Postcards From No Man's Land by Aidan Chambers Read Free Book Online Page B

far been. But he knew he had glimpsed the feisty young woman she once was, and thought how much he would have liked her then. And did now.
    Thinking of what she might have been when young and what she was now, he said, ‘I know a bit about Amsterdam in the war because of The Diary of Anne Frank . Which is just about my favourite book. Well— is my favourite book, really.’
    ‘Then you’ll want to see the secret annexe where they hid and where she wrote her diary. It isn’t far from here.’
    ‘Yes, I know.’ He didn’t want to tell her about his visit that morning. ‘In the diary, Anne says that youth is lonelier than old age. D’you think that’s true?’
    ‘I haven’t thought about it. Do you think it is?’
    ‘How would I know? Haven’t been old yet.’
    ‘Nor had Anne, so how could she know?’
    He smiled. ‘I’ve wondered that too. But she says all sorts of things that make me wonder how she could know them.’
    ‘Do you feel lonely?’
    He hesitated, not liking where the conversation might go, but took a chance and said, ‘Yes.’
    ‘I read the book a long time ago and forget. Does she say why she thinks youth is lonelier than old age?’
    ‘I know what she says by heart. It’s one of my orange passages. Would you like to hear it?’
    ‘One of your orange passages?’
    ‘Every time I read it I highlight any passage I really like in orange. Sounds silly, I suppose.’
    ‘Not at all. I’m much less colourful. When I mark passages in my books I only underline in pencil. And you use orange—?’
    ‘Because that’s—’
    ‘The Dutch national colour.’
    ‘Yes!’
    ‘Of course!’
    They laughed together again.
    ‘You’re a reader, then?’ Alma said.
    ‘A lot. From living with my grandmother.’
    ‘The one who should have been here now?’
    ‘Yes. Sarah. She reads all the time. Infected me with the bug.’
    ‘You’re fortunate. So, recite the passage about old age. After all, I’ve a vested interest in it.’
    Jacob paused a moment to check his memory before saying, ‘Okay. It goes: “‘For in its innermost depths youth is lonelier than old age.’ I read this saying in some book and I’ve always remembered it, and found it to be true. Is it true then that grown-ups have a more difficult time here than we do? No. I know it isn’t. Older people have formed their opinions about everything, and don’t waver before they act. It’s twice as hard for us young ones to hold our ground, andmaintain our opinions, in a time when all ideals are being shattered and destroyed, when people are showing their worst side, and do not know whether to believe in truth and right and God.’”
    Alma had listened with her head down over her cup, almost as if she were listening to a prayer, and was silent for a moment before saying quietly, ‘She was writing during the war when everything was terrible.’
    ‘I know.’ Jacob leaned forward, elbows on the table, and spoke so that only she would hear. ‘I know it isn’t so awful now. But surely in some ways it isn’t any better, is it? I mean, Bosnia, parts of Africa, Cambodia, other places, nuclear pollution, drugs, Aids, the kids on the street. And that’s just for starters.’
    ‘It upsets me too.’
    ‘And there’s racial prejudice still, isn’t there? Everywhere. There are still plenty of Nazis about, it seems to me. People showing their worst side.’
    ‘Every day, the news is full of it.’
    ‘I mean, Anne talks about ideals. But what ideals are there to believe in? And who knows what the truth is any more?’
    Alma glanced up, assessing him, before saying with a bleak firmness, ‘You have to know your own truth and stick to it. And never despair. Never give up. There’s always hope.’ Then, as if aware of how stern she must sound, she smiled and shrugged and added, ‘This I learned during the war.’
    Jacob nodded. ‘She’s right, then, Anne?’
    ‘I’m not sure. You do have more to go on when you’re old. More experience.