jan went about his life. With the full approval of both sets of parents they had married the year before and made their home in the Praga district on the right bank of the river. They rented a small apartment on the ground floor of a fairly new block which had acomfortable living room, an adequate kitchen, two bedrooms and a bathroom, which she had taken great pride in furnishing and equipping.
    But they had had little time to enjoy married life because of the cloud of war which would not go away, in spite of the British prime minister’s assurance that he had come to an agreement with Hitler that there would be no more German encroachment of territory. Few in Poland had believed it, but they had believed England and France would instantly come to their aid if they were attacked. The Allies had dithered and then declared war two days after the Germans invaded, but that was all they had done. ‘Did they think that simply declaring war would frighten the Nazis into going home?’ Jan had said. He had been preparing to leave at the time. Their airfield had been so badly bombed and so many aircraft destroyed on the ground, the remnants had been ordered to scatter to temporary airfields all over Poland. She had not heard from him for some time and was not sure where he was.
    German tanks and big guns were coming ever closer to the capital, though according to the news bulletins they listened to every day, a counteroffensive had been launched and was holding them back. But for how long? Already people were fleeing in droves, using whatever transport they could find, cars, vans, handcarts, bicycles and prams, most making for Romania. Some had taken to the river in pleasure boats and were hoping to reach Gdansk and ships to take them to safety. She wanted her parents to go but they had flatly refused and were practically living in the cellar of their home on Jasna Street. She worried about them. Perhaps she ought to stay with them. If the bridges were destroyed, she would have trouble getting to the hospital; it would be better to stay on the same side of the river.
    She let herself into the apartment, hurried to have a bath andscramble back into her uniform, donning a clean apron and cap. Then she packed a small bag, tied her cloak about her shoulders and was about to leave