The Farmer's Daughter Read Online Free PDF Page B

in the towns.’ She paused, musing. ‘On the other hand townspeople are nearer the shops and can get to them quickly when word gets round there’s something new in that’s not on ration. By the time we’ve tidied ourselves up and caught the bus to town, it’s all gone.’
    â€˜I suppose it is the same for us. Heidi wrote about long lines of people waiting for the shops to open.’
    â€˜Heidi is your fiancée, is she?’
    â€˜Yes. I proposed when I was called up. We planned to marry when I went on leave the next time, but it was not possible. I have not heard from her in over a year.’
    â€˜You are allowed to receive letters in the camp?’
    â€˜Yes. They are censored, of course. But I have had no letters since I came here.’
    â€˜Does she know you are in England?’
    â€˜I do not know. I have written to tell her how to write to me, but …’ He shrugged.
    â€˜She lives in Berlin, you said.’
    â€˜Yes, but she comes from Hartsveld, the same as I do. It is a small village, halfway between Berlin and the Polish border. We have known each other all our lives. She was sent to Berlin to work in a factory at the beginning of the war. I am worried about her.’
    â€˜Because of the bombing?’
    â€˜Yes.’
    â€˜I’m sorry. Perhaps you will hear soon. How long have you been here? In England, I mean.’
    â€˜Just over a month. I was captured in Normandy.’
    â€˜There you are then. No time at all. Letters take a long time, I know. We hear from Gordon, not often but we do hear, though we have no idea exactly where he is, everything is done through the Red Cross. I don’t suppose it really matters, a POW camp is a POW camp wherever it is.’
    â€˜Yes, on both sides of the North Sea.’
    â€˜Mum worries about the air raids.’
    â€˜You have not had any near here, have you?’
    â€˜A few aimed at the airfields, but I meant our raids on Germany.’
    â€˜Oh, I see. But I think perhaps your air force knows where the camps are and do not bomb them. Our aeroplanes do not bomb us because they know where we are.’
    â€˜I hadn’t thought of that. How do they know?’
    â€˜I have no doubt there are ways and means of communicating.’
    â€˜Spies, you mean?’
    â€˜Perhaps, but there are neutral countries; Switzerland, Sweden and Portugal have access to the news on both sides and pass it on.’
    â€˜Can’t you find out about your family that way?’
    â€˜No.’ If he knew any more than that, he was obviously not going to tell her. ‘You are very kind to me.’
    â€˜Why wouldn’t I be? You have done me no harm.’
    â€˜Your father does not agree.’
    â€˜That was Hitler, not you personally.’
    He blinked hard. Harsh treatment he could accept, could shrug his shoulders and endure, but kindness touched the core of him and crumbled his defences. He poured more cider from the heavy jug into his mug and drank deeply to cover his embarrassment, then he rose, picked up his scythe and went back to work.
    They finished by the middle of the afternoon. ‘A good day’s work,’ she said. ‘I couldn’t have done it without you, at least, not in the time.’
    They returned to the farm. Leaving Karl to put the scythes away, she fetched the cows into the byre where they knew their own stalls. ‘Watch that one,’ she told him when he joined her. ‘Gertrude’s been known to kick.’
    He patted the cow’s rump and settled himself on the milking stool. ‘Sachte, sachte,’ he murmured to the animal as he put his head into her side and washed her udders before taking them into his hands. ‘You will soon be more comfortable.’
    She watched him finish with Gertrude, measure the milk before pouring it into the churn and begin on the next animal, carefully washing his hands and her teats before starting. There was no