CHAPTER 30
New beginning
KEZZIE NOTICED A big improvement in Michael’s health within a few days of his move to the manor house. Lady Fitzwilliam and Lucy completely spoiled him with their constant attention. There were fresh flowers in his room each day, his newspaper arrived first in the morning, and he had every little treat that was obtainable, on or off the ration.
‘Bread with butter!’ Kezzie exclaimed one evening, when she called in to see him on her way out to start a late shift at the hospital. She snatched the sandwich from his plate and ate a piece of it.
Michael reached over and grabbed her hand. He pulled her towards him and she was surprised at the strength in his arms.
‘We’re getting you up out of that bed tomorrow,’ she declared as she struggled free. ‘I think you are malingering.’
He watched her as she peered in his shaving mirror and tidied her hair. ‘I love you,’ he said.
She turned and looked into his eyes. ‘I know,’ she replied.
In the hospital the casualties kept coming. Meanwhile, in the Soviet Union the Russians were defending Stalingrad street by street, and house by house. In a dreadful war of attrition, they managed to regain at night what the Germans, with their superior fire-power, captured during the day. Driven right to the banks of the River Don the Soviet forces hung on determinedly, fighting hand to hand.
‘If they can even delay Hitler a few more weeks,’ said Lady Fitzwilliam, ‘then he may find, as Napoleon did, that the Russian “General Winter” is an opponent that cannot be beaten.’
In the Western Desert the Eighth Army trained its newly arrived replacement troops in desert warfare. Exercises in breaching minefields and digging in; advancing under cover of their own artillery fire, and then rushing enemy positions, were practised intensively.
One morning when Michael had managed to get downstairs and they were sitting reading quietly and listening to the radio, it was time for the news bulletin. Lady Fitzwilliam rose to turn the sound up. She glanced out of the front window as she passed by.
‘Dear God,’ she said.
Kezzie hurried to her side and looked out. There was a helmeted policeman cycling slowly up the driveway.
Lady Fitzwilliam bowed her head and gripped the curtain. Kezzie thought she was going to fall down. They heard the bell at the front door jangling and Samuel crossing the hall to answer it.
‘Please, Kezzie,’ whispered Lady Fitzwilliam. ‘Will you go and take the telegram? I cannot deal with it at present.’
Kezzie went out of the room. Samuel was standing by the open door, turning the flat yellow envelope over and over in his hand. He looked up as Kezzie approached him.
‘This will kill her,’ he said. And as he spoke, Kezzie saw that the old man was crying.
Kezzie closed the door and tore open the envelope. She unfolded the thick paper and read the typewritten message …
And read it again.
She grabbed Samuel’s arm and dragging him with her she ran back to the sitting room. Lady Fitzwilliam was still holding on to the curtain, staring out beyond the lawn and the trees, her eyes wide and unseeing.
Kezzie held up the telegram. She could hardly read the words.
‘It is a message from the International Red Cross,’ she said. ‘William is safe in the German Military hospital at St Omer in France. Injured but well. Do you hear me?’ she cried out. ‘William is alive! He is alive!’
She burst into tears and Samuel hurried forward as Lady Fitzwilliam slumped to the floor.
It was Lucy who organised them, making tea and spreading slices of bread with a thin smear of jam. Lady Fitzwilliam unlocked a small cupboard at the side of the fireplace. She brought out a bottle of brandy.
‘I was keeping this to celebrate the end of the war when it came,’ she said. ‘Michael, I would like you to open it just now.’
After everyone had retired for the night Lady Fitzwilliam sat down at her desk and taking a pen she began to write.
‘My dearest, dearest son …’
That night, for the first time in many months, she slept through till the dawn.
‘There is hope,’ she told Kezzie the next day. ‘You were right, my dear. One should never give up.’
Joe seemed to think so too. ‘Hitler can’t win now,’ he said. ‘It may take a coupla years, but he’s beat. And this time we’re really gonna fix it so that it doesn’t happen again.’
And it appeared to Kezzie that there was hope in many other aspects of life for ordinary people. The Butler proposals and Beveridge Report, dealing with reforms in education and health care would lead the way to a complete change in society. A Welfare State would be created which would abolish want, with insurance against old age and unemployment. There would be family allowances and free medical treatment for all.
The war news was also full of promise for the spring. In Russia two relief columns reached the River Don and pushed the invaders back onto the steppes. Within days it became a rout. Two weeks later, in order to save his men from starvation and in direct disobedience of Hitler’s orders, the German Commander surrendered to the Red Army.
And at El Alamein Field Marshal Montgomery made his move. Under a blanket of heavy artillery fire the Eighth Army advanced and broke through Rommel’s front line. The Germans retreated as the Allies recaptured Tobruk and pursued the Afrika Korps over a thousand miles of desert. Tripoli was taken and there was a ‘Victory Parade’, the very first of the war for Allied troops.
Michael and Kezzie were walking in the walled garden at the side of the house. He was very slow, and she became quite concerned at his leaning on her so much.
‘You’re tired,’ she said.
‘No.’ He grinned at her. ‘I like walking with my arm around you. And you have to take pity on a poor wounded soldier. Don’t you now?’
She reached up and tugged his hair, then led him to a wooden bench where they sat down together.
‘I’ll report you to Joe, if you misbehave,’ she said.
‘Joe,’ he repeated. He looked at her directly. ‘He’s very fond of you. Do you like him a lot?’
‘Yes,’ said Kezzie. ‘And I like William too, and Ricardo, and lots of other people.’
‘We haven’t seen each other for such a long time,’ said Michael. ‘I often wondered if you’d forgotten me.’ He waited a moment. ‘Or perhaps, there would be someone else who was special.’
Kezzie turned and faced him. ‘There was no one else,’ she said. ‘From the very beginning there was no one else. I loved you at that first moment, when I set eyes on you, at harvest-time at Stonevale. And I’ve never stopped.’
They held on to each other for a long moment.
‘Can we work out some kind of future?’ he asked her.
‘I’ve had a letter from a teaching hospital, offering me a place,’ said Kezzie, ‘and a chance to take the university entrance exams for medicine next year.’
‘I can get some kind of desk job,’ said Michael. ‘It’s not great, but I could support you while you study.’
‘You wouldn’t mind that?’ she asked.
‘Why should I?’ he said. ‘I’d have my own private doctor to take care of me.’ He gave her a sidelong glance. ‘Your pay might not be so good, but there would be other compensations.’
Kezzie helped him to his feet. Churchill’s latest speech seemed appropriate somehow. The two of them now would go together towards their ‘new beginning’. The recent victory had been declared a day of national rejoicing. Now that there was no fear of invasion it meant that church bells could be rung to celebrate the news, to announce the surge towards the end of the war and peace.
She and Michael began to walk towards the house when she drew him to a halt.
‘Listen,’ said Kezzie. ‘Listen.’
A sound echoed on the clear still air. It was the peal of bells. And they were ringing out from every church and steeple in the land.
ABOUT THERESA BRESLIN
&
nbsp; Theresa Breslin is a critically acclaimed, multi-award-winning Scottish author. She is hugely popular with young people, librarians and teachers. She was awarded the Carnegie Medal for Whispers in the Graveyard, The Dream Master was shortlisted for the Children’s Book Award, Prisoner of the Inquisition was shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal and The Medici Seal was shortlisted for the Book Trust Teen Prize.
Theresa lives in Glasgow.
Also by Theresa Breslin
PRISONER OF THE INQUISITION
A gripping tale of fire, fury, love and revenge, set during the Spanish Inquisition.
‘Unputdownable’ The Times
THE NOSTRADAMUS PROPHECY
A dramatic adventure story set in sixteenth century France.
‘Terrific novel … enormously enjoyable’ Guardian
THE MEDICI SEAL
A gloriously rich and authentic story set in Italy in 1502.
‘A superb historical thriller … an enchanting novel about genius, and a gift to an enquiring mind’ The Times
REMEMBRANCE
An epic tale of young lives altered by World War One.
‘Immensely readable, passionately written’ Guardian
SASKIA’S JOURNEY
A haunting tale of self-discovery.
‘Mesmerizing … truly memorable’ The Bookseller
DIVIDED CITY
Two young rival football supporters are caught up in an attack on an asylum seeker.
‘A cracking good read … this is a book with far-reaching appeal and universal themes that will encourage young readers to challenge bigotry’ Guardian
For junior readers:
THE DREAM MASTER
DREAM MASTER NIGHTMARE!
DREAM MASTER GLADIATOR
DREAM MASTER ARABIAN NIGHTS
For more information about Theresa Breslin’s books, visit: www.theresabreslin.co.uk
REMEMBRANCE
Summer 1915, and the sound of the guns at the Western Front can be heard across the Channel in England.
Throughout Britain, local regiments are recruiting for Kitchener’s Army. And in the village of Stratharden, the Great War is to alter irrevocably the course of five young lives …
‘An immensely readable, passionately written epic’ Guardian
DIVIDED CITY
A young man lies bleeding in the street. It’s Glasgow. And it’s May - the marching season. The Orange Walks have begun.
Graham doesn’t want to be involved. He just wants to play football with his new mate, Joe. But then he witnesses a shocking moment of violence …
A gripping tale about two boys who must find their own answers - and their own way forward - in a world divided by differences.
WINNER OF THE CATALYST BOOK AWARD AND THE RED BOOK AWARD
‘A cracking good read’ Guardian
SASKIA’S JOURNEY
I know this place …
Why does Saskia feel so disturbed when she goes to spend a few weeks with her reclusive great-aunt Alessandra up on the Scottish coast? Why does she feel such a sense of menace around Alessandra’s house when she has never been there before?
Just as the sea may give up its bounty, will Alessandra reveal the secrets and tragedies of their family’s past?
‘Haunting … truly memorable’ The Bookseller
THE MEDICI SEAL
Italy, 1502
Fleeing from the murderous brigand Sandino, the boy Matteo is rescued from drowning by the companions of Leonardo da Vinci, and taken into his household. And so Matteo is at the Maestro’s side as he carries out his work.
But, Leonardo da Vinci is employed by the cruel and ruthless Cesare Borgia. And Matteo carries with him a secret that both the Borgia and the Medici families would kill to obtain.
‘A superb historical thriller’ The Times
THE NOSTRADAMUS PROPHECY
1564. Nostradamus predicts death in the royal court. But not everyone is prepared to take heed …
Melisande, daughter of the king’s minstrel, pays little heed to the dire warnings of Nostradamus. But when misfortune befalls Melisande’s family and she realises that it was predicted by Nostradamus, she turns to the soothsayer for help. Upon his death, he leaves Melisande with some papers which hold the secret of the royal line of France. It is up to her to help fulfil his final prophecy, but will she have the courage to do so?
‘Terrific … enormously enjoyable’ Guardian
PRISONER OF THE INQUISITION
The flames began to rise around her …
Zarita, only daughter of the town magistrate, lives a life of wealth and privilege. Saulo, son of a beggar, witnesses his father wrongfully arrested and brutally dealt with. Hauled off to be a slave at sea, he swears vengeance on the magistrate and his family.
When cruel agents of the Inquisition arrive in Zarita’s town, they bring suspicion, terror and death. Then, amid the intrigues of the royal court, Zarita and Saulo meet once more, to face final acts of betrayal and revenge.
‘Breslin’s suspenseful story held me in its grip’ Guardian
HITLER’S CANARY
BY SANDI TOKSVIG
Bamse is used to drama: his mother is a famous actress, and his best friend Anton is one of the most daring boys in Denmark. When the German troops invade, Bamse doesn’t know how to act: should he stay out of trouble, or follow his brother into the resistance and take the most demanding role of his life?
A tale of daring rescue inspired by the experiences of Sandi Toksvig’s father during the Second World War.
‘An extraordinary story … truly life-affirming’ Michael Morpurgo
SELINA PENALUNA
BY JAN PAGE
Dropped as a baby into a deep pool on the Cornish shore, Selina Penaluna emerges a different child – a mermaid changeling – and is forever drawn to the sea.
Ellen and Jack are twins, evacuated to Cornwall at the start of the war. Soon, Jack finds freedom in the arms of the mysterious fisherman’s daughter whose wild beauty turns every man’s head.
Selina’s siren song has Jack captivated – but leaves Ellen cold with jealousy. Can the young lovers find solace and build a new life together?
A spellbinding novel full of passion and tragedy that will enchant older readers.
KEZZIE AT WAR
AN RHCB DIGITAL EBOOK 978 1 446 47990 2
Published in Great Britain by RHCB Digital,
an imprint of Random House Children’s Books
A Random House Group Company
This ebook edition published 2012
KEZZIE
First published in Great Britain by Methuen Children’s Books
Text copyright © Theresa Breslin, 1993
A HOMECOMING FOR KEZZIE
First published in Great Britain by Methuen Children’s Books
Text copyright © Theresa Breslin, 1995
This edition first published in Great Britain as
KEZZIE AT WAR by Corgi, an imprint of Random House Children’s Books
A Random House Group Company
Copyright © Theresa Breslin, 2012
Cover artwork Copyright © Gordon Crabb, 2012
Corgi Childrens 2012
The right of Theresa Breslin to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
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Kezzie at War Page 29