Enemy Camp Read Online Free Page B

black. It looked like a woman’s dressing gown to me, but the girls went ‘Oooh!’, while Mr White said, ‘Very spectacular, Susan.’
    She finished and we all clapped. Yes, I did: I’ve got lovely manners, too. Mr White said, ‘Well done, Susan.’ (I bet she loved that.) ‘Any questions, class?’
    The first hand up was Terry O’Donaghue’s. ‘Does your mother
like
the Nips?’
    Susan turned pink. Mr White went, ‘We will restrict our questions to Susan’s talk, thank you, Terence.’
    Some kids asked about Japanese food, and Susan said that they eat lots of rice and bean curd and noodles. Yuk! Someone else asked how you say ‘Hello’ in Japanese. ‘I think it’s “
Konnichiwa
”. I only know a couple of words.’
    I saw Barry’s hand was up. It’s not easy for my friend to ask a question, and the class went silent while he spoke. ‘Why are the Ja-Ja-Japanese so c-cruel to their p-prisoners, when we t-t-treat them so well?’ Again, I wished
I’d
thought of that.
    Mr White answered instead. ‘A very good question, Barry. I think that during wartime, people sometimes behave in ways they never would during peace. New Zealanders can feel proud of their humane attitudes.’
    Barry and I went home to his place together. ‘You blokes take ages to walk here,’ Clarry complained, as he clumped down the hall in his metal braces. He smirked. ‘Something wrong with your legs?’
    ‘Go and wash your hands, son,’ Mrs Morris told Barry. ‘Would you mind, Ewen?’
    Some doctors think polio might be spread by germs. For a while, our school had buckets of disinfectant to wash our hands in, every time we went to the toilet or played outside. Terry got strapped by Miss Mutter for using the bucket to wash his feet once!
    Clarry has been practising walking along the street and back without using his crutches. ‘B-Bet you had to hang onto the f-fence,’ Barry said. Clarry snapped, ‘Only a b-bit.’ They both went silent.
    I did quite a lot of reading after tea. Bruce from the camp likes books (he can’t do much physical stuff because of his asthma), and he had loaned Dad some books about space. Did you know the planet Pluto has a moon? They found it a year or so back.
    At nine o’clock we listened to the BBC News, with the bell of Big Ben striking before it. There’s been a big battle in the North African desert, at a place called El Alamein, with New Zealand soldiers in the fighting. Dad and Mum went quiet while they listened.
    Mr Morris and Dad are building a little trolley for Clarry to sit in, so that he can be towed behind a bike. Barry and I can take him out to the camp after all.
    Spectacular
means remarkable-looking, while
humane
means civilised and thoughtful. In another hundred years, I might be able to have a conversation with Mr White!
    THURSDAY, 12 NOVEMBER When I met Barry this morning, I knew something had happened.
    ‘C-Clarry fell over on the p-path. He was c-coming out to see me g-go, stupid k-k-kid.’
    ‘Is he OK?’
    Barry shrugged. ‘Sc-Scraped his knees and hand. He doesn’t want to use his c-c-crutches.’
    I thought of those steel rods the doctors mentioned, and shivered.
    We came into the playground and stopped. Mrs Connell from the dress shop stood on the front steps, talking to Mr White. Talking angrily.
    ‘You tell me why our kids should have to hear about those filthy Nips! They’re killing our men, doing all sorts of awful things to prisoners, and you’re giving morning talks on them. It’s disgusting!’
    Mr White sounded perfectly calm. ‘Mrs Connell, I appreciate your concern, but—’ he held up a hand as Mrs Connell started to speak again ‘—the talk was delivered by a pupil after her mother and I discussed the idea.’ He caught sight of Barry and me, and looked steadily at us. ‘I believe we all learned something.’
    ‘The Nips are our enemies! I don’t want our kids’ heads filled with disgusting rubbish!’
    Behind Mr White, a figure in black appeared.