Read Online Hunger Journeys by Maggie De Vries - Free Book Online
Authors: Maggie De Vries
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hidden away in the back of the shed. The rest had been confiscated at one time or another, until Father insisted they hide the two that were left against an emergency. Here it was: the emergency. They had two days to prepare.
Lena told Sofie about it the minute they were outside the next morning, in search of wood. And Sofie’s reaction stunned her.
“They’re making me go on a hunger journey,” Lena said, near tears.
“Oh, Lena, I’ll come. It will be such an adventure!” Sofie turned and walked backwards in front of her friend, herexcitement palpable. “I’d give anything to get out of this city, even for a day.”
Hope surged in Lena’s chest. With Sofie there, it might be all right. She was so strong and brave. Lena could just step into her shadow and go along for the ride.
Margriet, grown up and bossy though she was, was no leader. She cast only a sliver of a shadow, nowhere near enough for the protection of a sixteen-year-old girl.
But the hope went as fast as it came. Sofie had no bicycle, and Father would never consent to her going in Margriet’s place. No, Lena and Margriet would be off to the country on their own the next day.
Sofie saw the refusal in Lena’s face and fell back into step beside her.
“I’m getting out of this city one way or another,” she mumbled, eyes on the ground.
Lena was surprised by the speed with which she gave in, and by the abrupt shift in her mood. Sofie usually fought for what she wanted. They didn’t have much to say to each other on the rest of that morning’s foraging expedition.
In bed on the night before their departure, Lena lay wide awake next to her sleeping sister and wished with all her heart that Margriet could go alone to the country. Weaknesses aside, Margriet was grown up, after all. Nineteen. Lena’s sister shifted in the bed and let out a low moan. Margriet might be asleep, Lena thought ruefully, but she was not having peaceful dreams.
Their bicycles were ready for their departure, already laden. Mother had gone through the linen closet, pulled out everysheet, every pillowcase, every tablecloth and napkin they owned and stacked them on the dining table. “You need things to trade,” she told them. “You’re not asking for something for nothing. Do you understand?”
And Margriet and Lena nodded as they packed the heavy linens into canvas bags and readied themselves to leave before dawn. It was not going to be fun riding such a long distance with wooden sections fitted around the bicycle rims in place of their long-ago worn-out tires.
Lena must have drifted off eventually, because Margriet shook her awake when the clock struck five. They hoped to arrive at the Hembrug, the only bridge over the Noordzeekanaal, close to seven o’clock, when curfew was lifted. That would give them the longest day possible in the country on the other side of the canal. They wheeled their bicycles onto the street in the pitch dark. The streets were silent. The darkness was deep, damp and cold, and dawn seemed far away.
Lena mounted her bicycle and followed Margriet north in the dark. The roads were treacherous places in broad daylight, and in the dark a wheel could get caught much more easily in one of the many potholes or snag on one of the hundreds of loose cobblestones, sending the rider toppling to the ground or straight into a canal. Lena rode slowly, hoping for the best. She heard Margriet some distance ahead of her, wooden tires loud on the stones, and pedalled a little faster to catch up. She shuddered at the thought of being alone on the streets at this hour, or even worse, being discovered. They rode straight north as far as they could on the Hoofdweg and then veered northwest. Eventually the sky began to lighten, but the bridge loomed into view before the sun did.
The two girls stopped and wheeled their bicycles into a narrow alley. The sun in the sky would signal the end of curfew,and they had to wait longer still or the Germans would know they
Lena told Sofie about it the minute they were outside the next morning, in search of wood. And Sofie’s reaction stunned her.
“They’re making me go on a hunger journey,” Lena said, near tears.
“Oh, Lena, I’ll come. It will be such an adventure!” Sofie turned and walked backwards in front of her friend, herexcitement palpable. “I’d give anything to get out of this city, even for a day.”
Hope surged in Lena’s chest. With Sofie there, it might be all right. She was so strong and brave. Lena could just step into her shadow and go along for the ride.
Margriet, grown up and bossy though she was, was no leader. She cast only a sliver of a shadow, nowhere near enough for the protection of a sixteen-year-old girl.
But the hope went as fast as it came. Sofie had no bicycle, and Father would never consent to her going in Margriet’s place. No, Lena and Margriet would be off to the country on their own the next day.
Sofie saw the refusal in Lena’s face and fell back into step beside her.
“I’m getting out of this city one way or another,” she mumbled, eyes on the ground.
Lena was surprised by the speed with which she gave in, and by the abrupt shift in her mood. Sofie usually fought for what she wanted. They didn’t have much to say to each other on the rest of that morning’s foraging expedition.
In bed on the night before their departure, Lena lay wide awake next to her sleeping sister and wished with all her heart that Margriet could go alone to the country. Weaknesses aside, Margriet was grown up, after all. Nineteen. Lena’s sister shifted in the bed and let out a low moan. Margriet might be asleep, Lena thought ruefully, but she was not having peaceful dreams.
Their bicycles were ready for their departure, already laden. Mother had gone through the linen closet, pulled out everysheet, every pillowcase, every tablecloth and napkin they owned and stacked them on the dining table. “You need things to trade,” she told them. “You’re not asking for something for nothing. Do you understand?”
And Margriet and Lena nodded as they packed the heavy linens into canvas bags and readied themselves to leave before dawn. It was not going to be fun riding such a long distance with wooden sections fitted around the bicycle rims in place of their long-ago worn-out tires.
Lena must have drifted off eventually, because Margriet shook her awake when the clock struck five. They hoped to arrive at the Hembrug, the only bridge over the Noordzeekanaal, close to seven o’clock, when curfew was lifted. That would give them the longest day possible in the country on the other side of the canal. They wheeled their bicycles onto the street in the pitch dark. The streets were silent. The darkness was deep, damp and cold, and dawn seemed far away.
Lena mounted her bicycle and followed Margriet north in the dark. The roads were treacherous places in broad daylight, and in the dark a wheel could get caught much more easily in one of the many potholes or snag on one of the hundreds of loose cobblestones, sending the rider toppling to the ground or straight into a canal. Lena rode slowly, hoping for the best. She heard Margriet some distance ahead of her, wooden tires loud on the stones, and pedalled a little faster to catch up. She shuddered at the thought of being alone on the streets at this hour, or even worse, being discovered. They rode straight north as far as they could on the Hoofdweg and then veered northwest. Eventually the sky began to lighten, but the bridge loomed into view before the sun did.
The two girls stopped and wheeled their bicycles into a narrow alley. The sun in the sky would signal the end of curfew,and they had to wait longer still or the Germans would know they
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