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Back After the War Save as PDF
Chapters (74)
  1. Cover
  2. Praise
  3. About the Author
  4. Also by Anita Frank
  5. Note to Readers
  6. Dedication
  7. Part One
  8. Chapter One
  9. Chapter Two
  10. Chapter Three
  11. Chapter Four
  12. Chapter Five
  13. Chapter Six
  14. Chapter Seven
  15. Chapter Eight
  16. Chapter Nine
  17. Chapter Ten
  18. Chapter Eleven
  19. Chapter Twelve
  20. Chapter Thirteen
  21. Chapter Fourteen
  22. Chapter Fifteen
  23. Chapter Sixteen
  24. Chapter Seventeen
  25. Chapter Eighteen
  26. Chapter Nineteen
  27. Chapter Twenty
  28. Chapter Twenty-One
  29. Chapter Twenty-Two
  30. Chapter Twenty-Three
  31. Chapter Twenty-Four
  32. Chapter Twenty-Five
  33. Chapter Twenty-Six
  34. Chapter Twenty-Seven
  35. Chapter Twenty-Eight
  36. Chapter Twenty-Nine
  37. Chapter Thirty
  38. Chapter Thirty-One
  39. Chapter Thirty-Two
  40. Chapter Thirty-Three
  41. Chapter Thirty-Four
  42. Chapter Thirty-Five
  43. Chapter Thirty-Six
  44. Chapter Thirty-Seven
  45. Chapter Thirty-Eight
  46. Chapter Thirty-Nine
  47. Chapter Forty
  48. Part Two
  49. Chapter Forty-One
  50. Chapter Forty-Two
  51. Chapter Forty-Three
  52. Chapter Forty-Four
  53. Chapter Forty-Five
  54. Chapter Forty-Six
  55. Chapter Forty-Seven
  56. Chapter Forty-Eight
  57. Chapter Forty-Nine
  58. Chapter Fifty
  59. Chapter Fifty-One
  60. Chapter Fifty-Two
  61. Chapter Fifty-Three
  62. Chapter Fifty-Four
  63. Chapter Fifty-Five
  64. Chapter Fifty-Six
  65. Chapter Fifty-Seven
  66. Chapter Fifty-Eight
  67. Chapter Fifty-Nine
  68. Chapter Sixty
  69. Acknowledgements
  70. Extract
  71. Chapter One
  72. Chapter Two
  73. Chapter Three
  74. About the Publisher

‘Yes.’ She strains to fix the girth. ‘Stop breathing out, you bugger,’ she mutters, squeezing the buckle prongs into the correct holes. Jack strokes the horse’s blaze. Its ears twist as Gwen joins him. ‘I’m …’ she starts, but then busies herself checking the fastenings on the bridle.

‘You’re what?’

She shakes her head. ‘Nothing.’ She collects her riding crop from the window ledge. ‘You seemed surprised, earlier. To see Vic – Constable Jennings – at the dipping.’

Jack continues to stroke the horse’s nose. ‘Did I? Well, I suppose I was.’

‘He has to come, to check we’re doing it. There’s all sorts of paperwork we have to fill in. It’s a legal requirement, having Vic supervise.’

Jack nods. He does not trust himself to say anything, so instead he takes hold of the bridle, keeping Arthur steady as Gwen fits her boot into the stirrup. With two bounces, she swings herself up into the saddle. The leather creaks beneath her as she gathers up the reins and finds her other stirrup.

‘You looked as white as a sheet when you saw him,’ she says. Jack releases the horse and steps back, unable to meet her eye. With a click of her tongue and a dig of her heels she pulls Arthur round. ‘It’s funny,’ she shifts in her saddle to look back at him, ‘it was almost as if you thought he’d come looking for you.’

And without waiting for his reply, she urges the horse to walk on.

Chapter Seventeen

Jack

June 1939

Jack is leaning against the back wall of the farmhouse eating a handful of raspberries while he waits for Gwen. He is captivated by a small bird that scurries up and down the trunk of the silver birch.

From the corner of his eye, he clocks Gwen emerging from the privy. She stops to rinse her hands under the outdoor tap, then walks over to him, wiping her palms on the thighs of her trousers. Squinting against the sunshine, she follows his rooted gaze.

‘What are you looking at?’

‘That bird.’ He nods towards the silver birch. ‘What bird is that? I swear I’ve never seen anything like it.’

‘It’s a nuthatch.’ She nudges his arm with her elbow. ‘City boy,’ she teases.

‘It’s beautiful. The colours on it.’

‘I’ll let you into a secret – it’s my favourite garden bird.’

‘No?’

‘It is. I’m not just saying that, it really is.’ She helps herself to a proffered raspberry. ‘Pretty, isn’t it?’

‘Aye, it is that.’