Riverbend School for Girls - Vox Fluminis Yearbook (Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada)

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Vox Fluminis 21 wwf RETREAT RUTSSIANS preparing to attack. Fifty tanks. Blow up vehicles. Attempt retreat across Don. Three trucks. Twenty grey-clad sol- diers. Two machine guns. Four rounds of ammunition. Three hand grenades. Attempt retreat across Don. Motors buzzing. Three grey trucks alongside of each other. The sound of men running. A blinding flash. The earth shaking. Eighteen men. Two hand grenades. Schneider's company ready, Sir? An emergency group of tanks and heavy arms had been formed to lead the German column for the break through. Down the road towards the Don they fought through ceaseless Russian attacks. In miserable cold they moved back, sleeping on roads when they could-living in the hope that the bridge had not been destroyed. At last, the Don! The bridge was still there! Across it they retreated, blowing it up after them. The Russians still pushed ahead .... November twenty-seventh. The Ger- mans were three miles beyond the Russians .... Four hours halt on the road. Major Schneider killed in the last clash, Sir. Ten men left. Von Rheimer in command, Sir. Wearily he picked his way through the sprawling men. Some were asleep all ready, he noticed. He would not be able to sleep. He had no desire to sleep. He needed quietness - peace. But not the peace of sleep. He looked about for some place where he could be alone for a time. The men were all crowded together: in among the tanks. The ground was bare - any trees had long ago been hewn down. There was no place -- except a deserted farmhouse, some five hundred yards away. Dare he risk it? . . . He darted out towards it through the dusk. Von Rheimer in command, Sir? The door, hanging crazily open on its one hinge, was banging in the wind. He crept through, and closed it care- fully after him. Three and one half hours of solitude. At last, a little peace. He looked about him. It was almost dark-too dark to see anything clearly. He felt in his pocket for his flashlight. Gone, of course. The last clash had been terrible. But, he must have some matches somewhere. Yes, here they were. He struck one, and looked around the room. It was thick with dust and obviously had not been lived in for some time. It was the ordinary kind of farmhouse kitchen-the place where you cook and eat-and sit. In one corner there was an old iron stove, and beside it, a table. Over there . . . the match went out. Best not to strike another, he thought. Not sup- posed to show light. 'Von Rheimer in command, Sir., He groped his way over to a chair he had seen in one corner, and sat down on it heavily. Van Rheimer in command, Sir. Von Reimer in com- mand, Sir.!! The words sounded end- lessly in his ears. Of what was Von Rheimer in command?-Von Rheimer the pacifist in command of a company. Kurt von Rheimer, who was not even in control of himself. Kurt von Rheim- er who ran away from his column to be alone. Kurt von Rheimer, who - he buried his head in his hands, and sat there sobbing quietly for a few moments. Then he nervously lit a cigarette. Luxury. His eyes had become more accustomed to the darkness, now, and he could make out some of the objects standing in the room. Yes, there was a stove-a table-a large basin above it --to wash the dishes in, likely. Such poverty! . . . Yet, in Germany. . . . He continued in his scrutiny. There was a large cupboard above the stove- dishes, probably-and beside it, a door leading into another room. Across from him, another chair, and a shabby sofa stood dejectedly. The door, a window beside it, and the chair on

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20 Vox Fluminis VOLLEYBALL IN September Riverbend for the first time entered the Inter-High School Volleyball League. This was the begin- ning of our second year of Volleyball. Although we were not yet experienced players, we enjoyed some very exciting games. We played schools from all over the city and even managed to win a few games from them. Altogether this Volleyball year has been a success- ful and encouraging one and we hope that we shall do even better next year. P.A. BADMINTON THIS year a lot of the girls entered the Badminton Doufbles Tournament which was held in the gym on Tuesday afternoons. The tournament was a complete success with many a hard- fought battle. The girls have been very enthusiastic about Badminton this year and there have been lots of good games. All the girls from Grade III up play Badminton. Every one of us has a grand time, up there in the gym, sloshing the bird around. J.R. SWIMMING THIS year, much to the disappoint- ment of the Riverbend girls, our swimming season was shorter than usual, beginning in September and end- ing when the winter months began. However we accomplished much in the way of diving, learning the differ- ent swimming strokes, and racing. We are hoping that the keen interest in this sport among the girls will make it possible to continue this spring. S.S. TENNIS WE BAG the tennis court! This was a continual contest between the boarders and the day pupils. Indeed the court was in great de- mand during the first term of this year. Many of the girls rode to school early to play a few games before school started. Others remained after school hours to play. During the summer months those un- lucky few who had to remain in the city, came and played. A special vote of thanks must be extended to Alex who kept up the court, enabling us to get many hours of enjoyment. The tennis court is definitely an asset to Riverbend. It gives an excellent op- portunity to all the pupils. Now that summer is approaching we shall once again get out the sun tan oil, the freckle cream, and the sun glasses, to wend our way to the tennis court. L.I., E.S. FIELD SPORTS IT' IS not until the last term that field sports play an important part in the school life. At recess, noon, and even after school, the girls are busy dragging out the jumping standards, and then ge-tting prepared to glide gracefully over the top. The younger ones can be seen tum- bling and running back and forth across the lawn, with happy faces. Also archery starts again, and the girls try to see how many times they can hit the white ring on the target at least. Some girls even manage to get a bull's-eye now and then. The girls are all looking forward to a very successful sports day, and each girl hopes that her house will be vic- torious. J.G.

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22 Vox Flufminis which he sat, on the fourth wall. It would be a homelike place in peace- time, he thought. Plain, but homelike. He went through the door by the cupboard into the next room. It was a bedroom of sorts-probably the farm- er's own. There was a large bed, a chair, a clear space on the wall with nails in it-presumably for clothes-a washstand-The washstand! He walk- ed towards it. Yes!-there was a violin leaning against it. He snatched it up eagerly-lovingly. He had not held one for over a year. There must be a bow someplace near . . . no, not by the wash- stand-not on the chair. He ran into the kitchen-no, not there, where? There had been a trap door in the bed- room with a ladder leaning through the opening. Up it he climbed, the violin still under his arm. A loft. Probably the children slept here. The bow was lying on a little table stand- ing beneath a skylight. He perched on the table, and drew the bow experimentally across the strings. It was very out of tune, of course-and very dusty. He took out his pocket handkerchief, and cleaned it off. Ten minutes later he had it tuned as well as he could. He played a few bars of the Horst Wessel song, then stopped angrily. Not tonight. This was the time for Beethoven-or Brahms -or, best of all, Schubert. He looked above through the broken panes of glass in the skylight. The sky was lit with stars - myriads of diamonds. twinkling in a velvet eternity. What was that song of Schubert's? Du bist die Ruhg der Friede mild - my peace thou art, thou art my rest. He played it over softly on the violin. His hands had grown stiff, and he began halting- ly. Yet, the song had a wild beauty- Schubert's immortal notes rang through the Russian night. The stars shone silently in the sky. Dies Augenzelt von deinem Glanz, allein es hellt, O fiill es ganz. a'i The song-the violin--the night-all made him think of Vienna--the Vienna that he loved. His father had taken him and his brother, Karl, there with him, when they had been very small. He, a solemn, imaginative little boy, had become enchanted with the gaiety -the laughter-and, most of all, the music, in that place, where, more than anywhere else, musicians meet. His father, seeing that he had talent, had given him a violin, and had sent him to good teachers. He had pro- gressed rapidly, and had dreamed of the time when he could return to Vienna-a musician. He and his brother, however, true to the Von Rheimer tradition, had been enrolled in a military academy when they were twelve. A musical career was impossible. In 1940, on the road to Russia, his company had passed through Vienna. The city was black in the night-there was no longer laughter, nor music- and the streets were patrolled by skulking Nazi storm-troopers. The con- trast had been sickening. That was one of the reasons why he hated war so-it killed music-and laughter, and here. in Pussia, it killed the fields of grain-it marred the beauty of the landscape-it drowned out the song of the birds--it killed the song in people's hearts. There was another reason-a personal one. He re- sented anything military. His father, one of Hitler's earliest followers, had been but a name in his home for many years-the Party was always first with him. Then, too, his mother had joined the Women's Secret Service ten years ago. Kurt had been fourteen at the time-a boy of fourteen-with his home broken up because of a military regime. Ah, yes, war was cruel. It was in- human. His brother gone-his best friend gone .... He laid the violin down quietly, and stared up at the stars. Du bist die Ruhf'-My perfect peace. Yes, peace was what he needed-but was there perfect peace?-was-there-perfect- peace? P E A C E. Peace in the sky- Peace in the farmhouse-Peace in the silence. Soon-pehaps it this very spot, there would be another battle. The night would be marred-the velvet sky would be marred and broken - by shells-by battle smoke-by blood. The peace-the silence-would die. No birds would sing - no people would laugh