Here is one of those scenes I’ve deleted. I rather liked
this but it had to go. Typically, it was a passage I needed to write to help me
to get to know the character. The reader does not need this.
Hani, 2 January 1939
The sun shining through the gap in
the curtains woke Hani up. It felt as if it was going to be another lovely
crisp and sunny day. There was something else as well. Now, what was it that
she was feeling so pleased about? Yes, of course. Renate would be arriving this
evening, and then there would be six whole days of long walks in the snow, then
warming themsleves up by the woodburner and gossiping, and setting the world
right. And a break from those wretched meetings. She didn’t mind the actual
meeting that much, really, because they all had to be there and she liked
spending time with the girls in her year had to be there as well. But it was
that uniform. It looked so dull and it was all scratchy and it was a bit too
tight for her.
Hani jumped out
of bed and ran over to the window. She flung open the curtains and the window
and took a big breath. The air tasted so good. Everything was so fresh and
clear this morning. She could see for miles, over the fields out towards the
other hills.
Her eyes drifted
down to the nearby woods. At least that was one good thing about the Hitler
Youth Movement, she supposed. They had made a keep-fit trail through the
forest. She needed it. Perhaps she and Renate could go and try it out. Not that
Renate needed to. She was as fast as a hare and as skinny as a twig.
It was going to be
so good to see her again. And this time,
they were going to sleep in the garage room. Nobody would disturb them there,
and nobody would know whether they had stayed up half the night talking. Plus,
they wouldn’t be keeping everybody else awake either. Mind you, she’d have to
get cracking today and get it sorted out.
Two hours later
she and Rikki were carrying armfuls of rubbish out of the garage room.
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