The House by the Fjord Read Online Free PDF Page A

wall at the side of the shop and some were in sacks, which, with a sense of shock, Anna saw were stamped with large swastikas. Immediately, Molly noticed her reaction.
    â€˜I know the sight of those swastikas makes your blood run cold,’ she said, ‘but the sacks are being used simply because there are no new ones available yet. So many things left by the Nazis are filling gaps in the meantime.’ Then she nodded in the direction of a parked truckload of soldiers in greyish uniforms that they were passing. ‘You’ll have to get used to seeing them too.’
    Anna gasped, twisting around in her seat to look at them again through the rear window. ‘They’re German soldiers!’
    â€˜Yes, they and others of them are awaiting repatriation. In the meantime they work on the airfield.’
    â€˜But surely they should have been sent back to their homeland by now!’ she queried.
    Molly spoke patiently. ‘Don’t forget that Hitler had fifty-seven thousand men under arms in Norway when the war in Europe ended, all because he thought the Allies would invade here. Once, he had five hundred thousand men here until so many more troops were needed on the Russian front. It is taking time to get those here home again.’
    Anna thought how gloomy the prisoners looked, packed together in the back of the truck, but it was natural that they should be yearning for their homeland and to see their loved ones. She despaired again at the futility of war, although this time there had been no choice but to take up the fight for freedom against a horrific regime.
    Olav drew up outside one of the cabins located near the gates of the airfield. Molly jumped out and led the way indoors.
    â€˜It’s small and the furniture is what the Germans left behind, but it is home for the time being.’ She was standing in the middle of the little sitting room with her arms outflung. ‘Do you like my décor? I queued for over three hours to buy this cretonne in an Oslo shop. It was the first stock that had arrived in months.’
    â€˜Yes, I like it,’ Anna answered honestly. The material was bright and cheerful with a design of multicoloured flowers that showed up well against the white-painted panelled walls. There was just rather a lot of it, for Molly had covered cushions, chair seats and a sofa, as well making it into curtains.
    Viewing the cabin took only a matter of minutes. There was a tiny kitchen, and the two bedrooms were narrow and cramped. Anna’s room had a single bed and a wall cupboard where once a German uniform would have been housed. There were two single beds pushed together in Molly and Olav’s room with the same standard wall cupboard and a stack of boxes that were obviously crammed with their possessions. Anna realized immediately that Molly and Olav would have used her room for storage and that, however welcome she was as their guest, she was causing them great inconvenience. At the first chance she would suggest to Molly that it would be best if she could rent accommodation nearby. She knew her friend well enough to know that common sense would prevail and Molly would not take offence at her suggestion.
    By sheer chance, the opportunity to raise the subject came that evening when Molly spoke apologetically again of their quarters being so cramped.
    â€˜What was space aplenty for two German officers mostly on duty is not enough for us!’ she declared. ‘We would apply for an apartment in one of the old houses along the lane, where the rooms are large and there’s plenty of space, but that’s all very old property. There’s no indoor plumbing, except a cold-water tap in some of them, and the loo is always in an outhouse.’
    â€˜But would it be possible for me to rent somewhere if I should decide to stay on for a few months?’ Anna asked casually. She knew that only the possibility of her extending her visit would sway her friend into