boy.
His mother, fortunately, supplied the clip and he ran off howling. We have to hurry and get out of this country. I wonder if Father could walk further tomorrow? He seems healthy enough but he will not allow himself to be hurried. And Isaiah needs to sell his pins and things. He stops at every house. They all know him. Some people offer him tea, even though it is Ramadan and they cannot drink it themselves. Travellers are exempt from the fast. Also Jews, of course. He always refuses, though. That is nice of him.
July 29th
The village we are heading for is called Kadikoy. We want to stay close to the coast, not go inland where the big road goes. We havenât seen any officials on this path, which runs more or less next to the actual road. Itâs not a very good road, mostly potholes and bumps, but a cart can go along it. Abdul says that when we reach Ipsala and cross the river Evros we will be in Bulgaria. Thrace used to belong to Turkey but it lost the land in a war in 1913. Do the nations do nothing but war with each other? And what happened to the people? The ordinary people, like these farmers? I can imagine what happened to them. The only good thing I know about Bulgaria is that it isnât Turkey and we arenât hunted there. And the Bulgarians probably wonât shoot Father as a traitor. Also, from that coast we may be able to get a boat to take us into Greece and thence to Alexandria, where we can get a ship home.
July 30th
We nearly got caught as we crossed the main road today. I heard hooves and dragged Father off the path into the bushes and we just managed to hide as a whole crowd of soldiers marched past. Their officer was riding a beautiful chestnut mare. Father tried to get up to preach to them but I summoned Abdul and we sat on him until they were safely gone. I saw their faces as they came. Young men, I thought. None of them looked evil. They just looked like people. But they all had guns and they were going to kill men like Bluey and Curly. Isaiah stood by the side of the road, leaning on his staff. Some of them spat at him. They are barbarians. The officer flicked a coin wrapped in a bit of paper to Isaiah and he snatched it out of the air. The old man seemed very pleased with himself, he was humming as we resumed our march. It must have been a silver coin.
July 31st
Very hot today. We managed only a few miles before we swooned into the shade of this pine forest. Itâs almost cold under the trees. We can stay here until tomorrow, when it might be cooler. I found a well. We need to buy some more food tomorrow. Abdul made it all worse by remembering the lavish breaking-of-fast dinners which his mother used to cook. Iâm very hungry. But at least there is water to drink. I will draw enough to have a wash, too. It is so hot that any garment dries on the body. I donât have a spare shirt any more. Perhaps we can find someone who will sell me one.
August 1st
Much better today. It rained overnight. The air is nearly cool. We walked along briskly and reached a cluster of houses. A wealthy household. There the old man bartered for a new shirt for me and Abdul and food for all of us. He even accepted tea from the lady of the house. She was dressed in deepest black. Her sons had all been killed on the Gallipoli peninsula. Three of them. Her husband is gone away, too. Poor lady. She made us welcome. She seems to have met Isaiah before. Perhaps this is his tucker track. She didnât drink the tea, of course, and she kept her veil on all the time so it was hard to see her expression. But her eyes were red with weeping. Now that I think about it I havenât seen any women but girls and widows everywhere we have been. There are men working on the farm but they are all old or very young. The tea was wonderful and now I have a new shirt and trousers and a sack of food. The clothes belonged to her youngest son. She cried as she brought them out. She had embroidered a beautiful pattern
His mother, fortunately, supplied the clip and he ran off howling. We have to hurry and get out of this country. I wonder if Father could walk further tomorrow? He seems healthy enough but he will not allow himself to be hurried. And Isaiah needs to sell his pins and things. He stops at every house. They all know him. Some people offer him tea, even though it is Ramadan and they cannot drink it themselves. Travellers are exempt from the fast. Also Jews, of course. He always refuses, though. That is nice of him.
July 29th
The village we are heading for is called Kadikoy. We want to stay close to the coast, not go inland where the big road goes. We havenât seen any officials on this path, which runs more or less next to the actual road. Itâs not a very good road, mostly potholes and bumps, but a cart can go along it. Abdul says that when we reach Ipsala and cross the river Evros we will be in Bulgaria. Thrace used to belong to Turkey but it lost the land in a war in 1913. Do the nations do nothing but war with each other? And what happened to the people? The ordinary people, like these farmers? I can imagine what happened to them. The only good thing I know about Bulgaria is that it isnât Turkey and we arenât hunted there. And the Bulgarians probably wonât shoot Father as a traitor. Also, from that coast we may be able to get a boat to take us into Greece and thence to Alexandria, where we can get a ship home.
July 30th
We nearly got caught as we crossed the main road today. I heard hooves and dragged Father off the path into the bushes and we just managed to hide as a whole crowd of soldiers marched past. Their officer was riding a beautiful chestnut mare. Father tried to get up to preach to them but I summoned Abdul and we sat on him until they were safely gone. I saw their faces as they came. Young men, I thought. None of them looked evil. They just looked like people. But they all had guns and they were going to kill men like Bluey and Curly. Isaiah stood by the side of the road, leaning on his staff. Some of them spat at him. They are barbarians. The officer flicked a coin wrapped in a bit of paper to Isaiah and he snatched it out of the air. The old man seemed very pleased with himself, he was humming as we resumed our march. It must have been a silver coin.
July 31st
Very hot today. We managed only a few miles before we swooned into the shade of this pine forest. Itâs almost cold under the trees. We can stay here until tomorrow, when it might be cooler. I found a well. We need to buy some more food tomorrow. Abdul made it all worse by remembering the lavish breaking-of-fast dinners which his mother used to cook. Iâm very hungry. But at least there is water to drink. I will draw enough to have a wash, too. It is so hot that any garment dries on the body. I donât have a spare shirt any more. Perhaps we can find someone who will sell me one.
August 1st
Much better today. It rained overnight. The air is nearly cool. We walked along briskly and reached a cluster of houses. A wealthy household. There the old man bartered for a new shirt for me and Abdul and food for all of us. He even accepted tea from the lady of the house. She was dressed in deepest black. Her sons had all been killed on the Gallipoli peninsula. Three of them. Her husband is gone away, too. Poor lady. She made us welcome. She seems to have met Isaiah before. Perhaps this is his tucker track. She didnât drink the tea, of course, and she kept her veil on all the time so it was hard to see her expression. But her eyes were red with weeping. Now that I think about it I havenât seen any women but girls and widows everywhere we have been. There are men working on the farm but they are all old or very young. The tea was wonderful and now I have a new shirt and trousers and a sack of food. The clothes belonged to her youngest son. She cried as she brought them out. She had embroidered a beautiful pattern
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