by Terri Dixon
Part XXXVII
All I want is an education, and I am afraid of no one.
-Malala Yousafzai
I'd heard of the Hermitage. I knew that the Winter Palace was there. I had no idea that the museum was a grouping of six giant buildings. Catherine the Great had started the art collection from around the world that had grown into one of the world's greatest collections.
As we approached the complex in Lydia's Pathfinder, I was humbled. I'd never seen anything so big and opulent. The buildings were different colors. The Winter Palace was an aqua blue that I'd never seen before on a building. It suddenly hit me like a ton of bricks. My ancestors had lived there.
What kind of people had my ancestors been? I hadn't learned much. Were they kind, or were they tyrants? There had been a revolution, so I thought they must have been the latter. They must have been disconnected and greedy. This one complex alone convinced me of that, much less the fact that there were so many more palaces. I’d grown up in poor farmland. I was one of the serfs that they may have kept in squalor. I was offended and impressed. I was confused. Did I want to acknowledge the Romanov's as my kin? I needed to learn more.
"I can't picture me being part of whatever created all of this," I said.
"I would certainly hope not," Boris said. "This is not what we are looking for. We have gone from disconnected royalty to corrupt Soviets to mafiosos disguised as elected officials. We are looking for the drive and intelligence that we had with certain leaders over the years. We want a Peter or a Catherine. They were different. They are the ones that you should study. Only the right Tsar will make the country worth living in. We are all hoping that if you are a Tsar that you are that Tsar."
I didn’t want to have anything to do with it. I wanted to go home. Sure I had a heart, but that was exactly the kind of person that didn’t excel in politics. In my own country, the best ones quit because they couldn’t get anything positive accomplished. I knew that there would be no way that even if somehow I managed to take over a foreign country just because I was the ancestor of a tsar, that I could actually make a difference. Those kinds of situations and those kinds of people didn’t exist anymore. It was the kind of thing from the days of the myth of King Arthur. This was reality. Different world.
I sat staring at the courtyard from the massive windows of the Great Hall. I imagined that underneath all of that snow was a beautiful green courtyard with fountains and benches and statues of famous rulers. In my mind it looked beautiful. I wished that I'd come here when I could see it.
I was sad that I couldn’t change the world. I was sad that I couldn’t stay. I was fascinated that all of it was part of my family tree. I was amazed that they’d had all of it and been foolish enough to ruin it. I was embarrassed to be related to anyone who could make an entire country hate them enough to overthrow them and assassinate them. I wished that I had known them. I wished that I had at least known what some of them were like.
I expected us to go to the museum and walk through the buildings and some of the 1,500 rooms in the Winter Palace, but Lydia rounded the grounds and continued on. "I thought we were stopping at the museum," I said.
"I wish that we could," Lydia said. "It is the museum that is most visited in the city. I fear that if Kostov's men are searching for you here, that they may come to the Hermitage. It is a popular stop."
"Great, one more thing we don't get to see, because Stacey actually belongs to it," Tania snapped. "I would never have believed that I was coming to Russia to see nothing but fields of snow and darkness." Everyone in the car was staring at her. "Sorry, I find it depressing. It's an amazing country as far as I can tell. I would love to see it."
Boris sighed. “The story of the Tsars is incredible when you know the whole story. In time you will learn the story of the Romanovs and you will understand.”
I turned to him. “You mean it gets more bizarre than what I already know?”
“Catherine was incredible. She did everything for the good of the people and her family. Her actions were not perfect, but she did well. Peter III, her husband, was a disappointment. Catherine did as she was expected. Peter was influenced by his German background and when he took over, he nearly turned the military into a laughingstock. He was the Tsar that did not appreciate Russia. Peter would not have Catherine as a wife in the marital sense, so she had to come up with alternatives to fulfill her duties. She had to produce an heir, so she did. The Empress Elizabeth feared that Russia would fall to ruins, so Catherine took the reins and created one of the most successful empires in Russia's history. She did wonders for education and industry. She was a great leader. There are crazy tales about how she accomplished what she did, but she got the job done, as you might say.”
“All of the splendor, it seems so selfish and ridiculous,” I said. “How could someone who did their duty and served the people live like this?”
“Catherine didn’t live like this. She worked like this. She lived here to work. This was the palace that was the home of the museum collection and where official functions were held much of the year. It was like the White House in your country. She did not feel comfortable here. When she went home, she went to her palace.”
Tania turned to us. “What do you mean her palace? I thought the Winter Palace was her palace.”
Boris smiled. “It was. So was the summer palace in Pushkin. But these places were where she entertained and showed her power. These were not her style. She was a simple girl from Anhalt-Zerbst in what is now Germany. She was far more simple in tastes than the rest of the world thought. She dressed the part and spent millions of Rubles on her image, but she had a private side. I do not think that you need to see the Winter Palace. I think you need to learn about your namesake. I think that you need to go to Oranienbaum.”
“Oranienbaum!” Lydia exclaimed. “I love it there. Are we going? I know the curator there. I can get us in.” She turned to me. “Most of the museums are closed this time of year, but I can get access. I can show you Peterhof, the fortress and even Yusopov Palace. Would you like to see them?”
“I would rather go home, thank you,” Tania answered.
"We can't do that, so why not?" I asked Tania.
"I hate to be a bitch, but does anyone have any idea when we'll be able to leave?" Tania asked.
"Peter said that I should wait for him to contact me," Boris said. "He told me that the consulate here has been closed. We presume that it is because Kostov's men are looking for you."
"How can they close an American Consulate?" Tania asked.
"I do not know," Boris replied. "There are reasons that apply to operations of the building that give our government the ability to close the building for a time. I do not know how long they can keep the buildings closed according to their agreements."
"I'm starting to feel trapped and paranoid," Tania commented.
"Boris, maybe we should try to go to the consulate and see what is happening there," Lydia said. "What if we are missing the only opportunity to safely help these girls out of the country? Peter is not in the city. Maybe his information is wrong. Maybe it is misinformation being put out to keep them from trying to leave the country."
“Well, I don’t suppose that it could hurt,” I commented. “What do you think,Tania?”
Tania was looking excited in a good way for the first time on the entire trip. “I think it sounds like a great idea. At least we would be doing something productive to help ourselves. Do you know where the consulate is?" she asked Lydia.
"It is in the center of the city," Lydia replied. "Furshtatskaya Ulitsa, 15. I work as for a tour operator. It is something that you learn along the way. It is on the way to Sts. Peter and Paul Fortress."
"Let's check it out," I said.
Lydia drove to the American Consulate. It was off of the main drag that went along the water on a side street with lots of other o
fficial looking buildings. Unfortunately, as we approached the building, I understood why we had been told not to go there. The street in front of the building was full of black sedans and there were many people in Russian garb and uniforms that looked military or police on the street in front of the consulate building. There would be no way to drive or walk past the blockade that was sitting in the street.
"Girls, you should probably hide," Boris said. "Lydia, continue to drive as though you have no intention of stopping here."
Lydia did as Boris told her. There was room to drive by on the street. I hid on the floor of the Pathfinder and held my breath. It was a reflex action. Lydia drove calmly. I looked up and saw her waving to someone outside the car. I hoped that she wasn't going to stop. Fortunately, she was able to casually drive away from the scene without anyone trying to stop her.
Boris tapped my shoulder a short while later. "You can sit up now."
"That answers that question," Lydia said. "It looks as though the consulate is open. From what I could see, however, there is no way to enter it without confronting Russian Secret Police."
"Secret Police!" Tania exclaimed as she sat up. "You're joking."
"I saw a man I know," Lydia explained. "His name is Pavel. He is with secret police."
"Was he the person you waved at?" I asked.
"Yes. Had I not waved, he would have thought there was something unusual. We have been acquainted for many years."
"Now what do we do?" I asked.
"We wait for Peter to find a solution," Boris said. "They do not know where you are. If we do nothing but hide at Lydia's house we will all go crazy. Lydia, could you make arrangements for us to see some of the attractions?"
"I could," Lydia replied. "Girls?"
"Tania, what do you think?" I asked her. "I would love to see this stuff. It’s what I came here for. We're here. I say we go for it.”
"It's better than staring at the walls," Tania replied. "As long as you're sure that we won't get arrested if we show up at one of these palaces."
"My friends will not tell," Lydia said. "They love the old ways and the Tsars. I am positive that they would keep very quiet if they could meet one in person."
I sighed. “Well, if you don’t mind then, I guess that we would love to learn more about the Tsars.”
The Ring of the Queen