OXFORD BOOKW ORMS LIBRARY

Thriller C~ A dventure

The Silver Sword

S tag e 4 (1400 h e ad w o rd s)

Scries E d ito r: Je n n ife r B assett

F o u n d e r E d itor: T r ic ia H e d ge
A c t i v i t i e s E d i t o r s : J e n n i f e r B a s s e t t a n d A li s o n B a x t e r

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4
 T H E SILVER SW ORD

T h is is a story a b o u t a fam ily in Poland d u rin g the

Second W orld W ar. T h e father a n d the m o th e r are
taken aw a y to p riso n c a m p s, an d their house, is blow n
up. T h eir three children, R u th , E d ek , a n d . B r o n ia , are
left alone a n d h o m eless a m o n g the ruins o f b o m b e d
W arsaw .

S oon they join up with an o th er boy, J a n , .who has

becom e a clever thief, ab le to steal fo o d from all kin ds
o f places. T h e y live every day in d a n g e r o f d e ath by
shooting, or fro m the c old, or from hunger. W hen the
w ar ends, they leave P o la n d an d begin to w alk so u th to
Sw itzerland, h o p in g to find their p aren ts there. It is a
long, hard jou rney .

But J a n carries w ith h im -all the time the silver sw o r d ,

which the c h ild re n ’s father h ad given him three years
before. J a n k n o w s he m ust never lose it, b e c a u se the
sw o rd brings them luck . . .
 OXFORD
UNIVERSITY PRESS

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o r a s e x p r e s s ly p e rm itt e d b y law , o r u n d e r te r m s a g r e e d w ith t h e a p p r o p r ia t e
r e p r o g r a p h ic s r ig h t s o rg a n iz a tio n . E n q u ir ie s c o n c e r n in g r e p r o d u c t io n
o u ts id e th e s c o p e o f th e a b o v e sh o u ld be se n t to th e ELT R ig h ts D e p a rtm e n t.
O x fo rd U n iv e rs ity P re ss, at th e a d d r e s s a b o v e
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a n d y o u m u st im p o se th is sa m e c o n d it io n o n a n y a c q u ir e r

A n y w e b s it e s re fe r r e d to in th is p u b lic a tio n a r e in th e p u b lic d o m a in an d

t h e ir a d d r e s s e s a r e p ro v id e d b y O x fo rd U n iv e rs it y P re s s fo r in fo r m a t io n o n ly.
O x fo r d U n iversity* P ress d is c la im s a n y r e s p o n s ib ilit y f o r th e c o n t e n t

1SBNM3: 9?3o 19423045 -

isbn-io: 0 194230457
T y p e s e t b y W Y v e m T y p e s e ttin g Ltd. B ris to l

P rin te d in S p a in b y U n ig r a f S .L

Ma/i by: M a rtin U rse ll

 CONTENTS

STORY INTRO DUCTIO N

MAP

1 T he escape
2 Journey through the air
3 T he silver sword
4 The children
5 J a n and Ivan
6 Looking for Edek
7 Across the country
8 T rouble with a train
9 The Bavarian farmer
10 T he Burgom aster
11 D angerous water
12 Missing
13 T h e storm
14 Safe!

GLOSSARY

activities: Before Reading

activities: While R ead in g
activities: After R ead in g
ABOUT TH E AUTHOR

ABOUT BOOKW ORMS

 7
The escape

This is a story of a Polish family, and what happened to

them during the Second W orld W ar, and immediately
afterw ards. Their home w as in W arsaw , and the father.
Joseph Balicki, was the headm aster of a school. H e and his
Swiss wife, M argrit, had three children. In 1940, when the
N azis took Joseph aw ay to prison, Ruth was nearly thirteen,
Edek was eleven, and Broiiia- w as three.
Joseph Balicki w as sent to a prison in the m ountains of
South Poland. It w as crow ded with prisoners, but not
many, were strong enough to escape. Som e did escape, but
m ost o f them were caught and brought back, and the others
died from the cold in! the m ountains. +
 The Silver Sword

During the first winter, Josep h w as too ill to try to

escape. He sat looking at the three or four photos o f his
family that he was allowed to keep, and wondered w hat
w as happening to them now.
D uring the summer his health got better, but now there
were m ore guards. A group o f six prisoners tried to escape,
and Josep h was one of them. But they were soon caught
and brought back, and Joseph w as locked in a room alone
for a month.
The next winter he was ill again. He still wanted to
escape, but he decided to w ait until early spring when there
w ould be less snow on the m ountains. Very carefully, he
m ade his plans.
H e decided to pretend to be a guard. If he did this, he
could w alk out with the other gu ards, past the guard-house
and through the gate to freedom . But how could he get a
gu a rd ’s uniform ?
One m orning in M arch, Josep h made a little ball of
paper and threw it at a guard. It hit him behind the ear and
m ade him turn round. The next ball hit the guard on the
nose. For this, Joseph w as again locked aw ay in a room
alone.
Tw ice each day, a guard brought him food. It w as put
through a special hole in the door. On the evening o f the
third day, the guard came with Jo se p h ’s food and began to
unlock the cover over the hole in the door. In a mom ent, the
gu ard w ould look through the hole before putting the food
through. Josep h was waiting for this. He had a catapult

2
 The escape

vvhich w as m ade from sticks, and from the elastic in the

sides of his boots. And he had a sm ooth round stone.
Suddenly, the gu ard ’s face appeared at the hole in the
door. Joseph shot the stone from the catapult. It hit the
guard on the head and knocked him down.

Jo se p h sh ot the stone from the catapult.

 The Silver Sword
------------------------------------------------------------------------- -V

N o w Joseph had to move quickly. Under his bed w as a

long piece o f a blanket, with a bent nail tied to the end o f it.
Joseph pushed the piece o f blanket through the hole in the
door. The guard’s keys were on the floor, and it took several
desperate moments before Joseph managed to pick up the
keys with the bent nail and pull them up tow ards him.
H e unlocked his d oor and pulled the guard inside. -
Q uickly, he took o ff the gu ard ’s uniform and put it on
himself. The warm hat covered his ears and helped to hide
his face. Then, locking the guard in the room , he hurried
outside into the cold and followed the other guards tow ards
the gate. He had watched the guards leaving a hundred
times and knew exactly w hat to do.
‘ Anything to report?’ the officer at the gate asked each
guard.
‘N othing, Sir,’ they answered.
‘N othing, Sir,’ Joseph answered in his best Germ an.
Then he follow ed the others out o f the gate.
He w as free!

2
Jou rney through the air

The village o f Z akyna w as a kilometre below the prison

cam p. There was no m oon that night, but Josep h could see
lights in the w in d o w s'o f the houses. Ju st below the last
houses in the village, the road turned aw ay from the cliff
edge. A m ail car was stopped with its lights on and its
 Journey through the air

engine going. There w as som e luggage in the road, and an

a n g r y group of people around it.
‘You're two hours late!’ som eone shouted.
‘I told you, the snow is m aking the road dangerous,’
replied the driver.
Joseph hid behind the wall o f snow at the side of the
road. He w as on the edge of a cliff, which dropped steeply
into the darkness. He heard the sound of large boxes being
dropped on to the road.
Joseph moved quietly along the edge of the cliff, and saw
a square shape next to the road. In the dark it looked like a
cart without wheels. Quickly, he hid underneath.
S u d d e n l y , a heavy box banged dow n on the boards
above his head. He heard boots m oving on the wood and in
the snow, and the voices o f soldiers giving orders. M ore
boxes were pur in, and then covered with a heavy' cloth.
When the soldiers were back in the road, Joseph pulled
himself over the wooden side and under the d oth .
A loud voice shouted, ‘Are you read y?’
Then som ebody answered from the other side of the
dark valley, and suddenly the w ooden boards Joseph was
lying on began to move. They were sliding out into the
darkness, away from the road. W here w as he?
Joseph lifted the cloth and looked out. He w as in a
luggage lift, m oving through the air!
There were lots o f luggage lifts in the m ountains. They
were driven by electricity and were used for carrying things
from one side o f a steep valley to the other. Joseph looked

*
j
 The Silver Sword
T

Jo se p h lifted the cloth and looked out.

ahead into the darkness. W ere there soldiers on the other

side o f the valley, too? If there were, what w as he going to
do? H e could not get aw ay unseen, and he had no gun.

6
 Journey through the air

Then he decided w hat to do.

At last the lift stopped with a bang, and a light was
shining in his face.
‘1 have a gun,’ Joseph said calm ly. ‘If you make a sound,
I’ll shoot you.’
An angry Polish voice said som ething.
‘Be quiet, or I’ll sh o ot,’ Jo se p h said. ‘Give me your light.’
He took the light from the shaking hands and turned it
on the other face. The man had a grey beard, and a rough
farm er’s face. Joseph felt better. The m an was Polish, like
himself.
Joseph spoke more gently. ‘T ak e out the boxes. Is the lift
w orked from this end? G ood. Then we shan’t have visitors
from the other side.’
The man put the boxes into a shed, near the lift. Then he
took one for himself and carried it to his house. Joseph
followed him. The box contained food and clothing from
the town.
An old w om an w as w aiting inside the house, and she
looked frightened when she saw Jo sep h . He threw his hat
and coat on to a chair.
‘H ere’s my gun,’ he said with a smile. ‘It’s a bar of
chocolate.’ He broke it into three pieces and gave them
some.
‘I d on ’t understand,’ said the m an slowly. ‘You speak
and look like a Pole, but your uniform — ’
Ju st then, they heard a bell ringing on the other side of
the valley.

4
 The Silver Sword

‘T h a t’s the prison bell,’ said the man. ‘They ring it when
a prison er escap es.’
‘I am the prisoner,' Joseph told them.

The next day, some German soldiers came to the house,

looking for the escaped prisoner, but Joseph hid in the
chim ney until they had gone.
H e stayed with the Polish couple for two weeks. They
were kind people and they looked after him well. H is thin
body becam e stronger, and he began to look quite healthy.
But on the fifteenth day he left. The old man guided him
through the m ountains for three days, then he said goodbye.
And so Joseph began tire first part of his long journey
home.

J
The silver sw o rd

It took Josep h four and a half weeks to walk home to

W arsaw . He knew the city well, but now there was alm ost
no street that he recognized, and not an undam aged
building anywhere. People were making their homes in
cellars, or in caves which they had made in the ruined
buildings. The only busy place w as the railway, where
trains m oved through,day and night, carrying soldiers to
R ussia or bringing back the injured from Germany.
It w as three days before Joseph found the .street where he
used to live. The school and his house had,disappeared.

S
 The silver sword

‘What happened?’ he asked people, but m ost of them

were new and not able to help him. Then he saw M rs
Krause, the m other o f a child who had been at his school.
T h e N azis destroyed your school,’ she said.
‘What happened to my w ife?’
‘They came for her in Jan u ary last year, during the night.
She’s in Germ any, probably working on the land.’
"Did the children go with her?’ asked Joseph.
M rs Krause turned aw ay. ‘I don't know anything about
them.' she said.
But Joseph knew she w as hiding bad news. ‘Tell me,
please,' he said.
So she told him all she knew. ‘ On the night your wife was
taken away, som ebody shot at the car. One o f the N azi
soldiers was hit in the arm before they got aw ay. But an
hour later, a lot more soldiers cam e back and destroyed the
house with a bom b. The children have not been seen since.’
That was all M rs K rause could tell Joseph , but he knew
that she thought the children were dead.

For several days, Josep h searched the city for his children.
At night he returned home to the K rauses, who gave him
food and a bed.
One night, M rs K rause said, ‘Y ou can ’t go on like this.
Almost certainly your children died when the bom b went
off. Search for your wife instead o f them .’
‘ G e r m a n y is a large place,’ said Joseph . ‘ H ow will I find
her?’

•it ■
 The Silver Sword

‘Perhaps she escaped, like you,’ said M rs K rause. ‘Did

you decide to meet somewhere if you were separated ?’
‘Yes, we did. In Switzerland. M y wife is Sw iss and her
parents still live there.’
M rs K rause smiled. ‘Then go to Switzerland, and perhaps
you will find her there.’
But Jo sep h spent several more days looking for his
children. One afternoon, he was searching am ong the ruins
o f his old home when he found a small silver sw ord. It was
about fourteen centimetres long, with a dragon at one end.
It w as a paper knife, used for opening letters. Joseph had
once given it to his wife for a birthday present.
While he w as cleaning the knife, he saw a sm all boy
watching him. The boy was thin and his clothes were old
and dirty. H e w as carrying a w ooden box under one arm ,
and a sm all grey cat under the other.
‘Give me that sw o rd ,’ said the boy.
‘But it’s m ine,’ said Joseph.
‘Y ou found it here, and this is my place.’
Joseph explained about his house.
‘I’ll give you foo d for it,’ said the boy, and he offered
Josep h a sandw ich.
‘I have plenty o f fo o d ,’ said Joseph . H e put his hand into
his pocket, but it w as empty. ‘T h at’s my san dw ich !’ he
laughed. ‘Y ou to ok it from my pocket!’
But before Jo se p h could take it back, the boy ate m ost o f
it and gave the rest to his cat.
After a m inute, Jo se p h said, ‘I’m looking for my children.

10
 The silver sword

‘Give me that sw o rd ,’ said the boy.

Ruth is fifteen now, and she’s tall with fair hair. Edek is
thirteen, and Bronia is five.’
'W arsaw is full of children,’ said the boy. ‘They’re all
dirty and hungry and they all look alike.’
‘I'll give you this sw ord if you do something for m e,’ said
Joseph. ‘If you ever see Ruth or Edek or Bronia, you must
tell them about our meeting. Tell them I’m going to
Switzerland to find their mother. Tell them to follow me as
soon as they can.’
The boy took the sw ord and put it in his wooden box.
 The Silver Sword

‘I’m startin g the journey to Sw itzerland tonight,’ said

Joseph . ‘I’m goin g to hide on a train. W here’s the best place
to jum p on a train unseen?’ 3
‘Y ou w ill be caught and shot,’ said the boy. ‘O r you will
die from the co ld .’
‘I still have to g o ,’ said Joseph.
‘M eet me tonight, when it’s dark, and I’ ll show you the
place where the trains slow dow n,’ said the boy.

T h at night, when it was dark, Joseph said goodbye to the

K rauses and left their house for the last time. The boy was
w aiting for him at the bottom of the street.
‘We m ust use the back streets,’ said the boy. ‘ If the N azi
soldiers see us, they’ll sh oot.’
‘W hat’s that y ou ’re carrying?’ said Joseph .
‘B read ,’ said the boy. ‘I borrow ed it from the N azi
soldiers. They have plenty of it. T ake it, you’ll be hungry.’
‘I’ve a lot to thank you for,’ said Joseph , as they waited
beside the railw ay. ‘W hat’s your nam e?’
The boy said nothing. He sat holding his cat and the
w ooden box.
‘Will you com e with m e?’ asked Joseph.
The boy didn’t answer the question. He opened the
wooden box and took out the silver sword. ‘This will bring
me luck, and it will bring you luck because you gave it to me.
I don’t tell anybody my ntime - it’s not sale. But I’ll tell you
because you gave me the sw ord.’ H e whispered. ‘It’s Ja n .’
A train w as com ing.

12
 The children

‘G oodbye, Ja n ,’ said Joseph . ‘Remember your prom ise.

Whatever happens, I shall not forget you.’
It w as dark, an d Ja n did not see him jum p on to the train.
It w as raining heavily now, and Jan hurried back into the
dark streets, with the grey cat inside his coat. The w ooden
box w as under his arm .
And he thought o f the silver sw ord inside.

4
The children

What happened to Jo se p h ’s family that night over a year

ago? Was M rs K rau se’s story true? Did the N azi soldiers
take Josep h ’s wife aw ay? Did they return and blow up the
house with the children in it?
This is what happened.
It was snow ing that night in W arsaw. Ruth and Bronia
were asleep in the room next to their mother’s bedroom .
Edek’s room was on the top floor. He was asleep when the
N azi soldiers cam e, but w oke up when he heard a noise
outside his door.
The door w as locked. Edek shouted and banged on it,
but could not get out. He listened. In his m other’s room , the
men were giving orders, but Edek could not hear w hat they
were saying. In the ceiling w as a sm all square d oor that led
to the attic. There w as a ladder between his bed and the
wall. Quietly, he moved ir under the square d oor and
climbed up.

13

Hf
4
 The Silver Sword

There w as a rifle hidden in the attic, and Edek took it and

clim bed back down to his room . The noises in the 500m
below had stopped. H e looked out into the street and saw a
car w aiting outside the front door. T w o N azi soldiers were
pulling his mother tow ards it.
H e opened the window. H e w as afraid to shoot until his
m other w as safely in the car. H is first shot hit a soldier’s
arm . T he m an shouted with pain and jum ped in beside the
driver. Edek aimed the next two shots at the car wheels. He
hit one, but the car got away.
Edek used the rifle to break dow n his bedroom door,
then he did the sam e to the door o f his sisters’ room . Bronia
w as crying and Ruth w as trying to calm her.
‘I hit one o f them,’ said Edek.
‘T h at w as silly,’ said Ruth. ‘They’ll com e back for us
now. We m ust get aw ay from here before they d o .’
R uth dressed Bronia while Edek fetched overcoats and
boots an d w arm caps. Ruth pulled a co at on over her
nightdress, and put a scarf round Bronia.
‘We can’t go out the front way. I can hear another car
com ing,’ said Edek. ‘And the back wall is too high and there
are soldiers in that street. We’ll have to go over the roo f.’
H e picked up Bronia and led the w ay upstairs. H e w as
w earing his father’s thick overcoat and carrying the rifle on
his back.
When they were in the'attic, Edek broke the window to
the ro o f an d clim bed out into the cold night. Ruth lifted
Bronia up to him, then follow ed her.
\

14
 The children

‘Listen, B ronia,’ said Edek. ‘If you make a sound, we

shall all be killed. W alk behind me and hold on to the rifle.
And don’t look d ow n !’
The roo f w as steep, and the snow m ade it difficult to
stand or w alk. Edek m anaged to climb across to the
chimney, with Bronia holding on to the rifle behind him.

‘ Walk behind m e an d hold on to the rifle,’ said Edek.

15

4
 The Silver Sword

She w as too afraid to speak or m ake a noise. Then he

reached back and pulled Ruth up after him. They cpuld not
see w hat w as happening in the street, but they could hear
shouting and the sound o f cars stopping suddenly.
The houses in this street were joined together, and so
they were able to move from roo f to roo f and get aw ay.
They had gone a hundred metres when the first bom b
exploded. Fire lit up the sky above their home, and they fell
flat in the snow . The ro o f shook and the whole city seemed
to tremble. Another bom b exploded, and sm oke and
flames cam e from the window s.
‘ H urry,’ said Edek. ‘We w on ’t let them get us n ow .’
They m oved quickly across the roof-tops until they
found a fire escape on the outside of a building, then they
went down to the street. On they ran, not know ing or
caring where they went as long a s they left the terrible
flames behind them.
It w as the beginning o f another grey w inter’s day before
they finally stopped at a ruin o f a bom bed house. They slept
inside it until the early afternoon, then woke up cold and
hungry.

They m ade their new home in a cellar at the other end o f the
city. When they asked the Polish Council about their
mother, they were told she had been taken to G erm any to
work on the land. N o bod y knew which part o f G erm any.
‘T he w ar will end so o n ,’ they were told, ‘and your
mother will come back.’

16
 The children

They quickly m ade their new hom e as com fortable as

they could. Edek go t a m attress and som e curtains from a
bombed building. H e gave the m attress to Ruth and
Bronia. The curtains made go od sheets. He stole blankets
from a N azi cam p, one for each o f them. Here they lived for
the rest o f that winter and the spring.
Food was not easy to find. Except when Edek found work
for a few days, there was no money to buy any. Sometimes
they begged for it, other times they stole it from the N azis.
They saw nothing wrong in stealing from their enemies, but
they were careful never to steal from their own people.

E dek go t a m attress an d som e curtains front a bom bed building.

17

.1
 The Silver Sword

Edek kept him self busy, but Ruth found her new life
difficult. Then she started a school. She invited other lost
children, o f Bronia’s age and a little older. While Edek w as
out finding food, she told them stories, and taught them to
read and write. There w as soon a crowd o f poor, hom eless
children wanting to join her school, but there w as only
room for twelve.
In the early summer, they went to live in the forest
outside the city. Life w as healthier here, and there were
plenty o f other families for the children to play with. R uth ’s
school som etim es had as many as twenty-five children in it.
Because o f the kindness o f the farmers, it w as easier to
get food. The farm ers were not allowed to sell foo d to
anyone except the N azis, but they gave the children whatever
they could. And they also hid food in cellars or holes in the
ground. Then the children helped them to take it secretly
into the towns, to sell to the Polish people.
Edek w as one o f the children who did this. He went o ff to
the tow n at night with butter sewn into his coat, or hidden
km ong w ood in a cart. But one night, Edek did not return.
Ruth questioned other fam ilies in the forest, but no one had
seen him. After som e days, she discovered that he had
called at a house in a village. The secret police had been
there, searching for hidden food. They discovered the
butter that w as sewn into Edek’s coat. After setting fire to
the house, they had taken the owner and Edek aw ay.
‘From now on,’ Ruth told Bronia, ‘we will have to look
after ourselves.’
 5
Jan a n d Ivan

Two years passed without news o f E dek. Ruth and Bronia

returned to W arsaw each winter, and went back to the
forest in the sum m er. But in the sum m er o f 1944, the skies
were full o f planes, and they could hear bombs falling in the
city. Though the children did not know it, the Russian
army w as m oving west and the battle for W arsaw was
beginning.
By January 1945, the N azis were gone and the city was in
. the control o f the R ussians. T h at winter, Ruth and Bronia7
had waited in the forest because o f the fighting, but now
they came back into the city. The W arsaw that they had
known had disappeared. Bombs had destroyed the buildings,
and there were no streets left.
Som ehow , they found the cellar which had been their -
home for two years. The chairs and beds had gone, but they
had brought their blankets from the forest. Then some
boys in R uth’s school mended the table and made chairs
from boxes, and lessons began again.
One day, Bronia cam e running into the cellar. ‘There’s a
boy lying dow n outside and I don ’t think he can get up,’ she
said. ‘I’ve never seen him before.’
The boy w as lying on som e stones. Ruth thought he
might be any age between nine and thirteen. His face was
thin and white and his eyes were closed. A thin cockerel
stood beside the boy’s head, m aking noises at anyone who

19

<*+ *
4

IIIMM— III^BBIII III j__

 The Silver Sword

A thin cockerel sto o d beside the boy's head.

went near him. Ruth chased the cockerel away.

‘D oes anyone know him ?’ she asked the children.
N obod y did.
‘He looks ill from hunger,’ said Ruth. ‘Yankel, will you
help me lift him down to the cellar? Eva, find him som ething
to eat, som e soup if you can get it.’
They carried the boy down to the cellar and, after a few
minutes, he opened his eyes.
‘W here’s Jim p y ?’ he said.
Suddenly, the cockerel appeared in a hole in the wall and
jumped down beside the boy.
‘Jim py, Jim p y !’ cried the boy, and reached out tow ards
the bird.
‘W hat’s your nam e?’ asked Ruth.
‘W on’t tell you,’ said the boy.
‘ Look, E va’s brought you som e so u p ,’ said Ruth. ‘Y o u ’ll
feel better in a minute. Sit up and drink it.’

20
 Jan and Ivan

A girl pushed through the crow d at the door. She had a

small wooden b o x in her hand. ‘I found this in the street,’
she said. ‘I think it’s his.’
‘Give it to him ,’ said Ruth.
The boy took the box and smiled. Everyone wanted to
look inside, but he w ouldn’t open it. But he told them his
name. It w as Jan .

For some days, Ja n w as too ill to leave. Then, when he was

better, he didn’t w ant to go. So he m ade his home with Ruth
and Bronia, and became one of the family. He carried the
box everywhere, but he never opened it. <
Several streets aw ay a new R ussian guard hut had
appeared. One afternoon, Ruth went there. ‘I w ant to see
your officer,’ she said to the guard standing outside.
‘The whole o f W arsaw w ants to see my officer,’ said the
guard. ‘Run aw ay and play, little girl.’
‘I’m not a little girl,’ said Ruth. ‘I’ll be eighteen next
week.’
The guard smiled. ‘Well, because it’s your birthday next
week, I’ll ask him .’ He went into the hut, then came out a
few moments later. ‘M y officer says come back the year
after next.’
But before he could stop her, Ruth pushed p ast him into
the hut. Inside, an officer sat behind a desk.
‘Come o u t!’ shouted the guard.
‘All right, Ivan,’ said the officer. ‘I’ll talk to her.’ He
looked at Ruth. ‘W hat do you w an t?’

21

4
 The Silver Sword

Ruth p u sh ed p ast the g u ard into the hut.

‘I w ant food and clothes and blankets, pencils and paper.

I’ve got sixteen children— ’
The surprised officer nearly fell o ff his chair.
‘Seventeen, if you count my brother, Edek, w ho is lo st,’
went on R uth. ‘B ro n ia'is my sister, and the others are
children a t m y school. They are all half dead from hunger,
but they w ant to learn and have nothing to write on. And I
\

22
 Jan and Ivan

want you to find Edek. H e ’s been lost for two years.’

The officer waved some papers at her. ‘See these? They
contain information about m issing people, about ten to each
page. But it’s an impossible job. Perhaps I’ll burn the lot!’
‘D on’t do that,’ said Ruth. ‘The writing is only on one
side of the paper. We can use the back of it at my school for
writing on.’
The officer laughed, and R uth laughed, too.
‘I’ll take the inform ation about your brother,’ he said.
‘But I warn you, nothing will happen.’
‘Thank you ,’ said Ruth.
‘Come back tom orrow ,’ said the officer.
She came back the next day and the guard, Ivan, was
waiting for her. He had sugar, bread and six blankets to
give her.
‘Sign your nam e,’ he said. ‘And put your address.’
She wrote ‘Bom bed cellar’ and told him where it was.
A week later, Ruth w as preparing a birthday tea. M ost
of the children had been invited. Suddenly, she heard a
noise and ran outside to find Ja n fighting with a soldier. The
knife in Ja n ’s hand w as near the soldier’s neck, and Jim py
the cockerel w as biting the soldier’s ankles.
‘Jan , drop that knife!’ she cried. She threw herself into
the fight and they all fell on to the ground. Ruth knocked
the knife from Ja n ’s hand.
‘T h at’s a nice welcome, isn’t it?’ said Ivan the guard, as
he picked up his cap and brushed dust o ff it.
Ruth picked up the knife. ‘D o n ’t you understand, Ja n ?’

23

'tt *
 The Silver Sword

she said. ‘T hey’re our friends.’

‘T hey’re soldiers,’ said Jan .
‘T hey’re R ussian soldiers, not N azis. They’ve com e to
m ake us free and to look after u s.’
‘I hate all soldiers,’ said Jan . And he w ouldn’t com e back
into the cellar when the others went inside.
‘I’ve som e inform ation about your brother, E dek,’ Ivan
told Ruth. ‘H e ’s in a camp in Posen.’
Ruth threw her arm s round his neck and kissed him.
‘Thank you, thank you!'
‘And I've brought a birthday present for you,’ he said.
‘It’s som e chocolate.’
‘W hat’s ch ocolate?’ said Bronia.
Suddenly, ja n appeared at the door. H e was crying.
‘D o n ’t cry, boy,' said
Ivan. ‘I’m not angry.’
Jan w as holding out his
little w ooden box. It was
in pieces. ‘You fell on it
and broke it!' he cried.
‘I’ll mend it for you,'
said Ivan.
J a n s h o o k his head
angrily, and som ething fell
from the broken box. It
w as the silver sw ord rltat
Joseph had given him more
than two years before. It w as the silver sw ord.
 Looking for Edek

Rurh picked it up and looked closely at it. Where had she

seen it before? Then she recognized it. It w as the birthday
present her*father had given to her mother before the w ar.
Then she, too, began to cry.
‘M ore tears!’ said Ivan. ‘Excuse me, while I go outside
and fetch my um brella!’
And he went aw ay wondering w hat it w as all about.

6
Looking for Edek

While Bronia was asleep that night, Ruth and Jan talked. >
There was a lot Ruth wanted to know about her father, and
Jan told her the little that he remembered.
‘Why didn’t you speak about him before?’ Ruth wanted
ro know. ‘Surely he told you our nam es?’
But war does strange things to young people. The worry
of finding food and staying alive each day was enough to
make Jan forget Joseph . But now he remembered him. And
he remembered som ething else.
‘He was going to Switzerland to find your m other,’ said
Jan.
By the morning, Ruth knew w hat she must do.
‘We’re going to Switzerland to find Father and M oth er,’
she told Bronia.
‘Where’s that?’ asked Bronia.
‘M illions of kilometres aw ay ,’ said Jan .
'Spring is com ing,’ said Ruth, ‘and in summer it will be

25

*
 The Silver Sword

lovely sleeping under the stars. W e’ll go to Posen first, to

find Edek. It’s only two hundred kilom etres. We can beg for
fo o d .’
‘I’ll steal it,’ said Jan .
Ivan brought them shoes to w ear, and a w ooden box
which he had made for Jan . They left W arsaw carrying
enough food for a day, two blankets, Jim py the cockerel,
and the w ooden box with the sw ord in it.
The road out o f the city w as crow ded with refugees.
Som e were going one way, some the other - it didn’t seem
to m atter which way as long as they were moving. Lorries
full o f soldiers went past them.
‘I w ish we could ride on a lorry,’ said Jan . ‘Jim p y ’s tired
o f me carrying him and he doesn’t like w alking.’
‘I like w alking,’ said Bronia. She w as proud o f her shoes.
N o t m any o f the refugees wore shoes.
But she becam e tired later and w as glad when a lorry
stopped and let them ride for a while. They sat in the back
and ate the food which they had brought in their pockets. It
w as evening when the lorry stopped for them to get dow n,
a hundred and sixty kilometres nearer Posen.
T h at night, they slept in an empty barn. But no lorries
stopped the next day, and by evening they had only w alked
thirty kilom etres. Their feet hurt and they were very tired.
On the afternoon o f the fourth day, they arrived at
Posen. A t the first guard hut, Ruth show ed a soldier the
piece o f p ap er which Ivan had given her. It had E dek’s
nam e and address on it.

26
Looking for Edek

41* '
4
 The Silver Sword

‘The cam p is a large building, down by the river,’ the

guard told them. And they went to find it.
The secretary at the cam p knew nothing about Edek, but
a doctor w as able to help them.
‘I sent Edek Balicki to the Warthe cam p with the other
sick prison ers,’ he said. Before Ruth could ask about
E dek’s illness, he w as gone.
‘The cam p is only a kilometre aw ay, down the river,’
said the secretary.
But Edek w as not at the Warthe cam p either. The man
who spoke to Ruth remembered him well.
‘Ele was a wild boy,’ he said. ‘He ran aw ay this morning,
but I don ’t know where he w ent.’
Ruth did not w ant to go on to Switzerland without Edek.
In the village o f Kolina, just north o f Posen, there w as a
large field kitchen, so it was there that the three children
went next. Everyone else seemed to be going there, and they
soon became part o f the moving crowd.
' At the village, Ruth, Bronia and Jan were put in a field
with a lot o f other young people, then later told to join a
queue for dinner. Ruth could smell soup as the line o f
hungry children moved tow ards the Russian field kitchens.
‘Cheer up, the w ar is alm ost over,’ said the cook, as he
put soup into a bow l and gave it to Jan . He saw the cockerel
under J a n ’s arm and put an extra spoonful of soup into the
bowl. ‘T h at’s for your sick friend,’ he told Jan . ‘ Let’s hope
it makes him sit up and sin g!’
Som eone put bread into J a n ’s hand and he moved on

28
 Across the country

past the kitchens to find a corner to sit down.

‘Look where you’re goin g!’ a voice shouted.
Jan fell over som eone’s foot. The bowl hit a stone and
broke, and the soup ran into the dust. Little bits of m eat and
bread and vegetables lay on the ground.
Suddenly, ail control disappeared. The queue became a
group of wild, hungry, fighting children, and Jan w as at the
centre of the fight as the children tried to get che food. Ruth
ran forw ard, afraid that Bronia w ould get hurt. She did not
know that the cook had picked Bronia up and held her high
up out o f danger. Ruth, too, became part of the fighting.
Children were beneath her and on top of her. She reached
for the food - but found a hand. For som e reason, she held
on to it.
At last the fighting stopped, and the children began to
move away. A dirty and bruised Ja n stood up, leaving the
broken bowl on the ground.
Jim py lay quire still. His neck w as broken.
Ruth was still holding the hand. She looked to see whose
hand it was.
It w as Edek’s.

7
A cross the co un try

There were still a few trains running from Posen, and Ruth,
Edek, Bronia and Jan m anaged to get on one. It was full of
refugees and on its way to Berlin. They were in one of the

29

*
 The Silver Sword

open trucks, which w as cold but not so crowded.

‘I don ’t like riding in this truck,’ said Bronia.
‘W e’re lucky to be here at all,’ Ruth told her. ‘H undreds
o f people were left behind at Posen, and they m ay have to
w ait for w eeks.’
‘E dek’s doctor wanted to send him back to the W arthe
cam p,’ said Jan .
‘H e said he wanted to m ake Edek fat,’ laughed Bronia.
‘Like a chicken for C h ristm as!’
Ruth looked at her brother. H is face w as white and very
thin. H e w as sixteen now, and it w as tw o and a half years
since she had last seen him, but he did not look like the Edek
she remembered.
She looked at Jan . H e had helped her with Bronia and
kept his sadness to himself after Jim p y ’s death, but she w as
not sure that he felt com fortable with Edek.
‘Ja n m ay get jealous o f E dek,’ thought Ruth.
Her fears seemed to come true later when the people in
the open truck began to tell o f their adventures, and their
escapes from the N azis. After several other stories, Edek
told his.
‘I w as taken to w ork on a farm near G uben,’ he said. ‘I
tried to run aw ay, but they alw ays caught me - until last
winter when the w ar began to turn against the N azis. I hid
under a train, holding on with my arm s and legs, and
m anaged to get back to Polan d.’
Ja n gave a cruel laugh. ‘Why don ’t you travel that w ay
here? Then the rest o f us will have m ore ro o m .’
 Across the country

‘I could never do that again ,’ said Edek.

‘N o ,’ said Jan , looking at E dek’s thin arms. ‘And you
didn’t do it before. There’s no room to lie under a train, and
there’s nothing to hold on to .’
Edek pulled Ja n to his feet. ‘H ave you ever looked under
a train?’ H e described the underside o f a train in accurate
detail, and everyone except Jan believed him.

E dek pulled Ja n to his feet.

31

*
A
 The Silver Sword

‘Why weren’t you shaken o ff?’ Ja n wanted to know.

‘Because the train went through some water, and it
began to freeze on m e,’ said Edek. ‘I soon became a piece of
ice, frozen to the bottom o f the train. Later, I heard Polish
voices and knew that we were out of Germany. M y voice
w as the only part of me that w asn ’t frozen, so I shouted for
help. The station master cam e and broke the ice and carried
me out from under the train. It took two hours for the ice to
d isap p ear.’
Later, when all was quiet and the refugees lay sleeping
under the cold stars, Ruth whispered to Edek, ‘W as it really
true?’
‘Yes, it w as true,’ he said.
She took his hand and held it in hers. ‘Nothing like that
m ust ever happen to you again ,’ she said.

N ine days later, at the end o f M ay , the train reached Berlin.

Som e o f the refugees immediately disappeared into the
dusty ruins of the city, others waited with their luggage,
hoping that som eone w ould give them food or tell them
where to go. But theirs w as the second refugee train that
day and there w as not enough food for everyone.
But the children were happy. They left the station
laughing and shouting, on their way to a refugee cam p not
far away. Only a few weeks ago, they had been in W arsaw ;
ten days ago, Edek had been missing. But now they were all
together and a third o f the way to Switzerland.
The cam p w as an old, empty cinema. It was w arm and

32
 Across the country

dry and com fortable, and there w as food to eat. After four
bowls o f soup each, the children were given blankets and
mattresses and taken to a corner o f the hall where they
found a place to sleep. But com fortable though it w as, the
camp w as to be their home for only a few days.
‘Switzerland is still a long way aw ay ,’ Ruth reminded the
others. ‘We m ust go o n .’
‘T ake the Potsdam road and follow your noses,’ the
family were told, and o ff they went, singing a happy song.
Russian soldiers marched past them, then lines of women
and girls in grey-green uniform s. These were followed by
hundreds o f carts, pulled by horses.
N ext day, the children went across the country cowards
Bitterfeld and Halle. A British officer hac! given them some
money for food, but this w as soon gone and they had to find
work to get more. This w as difficult because the factories
were closed, and che farm s were using the freed prisoners of
war. Some villages refused to let the children enter because
there was no more food or places to stay for refugees.
One cam p had a school for Polish children. If they
remained there, the children were told, they would receive
all the food and schooling and medicine they needed. Edek
was very tired when they arrived, and Ruth w as ready to
stay for as long as he needed to rest. But Edek felt better
after a few days, and one look at the silver sword was
enough to make him want to go on to Switzerland.
So they came to the edge o f the R ussian zone.
In the first days of peace after the w ar ended, there were

33
 The Silver Sword

many places where it w as quite easy to move unnoticed

from one zone to another. The children did this som ewhere
in the Thuringian forest. It w as only the different uniform s
o f the soldiers, and the strange w ords on the signs, that told
them they were now in the American zone.

8
Trouble with a train

It w as now the middle o f June, and Edek w as no better.

Each day he w alked m ore slowly, and at night his cough
kept Ruth aw ake. She decided he m ust rest for a week.
They m ade a cam p near a river and planned to stay there
until Ruth and Ja n earned enough money to buy Edek a
pair of new boots. Ruth took a cleaning job at the local
school, and Ja n got w ork on a farm. Edek rested under the
trees with Bronia to look after him.
There w as plenty o f food from the army food kitchens
near their cam p, but several times Jan came home with tins
o f m eat or fish.
‘Where did they com e from ?’ Ruth asked him.
‘The farm er,’ replied Jan . ‘H e’s very generous.’
But there w as strange writing on the tins, and Ruth
began to suspect that Ja n w as lying. ‘It’s Am erican food,
and I know he’s stealing it,’ she told Edek.
Edek w anted an answ er to the mystery. W ithout saying
anything to R uth, the next afternoon he went alone to the
farm where Ja n w orked. H e hid behind a tree and w aited.

• 3 ^
 Trouble with a train

He saw Jan leave the farm before the d ay ’s work w as over.

Instead of returning to the cam p, Ja n hurried off the
opposite way, and through the town.
Edek follow ed him to a railw ay line, where a boy jumped
from behind a tree at the side o f the road. He waved to Jan ,
who went across to him.
Edek went closer, but stayed out o f sight and waited. He
waited so long that he began to w onder if they had gone.
Then suddenly Jan cam e out from behind the trees and ran
along one side of the railw ay, tow ards the signal ramp. The
other boy had disappeared.

J a n cam e o u t from behind the trees and

ran tow ards the sign al ram p.
 The Silver Sword

Edek clim bed into a tree which gave him a good view of
the line. H e saw Ja n climb the signal ram p, which went
right acro ss the line, and then lie down flat on the top,
above the line. W hat w as he going to do?
‘I m ust go and find ou t,’ thought Edek.
He jum ped dow n from the tree and went to the bottom
of the signal ram p.
‘W hat are you doing, Ja n ? ’ he called.
Jan did not see Edek until that moment. ‘ Go aw ay !’ he
said, angrily.
Then cam e a noise as the signal changed to green.
‘Go aw ay !’ Jan screamed at Edek. And he threw himself
at the signal and began to pull it.
Edek heard the sound of a distant train.
‘Com e d ow n !’ he shouted to Jan .
Jan took no notice. He worked quickly with a spanner
and a pair of wire cutters. The noise o f the train grew
louder, and dirty sm oke rose above the trees.
'‘There’s going to be an accident!’ Edek thought, and
began to climb up the side of the ramp.
Edek w as not strong. Coughing badly, he pulled himself
up the ram p to the top. The signal had now changed to red.
An angry Ja n m oved past Edek’s face, nearly knocking him
off the ram p. H e said something, but Edek could not hear
him because o f the noise of the train. Still worried about an
accident, Edek stood u p ’on the ram p and waved at the
train. But the signal w as at red, where Jan had put it, and
the train w as already stopping.

36
Trouble with a train
 The Silver Sword

A dark cloud o f dirty sm oke surrounded Edek. When he

finished coughing and wiping the sm oke from his eyes, he
saw som eone shouting at him from below.
It w as an Am erican soldier.
And the soldier had a gun in his hand.

C aptain G reenw ood o f the American Army sat in the

court-room and looked at the boy in front o f him.
‘Y ou stop ped the train and were going to steal food from
it,’ he said.
‘N o ,’ said Edek. ‘I mean, yes, I stopped the train. But no,
I w asn’t going to steal from it.’
‘Why did you do it?’ C aptain Greenw ood did not
understand. The boy w as ill, and he did not seem the kind
o f person to play dangerous gam es with trains.
Before Edek could answer, there w as a noise at the
back o f the court-room . A soldier cam e forw ard with a
m essage for C aptain Greenwood. There w as a whispered
conversation, then the captain said, ‘Yes, all right. If they
can help us, bring them in.’
Ruth, Ja n and Bronia were brought in and m ade to stand
beside Edek. Bronia held R uth’s hand and smiled. Ja n w as
biting his lip, but his eyes were angry.
‘T here’s been a m istake, and I’ve come to explain,’ said
Ruth in Polish. ‘T his is Jan . It’s all his fault. I want to speak
for him .’ There w as an American soldier who spoke Polish
standing near them , and he told C aptain Greenw ood what
Ruth w as saying.

38
 Trouble with a train

‘Who is the other child?’ asked the captain.

‘M y sister, B ron ia,’ said Ruth. ‘She has nothing to do
with this. We’re on ,our w ay to Switzerland and w e’re
camping near the river.’
‘Have you any p aren ts?’ Captain Greenwood asked Jan.
‘N o, Ruth is m y mother now ,’ said Jan .
Ruth did her best to explain this, and the things that had
happened at the railw ay line.
‘So,’ Captain G reenw ood said to Jan , after Ruth stopped
speaking, ‘you have no parents. Ruth Balicki is acting as
your mother. You say that Edek Balicki did not stop the
train, but that you did. Is that right?’
Ja n ’s answer w as to make a sudden run for the door.
Tw o guards brought him back, kicking and biting.
‘Can you control the boy?’ Captain Greenwood asked
Ruth.
‘H e’s afraid o f soldiers,’ said Ruth. ‘If you send those
guards outside, sir, I think he’ll behave himself.’
Captain G reenw ood w as surprised, but he decided to see
if the girl w as right. ‘Leave the boy and wait outside,’ he
told the guards. '
After the soldiers left the room , Jan became calm.
‘Tell us w hat happened,’ said C aptain Greenwood.
‘It w asn’t Edek’s fau lt,’ Ja n said after a moment or two.
‘I changed the signal and he came to stop me. I ran away
and he was caught. It w as easy to get aw ay, but he’s a very
stupid boy for his age.’
‘Why did you stop the train?’ said the captain.

39
 The Silver Sword

‘Because o f the food trucks.’

‘Y ou w ere going to steal from them yourself?’
‘N o ,’ said Jan .
‘So you were one o f several thieves,’ said the captain.
‘W as Edek Balicki one, to o ?’
‘N o .’
‘W ho are the others?’
‘I’ve never seen them. I don’t know anything about
them,’ said Jan . ‘If I did, I w ouldn’t tell you.’
‘W hat did the other boys pay you to stop the train ?’
asked C aptain Greenwood.
‘N oth in g,’ said Jan . ‘Sometimes they gave me som e of
the food they to o k .’
‘But you say you’ve never seen them .’
‘T hey’re clever,’ said Jan . 'They leave the food in a
hiding-place, in the forest.’
‘But why do you steal food when you can get plenty from
the army kitchens?’ asked C aptain Greenwood. ‘It's just a
bad habit, isn’t it?’
‘The N azis stole everything from our country,’ said Jan .
‘N ow it’s our turn to steal from them.’
‘But this is American food you’ve been stealing, not N azi
food. It’s sent here to feed you and all the other refugees. If
you steal it, y ou ’re robbing your own people. D o you think
that’s right or sensible?’
Jan began to cry. ‘Edek is ill, and we are all hungry. I shall
always steal if we are hungry.’
Captain Greenw ood moved the papers around on his

40 '
 The Bavarian farmer

desk. ‘Edek Balicki,’ he said, ‘you can go. Jan , you will pay
200 m arks or go to prison for seven d ay s.’
Ruth and Ja n talked together for a minute, then Ruth
said, ‘Jan says he’ll go to prison. We don’t have enough
money to pay the 2 0 0 m arks.’
‘W e’re saving our money to buy som e boots for E dek,’
said Bronia.
‘It isn’t long, Ja n , and you’ll be looked after,’ said
Captain Greenw ood, kindly. ‘When you come out, stay
with that mother - perhaps she’ll be able to teach you not to
steal. And remind her to send me a postcard when you get
to Sw itzerland.’

9
The Bavarian farmer

It was early on a July morning when a Bavarian farmer

pulled open the door of his barn. He stared into the dark
building, remembering rhe noises he had heard. It was so
quiet that he began to wonder if he had made a mistake.
Suddenly, a potato flew out and hit him on the neck!
'Com e out!' he shouted.
Ruth appeared, followed by Edek and Bronia.
‘We only stayed here last night,’ explained Ruth. ‘We
haven't done any harm to your barn .’
Anorher potato hit the fan n er’s shirt. ‘N o harm !’ he
shouted. ‘I suppose that was a birthday present!’
Bronia laughed and Edek sm iled, but Ruth w as angry.

41

*
4
 The Stiver Sword

‘When will you grow up, you silly boy! ’ she said, pulling
Ja n out o f the barn. ‘Say you’re sorry.’
‘So rry ,’ Ja n said to the farmer.
‘N o w perhaps you’ll tell me w hat you’re doing here,’
said the farm er, looking at Edelc.
Edek explained who they were and where they were

42
 The Bavarian farmer

going. ‘It w as after dark when we arrived last night,’ he

said. ‘We didn’t w ant to w ake you up. But w e’ll pay you for
using your b am by doing a day’s w o rk .’
‘O f course,’ said the farmer. ‘And if I’m not happy with
that, I’ll give you to the Burgom aster.’
‘W hat’s a Burgom aster?’ asked Bronia.
‘H e’s an im portant town official who will be very
interested in y ou ,’ said the farmer. ‘Y o u ’re Poles, aren’t
you? Well, there’s an order saying all Poles must be sent
back to Poland now. It’s the Burgom aster’s job to see that
this order is obeyed.’
‘W e’ve just com e from Poland,’ said Ruth. ‘We’re not
going back again .’
‘We’re going to Switzerland to find our father and
m other,’ said Bronia.
‘If the government decides that you m ust go back, then
back you will g o ,’ said the farmer. ‘And throwing potatoes
w on’t save you! N o w come inside and have a bit of
breakfast.’
Inside the farm house, on the kitchen table, was coffee
and fresh bread.
‘Em m a!’ called the farmer. ‘We have four visitors from
Poland. Ruth, Edek, Jan and Bronia. This is Frau Wolff, my
w ife.’
A large, com fortable-looking lady shook hands with
each of them. Then she went to fetch more bread and
coffee. She could speak Polish better than her husband, and
conversation became easier.
 The Silver Sword

‘H ow did you get that dirt on your shirt?’ Frau W olff

asked her husband, looking at the place where the potato
had hit him.
‘It w as a present from Poland,’ replied the farm er,
smiling at Ja n . And they all laughed so much that they
* alm ost knocked over the coffee.
‘Eat all you can ,’ said Frau W olff, putting more bread on
the table.
‘We get lots o f refugees coming through here,’ said the
farmer, drinking his coffee. ‘Y ou’re not the first ones I’ve
found in my barn, but they have to w ork for their food. So
don’t think y ou ’re going to get a holiday with me! W e’ll
start w ork right after breakfast.’
‘ Let them rest today, K urt,’ said his wife.
The farm er hit the table with his hand. ‘I d on ’t believe in
m aking things easy for people,’ he said. ‘N o , they’ll start
now. R uth and Ja n can come to the field, Bronia can feed
the chickens, Edek can— ’
‘Edek will stay in the kitchen and help m e,’ said his wife.
‘Lie’s not strong enough to work outside.’
And the look she gave her husband m ade it clear that she
didn’t w ant any arguments.

Kurt W olff’s farm was high up in the Bavarian hills, not far
from C zechoslovakia. There were trees right to the top of
the hills, and between the hills was the River Falken.
A few kilom etres away was the village of Boding, where
each day the Burgom aster received his orders from the

44
 The Bavarian farmer

American soldiers who were living there. H is orders were

to send all the Polish and Ukrainian refugees back home in
American army lorries.
M ost of the refugees were glad to go home, but others
had reasons for not returning. Ruth and her family did not
want to return, so they had to keep out o f the Burgom aster’s
sight.
Jan liked living on the farm . He said it was as good as his
week in prison, which he had enjoyed very much! He
became friendly with an old dog named Ludwig. Until Jan
arrived on the farm , Ludw ig just lay in the sun doing
nothing. N ow he followed Jan everywhere.
One day, when they were in the kitchen, Ruth looked at
a photograph o f a young man which w as on the shelf.
‘Who is th at?’ she asked.
‘T h at’s my so n ,’ said Frau W olff quietly.
‘You didn’t say that you had children,’ said Edek.
‘We haven’t,’ said Frau Wolff. ‘H ans w as killed in North
Africa. Rudolf, my younger son, died while he w as fighting
to keep the R ussians out of W arsaw .’
‘Was he in General M odel’s arm y?’ asked Edek. .
‘Y es,’ said Frau W olff.
‘Perhaps we saw him ,’ said Jan , looking closely at the
photo. ‘They all wore uniforms like that, and used to hide
in the ruins to shoot at us. We hated them .’
‘Some o f the G erm ans were nice in the early days o f the
w ar.’ said Ruth.
Jan stared at Frau W olff, then looked back at the photo.

45
 The Silver Sword

H o w could these friendly people have sons who had been

G erm an soldiers? H e did not understand it.
‘Y ou and I should be enemies,’ he said to the farmer.
‘The only enemy you have,’ said the farm er, ‘is the
Burgom aster, and he hasn’t given you any trouble yet.’
‘R u do lf loved Ludw ig the way you d o ,’ Frau W olff told
Jan . ‘The d og became quiet and unhappy when R udolf
went aw ay, but now you’ve come he’s as happy as he used
to be. Y o u ’re like R u do lf in other w ays, to o .’
‘O h,’ said Jan .
‘H e w as sent to W arsaw to kill us,’ said Ruth. ‘I don’t

‘R u d o lf loved L u d w ig the w ay you d o ,’ F rau W olff told Ja n .

46
 The Burgomaster

suppose he wanted to very much. If he were here now, he

w ould be as friendly as you are, Frau W olff. It all seems so
stupid.’
‘Y ou’d like to be our m other, w ouldn’t you, Frau
W olff?’ said Bronia.
‘Yes, my dear, I’d like to have you all. But you have your
own mother and we m ust help you to find her.’ She turned to
Jan . ‘You have no mother, Jan . W ould you like to stay here?’
‘Y es, I would, because o f Ludw ig. But I’d rather go with
Ruth. And the sword w on’t let me stay here.’
‘W hat sw ord?’ said Frau W olff.
Jan fetched it from his box, and explained how Joseph ,
Balicki had given it to him, long ago; and how it now helped
them to go on whenever they felt without hope.
He put it on the shelf next to the photo o f Rudolf.
It shone brightly in the sunlight from the window.

10
The Burgom aster

N ext day, Jan and Edek were w orking in the fields when a
car went past on the road, throw ing up a cloud of dust
behind it. It w as travelling very fast, and disappeared
behind som e trees. A m om ent later, there was a crash,
follow ed by a shout.
‘It’s hit a tree,’ said Jan .
‘We’ll have to go and help,’ said Edek. ‘The driver may
be hurt.’

47
 The Silver Sword

‘N o . Y ou d on ’t know who it is, Edek. Com e b ack !’

But Edek w as already running across the field.
The car had hit a tree and a man w as getting out. There
w as blood on his head.
‘Are you all right?’ said Edek, in German.
‘Yes, yes,’ said the man. ‘The car isn ’t badly dam aged.
Can you help me push it back on to the road?'
‘I’ll try,’ said Edek. He guessed this m an w as the
Burgom aster, but it did not worry him. Edek’s Germ an was
good enough for the man not to guess he w as Polish.
‘Are you w orking for Kurt W olff?’ the man asked.
‘Yes, he uses extra help at this time o f the year.’
Suddenly, a sm all stone dropped out of a tree at Edek’s
feet. Edek looked up and saw Jan high am ong the branches,
making signs at him.
‘Where do you come from ?’ asked the man, as they
pushed the car.
T h e north,’ said Edek.
‘ Oh. I thought you were a refugee.'
Edek began to cough. Pushing the car was hard for him,
and the man realized this.
‘I’m sorry,’ said the man. ‘ Y ou’re not strong enough to
do this. Perhaps the boy in the tree can help.’
Edek was surprised that the man knew Jan w as there.
‘It’s my brother,’ he said. ‘Come down, Franz.’
After a moment, Jan dropped to the ground.
‘So you come from the north, Franz?’ said the man.
Jan did not answer. He could not speak German.

48
 The Burgomaster

‘H e - he can’t hear or sp eak ,’ said Edek.

They pushed the car back on to the road and the man
w as getting ready to drive off. Suddenly, Bronia appeared
and spoke to them in Polish. Edek quickly replied in
German, but the man said nothing about it.
‘Thank you for your help,’ he said. Then he got into the
car and drove away.
‘I think you’re both stu p id !’ said Jan .
‘Why did you climb into that tree?’ said Edek.
‘T o warn you that it w as the Burgom aster.’
‘I already knew th at,’ said Edek. ‘Anyway, I think
everything will be all right.’
‘Then you are stu pid ,’ said Jan .

The next day the Burgom aster cam e to see the farmer.
‘All Polish and Ukrainian refugees m ust be sent home by
tom orrow. Y ou’re hiding Polish children here.’ And the
Burgom aster told him w hat had happened the day before.
‘They must go home, like the rest,’ he said.
‘Their parents are in Sw itzerland, and they want to find
them ,’ said the farmer.
The Burgomaster laughed, ‘i ’ve heard that story before.
Anyone in trouble at home alw ays tries to get to France or
Switzerland. But the Sw iss w on’t have them, unless the
children can prove that one parent is alive and already in
the country.’
The farmer took the silver sw ord from the shelf and told
the Burgom aster its story. The Burgom aster laughed again.

49

■
A
 The Silver Sword

‘T h at’s no proof. The mother’s either dead or back in

Poland now , and there’s not a chance in a thousand that the
father go t through Germany alive.’
‘I know he’s alive,’ said Edek, who had just come into the
room . ‘I know it in my heart.’ He took the sw ord from the
Burgom aster and put it back on the shelf.
The Burgom aster shook hands with him. ‘Thank you for
w hat you did for me yesterday,’ he said. ‘Where did you
learn to speak Germ an so well?’
Edek explained how he had been a prisoner during the
war.
‘Y ou m ust hate u s,’ said the Burgom aster.
‘I hate the N azis who took our M other and Father aw ay,
and destroyed our home and our city,’ said Edek. ‘But not
all G erm ans are like that.’
Ju st then, Ruth came in with Bronia, Jan and Ludwig.
‘A lorry will come for you tom orrow at twelve o ’clock,
m idday,’ said the Burgom aster. ‘I shall expect you to be
ready. Please d on ’t try to escape. There is only one road,
and there are American guards on it. There are guards in
the forests, to o .’
H e looked tired.
‘I w arn you again, do not try to escape,’ he said.

It w as late that afternoon when the farmer remembered

som ething.
‘The ca n o e s!’ he said.
‘W hat can o es?’ said Ruth.

50
 The Burgomaster

The farmer fetched them, together with three paddles.

‘They belonged to my so n s/ he said . ‘Have you ever
paddled canoes?’
‘Yes,’ replied Edek and Ruth together.
‘There are only tw o difficult places on the River Falken,’
said the farmer. ‘The rapids, ten kilometres below the
village, and the place where it joins the River D anube. But
if you stay in the middle o f the river, y ou ’ll be all right. It’s
your only chance to escape.’

Ij

The farm er fetched the canoes, together with three paddles.

51

'*♦
 The Silver Sword

So at three o ’clock in the morning, two canoes and four

sleepy children were taken down to the river. Frau W olff
gave them som e food as the farmer put the canoes into the
water.
‘Say goodbye to Ludw ig for m e,’ said Jan . ‘I shall m iss
“ him very m uch.’
‘Ludw ig’s in the forest som ewhere,’ said Bronia. ‘I heard
him.’
‘Ludw ig’s asleep at hom e,’ said Frau Wolff.
‘Edek and Jan , you rake the canoe with two seats,’ said
the farmer. ‘ We’ll put the luggage in with you. Ruth and
Bronia, you must lit into the one-seat canoe. It’s only fifty
kilometres to the Danube. Remember to be very quiet when
you pass the village. There’s no moon so I don’t think
anyone will see you. But if anyone shoots at you, lie as flat
as you can .’
‘G ood luck!' said Frau Wolff.
‘We can never thank you enough for all you’ve done for
us,’ said Ruth.
‘I’ll remember you for ever,’ said Bronia.
The two boys waved with their paddles, and the farm er
gave each canoe a gentle push out into the middle o f the
river.
‘G oodbye,’ he said. ‘G ood luck.’
Soon they were moving quickly away.
After a few minutes, Jan said, ‘This canoe is very low in
the water. There’s som ething heavy in the front.’
Suddenly feeling alarm ed, he put his hand under the

52
J
Dangerous water

front o f the canoe.

A wet nose touched his fingers.
‘It’s Ludw ig!’ said Jan , happily.

11
D angerous w ater

The hills moved by in the darkness. For a moment, the

m oon appeared from behind a cloud and the water became
like a sheet of silver.
‘Go away, m oon,’ said Ruth. ‘D o n ’t come out again
until we’ve passed the village.’
The two canoes moved quickly on.
Again the moon appeared, choosing the wrong moment
because they were now passing by the village. Ruth could
see the shadow s of the houses, and the refugee lorries that
were parked in rows.
‘Look out for the bridge,’ said Edek.
He and Jan moved ahead and went under the middle
arch of the bridge. Ruth follow ed, aim ing for the right-
hand arch. But the canoe went into the slow-moving,
shallow part o f the river.
The water was noisy and Ruth did not hear feet walking
across the bridge, but she saw a m an’s shadow on the water.
‘The water’s com ing in,’ said Bronia. ‘I can feel it under
m e.’
There w as a sudden shout above them. A man began to
wave. Ruth could not understand w hat he was saying, but

53

'it “
 The Silver Sword

then he put a leg over the side o f the bridge - and dropped
dow n into the shallow water.
H e w as an American soldier.
Ruth tried to pull aw ay, but the m an caught her paddle
and held on to it. Ruth pulled hard, but the m an held on to
»■ the paddle. She pulled and turned the paddle sharply, but
still he held on. Then she let go o f the paddle, and the
soldier fell backw ards as the canoe w as carried under the
bridge and back into the fast-m oving water.

Ruth p u lled hard, but the soldier held on to the paddle.

' 54
 Dangerous water

Someone w as shooting at them now , from the bridge.

Ruth pushed Bronia’s head dow n and looked around for
the other canoe. Then the m oon went behind a cloud and
the dark night closed round her. The shooting stopped but
Ruth had no paddle now and the w ater carried them
wherever it wanted.
‘Edek! Ja n !’ shouted Ruth.
They went round a bend and were pushed towards the
right-hand side o f the river. The w ater w as quieter here, but
the bottom o f the canoe touched the ground and stopped.
Ruth put her hand over the side and tried to push the canoe
off the ground, but it didn’t m ove. The sky began to get
lighter and she saw rocks in the water.
‘We’ll have to get out and pu sh ,’ she said.
Ruth and Bronia got out of the canoe - and it immediately
began to move again. Ruth guided it tow ards a large rock,
then pulled it up on to som e sm all dry stones that stood
above the water. She lifted Bronia on to the rock.
‘We must w ait here until daylight,’ she said.
They waited until the shadow s o f the night disappeared,
and they could see the whole o f the river. It was white and
broken with hidden rocks in the m iddle, and there were
more rocks in the shallow parts on each side.
There w as no sign o f Jan and Edek anywhere, and both
girls felt lonely and frightened. Then Bronia saw something
in the water, near the rock she w as sitting on.
‘It’s our pad dle!’ she shouted. ‘The w ater carried it down
to us! W hat good luck! N o w we can go o n .’

55

*
4
 The Silver Sword

Soon, R uth could see the rapids ahead o f them, and she
knew this w as the m ost dangerous part o f the river. Here
the w ater m oved very fast, hurrying between large rocks,
some o f them as high as houses.
The noise filled their ears, and Bronia closed her eyes.
But Ruth found she w as alm ost too excited to be afraid. She
threw her paddle from side to side, always turning aw ay
from the white, broken water where the sharp rocks lay
hidden. It becam e a battle between her and the wild river.
But a quick touch with the paddle at the right moment was
enough to sh oot them safely past each rock.
Then the river became wider, and once again there were
trees on either side. The water slowed down, and Ruth
realized that they had got through safely . She thought
about Edek and Jan . H ad they got through the rapids, too?
She lay back and watched the sky as, Bronia slept. Then
she herself becam e sleepy and closed her eyes.
She w oke to find herself sitting in water. T o her horror,
she sa\V that the canoe had hit a rock in shallow water, and
there w as a large hole in the bottom . The hole was much
too big to mend.
She w oke Bronia. ‘We’ll have to leave the canoe and
w alk,’ she said. Bronia looked alarm ed. 'D on't worry. It
can’t be far to the D anube now .’
They walked through the trees to the place where the rivet-
joined the D anube at Falkenburg. There were no trees here,
only green fields, a dusty road, and a good view of the river.
Ruth looked up and down it, hoping to see Jan and Edek.

56
 Dangerous water

There w as an unfinished haystack in one field. Ruth did

not know that Jan and Edek had waited in the field all
morning, hoping to see R uth’s canoe com e down the river.
They had become tired and had climbed up on to the
haystack. First Jan went to sleep while Edek watched the
river, then Jan watched while Edek slept.
Now , Ruth w as passing the haystack when a half-eaten
apple hit her on the shoulder. Then she heard a dog, and
found Ludwig jum ping round her ankles.
‘Where have you been?’ Ja n ’s voice shouted from the top
of the haystack. ‘We thought you’d got into trouble on the
rapids.’

4
 The Silver Sword

H e pushed the sleeping Edek, and the boy dropped to the

ground in front o f Bronia. They were all pleased to see each
other again, and told their stories.
‘We lost our canoe on som e rocks, to o ,’ said Edek.
A hundred metres aw ay, American lorries crow ded with
t Polish refugees m oved along a dusty road. But the children
were too busy laughing and talking even to notice them.

12
M issing

They w alked into Falkenburg, crossed the D anube, then a

lorry took them som e way along the road to Switzerland.
A fter this, there w as m ore walking. Three days later, tired
but happy, they were cam ping beside the road.
‘Only a hundred and thirty kilometres to Lake Constance,’
said Ruth, looking for som e dry grass for Bronia to lie in.
‘Is Lake Constance in Switzerland?’ asked Bronia, sleepily.
‘Switzerland is on the far side o f the lake. Lie dow n here,
Bronia. The grass is nice and thick.’
‘Will M other be w aiting for u s?’ asked Bronia.
‘Perhaps she w ill,’ said Ruth. And in the half-light o f the
evening, nobody noticed that her eyes were wet with tears.
J a n ’s w ooden b o x w as one o f the things they had saved
from the canoes. H e had been too busy to think ab ou t it
before, but tonight he openecj it to m ake sure everything
w as safe. Suddenly, he jum ped up.
‘The sw o rd ’s m issin g!’ he said. ‘Som eone’s stolen it!’

58 N
 Missing

‘N obody would do that,’ said Ruth. ‘Did you leave it at

the farm ?’
Jan thought for a moment. ‘Y es, and I’m going back for
it.’
He began to w alk aw ay but Ruth stopped him. ‘D on’t be
stupid. The W olffs are honest people. They’ll look after it
until we send for it.’
Ju st then, Edek began coughing. H e had been coughing a
lot since the river adventure, and the pain in his chest was
getting worse. Ruth w as worried when she saw how ill he
looked. She m ade him lie dow n, then covered him with a
blanket.
‘Light a fire, Ja n ,’ said Ruth. ‘It will help Edek to sleep.’
It w as a w arm night and they did not need a fire, but Ruth
wanted to give Jan som ething to do. When the fire was
burning and the other three were sleeping, she stayed
aw ake to m ake sure that Jan didn’t run off.
At midnight, a voice called her name. It was Edek.
‘I thought you were asleep,’ said Ruth.
‘I can’t sleep . . . The pain is too b ad ,’ said Edek. ‘I can’t
. . . w alk any m ore.’
‘W e’ll find a lorry to ride in,’ said Ruth. ‘It’s only a
hundred and thirty kilom etres.’
‘There’s no traffic going that w ay,’ said Edek.
Ruth talked to him quietly until he went to sleep again,
but she was too worried about her brother to sleep herself.
‘If we don’t reach Switzerland so o n ,’ she thought, ‘he may
not live.’

59

*
 The Silver Sword

An hour later, she heard another voice. It w as Jan . ‘Ruth,

may I have E d ek ’s shoes when he dies?’
‘H e’s not going to die,’ said Ruth, m aking herself speak
calmly.
‘H e will if I d on ’t have my sw ord,’ said Jan . ‘And we’ll
» never find your father, either.’
Ruth alm ost believed him. It w as true that they had been
very fortunate while they had the sw ord. And now Edek
was very ill. But all she said w as, ‘ G o to sleep, Jan .
Everything will be all right.’
But after a while, Ruth could not keep aw ake any longer.
When she w oke in the morning, Jan and Ludw ig had both
gone. And Edek’s face looked so white that at first Ruth
was afraid he w as dead. For a few moments, Ruth felt
desperately alone.
‘Jan can look after himself,’ said Bronia, when she
discovered that he had gone.
‘He forgets that we may need him to look after us,' said
Ruth.,
The sun shone on to Edek’s face and woke him. He was
ton ill to notice that Jan and Ludwig were missing.
‘W hat’s w rong with E dek?’ asked Bronia.
‘I expect it’s the hot sun,’ said Ruth.
Edek could only w alk very slowly, with Ruth holding his
arm. After less than a kilometre he had to stop and sit down
on the road.
‘I can’t go on ,’ he said, his voice a whisper.
Ruth pulled him out of the sun. ‘Stay by the road,

60
 Missing

'[ c j n '( g o on, ’ E d e k said, his vo ice a ich isper.

Bronia,’ she said. ’Scop the first person who p asses.’

H alf an hour later, a lorry came along. The driver saw
Bronia and stopped. She called to him in Polish, and he
smiled. He was an American soldier, but he answered her in
Polish.
‘Have you come from Poland, to o ?’ said Bronia.
‘N o , I’m from America, but my parents were Polish,’
explained the driver. ‘Jo e W olski’s my name but call me
Joe. N ow , little lady, w hat’s your trouble?’

They got in the front seat of the lorry beside Jo e Wolski and
went off along the road to Switzerland.
‘W hat’s in the back of your lorry?’ asked Bronia, hearing
a noise.
 The Silver Sword

‘A wild an im al,’ said Joe.

‘Ja n likes an im als,’ said Bronia. And she told him how
Ja n had run aw ay.
Jo e smiled. ‘I knew a boy who ran aw ay like Ja n ,’ he said.
‘I went to sleep in the back of my lorry, and when I w oke up
in the m orning, there he w as beside me! H e had climbed in
during the night. I w oke him up and asked him w hat he w as
doing. He said he w as going north, and asked me to take
him to a village - I’ve forgotten the name. N o w , I w as going
north, but when I heard his story, I decided not to go. I told
him he w as w rong to leave his family alone, but he shouted
and scream ed and kicked me. So what did I do? I tied him
up and left him in the back of the lorry.’
Bronia w as going to ask a question when she heard a dog
barking in the back o f the lorry.
‘T hat m ust be the wild anim al,’ said Jo e . ‘D o you w ant to
see it?’ H e stopped by the side of the road and Ruth and
Bronia follow ed him round to the back o f the lorry. H e
lifted them up - and there on the floor w as Jan ! H is mouth
w as covered and his hands and feet were tied up. Ludw ig
w as standing beside him.
Jo e untied Ja n . ‘H ow are you feeling?’ he asked, with a
smile.
J a n ’s answ er w as to kick at Joe.
‘ You see?’ said Jo e . ‘I told you there w as a wild anim al in
the back o f my lorry. And hefe he is!’
‘Please, Jan ! Stop kicking,’ begged Ruth. But he didn’t
.stop.

62
 The storm

Jo e gave him som e chocolate. ‘D oes this make you feel

better?’ said the soldier.
Jan threw the chocolate back at Joe.
‘Oh dear, I’ll have to tie him up again ,’ said Joe.
So Jan travelled the rest o f the w ay to Lake Constance
tied up in the back o f the lorry. It w as a rough road and the
lorry made a lot o f noise.
But Ja n made a lot more.

13
The storm

There w as a refugee cam p near Lake Constance and Joe

took the children there. The cam p official wanted to put
Edek into the hospital and to send the others away, but
Ruth would not allow this.
But the cam p official w ould not let the children go across
the lake to Switzerland without p ro o f that one of their
parents was already there. Ruth did not know if her father
w as in Switzerland, and she could not remember the
address of her m other’s parents in Basel.
‘Perhaps the sw ord can help us prove who we are,’ she
thought, and she wrote to the farm er asking him to send it
to her.
Ruth w as feeling sad when she said goodbye to Joe. They
had come a long w ay, and now they could see Switzerland,
but reaching it seemed harder than before.
T h a n k you for being so kind, Jo e ,’ she said.
 The Silver Sword

From W arsaw to Sw itzerland - a long journey

64
 The storm

‘D o n ’t call me kind,’ said Jo e . ‘There are problem s

everywhere. I just w ant to help. I w ant to show people that
you can ’t learn everything about life from a hole in a
bom bed cellar. Sometimes good things do happen to
people.’ He shook R uth’s hand. ‘And this is going to be one
o f those times.’
The hot days went by slowly. There was thunder in the
air, but the black clouds held back their rain. They seemed
to be saving it for som e special but terrible day.
Ruth thought about borrowing a sm all boat and crossing
the lake by themselves, but Edek’s illness kept him in bed
for m ost of the day. The cam p official sent the inform ation
that Ruth gave him to the I.T.S. (International Tracing
Service). But his letter to Basel about her mother’s parents
had not been answered. And Ruth had received no reply
from the farmer about the sw ord.
Then one day, in late August, the camp official asked
Ruth to come and see him. ‘C an you describe that sword
that you told me ab o u t?’ he said.
Ruth did this, and once again told the story of its
adventures. A smile appeared on the official’s face.
‘Ruth, you’re the luckiest girl in E urope,’ he said.
He took two letters - and the sw ord - from his desk.
One letter was from the farm er. The other w as from
R uth's father. Both were addressed to the I.T.S. The
farm er’s letter told some of the story of the family, and gave
details of their plans for getting to Switzerland. He had
found the sword the day after the children had left, and

65
 The Silver Sword

im m ediately sent it to the I.T.S. with the letter. (Ruth’s

letter to him had got lost. It w ould be m any months before
she w ould get a reply to it.)
The letter from R uth’s father had a Jan u ary date on it. In
it, he described the children and when he had last seen
them. H e also wrote about his escape from the German
prison, how he met Jan and gave him the sw ord, and about
his long journey to Switzerland.
‘I received this information two days a g o ,’ said the camp
official. ‘I wrote to your father, and his reply came today.
H e lives in Appenzell, on the other side o f the lake. H e will
collect all o f you at M eersburg tom orrow , by the afternoon
b o at.’

The next m orning, Joseph Balicki tried to speak to Ruth on

the phone, but the telephone line w as bad and she could not
hear him. Then there w as silence. W hat w as he trying to tell
her? she wondered.
The children waited by the lake for the Swiss boat to
com e and fetch them. They were So excited that they did
not see the dark clouds getting thicker above them. Only
Ludw ig w as unhappy, but nobody noticed this.
‘Let’s go to that hill over there,’ said Jan . ‘We’ll have a
better view o f the lake.’
‘It means we have to cross this stream ,’ said Ruth.
‘It’s a very sm all stream ,’ said Jan .
It w as true. There had been very little rain that summer
, and it w as easy to jump from rock to rock and get across the

66
 The storm

shallow water without getting their feet wet.

‘I’ll stay on this side,’ said Edek, who w as feeling tired.
‘G ood id ea,’ said Ruth. ‘Sit on that rock.’
But when she w as on the other side o f the stream, she
called back to him. ‘Edek! There’s a boat that’s been pulled
up on the ground behind you. Y ou can get inside it, if it
rains.’
And at that mom ent, it did begin to rain. Edek laughed
and got inside the boat.
There w as the sound o f thunder from the Swiss
mountains. Then lightning appeared through the clouds,
and more thunder followed it. Suddenly, the clouds seemed'
to open up and a great sheet of rain fell out of the sky. In j ust
a few seconds, Ruth, Ja n and Bronia were wet through to
their skins, and there w as water up to their ankles.
It w as im possible to see through the heavy rain. Ruth
reached for B ronia’s hand, and found it. She tried to find
Ja n ’s, but he w as trying to calm Ludw ig. She got hold of his
shirt, but he pulled away.
‘We m ust go back to E dek!’ shouted Ruth.
It w as not so easy to do. She fell over a broken tree
branch, then tried to feel her way along the edge of the lake.
It w as som e time before she realized she was going the
wrong way. She went back again. But the quiet little stream
was now a wide river, carrying bits o f w ood and whole
trees in its wild, fast-m oving water.
‘Edek! E d ek !’ she cried. ‘W e’ll never get across!’
Then the rain became lighter and she could see across the

67
 The Silver Sword

river. ‘Edek m ust be on the other side,’ she thought.

But Edek w as not there. N o r w as the boat.
The water w as all around them, rising up above their
knees. Ruth pulled Bronia on to som e ground which the
water had not yet reached.
‘Where’s Jan gone?’ shouted Bronia.
‘1don’tcare where he’s gone!' Ruth shouted back. ‘I told
him to stay with us, but he went after Ludwig. Edek! E d ek !’
Pushing wet hair away from her eyes, she looked out across
the lake. If Edek was still in the boat, perhaps the water had
carried him out there, she thought. But she could not see the
boat anywhere.
‘Ja n ’s on the cliff behind us,’ said Bronia.
Ruth turned. 'Can you see him from there, Ja n ? ’ she
shouted.
‘He jumped out of my arms and ran aw ay,’ called Jan .
He w as looking tow ards the land, not the lake.
‘1 mean Edek - can you see his b o at?’
But'Jan didn’t answer, hie w as thinking of Ludwig.
‘I think I can see Edek’s boat in the middle of the lake!’
shouted Bronia.
Ruth looked again. She saw it fo ra m om en t-an d then it
disappeared. Bur Ruth was sure it had been Edek’s boat,
and that he had been in it.
Bronia was the first to see the empty rowing boat, as it was
carried past them by the river. She shouted to Ruth, who
jumped towards it, catching the side. Jan came to help her.
> ‘ Go aw ay and look for your d o g !’ Ruth told him. ‘You

68
 The storm

don’t care about Edek. I hate y o u !’

But Jan held on to the boat and together they pulled it to
the side of the river. There w as one o ar and some rope
inside the boat.
‘G o after your d o g !’ Ruth shouted to Jan . ‘Look, there’s
Ludwig up by the road. Run after him and don’t come
back. Bronia and I can save Edek without you.’
The two girls j umped into the boat. Ja n w as staring at the
dog. He wanted to run after the anim al, but Ruth’s words
had hurt him. He looked back at her brave face, and he
knew w hat he had to do. He had lost Ludw ig, but he could
not lose Ruth. /

‘C o after your d o g !' Ruth shouted. ‘A nd d o n ’t come b ack .’

69
 The Silver Sword

H is wooden bo x w as under his arm . H e threw it into the

boat and jum ped in after it. Then he put the oar into the
w ater and began to row.
In that mom ent, Jan began to grow up.

14
Safe!

It w as dark when Ruth opened her eyes. Someone w as

lifting her.
‘It’s a girl,’ a m an’s voice said. ‘H ow are you feeling? We
nearly went into you in the d ark .’
She did not understand him, and tried to speak, but no
w ords cam e. Then everything went black again.
The next time Ruth w oke up, she called out, ‘Edek!
Bronia! J a n !’ There were voices all round her, but she could
not understand w hat they were saying. Then she heard
another, deep voice. It said, ‘Edek! Bronia! Ja n !’ like an
echo. It w as her father’s voice!
Then her eyes closed again.
When she w oke up again, he w as beside her.
‘Y o u ’ve been asleep a long tim e,’ he said. ‘Try to stay
aw ake, and I’ll show you som ething.’ H e lifted her from the
bed she w as resting on. ‘L ook down there.’
She looked dow n at a bed and saw Bronia’s sleeping
head am ong the blankets. H erfather carried her to the next
bed, and there w as E dek’s thin white face, also asleep.
‘Is he breathing?’ Ruth asked.

70
 Safe!

‘Yes, he’s breathing,’ said Jo sep h . And he carried her

aw ay and show ed her Jan .
The boy w as sitting on the edge o f a bed. ‘You Balickis
are no good at sailing. You can ’t m anage without me. You
use an o ar like a sou p spo on ,’ Ja n told Ruth. ‘And when a
bit o f water com es into the boat, you faint! I had to find
Edek’s boat and get ours across to it. I shouted to him to
help, but he had fainted, too. So I pulled him into our boat,
just before his went under the w ater.’
Joseph smiled at him. ‘N o w eat your food and stop
talking,’ he said to Jan .
Ruth put her arm s round her father’s neck. ‘All three of/
them are safe !’ she said, happily.
‘Four,’ said her father. ‘Four o f them. I tried to tell you
over the phone, but you couldn’t hear m e.’
He opened a d oo r to another room on the boat. There
w as a w om an inside, and she had been waiting for the door
to open. H er arm s reached out to Ruth.
‘M other!’ said Ruth. And she moved from her father’s
arm s into those other arm s.
‘M other w as sitting with you when you were asleep,’
Joseph said. ‘She went aw ay before you woke up. We didn’t
w ant to give you too many surprises at once.’
Someone knocked at the door, and Jan came in.
‘Ruth, I w anted to tell you I haven’t got my wooden box
any m ore,’ he said. ‘It fell into the lake.’
‘W hat about the silver sw o rd ?’ said Ruth. ‘Is that lost,
too? I gave it back to you, I know I did.’

71

to «
A
 The Silver Sword

Jan pulled open his shirt. And there w as the silver sword,
tied to a thin piece o f rope round his neck. ‘I knew if I kept the
sword safe,’ he said to Joseph, ‘we would find you again.’
He untied the sw ord and gave it to Ruth's mother.
‘Joseph gave it to me, but it’s yours now ,’ he said. ‘You
can keep it for ever if you’ll be my m other.’

V V M*

An international children’s village was built in Appenzell.

It was the first village like this in the world. Each nation had
its own house, where sixteen children who had lost their
parents could live. There they could grow up with the
children o f the house-parents.
Joseph Balicki and his wife became the house-parents of
the Polish house.
Bronia grew up a happy child, draw ing pictures and
playing with the other children. At first, her drawings were
full of ruined buildings, soldiers and field kitchens. But
slowly they changed to pictures o f happier things - the lake
and the Swiss m ountains.
Edek w as sent to a hospital, and at first the doctors were
afraid he w as going to die. But Edek lived and, after
eighteen m onths, returned to his family. Six months of
Swiss m ountain air m ade him fully well, and then he went
to study in Zurich.
The I.T.S. could find out nothing ab ou t Ja n ’s parents, so
he became a Balicki. M argrit Balicki loved him as much as
\
72
 Safe!

she loved her own children, but Ruth was the only person
who could m anage him. She knew that the way to his heart
was through anim als, and she took him to the farm s near
the village where the farm ers soon discovered that Jan
could do alm ost anything with a sick animal. So in time,
even the wild Jan grew up and learned to behave well.
At the beginning, Ruth found the new life more difficult
than the others. She had been clever and brave and had
looked after Edek, Bronia and Jan like a mother. But she
had grown up too quickly, and at first she behaved like a
young child, not wanting to leave her mother, and following
iVlargrit Balicki everywhere. But slowly Ruth became better/
and in 1947 she went to Zurich university. Four years later,
then a teacher, she married a young Frenchman who had
come to work in the children’s village. When a second
French house w as built, Ruth and her husband became
house-parents. They may still be there.
And not far aw ay, in the Polish house, M argrit Balicki
keeps som ething very special, in its own special box.
The silver sword.
 GLOSSARY

attic a room at the top o f a house, under the roof

c am p a place for people to live for a short time
cart a kind o f open ‘c a r’ on wheels, usually pulled by horses
cellar a room under the ground in a house
cough to send out air from the mouth and throat in a noisy
way
Council a group o f people who are chosen to work together
and to decide things for other people
court-room a place where judges, lawyers, etc. listen to law
cases
elastic a kind o f ‘string’ that gets longer when you pull it
faint to fall dow n suddenly because you are weak or ill
g row up to become an adult; to change from a child to a man
or w om an
lo o k after to take care o f som eone or something
nail a small piece o f metal with a sharp end, used to fix things
together
Nazis, members o f the G erm an National Socialist Party, who
controlled G erm any under their leader, Hitler
rapids part o f a river where the water moves very fast
refugee som eone who is running away from war or danger and
trying to find a new, safe home
ruin a building which is alm ost destroyed and is falling down
ruined alm ost destroyed
silly not sensible; stupid
zone (in this story) a p art o f a "country which is controlled by
soldiers from another country
The Silver Sword

ACTIVITIES
 ACT IVITI ES

Before Reading

1 R e a d the b a c k c o v e r an d the .story in trod u c tio n on the first

page o f the b o o k . Are these sentences true (T) or false (F)?

1 J a n stole the silver sw ord frotn M r Balicki.

’ ■ 1
2 Life in W a r s a w is difficult and d a n g e r o u s for the children.
3 T h e c h ild re n ’s h o m e is used as a prison cam p .
4 T h e children w a n t to go to Sw itzerland bec au se they hope
their p aren ts a re there.
.5 J a n keeps the silver sw ord because he thinks it is lucky.

2 What is g o in g to h ap p en in the story? C a n you guess? For each

sentence, circle Y (Yes) or N (N o ).

1 J a n will g o to prison. Y /N
2 M r Balicki will see the silver sw o rd ag a in . Y / N
3 One o f the children dies on the journey. Y /N
4 T h e children will find both o f their parents. Y /N
5 J a n will find his fam ily again. Y /N

3 What do you k n o w a b o u t the time an d p la ce o f this story?

C h oo se the correct w o r d s to com plete this p a ssa g e .

The Second W o r ld W ar began in 1939 / 1940 a n d end ed in

1943 / 1945. T h e children lived'in Poland, in eastern /
w estern E u ro p e . T o get to Switzerland, they had to g o w est /
east to G e rm a n y , an d then north / so u th to Sw itzerland .
 ACTIVITIES

While Reading
I * ■. ’ ■' . ' r
1 R e a d C h ap ters 1 to 3. C h o o s e the best q u estio n -w o rd fo r these
q uestions, and then a n s w e r them.

W here I H o w ! W hat I W hy ; >

1 . . . did J o s e p h e sc ap e from the p riso n ? ‘
2 . . did J o s e p h get to the other side o f the valley?
j . . . did the p riso n bell ring?
4 . . . happened to J o s e p h ’s wife?
5 . . . did the N a z i s d estro y J o s e p h ’s hom e with a b o m b ?
6 . . . did J o s e p h a s k J a n to d o if he ever met his children?
7 . . . did J a n take J o s e p h that n i g h t ? .

R e a d C h ap ters 4 a n d 5. A re these sentences true (T) o r false

(F)? Rew rite the false on es with the correct in form ation .

1 T h e children clim b ed o n to the r o o f and esc ap ed befo re the

b o m b s e x p lo d ed .
2 T h e children stole foo d from anyone. ■ >
3 Ruth began a sch ool tor hom eless children.
4 Edek w as taken a w a y by the secret police.
5 Ruth and Bronia lived in the forest all the time.
6 Ruth asked the R u ssia n officer to find her parents.
7 J a n did not hate R u s s ia n soldiers.
S R uth only fou n d o u t a b o u t the silver sw o r d b e c au se Ivan '
broke J a n ’s w o o d e n b o x an d the sw o rd fell out.

77

44
4
 a c t iv it ie s : While Reading

B efo re you r e a d C h a p t e r 6, can y o u g u e ss w h a t J a n a n d R uth

will d ecide to d o?

1 J a n , R u th a n d B ro n ia will look for E d e k , a n d then fo r their

p aren ts.
2 J a n will g o to Sw itzerland to find M r Balicki.
w 3 J a n will s ta y w ith B ro n ia in W a r sa w while R u th go es to
l o o k fo r E d e k a n d her parents.

R e a d C h a p t e r s 6 to 8. H ere are so m e untrue sentences a b o u t

them. C h a n g e them into true sentences.

1 E d e k w a s w a itin g fo r them at the W arthe c am p .

2 W hen the fight at the field kitchen finished, R u th w a s
ho ld in g J a n ’ s h an d.
3 J a n believed E d e k ’s story a b o u t hiding u nder a train.
4 In Berlin the children stayed in an old h ospital.
5 E d e k w a s h elpin g J a n to steal foo d from the trains.
6 T h e A m e ric a n C a p t a i n told J a n he h a d been stealing N a z i
fo o d sent to feed the soldiers.
7 Jari w ent to p r iso n although the children had enough
m oney to p a y the 200 m arks.

R e a d C h a p te r s 9 a n d 10. W ho said these w o r d s , an d to w h o m ?

W h o , o r w h a t , w ere they talking about?

1 ‘I s u p p o s e th at w a s a birthday p resent!’
2 ‘H e ’s no t s tr o n g en o ugh to w ork o u tsid e .’
3 ‘Y o u an d I sh o u ld be enem ies.’
4 ‘W e m u st help y o u to find her.’

78
 a c t iv it ie s : While Reading

5 ‘ H e - he c a n ’ t hear o r s p e a k . ’
6 ‘T h e y m ust g o hom e, like the rest.’
7 ‘ I k n o w he’s alive.-I k n o w it in m y h eart.’
8 ‘ It’s y o u r only chance to e sc a p e .’

R e a d C h ap ters 11 to 13, an d a n s w e r these questions.

1 H o w did R u th get a w a y fro m the A m eric an soldier?

2 W h at piece o f g o o d luck did the girls have after the bridge?
3 W hat had h ap p en ed to the silver sw o rd ?
4 Why w a s R u th so w orried at their c a m p by the road side?
5 Why did J a n run a w a y in the night?
6 Why did J o e tie J a n up?
7 Why did the c a m p official finally allo w the children to go
a c ro ss the lake to Sw itzerland?
8 W h at happened to E d e k in the sto rm ?
9 Why d id n ’t R u th w a n t J a n to c om e in the rowing boat?

B efo re you read C h a p te r 14, c an you gu ess how the story will
end? Circle Y (Yes) o r N (N o ) for each sentence.

1 T h e fou r children are rescued from the lake. Y /N

2 J o s e p h Balicki is in Sw itzerland, but the children’s m other
is d ead. Y / N
3 E d e k is very ill, a n d dies so m e time later. Y /N
4 J a n finds his p aren ts a n d g o es to live with them. Y /N
5 R u th finds it m ore difficult than the others to get used to
their new life. Y / N
6 J a n keeps the silver sw o r d to bring him luck. Y /N

79

'if ■
4
 AC TI VIT IE S

After Reading

1 Here is the con v ersatio n between J o e W olski an d J a n when

they first met. Put it into the correct o rd er a n d w rite in the
sp e a k e rs’ n am es. J o e sp eak s first (num ber 5).

1 ‘W ell, I w as with my family till yesterday. But they

d id n ’ t w an t me to go ba ck to B oding, so I ran a w a y . ’
2 ‘A nd where are you g o in g ?’
3 ‘ O w ! W hat are you doing? N o ! Let me go!'
4 ’ B ecause E d e k ’s sick, and Ruth wanted me to help
them. But I ’ve g o t to go to B o d in g .’
5 ‘H ello, you n g man! What are you d o in g in my lorry?’
6 ‘ Right. Y o u can just stay here now , nice and quiet. I
w as g o in g to d riv e north, but I’ve n'ow decided w e ’ ll g o
south - to find you r fam ily.’
7 ‘J u s t a minute. Y o u 're rather you n g to be travelling
by yourself, aren 't y o u ?’
S ‘ I needed so m ew h ere to sleep, so 1 clim b ed in here
while you were sleeping. But I’ve got to go n o w . ’
9 ‘ If they need your help, young m an, y o u ’ re w r o n g to
leave them alone. Y o u should be with them. S o 1 think
you should - Hey! T h e r e ’s rio need to kick me!'
10 ‘ Why d id n ’t they war\t you to g o ? ’
11 ‘N o rth . I’ve left som ething in a village called Boding.
Are you g o in g north? C an you take me there?’

SO
 a c t iv it ie s : After Reading

2 H ere are so m e p a s s a g e s fro m the diaries o f fou r o f the

c h aracters in the story. C o m p le te them with w o rd s fro m the
list, a n d then say w h o w ro te each on e, an d when.

a w a y , been, b efo re, b etter, c a n o e s, c ellar, cockerel, e sc ap e ,

even, everyone, id ea, kn ife, lu ck , m ise rab le , m ust, new s,
rem in d s, safely , secret, sta rte d , un til, w ild , w orse

1 I’v e living here fo r a w eek n o w , an d I’ve decided to

stay. w an ts to lo o k in my b o x , but they’d lo o k
out! T h e sw o rd is m y ______, an d I'm not g oin g to sh o w it
to anyone. If I keep it, I k n o w it will bring m e ______.

2 W hat a strange day! I’d ju st arrived at t h e ______ with

chocolate and g o o d for the girls, when sudden ly this
boy w as trying to put a in my neck and a
w as biting my ankles! L u c k ily,-n ob o d y was hurt, but
the b o y ’ s b o x got broken. T h e n R u t h crying! I had no C
w hat it w as all ab ou t!
t
3 I wish they could stay. J a n m e so much o f R u d o lf.
L u d w ig agrees! But I k n o w they m ust leave tonight,
the B u rg o m aster can tak e t h e m ______. I just hope
thev’ll reach
^ the D a n u b e ■ in those old - . . .•

4 T h is be the m o s t p lace in the w orld. If the

food was a n y , and the w o r k w a s any harder, w e ’d
all die. T o n ig h t I’ m go in g to try a g a in t o . A nd this
time I w o n ’t s t o p I’ m ba ck in W a r sa w with Ruth
and Bronia.

81
 a c t iv it ie s : After Reading

3 T h e r e are 14 w o r d s fro m the story hidden in this w o rd search.

F in d the w o r d s , a n d d r a w a line th ro u gh them . T h e first a n d
la st letters o f e ac h w o r d are given b e lo w , a n d the w o r d s g o
f r o m left to righ t, an d from top to b o tto m .

a h c e m s r e s 1
b n c r p e r e z e
c p 1 y r s r n

J 0 C A M P S E P H
s G B A R N R A L V
1 Z 0 N E E U R 0 1
G A T T 0 M 1 0 R E
N R B U T !I N P R C
A C E L L A R E Y A
L H P A D D L E T N!
S Y R 1 F L E 0 U 0!
R A P1 D S R S N E i
0 W M A T T R E S s s

N o w write d o w n all the letters that d o n ’t have a line through

them , begin n in g w ith the first line and g o in g a c ro ss each line to
the end. Y o u s h o u ld have thirty letters, which will m a k e a
sentence o f nine w o rd s.

1 W h a t is the sentence?
*
2 W h o said it, a n d to w h om ?
3 W h a t w a s he h o ld in g in his hands?

'8 2
 a c t iv it ie s : After Reading

4 C o m p lete this letter fro m R u th to the W olffs. Use as m any

w o rd s as you like.

M y d ear friends,
At last we have arrived at a c a m p n ea r L a k e C onstance. T h e
journey in the c an o es w a s quite difficult fo r Bronia and me.
W hen we p a sse d the village, an A m e ric a n s o l d i e r ___________ .
W e g o t aw a y from him w h e n ____________ . L ater w e found
o u r paddle, an d went d o w n the river to Falkenbu rg. T h ere we
f o u n d ___________ .
Ed ek becam e very ill an d I w a s w o rried t h a t ___________ .
Luckily, a soldier called J o e W o l s k i ___________ .
N o w we w an t to go to S w itzerlan d - but first we have to '
___________ . J a n thinks that h e ____________ . C ou ld you send it
to us? T h en p erh ap s the c a m p o f f i c i a l ___________ .
T h a n k you so m uch f o r ____________. W e w i l l ____________ .
Love from R uth

5 D o y o u ag re e (A) o r d i s a g r e e (D ) w ith the f o llo w in g

statem ents? E x p lain why.

1 In w artim e it is all right to steal fo o d from the enemy, but

not from y o u r o w n people.
2 It is alw ays all right to steal fo o d if y ou have no food or
money.
3 In w artim e you have to lo o k after y o u rse lf first.
4 In w artim e p eop le have to help each other more than ever.
5 ‘S oldier’ o r ‘G e r m a n ’ are ju st n am es, an d the person inside
is m ore im p orta n t than the n am e outside.

83

H* *

sam
 ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Ian Serraillier w a s born in L o n d o n in 1912. H e w a s ed u c ate d in

Brighton an d O x f o r d , an d then becam e a school teacher. F r o m
a very early age, how ever, he wanted to be a writer, an d his
first b o o k w a s p ub lish ed in 1944. H e w ent on to write m an y
m ore b o o k s , includ ing p o e m s, plays, and stories, and with his
wife, Anne Serraillier, he also edited a series o f ch ild ren ’s
b o o k s. H e died in 1994.
M o s t o f la n Serrailiier's b o o k s were written for children,
and he w as a very g o o d story teller - he knew how to m a k e a
story exciting and keep his readers interested. S o m e o f his best
b o o k s retell the great stories o f the past, a b o u t heroes such as
J a s o n , H ercu les, and Beo w ulf. T h e B eo w u lf story is retold in
verse, in his collection T he W indm ill B o o k o f B a lla d s (1962).
He also w rote adven tu re stories, including T h ere's S o E sc ap e
(1950) and T h e C av e o f D eath (1965).
H is m o st fa m o u s bo o k , however, is T he Silver Stvorcl,
w hich is on e o f the m o st r e m a r k a b le c h ild r e n ’ s b o o k s
published since W orld W ar 11. T h e children - R u th , F.dek,
B ro n ia, and J a n - were not real people themselves, but the
b o o k , Ian Serraillier said , had 'a basis in fact". Before lie w rote
the s t o r y , he s p e n t five y e a r s c a r e f u l l y stu d y in g the
b a ck g ro u n d , and the history and experiences o f m any refugees.
T h e Silver S iv o r J w a s first published in 1956, and nearly
half a century later it is still read an d enjoyed by th o u sa n d s o f
readers each year. It has beeft published in many tran sla tio n s,
and has twice been m ad e into a film for television.

34
 h

i
ABOUT BOOKWORMS

OXFORD BOOKWORMS LIBRARY

Classics • True Siories • Fantasy & H orror • Human Interest
Crime o " Mystery • Thriller Adventure

T h e OXFORD b o o k w o r m s l i b r a r y o ffers a w id e range o f original a n d

a d a p te d stories, b oth classic a n d m o d e r n , w h ich take learners fro m
e l e m e n t a r y t o a d v a n c e d leve l t h r o u g h s i x c a r e f u l l y g r a d e d l a n g u a g e s t a g e s :

S t a g e 1 (4<X* h e a d w o r d s ) S tag e 4 (1400 h eadw ords)

S t a g e 2 (' ( S I h e a d w o r d s ) S ta g e 5 (1800 h e ad w o rd s)

S t a g e 3 ( 100<1 h e a d w o r d s ) S tag e 6 (2S00 h e adw ords)

M o r e t h a n hf ry t it le s a r e a l s o a v a i l a b l e o n c a s s e t t e , a n d t h e r e a r e m a n y /
t itle s a t S t a g e s 1 to 4 w hich a re sp e cia lly re c o m m e n d e d for yo u n ge r
learn ers. In a dd itio n ro the in tro d u ctio n s and activities in each
B o o k w o r m , r e s o u r c e m a t e r i a l i n c l u d e s p h o t o c o p i a b l e te st w o r k s h e e t s
and T e a c h e r 's H a n d b o o k s , w hich c o n ta in adv ice on run nin g a class ti
li b r a r y a n d u s i n g c a s s e t t e s , a n d t h e a n s w e r s f o r th e a c t i v i t i e s in th e b o o k s .

Seve ral o th e r series a re lin ked to the o x f o r d b o o k w o r m s l i b r a r y . T h e y

r a n g e f r o m h ig h l y i l l u s t r a t e d r e a d e r s f o r y o u n g l e a r n e r s , t o p l a y s c r i p t s ,
n o n -n c tio n r e a d ers, a n d u n sim p lirie d te x ts fo r a d v a n c e d learn ers.

Oxford Bookworms Starters O xford Bookworm s Faetfiles

Oxford Bookworms tiayscripts O xford Bookworms Collection

D e t a i l s o f t h e s e s e r ie s a n d a full list o f all t it le s in th e o x f o r d b o o k w o r m s

l i b r a r y c a n be f o u n d in th e O xford English c a t a l o g u e s . A s e l e c t i o n o f title s
f r o m t h e o x f o r d l - o o k w o k . u s l i b r a r y c a n b e f o u n d o n th e n e x t p a g e s .

85

4
 B O O K W O R M S • T H R I L L E R Sc A D V E N T U R E • S T A G E 4

Treasure Island
RO BER T L O U IS STEV EN SO N

R etold by Jo h n Escott

‘Suddenly, there w as a high voice screaming in the darkness:

“ Pieces o f eight! Pieces o f eight! Pieces o f eight!” It was L o n g J o h n
Silver’s parrot, C aptain Flint! 1 turned to run . .
But youn g J im H aw kins does not escape from the pirates this
time. Will he and his friends find the treasure before the pirates
do? Will they escape from the island, and sail back to England
with a ship full o f gold?

B O O K W O R M S • T H R I L L E R Sc A D V E N T U R E • S T A G E 4

The Eagle of the Ninth

RO SEM ARY SU T C L IFF

Retold by Jo h n Escott

In the second century ad, when the Ninth R om an Legion marched

into the mists o f northern Britain, not one man came back. Four
thousand men disappeared, and the Eagle, the symbol o f the
L egion’s honour, w as lost.
Years later there is a story that the Eagle has been seen again.
So M a rc u s Aquila, whose father disappeared with the Ninth,
travels north, to find the Eagle and bring it back, and to learn how
his father died. But the tribes o f the north are wild and dangerous,
and they hate the R om an s . . .

86'
 BO OK WO RM S • T H R I LL E R & A D V E NT U RE • STAGE 4

M r M idshipm an Hornblower .
C. S. FO RESTER

R etold by R osem ary Border

Hornblower fired. There was a small cloud o f smoke, but no

bang. ‘T his is death,’ he thought. ‘M y pistol was the unloaded
one.’
But H oratio H ornblow er does not die. H e survives the duel
with Simpson, learns to overcome his seasickness, and goes on to
risk his life many times over. It is 1793, Britain is at war with
France, and life on a sailing ship of war is hard and dangerous.
But the hardest battles are fought by H ornblow er within himself.

BO OKW ORM S • TH RILLER & AD V EN TURE • STAGE 4 /

We D idn’t M ean to Go to Sea

ARTH UR RA N SO M E

R etold by R alph M o w at

The four Walker children never meant to go to sea. They had

promised their mother they would stay safely in the harbour, and
would be home on Friday in time for tea.
But there they are in someone else’s boat, drifting.out to sea in
a thick fog. Whert the fog lifts, they can turn round and sail back
to the harbour. But then comes the wind and the storm, driving
them out even further across the cold North Sea . . . .
 BOOKWORMS • HUMAN INTEREST • STAGE 4

Little Women
L O U ISA MAY A LCO TT

R etold by Jo h n Escott

When C hristm as com es for the four M arch girls, there is no

money foe expensive presents and they give away their C hristm as
breakfast to a poor family: But there are no happier girls in
America than M eg, J o , Beth, and Amy. They miss their father, o f
course, who is away at the Civil War, but they try hard to be goo d
so that he will be proud o f his 'little w om en’ when he comes
home.
T his heart-warming story o f family life has been pop ular for
more than a hundred years.

B O O K W O RM S • CLA SSICS • STAGE S

Great Expectations
CHARLES D IC K E N S

R e to ld by C la re Vr est

In a gloom y, neglected house Miss Havishatn sits, as she has sat

year after year, in a wedding dress and veil that were once white,
and are now faded and yellow with age. Her face is like a d eath ’s
head; her dark eyes burn with bitterness and hate. By her side sits
a proud and beautiful girl, and in front o f her. trembling with fear
in his thick country boots, stands young Pip.
M iss H avisham stares at Pip co ld ly , and murmurs to the girl at
her side: ‘ Break his heart, Estella. Break his heart!’

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