The War that Saved My Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley

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“Only because Susan made her. She still thinks I’ve got the mark of thedevil.” He held my hand as we walked back to the house. “When you weren’there Susan didn’t say you were dead in a ditch. She said you were probablyhaving a nice time and I shouldn’t worry.” He paused. “She was worried,though. I could tell.”I snorted. “She doesn’t need to worry. Nor you.”Dinner was waiting. I fell to eating, so hungry that for a few minutes Ididn’t think of anything else. Then I said, “I saw something strange from thetop of the hill. Far away. Like grass, stretched out a long way, and flat, butdifferent—blue and gray. When the sun hit it, it looked shiny.”“That’s the ocean,” Miss Smith said. “The English Channel. I told youbefore we weren’t far from it.”I stared at her. I wanted to say she hadn’t told me anything. I wanted to sayshe’d crippled my pony, ignoring him. I wanted to say she should haveshowed us the ocean, she should have taken us there.I wanted to say she never needed to worry about either of us. She didn’tneed to bother. I could take care of Jamie, and I could take care of myself. Ialways had.I wanted to say a lot of things, but, as usual, I didn’t have the words for thethoughts inside my head. I dropped my head and went back to eating.“Did Grimes help you?” Miss Smith asked.“Yes,” I said, rudely, through a mouthful of food.“Why wouldn’t Butter trot?”I swallowed. I took a deep breath. I said, “Because you crippled him.”Miss Smith looked up, sharp. “Explain.”I didn’t want to talk, but eventually she got the whole story out of me. Shesighed. “Well, I am sorry. It was ignorance, not deliberate abuse—but that’snever an excuse, is it?” She reached out to pat my arm, but I jerked away. “Iunderstand why you’re angry with me,” she said. “I’d be angry too.”After dinner she marched me out to the pasture. She made me show herwhat Butter’s feet looked like now, and tell her how they had been. She mademe tell her what else Grimes had taught me, and then she went into thestorage room and looked at all the tack. “It’s awful having to face your ownshortcomings,” she said. “Did Butter feel better after he had his feet fixed?”“They’re not fixed,” I said. “They won’t be fixed for weeks and weeks.And I don’t know how he felt. I got lost.”
She nodded. “You must have been scared. Scared and angry.”“Of course not,” I said, though I had been, at least until I’d seen the sea.“Of course I wasn’t scared.”“Angry,” Susan said, putting her arm around me.“No,” I said through clenched teeth. But I was. Oh, I was.
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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
Page 46 and 47: Finally I said, “Miss? What’re
Page 48 and 49: 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 98 and 99: The Royal Oak sank.She was a Royal
Page 100 and 101: I flinched. “Maybe I am now. Mayb
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
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“Yes, that’s her public face. I
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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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