Anne Frank Young Diarist

Chapter Two: A Growing Danger "You wouldn't dare, Anne Frank!" Hanneli whispered. It was 1939 and she and Anne were hiding behind the sheer summer drapes in the Franks' living room. "Think of the trouble you'll be in if you're caught!""You don't thinkI'd dare? Just watch me." Ten-year-old Anne took the cup of water she had filled in the apartment bathroom and balanced it on the windowsill. As her friend watched, wide-eyed, she leaned out the open window and tipped the cup over the sill. The water spilled out....And splashed onto a man standing three stories below! Startled, he glanced up to see where this sudden shower had come from."Duck!" Anne squealed, pulling Hannelli down onto the floor. "We're dead if he sees us!"Breathlessly, she waited for the sound of the doorbell. It never came. Instead she heard her mother's voice."Margot! Anne! Hanneli," Mrs. Frank called out. "Time for lunch.""We're saved!" Anne said, giggling. She and Hanneli crawled out from behind the drapes. Anne stood up and smoothed down her plaid skirt with her hands. "Coming, Mother," she called, winking at her friend.Margot was already seated in the cheerful yellow kitchen, eating thick white bread and homemade cabbage soup. Anne pulled up a chair and reached for the bread. "Please pass the little mice," she asked her sister. That was what the Dutch called the chocolate bits they loved to eat with their rolls and pastry.Margot passed her the bowl of chocolate. "Mother, when I rode my bike to the library this morning, there was a crowd of people at the newsstand," she said with a worried expression on her face. "Has something happened?"Anne finished buttering her bread on both sides and sprinkled it with little mice. "Maybe the palace has announced that Princess Juliana is having another baby," she said hopefully. Anne was always interested in news about Holland's royal family.Edith Frank poured Hanneli a big glass of milk. "No, this is news that need not concern you, Anne," she said firmly. "Now, have some more milk. I have a fresh strawberry tart for dessert."Anne sighed. Her mother was always urging her to eat more. As if her skinny arms and legs were her fault!"You might as well tell us," Anne said, pouting. "You know father will.""Will what?" Otto Frank entered the kitchen, a newspaper rolled under his arm."Pim!" Anne jumped up and gave her father a big hug. "I thought you were at work!""In view of the news, I thought I'd better come home for lunch," Otto Frank said. He caught sight of his wife's disapproving face. "It's no use, Edith, they will find out anyway. The papers are full of it."He unrolled his newspaper and held it up so all could see. Under the date, September 2, 1939, the headline read: GERMANY INVADES POLAND."This is not a man whose promises can be trusted," Mr. Frank said grimly. He ticked off countries on his fingers. "First Austria in 1938. Then Czechoslovakia last spring. Now, Poland.""Do you think the French and English will stand up to them?" Margot asked. "Will they declare war on Germany?""Do you think Holland will go to war, Pim?" Anne asked. Her gray-green eyes shone with excitement."Holland was neutral in the last war," Mr. Frank reminded them. "The queen has promised us that it will be neutral again. We shall be safe, you can be assured." He put down the newspaper."Father says that no Jews are safe while Hitler is in power," said Hanneli in a small voice."Hitler is a madman," Mr. Frank said, his normally calm voice raising a bit. "But Europe is a civilized place. He will not be able to get away with his despicable acts for long." He took a deep breath. "But enough of this," he said, changing the subject. "I think it is time for a song. Hanneli, do you remember the Chinese song I taught you when you were young? Didn't it go something like this?" He hummed a few bars in a nasal voice.Hanneli and Anne giggled. They knew Mr. FrankAshby, Ruth is the author of 'Anne Frank Young Diarist', published 2005 under ISBN 9780689874680 and ISBN 0689874685.