Josie Under Fire Read Online Free PDF

while Edith, still laughing, tried to entice the cat out again.
    “Edith!” her mother remonstrated. “Leave Biddy where she is.”
    “That cat doesn’t like me,” said Edith.
    “I’m not surprised. You only bother with her when she doesn’t want you – and you forget to feed her. Why don’t you and Josie find a quiet game to play?”
    Yes, thought Josie. Something that will keep us away from the grown-ups. Aunty Grace obviously hadn’t told her neighbours about Ted, but now, when they could all be here together for several hours, the two women would be sure to talk about their families. Mrs. Prescott might ask about Ted, and Josie knew that Aunty Grace would not tell a lie.
    But at first, as Edith rummaged among the games, the adults talked about Miss Rutherford.
    “I do admire her,” said Josie’s aunt. “She works so hard. She’s in that office in Whitehall all day; then she takes on the warden’s post in the evening.”
    “She’s a very committed person,” agreed Mrs. Prescott.
    The whistle of a descending bomb sounded overhead and Aunty Grace looked up sharply and exclaimed, “Edith! Girls! Come here!”
    They all huddled close together as the crash came, somewhere nearby. Josie felt the walls shaking. Perhaps the whole house was shaking. It was an old house. She imagined the ancient timbers giving way, the floors falling through, the way she’d seen them sometimes in other houses after a night’s bombing: buildings collapsed in on themselves, reduced to a pile of wood and bricks. I wish Mummy was here, she thought; then I wouldn’t have to pretend I’m not scared.
    “It’s not as near as it sounds,” said Aunty Grace.
    Mr. Prescott agreed. “Belgravia, I’d say.”
    “Battersea caught it last night,” said his wife. “Miss Rutherford was telling us.”
    They heard the guns start up.
    “Those are ours.”
    They had all become expert at interpreting the sounds. When you could put a name to what was happening, Josie thought, you didn’t feel quite so defenceless.
    The guns went quiet again, and Edith drew Josie away and showed her the packs of cards and puzzle books in the cupboard. They played Blackout! and Old Maid , and then Snap .
    As they slapped down the cards Josie half listened to the adults’ conversation. Don’t mention Ted, she silently begged her aunt. Don’t let all that trouble follow me here.
    “ Snap! ” Edith grinned at her. “You weren’t paying attention!”

Chapter Six

    Bad Company
    The next day Edith and Josie went off early to school, eager to find signs of the previous night’s bombing and to look for shrapnel. There was nothing nearby, but when they reached Pimlico Road they saw that a bomb had fallen in Elm Walk. The pavement was the usual mess of broken glass and brick debris, and the smell of cordite hung on the air. People were sweeping footpaths and pavements as if the glass were autumn leaves.
    Josie spotted the tailfin of an incendiary bomb and picked it up.
    “Oh! That’s good!” Edith scuffed around with her shoe, hoping for another souvenir. There were some bits of metal, but they were too large and jagged to take to school. “They’ll be gone by the time we get back,” she said.
    An air-raid warden came and shooed them away. “You girls should be at school!”
    Reluctantly they left and walked to Norton Terrace and into school. The girls there were all in a state of excitement about last night’s raid. One of them came from Elm Walk; and there had been another bomb in Belgravia, where some of the others lived. There were stories of windows blown in, dogs gone missing, incendiaries put out with a stirrup pump, shrapnel found next morning. Before Christmas the bombers had come every night, but this was the first raid for a week or so and everyone was talking about it.
    They filed into the hall for Assembly. Miss Gregory, the headmistress, led the prayers. She told the girls to think of their fathers, uncles and brothers serving abroad,