Read Online Of Windmills and War by Diane H Moody - Free Book Online

Danny kept thinking ahead to
next year when he would start college. He’d sent off a letter asking Northwestern University for
admission forms and immediately filled them out the day they arrived. He asked
his mother not to mention any of this to his father. Unless he was accepted,
there was no point. He continued studying hard, making excellent grades, working
as many hours as Mr. Chaney would give him at the grocery store, and picking up
odd jobs from neighbors here and there.
    Joey’s postcards arrived sporadically, though whether it was
the slow mail service or a lack on Joey’s part, they didn’t know. Last they heard
the USS Oklahoma was somewhere in the Pacific involved in joint fleet
operations with the Army and training reservists.
    Whenever he could, Danny would shoot a letter off to Anya. She’d
eventually fallen into the rhythm of writing back almost as often as her
brother had. Danny made a concerted effort to keep his letters light and funny,
hoping to distract her from the gravity of the situation there in Holland . He
couldn’t imagine living with such constant fear.
    Then one day when he was almost finished writing her about a
freshman who got stuck inside a locker, he stopped cold with his pen poised
above the notebook paper.
    Anya’s a girl.
    I’m writing a girl.
    I’ve been writing a girl for months now.
    He glanced up at the photo of her family on the mirror above
his desk. He stared at it for a moment before realizing he always looked at
Anya’s face first before the others. How long have I been doing that?
    Alarmed at the realization, he pulled the old photograph
down from the mirror. Just as he no longer looked much like the kid in the
photo he’d sent Hans over a year ago, surely Anya had changed too. But how? Had
she grown taller as he had? Last time he checked, he was almost six feet, two
inches. Was she tall now too? Had that little girl pout given way to a nice
smile? He doubted she wore pigtails anymore, but he sure hoped she still had
those freckles.
    Freckles? What difference does it make if she has freckles
now?
    That’s when it hit him. Anya wasn’t just Hans’ kid sister anymore.
She was Danny’s friend now.
    Whoa.
    His mind took a detour . Most guys my age have had lots of
girlfriends by the time they’re seniors. I’ve never even been out on a date. Although
it’s not for lack of interest. Jenny McPherson has been sitting behind me in
most of my classes for the last two years since we’re seated alphabetically but
she doesn’t even know I’m alive. Well, except for that time she borrowed my
eraser in geometry. Man, she’s got knockout blue eyes. She’s so
pretty . . . but how do I get her to stop treating me like I’m
invisible? Then again, the one time I tried to start a conversation with her
after class, I couldn’t get two words out thanks to those stupid hiccups. She
laughed at me, even patted me on the back before taking off with her friends. Yeah,
I’m a real Don Juan.
    But Anya’s different. We’re just friends. At least I think
we are? Wonder what she thinks about me? She said she likes my letters because they
remind her of Hans. Probably nothing more. But does she at least consider me a
friend?
    He shook his head, hoping to clear the silly notions from
his mind, then continued writing.
     
     . . . then when everyone else went to class,
the janitor was sweeping the hall and heard that kid crying in his locker and
let him out. They said he took off running for home. Can’t say as I blame him.
But it was pretty funny, if you think about it.
    That’s about all. I hope everything’s okay where you are.
Sure hope someone drops a bomb on Hitler soon and puts the world out of its
misery—or at least shears off that ugly mustache of his.
    Danny
     

     
    Dear Danny,
    I would
have laughed myself silly at the boy in the locker. I might even have locked
him in there myself if he was annoying! I used to play pranks like that all the
time, much to my