The Russian Concubine Part 69

'From my high perch I dropped a s...o...b..ll at his feet and watched it vanish in a puff of white.

'"Exactly. That's why I'm telling you, Anna, to warn you. My parents refuse to listen to me but if they don't change their way of living right now, it'll be . . ." he paused.

'"It'll be what, Vasily?"

'"It'll be too late."

'I wasn't cold in my beaver hat and cape but nevertheless a shiver skittered up my spine. I could see the sorrow in his upturned face. Quickly I started to climb down, swinging easily between branches, and when I neared the bottom Vasily held out his arms and I jumped down into them. He caught me safely and I inhaled the scent of his hair, all crisp and cool and masculine, a foreign territory that I loved to explore. I kissed his cheek and he held me close, then swung me in an arc through the air and gently dropped me inside the snow sleigh on the seat he'd carved. He bowed to me.

'"Your carriage, Princess Anna."

'My heart wasn't in it now, but to please him I picked up the imaginary reins with a flourish. Flick, flick. A click of my tongue to the make-believe horse and I was flying along a forest track in my silver sleigh, the trees leaning in on me, whispering. But then I looked about suddenly, swivelling round on the cold seat. Where was Vasily? I spotted him leaning against the dark trunk of the sycamore, smoking a cigarette and wearing his sad face.

'"Vasily," I called.

'He dropped the cigarette in the snow where it hissed.

'"What is it, Princess?"

'He came over but he didn't smile. His grey eyes were staring at his father's house, three storeys high with elegant windows and tall chimneys.

'"Do you know," he asked, "how many families could live in a house like ours?"

'"One. Yours."

'"No. Twelve families. Probably more, with children sharing rooms. Things are going to change, Anna. The Tsarina's evil old sorcerer, Rasputin, was murdered last month and that's just the start. You must be prepared."

'I tapped a glove on his cheek and playfully lifted one corner of his mouth. "I like change."

'"I know you do. But there are people out there, millions of them, who will demand change, not because they like it but because they need it."

'"Are they the ones on strike?"

'"Yes. They're desperately poor, Anna, with their rights stolen from them. You don't realise what it's like because you've lived all your life in a golden cage. You don't know what it is to be cold and hungry."

'We'd had arguments before about this and I knew better now than to mention Vasily's own golden cage. "They can have my other coat," I offered. "It's in the car."

'The smile he gave me made my heart lurch. It was worth the loss of my coat. "Come on, let's go and get it," I laughed.

'He set off in long galloping strides across the lawn, leaving a trail of deep black holes in the snow behind him. I followed, stretching my legs as wide as I could to place my fur boots directly in each of his footsteps, and all the way I could still hear the wind tinkling in the frozen trees. It sounded like a warning.'

Sofia sat cross-legged on the dirty floorboards without moving. The night was dark and bitterly cold as the temperature continued to plummet, but her muscles had learned control. She had taught herself patience, so that when the inquisitive grey mouse pushed its nose through the rotten planks of the hut wall, its eyes bright and whiskers twitching, she was ready for it.

She didn't breathe. She saw it sense danger, but the lure of the crumb of bread placed on the floor was too great in the food-less world of the labour camp, and the little creature made its final, fatal mistake. It scurried towards the crumb. Sofia's hand shot out. One squeak and it was over. She added the miniature body to the three already in her lap and carefully broke the tiny crumb of bread in two, popping one half of it into her own mouth and placing the other back on the floor. She settled down again in the silence.

'You're very good at that,' Anna's quiet voice said.

Sofia looked up, surprised. In the dim light she could just make out the restless blonde head and delicate pale face on one of the bunks.

'Can't you sleep, Anna?' Sofia asked softly.

'I like watching you. I don't know how you move so fast. Besides, it takes my mind off . . .' she gestured about her with a loose flick of her hand, '. . . off this.'

Sofia glanced around. The darkness was cut into slices by a bright shaft of moonlight, slipping in through the narrow gaps between the planking of the walls. The long wooden hut was crammed with a hundred and fifty undernourished women on hard communal bunks, all dreaming of food, their snores and coughs and moans filling the chill air. But only one was sitting with a precious pile of food in her lap. Though only twenty-six, Sofia had spent enough years in a labour camp to know the secrets of survival.

'Hungry?' Sofia asked Anna with a crooked smile.

'Not really.'

'Don't fancy roast rodent?'

'Nyet. No, not tonight. You eat them all.' No, not tonight. You eat them all.'

Sofia jumped up and bent over Anna's bunk, breathing in the stale smell of the five unwashed bodies and unfilled bellies that lay on the bed board.

She said fiercely, 'Don't, Anna. Don't give up.' She took hold of her friend's arm and squeezed it hard. 'You're just a bundle of bird bones under this coat. Listen to me, you've come too far to give up now. You've got to eat whatever I catch for you, even if it tastes foul. You hear me? If you don't eat, how are you going to work tomorrow?'

Anna closed her eyes and turned her face away into the darkness.

'Don't you dare shut me out, Anna Fedorina. Don't do that. Talk to me.'

Only silence, save for Anna's quick shallow breathing. Outside the wind rattled the wooden planks of the roof and Sofia heard the faint screech of something metal moving. One of the guard dogs at the perimeter fence barked a challenge.

'Anna,' Sofia said angrily, 'what would Vasily say?'

She held her breath. Never before had she spoken those words or used Vasily's name as a lever. Slowly Anna's tousled blonde head rolled back and a smile curved the corners of her pale lips. The movement was barely there, a faint smudge in the darkness, but Sofia didn't miss the fresh spark of energy that flickered in the blue eyes.

'Go and cook your wretched mice then,' Anna muttered.

'You promise to eat them?'

'Yes.'

'I'll catch one more first.'

'You should be sleeping.' Anna's hand gripped Sofia's. 'Why are you doing this for me?'

'Because you saved my life.'

Sofia felt rather than saw Anna's shrug.

'That's forgotten,' Anna whispered.

'Not by me. Whatever it takes, Anna, I won't let you die.' She stroked the mittened fingers, then pulled her own coat tighter and returned to her spot by the hole and the crumb of bread. She leaned her back against the wall, letting the trembling in her limbs subside until she was absolutely still once more.

'Sofia,' Anna whispered, 'you have the persistence of the Devil.'

Sofia smiled. 'He and I are well acquainted.'