The War that Saved My Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley

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I flinched. “Maybe I am now. Maybe now I can walk.”“Not without crutches,” Jamie said. “You’ve still got that ugly foot.”“Jamie!” Susan said. “You apologize!”Jamie said, “But she does!”“Her foot isn’t ugly,” Miss Smith said. “What a horrid thing to say! AndAda, you’ve done nothing wrong. Your foot is not your fault. You don’t needto be redeemed.”I watched the tips of my crutches as we went down the road. Crutches,good foot, crutches, good foot. Ugly foot skimming along in the air. Alwaysthere, no matter what anyone said.
Butter galloped. He trotted first, and that was so bouncy I had to hold on tohis mane so I didn’t fall off. But I kept kicking him, and he trotted faster andfaster, until suddenly everything evened out, and he was cantering. If I keptkicking him from there, he went faster still, until my eyes watered and thewind made noise in my ears. That was galloping. It was the best.I tried to jump the stone wall of Butter’s pasture. I galloped him the lengthof the field, hard as I could, and steered him right toward the wall. He gotclose, closer, then slammed his feet into the ground. He stopped dead. I keptgoing, straight over his ears. I missed hitting the base of the wall, but not bymuch.Susan came running into the field. I hadn’t known she was watching me.“Stop that, you idiot,” she said.I looked at her. Butter was snorting and tossing his head, and I figured I’dbetter have another go at the wall quickly, before I lost my nerve.“You don’t have the first clue what you’re doing,” Susan continued. “Youget on over to Fred Grimes and get him to teach you something before you getyourself killed. Putting that poor pony at a three-foot wall, when he’s hardlyever jumped in his life!”“He hasn’t?” I asked. I figured all horses knew how to jump walls.Jonathan’s horse hadn’t had any trouble with it.“He hasn’t,” she said. She rubbed the end of Butter’s nose. “You’ll hurthim if you aren’t careful. You’ll scare him, and that’ll put him off jumpingforever. Not to mention what it might do to you.”She should talk about hurting the pony. Ignoring him until he waspractically crippled. He’d been better as soon as his hooves were trimmed.Better the very next day.“Yes, I know what you’re thinking,” she continued. “But I know what heneeds now and I won’t hurt him again. You know what you need now too,because I’m telling you. You get on over to Fred Grimes.”So I went on over to see Fred in the stables behind Maggie’s house. Heagreed to watch me ride, and help me, for a bit of time after his lunch twodays a week. In exchange I’d work for him the rest of the afternoon. Susangave me a map she’d drawn, and showed me how to trace my route on it, so I
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Chapter TwentyChapter Twenty-oneCha
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“Ada! Get back from that window!
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if I went downstairs again. That wa
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I began that very day. I pulled mys
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on the street, and then marched him
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frightened. I felt grateful, that I
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“How much farther?” I asked him
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“How’d you get here?”“Walke
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The train was miserable, of course.
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The day got worse. It was bound to.
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didn’t expect so many. We’ve go
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It sat at the very end of a quiet d
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I shrugged. I had never needed taki
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tight. “Interesting,” she said.
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In the morning we slept until the s
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“I could see they weren’t yours
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thing. I’ll write to your mother
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Another thing Miss Smith did was ex
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home guests. I sat up and clutched
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Up until then, that morning, I’d
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Finally I said, “Miss? What’re
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She stayed in bed even after she fi
Page 50 and 51: especially with the crutches. Maybe
Page 52 and 53: All this time, in secret, I’d bee
Page 54 and 55: the strange food, though the only w
Page 56 and 57: The next time we went into town, we
Page 58 and 59: “No—well, yes,” Miss Smith sa
Page 60 and 61: “She simply hasn’t been taught,
Page 62 and 63: rough patches on my skin, and my he
Page 64 and 65: down with a thump. Her skin went pa
Page 66 and 67: called her Maggie. “Maggie, hang
Page 68 and 69: then added, “It’s a clubfoot.
Page 70 and 71: I told the whole story, except for
Page 72 and 73: Now Lady Thorton’s face looked st
Page 74 and 75: When Jamie came home it was obvious
Page 76 and 77: “Surely there’s a social worker
Page 78 and 79: Miss Smith sighed. “Ada, can’t
Page 80 and 81: Huh, I thought. Imagine dressing up
Page 82 and 83: I guess he did, but I’d never not
Page 84 and 85: The very next day, before Jamie wen
Page 86 and 87: Could be a long time, then. I doubt
Page 88 and 89: She sighed, air coming out her nose
Page 90 and 91: Butter refused to ever do anything
Page 92 and 93: flicked an ear at it. To him, plane
Page 94 and 95: hunting with the war on. But even s
Page 96 and 97: “Only because Susan made her. She
Page 98 and 99: The Royal Oak sank.She was a Royal
Page 102 and 103: wouldn’t be lost again. I tied my
Page 104 and 105: “Oh, the funeral! Bunch of nosy b
Page 106 and 107: I didn’t mean to. I’d watched S
Page 108 and 109: “Ada!”Oh no. Ohnoohnoohnoohno.
Page 110 and 111: Susan tricked me into writing.Jamie
Page 112 and 113: “Suppose so.” He made me go aro
Page 114 and 115: Susan took us back to see Dr. Graha
Page 116 and 117: Susan made Jamie a pair of nice sho
Page 118 and 119: “Your mam ain’t come for you?
Page 120 and 121: looked at her, and I said, “Maybe
Page 122 and 123: like to break tradition. “But tha
Page 124 and 125: Maggie won, but not by much, and I
Page 126 and 127: for all of us.”We took the tree i
Page 128 and 129: “Aye,” Fred said, nodding, as t
Page 130 and 131: made it for you. Bottle green velve
Page 132 and 133: I didn’t know what Susan had said
Page 134 and 135: I shrugged her away. It was too muc
Page 136 and 137: In January rationing began. It was
Page 138 and 139: wind blew the wisps of hair around
Page 140 and 141: “What are you thinking?” she fi
Page 142 and 143: She couldn’t take care of me. She
Page 144 and 145: Stephen said there was a new poster
Page 146 and 147: “Yes, that’s her public face. I
Page 148 and 149: 6) Do not spread rumors.7) Lock awa
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We woke to a vicious pounding on th
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days without food or water.The men
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called for tea. Daisy and I brought
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“. . . things worse than bombs,
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little bit more. She put her arm ar
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blanket. Susan wrapped me in it the
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creased with worry.
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You could get used to anything. Aft
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The man blinked.I said, “I would
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have believed you,” he said. “I
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that evening, while we were still e
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Mam.I didn’t know what to think.
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arm. “I’ll keep it for you, Jam
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worked. “Plus it got me away from
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Jamie said, “What happened? Why
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and he closed his mouth on his word
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“I could get my foot fixed,” I
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flats, rushing down with bedding in
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A restaurant near the train station
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A blur of gray fur streaked out of
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The War that Saved My Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley

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