Opposite Sides (17 page)

The awful morning dragged
out into a bleak, cloud-covered afternoon but at least the snow had
stopped. Finally, as the daylight faded, the low clouds began to
part so that by early evening, the heavens were finally lit up by
hundreds of crisp, twinkling stars. Things were looking up
again.

Hans had been sitting
upstairs at his desk, trying to finish reading the chapter of a
book that had occupied him for most of the day. The small fire
burning in the grate had kept the bedroom moderately warm so that
he had intended to return to his reading as soon as the supper
table had been cleared. When he did return, he decided to sit for a
while in the flickering semi-darkness watching the small flames
curl round the blackness of the coal. What made him move over to
the window, he did not know but something inside pulled him over,
and as he wiped the glass, he looked upwards finding the
constellations he recognised: Ursa Major, the Great Bear; and the
bright star in Auriga that helped him find the nearby
Perseus.

The moon rose, its pale
light glimmering through the windowpane taking away the faintest
stars making the night sky less crowded. He got up to shut out its
light but as he touched the curtain, he changed his mind and
decided to leave it as it was. The night was beautiful and
enticing.

On the other side of his
bedroom window was the rear garden, whiteness stretching out until
it faded into the dimness of a perfect winter night. Trees that
normally stood like dark, unfriendly giants now welcomed him with
their silver canopies and intriguing shadows. As he continued to
gaze downwards, a movement caught his attention. He wiped the glass
of the window once more and peered intently through the circle he
had made in the condensation. A figure, wrapped well in heavy
clothing, was making its way across the lawn, leaving a trail of
white smudged footprints indented into the frozen grass.

Who could
that be
? he wondered.
Who would be walking outside at this time of the
year
?

He was intrigued. He
grabbed his coat and rushed outside to investigate. For a while the
lone figure melted into the dark shadows and Hans wondered whether
his eyes had been playing tricks with the light but just as he was
about to turn back to the house, a silhouetted movement caught his
eye. He stepped out in its direction until he could plainly make
out the outline of a person near to one of the large
oaks.

“
What are you
doing out here in the cold?” he called as he came upon them from
behind. His call made the figure start and it swung round to face
him. The woollen scarf was immediately pulled down from the
face.

“
Heidi!”

“
Ach
, Hänschen, you made me jump! I’m
not cold at all and I just had to get out of the house. We’ve been
shut in for days and days and the evening sky looked so beautiful
now that the clouds have cleared. Look, at that.” She pointed up to
three stars still visible in the moon-lit sky. “Look! Isn’t that
the tail of the Bear?” She turned to face him. “I love looking at
the stars. I used to do it with Papa on clear evenings and we’d
play a game to see who could find shapes. Do you ever do things
like that?”

“
Yes. I was
doing exactly the same thing. Trying to see them from my bedroom
window. Look, Heidi, see those four over there and then those
fainter three? Do you know what they are?”

She hardly had to follow
his pointing finger for she was well conversed in the lore of the
sky.

“
Oh, yes.
They’re Perseus.”

They stood looking
upwards at the sparkling carpet above, with Heidi outlining the
shapes and pictures the Ancients had also seen. “I had another
letter from Papa today,” she said with a sigh in her words.
“Arrived with the afternoon mail.”

“
Mmm.” Hans
was not really listening. He stopped looking at the sky and looked
at Heidi standing in her long grey overcoat. “Why did you come to
England?”

“
To
work.”

“
Why
here?”

“
One gets
good experience in England. Besides, there is no work at home.
Nowhere. It’s almost impossible to find work.”

“
Really?
Uncle hasn’t written to me and mentioned anything like
that.”

“
Maybe he
didn’t want to worry you. Our rich people are not taking on any
more servants. I tried everything: I found nothing. Want to walk
with me?” she asked.

They began walking round
the whiteness that covered the lawn making their way over to the
back gate which led directly on to one of the paths which skirted
the perimeter of a field. Hans knew the way well for he had walked
the circuit many times.

“
Why didn’t
you stay longer at school, Heidi? You were such a clever
girl.”

“
Papa
couldn’t keep us all. My brother Christian had to go away to find
work. And now it is my turn.”

“
Fifteen and
a half is such a young age to be away from home.”

“
I know. When
Christian was looking for work, Papa asked your grandfather if he
had any ideas. He was told to write to Herr Kl
ö
n to ask if there was a position in
his factory. Christian was willing to try anything. Any job, it did
not matter what. If not with your uncle, perhaps he could put in a
good word for Christian.”

That surprised Hans for
neither uncle nor Renard had told him they had heard from any of
the Friedls.

“
Uncle Karl?
What did he say?”

“
It was
several months before we heard back. By then, he wrote and told
Papa that people were loosing their savings and firms were going
under. He said he was sorry but the had nothing to offer at his
factory.”

“
Yes, I
guessed that would be the case. He had to lay off some of his own
workers.”

“
Then, out of
the blue, he wrote to Papa to say he had found a job for me if I
wanted it . . . in England. Was I willing to go? So, here I
am.”

Her face lit up into a
pleasant smile.

“
So, you are
here to replace Ellen?”

“
What makes
you say that?” She appeared surprised.

“
Isn’t Ellen
leaving then?” he asked sounding just as surprised as she had
looked.

“
Not
permanently. She will be going home for a few weeks when her
mother’s confinement ends.”

“
When what?”
Somehow he felt as if he were missing something.

“
When she has
her baby. Ellen tells me it will be her eigth one.”

“
Oh.” He did
not want to get into that embarrassing subject, for he found
anything to do with babies quite daunting, so he changed the
subject. “Do you miss Salzburg?”

“
When I get
homesick. Do you?”

“
I did at
first. A lot. I did, too, when we first went to live in Berlin. I
missed my grandparents, especially Oma. I missed the mountains and
Sunday bells. I still feel Austrian although I’ve spent almost as
much time in Germany. It was so different: busy, noise, parades. I
liked watching Kaiser Wilhelm in his coach go by and all the
soldiers in their shining hats with colourful feathers on top.
Because Papi was in the army, we were always expected to go and
watch the parades. But all that waiting made my legs ache. Renard
stood to attention all the way through and cheered and saluted when
the carriage rolled past.”

“
Was it good
to live in Berlin?” Heidi tipped her head slightly to one side side
like a puppy when one spoke to it.

“
I don’t like
city life,” he replied rather dryly.

“
I’ve never
lived in a city. I thought cities would be an exciting place to
live.”

“
No, not all
the time.”

“
Do you like
it in England?”

“
I’m
beginning to. It’s better now.”

“
I’ve heard
you speak English. I think you’re good.”

Hans put on his English
face and accent and spoke to her in English.

“
Like a true
Englishman, I play now cricket. Bowl away!” He swung his arm up and
forward in a curve as if bowling the ball. “El-be-vay.” That was
not quite correct. He laughed and tried once more. “No,
el-bee-double-you! That is: leg before wicket.” He switched back
into German. “See? I do still make mistakes. Not yet
fluent.”

“
Sounds
perfect to me,” she answered. “Have you made lots of
friends?”

“
Yes, have.
It took a while. When I came here I suffered the same as when we
first went to Berlin. Teasing and such. The boys kept saying
horrible things. I could hear them talking and laughing. I
understood just enough to know they were talking about me. I got
into some really bad fist fights with some of them. Nosebleeds and
bruises as large as saucers.”

“
Poor
Hänschen. Why? Everyone has been so nice to me.”

“
It’s
different with boys and it’s worse when you don’t understand each
other. Your mind plays tricks with you. The boys didn’t like me
coming from Germany. The war, you see. I met some people who had to
change their name and make it sound more English. Mrs Brymer told
me she had a terrible time during the war years. And she was
English. People were so suspicious of her because she had a German
husband even though they had lived here for years and
years.”

“
Really?”
Heidi’s eyes widened and her mouth dropped open. “Did you meet them
here?”

“
Yes. I
stayed with them for a while. They used to live in the school
cottage where Mr Knox, the grounsman, now lives.”

“
Were the
boys suspicious of you, do you think, Hänschen?”

“
I think so.
I’ve had to change many things but I think it’s better now. I’ve
got some good friends now and as long as I play cricket with them
every now and then, they accept me.” He snapped his fingers
together to fire away the rest of his thoughts on that subject and
focused more on Heidi. He nodded. “So, . . . I can help you. What
do they say here?” He spoke to her in English, trying to imitate
how the other boys would have spoken. “Chin up, me girl. Don’t let
‘em grind you down.” He laughed with himself as he realised that
the girl did not understand. He returned to German. “It’s good for
me now. The more English I become, the better.” He tried to sound
cheerful but seeing the tears in Heidi’s eyes, he felt his last
words sounded rather hollow. “Come, it’s cooling off. I’ll walk you
back to the house.”

The track widened and
they were easily able to walk side by side. For several minutes
they walked in silence, each thinking their own personal thoughts.
She lightly touched his hand and they paused in their steps while
he kicked at an oversized stone in front of him.

“
How long
have you been away from home?”

“
Almost a
year now. I’ve been here such a long time. Almost as English as the
English. My grandmother would be pleased.”

“
She came
from England, didn’t she?”

“
Yes. Not far
from here.”

They continued walking
again. Two dark figures silhouetted against the dark foliage of the
low bushes beside a wooden post and rail fence. They said nothing
for a few minutes but enjoyed each other’s presence, the closeness
of companionship that is heightened under the cover of night. Heidi
hesitated. The darkness had sharpened Hans’ field of perception and
awareness and he felt there was something else she wanted to to
tell him. He stepped back as she moved directly in front of
him.

“
Hänschen, do
you
really
have
any idea about the terrible things that have been happening?” The
corners of her mouth dropped so that she looked sad.

“
Where?”

“
In Austria.
Assassination attempt on our chancellor.”

“
Really?”

“
Among
others. Then, there was that trouble Germany. You heard about
that?”

He shook his
head.

“
Surely, when
you left Germany you knew things were very bad.”

“
Such
as?”

He could only think that
he had forgotten, if he ever knew of it. Uncle Karl had protected
them from the worst of the troubles although he had noticed long
queues of poorly dressed people outside the soup kitchens that had
popped up in some of the side streets. He had caught glimpses of
them through the train window when he had travelled across the city
with his brothers and aunt. Besides, Heidi had always lived in
Austria, so what did she know about a country which was across the
border?

“
Don’t you
ever get any news from Herr Kl
ö
n, your uncle?” Her voice went up
several octaves to show her surprise. “Surely he writes to
you?”

“
Not about
that. His letters are short and are mostly about what my brothers
have been doing. Mainly Renard. Axel is much quieter so I do not
think uncle takes much notice of him.”

“
What is
Renard doing?” she asked.