Gone by Nightfall

by Dee Garretson

  I slung my skates over my shoulder and then took hold of Nika with one hand and Sophie with the other. “Let’s cross. Do you have any brothers or sisters?” I asked Carter.

  He shook his head. “Only child.” I had to bite my tongue not to offer him a few of mine.

  When we reached the grand duke’s house, Anna Andreevna was waiting for us with a girl dressed as a nursemaid who looked very much like Polina, small and fair. “This is Nadia,” Anna announced as she danced around. From the looks of Anna’s flushed face, she’d been dancing long before we arrived. She ran over and hugged both twins. Somehow they all three managed to get their arms around one another and spin around, singing loudly.

  “Hello,” I said to the girl over the noise. “My sisters were very excited to come over today.” I wondered where Anna’s governess was. She was good at making sure the three didn’t get up to too much mischief. “I wanted to say hello to Mademoiselle Bessette. Is she here?”

  “She is, but she’s ill, miss. She said that if it’s all right with Polina, I can watch the little girls while they play.”

  I wasn’t sure she could manage all three, but I did want to talk to Carter without extra commentary. “All right. Mind Nadia, girls.” They weren’t listening.

  When we got back outside, Carter said, “I’ve got directions to a private skating area that the English use on the Neva.”

  “No, we don’t want to go there. It’s too small.” I found myself actually looking forward to skating. It had been too long. “I’ve got a card to get into the skating area in front of the Tauride Palace. It’s where Russians go and it’s much better and bigger. The czar’s daughters skate there sometimes.” I thought Carter would be intrigued by that bit of information, and he took up the topic of the czar’s daughters with great enthusiasm as we walked.

  I wanted to start asking him questions right away about traveling, but as we moved out of the residential area into the main part of Petrograd, we heard a big crowd singing in the distance. The streets were so packed with people I couldn’t tell where the song was coming from. There were a few more droshkies back on the streets, but they were all occupied. I told Carter I was fine with walking, so we continued on, winding our way through the crowds.

  “Look over there,” Carter said. “Demonstrators on the bridge.” He pointed to a large group of people singing and carrying red banners as they came across the Nikolai Bridge. Some of the czar’s Cossack troops had positioned their horses at the end of it to block them from getting all the way across.

  “Isn’t that the song the French sing? The ‘Marseillaise’?” Carter asked.

  “The tune is the same but it has different lyrics, ones a Russian wrote.” I translated a little of it. “‘Stand, rise up, working people! Arise against the enemies, hungry brother!’”

  “So is this it?” Carter asked, doing his strange little jig and nearly falling on the packed snow.

  “‘It’?”

  “The revolution! The journalists I know are taking bets on when it will break out. The best guess of the people who have been here for a while is next week, though one fellow told me I shouldn’t go skating today in case it started early.”

  I was shocked to hear they’d been taking bets as if the total upheaval of a country were a sporting event. “I’ve never been in a revolution, but if it happens, it’s not going to be some spectator event where, when it’s all over, the participants shake hands and go home.” The thought of fighting breaking out in the city terrified me. People would be hurt, and the hospitals were already packed with wounded soldiers.

  The Cossack troops were riding back and forth in front of the crowd, which had stopped, and the troops were laughing and joking with them. It almost seemed like a celebration. “So many people revere the czar,” I said. “You should have been here when war was declared. Ordinary people filled the streets, marching in support of the czar, holding photographs of him high above their heads.”

  Carter shook his head. “They might revere him, but they hate his wife and his advisers. Maybe nothing will happen today, but that’s not the last of it. Some of the workers in the big factories have gone on strike, and they’re calling for a general strike tomorrow.” He paused. “Let’s stop for a minute. I want to see what happens. If this is it, we may not be able to go skating after all.”

  The crowd on the bridge turned around and went back the other way, still singing. The Cossacks moved away.

  I hadn’t realized how tense I was until I saw the crowd leave. There wasn’t going to be a clash, not then, but Carter was right. That wouldn’t be the end of it. We’d have to brace ourselves for what might come. I couldn’t pretend to believe my stepfather any longer. Things would not get back to the way they’d been before.

  And if ordinary people did get hurt, I decided I’d talk to Dr. Rushailo about opening up the hospital for as many as we could treat. I told myself I couldn’t get overwhelmed with fear. The doctor never did. She took everything as it came, and I wanted to be the same way.

  But Miles still wasn’t safe. I didn’t believe Carter and his friends really had any idea of when something would happen. Miles still needed to leave. We walked on, and I turned the conversation to what I wanted to know. “How did you get to Russia? My brothers are going back to the United States for a visit, but we haven’t traveled for years. I don’t even really know where to begin. You said something about the Americans in the hotels being too scared to travel because of the German subs.” Everyone had been horrified when the British ship the Lusitania had been sunk two years earlier, but American passenger ships hadn’t been targeted. “Why are they so scared? They must know something I don’t.”

  “You didn’t hear? Just a couple of weeks ago, the Germans announced they were going back to unrestricted sub warfare. Nothing is safe now, so if your brothers want to go the States, they’ll be far better off going east, crossing the border into Manchuria and then getting to Japan so they can sail from there.”

  That meant weeks more of travel, including a very long train ride all the way across Russia. But since there was no other good choice, that was the way they would have to go. Having only one option meant fewer decisions to be made.

  We reached the skating area, which held no grand duchesses but plenty of skaters. I couldn’t wait to get on the ice. I wanted to skate and not think about anything else for just a little while.

  Carter was a good skater. It was fantastic racing around trying to see who could go the fastest. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky, and the sun made the snow so bright it almost hurt my eyes.

  When we stopped to catch our breath, Carter said, “You wouldn’t even know there was a war on here.”

  “Except there used to be a stand with an orchestra right next to the ice, and food stalls where you could buy oranges and other lovely treats. I haven’t seen any oranges this winter at all.” One lone stand had survived, selling tea, roasted nuts, and sunflower seeds.

  “Even without oranges and bands, this is really something,” Carter said. “People told me that Russia was going to get in my blood and I wouldn’t want to come home. I didn’t believe them, but now I’m starting to understand. I’m not sure I’m ever going to want to leave.”

  “Yes,” I said. “I feel that way too.”

  “So how long are you staying in Russia?” Carter asked. “I’d think a girl like you would want to travel. See family back home and such. Unless there is some special fellow here.” I heard the question in his voice.

  “There’s no special fellow,” I said, though I didn’t meet his eyes. “I don’t want to travel right now. I’m staying here and eventually going to medical school. I hope I can work with the doctor at the hospital someday.”

  “Wow! That’s going to add to my story.” He got a small notebook out of his pocket and asked a few more questions. “Tell me about your mother,” he said. “Everyone I’ve talked to mentions how beautiful she was and how smart, but nothing about her background. Where did she gr
ow up?”

  I didn’t want to admit I didn’t know. She’d always said the past wasn’t important and refused to talk about it. I didn’t even know if she still had family in the United States. The other foreign women married to Russians didn’t like that she wouldn’t give them enough information to trace her whole history. It was one reason the boys and I had never been invited to dancing classes and other social activities of that segment of Russian society.

  I knew another countess who had grown up in America, so I told Carter some bits using that woman’s background, except I changed the state where that woman had been born from Iowa to Indiana and said my mother’s maiden name had been Smith. He’d never figure out that was a lie.

  “Let’s skate some more,” I said. “I’ll need to get to the hospital later, so I can’t stay much longer.”

  We skated another half hour. I began to think of all the things I had to do, and that made the second time not as much fun. Carter looked disappointed when I called a halt, and I had to promise I’d come skating another time, though I dreaded to think of the reaction from the twins if Carter showed up at the house again.

  As we walked away, I noticed that the sky was clouding up. “It’s going to snow again,” I said. “And it will start soon.” I’d lived in Petrograd long enough to be able to predict when snow would start by the color of the clouds.

  Carter adjusted his hat, not noticing that practically every Russian we met appeared a bit taken aback by the size of it. “Before I came, I was worried when I heard how much snow fell here, but no one seems to mind it, or the cold. That’s another amazing thing about this city. Okay, only a few more questions. Your stepfather is a real count, isn’t he? As well as a general?”

  I wasn’t surprised at the question. Americans were always thrilled with the abundance of princes, counts, and barons that filled the upper reaches of Russian society. “Yes, he’s a count and a general, but there are lots of counts in Russia.”

  “Well, I’ve never met one. Do you think he’d give me an interview?”

  “About what? He’s been retired from the military for years.”

  “About what he thinks of the czar and things like that. His family is very interesting. Is he in contact with his daughter?”

  I wasn’t paying that much attention to Carter. I was more interested in the crowds on the streets. They had gotten much bigger. “Of course,” I said. “You saw them.”

  “No, I mean his eldest daughter. The one who is in prison.”

  I stopped walking, barely noticing that someone behind me walked right into me. “Prison? My stepfather has only two daughters, my little sisters.”

  “No, he has another one, who is now in prison in Siberia for the assassination of a government official. She belonged to a radical group, the Socialist Revolutionary Party. It was a group that advocated assassinations as a method to get changes made. Everyone here calls all revolutionaries nihilists, but that’s wrong. There are several different factions, and they all believe different things.”

  I stood there, trying to make sense of what he’d just said. “You’re mistaken. It must be someone else.”

  “No, I’m sure. I checked it out from old newspaper clippings. The daughter of General Feodor Ivanovich Cherkassky is in prison for murder. Her name is Maria. There can’t be more than one Russian general by that name.” He paused, as if waiting for me to say something. I didn’t. “You look shocked. I guess you had no idea.”

  I shook my head, still trying to comprehend what he’d just said. He took hold of my elbow. “Let’s get something to eat and we can talk more,” he said. “I’ve been wanting to try the patisserie on the corner near my hotel. It’s called Pekar’s or something like that. Do you know it? It will be warm and the window is full of pastries. We could both use something to eat.”

  I must have nodded because I found myself walking next to him, his hand still on my elbow. All the while I sifted through my memories to see if there had ever been any mention of a daughter. I couldn’t remember anything like that. How terrible for Papa to have to keep such a secret. And I knew he had to feel such shame at it. He was so proud of his service to the empire and proud of his family name. I supposed I should have been angry that no one had told me, but I suspected that that had been my mother’s decision. If she had decided Papa should put it in the past and not tell us, then he’d have gone along with that.

  I realized that meant I had a stepsister, of a sort, and she’d be an actual half sister to Stepan and the twins. Right there, I vowed they’d never know if I could help it. They didn’t need to know they had a murderer in the family. None of us needed a murderer in the family.

  I didn’t even notice we were at the café until we were ready to be seated. Carter asked, “Shall I order for both of us?”

  Again I nodded. When the waiter brought our order, I finally found my voice. “I never knew. Please don’t put that in your story. It has nothing to do with the hospital.”

  “So you never even had a clue about the daughter? Who I suppose would be your stepsister?”

  “No.” I was amazed Archer and Zarja had been able to keep the secret. They had to have known the girl since they’d been with my stepfather for so many years. How could someone be erased from a family?

  I stood up. “I need to pick up my little sisters.” I wanted to be home and I wanted to talk to Zarja.

  Later, when I remembered the next few minutes, it was as if time slowed down. I heard glass shattering and then what felt like needles piercing my face. Something landed on our table, flattening a piece of cake in front of Carter and making the table rock. The tea sloshed out of the glasses and I realized that the thing sitting on the cake was a brick. I heard shouts and turned to look back at the street. Through the broken window, I saw a man with his arm raised, holding another brick. Carter was still staring at the destruction to his cake as if he couldn’t believe it. I moved around the table and took hold of his arm.

  “Get down!” I yelled as I dropped to the floor, trying to pull him after me. I wasn’t strong enough, and he didn’t move. A brick hit the table next to us, and somehow that made Carter fall off his chair, landing on me and knocking the wind out of me.

  Chapter Eleven

  I GASPED, TRYING to get some air back in my lungs, pushing at Carter to get him off me. I tried to breathe again and the air came back. I pushed harder until Carter rolled off. Grabbing a chair, I pulled myself up into a sitting position.

  “Golly! We’re right in the middle of it!” Carter said, sounding weirdly happy. “This is sure something!”

  “We’d better move back in case he throws another brick.” I had to shout because everyone else in the café had begun to shout too. Police whistles blared. I began to crawl away from the table toward the back of the café. When I had gone as far as I could, I looked over my shoulder. Carter was on his feet, scribbling furiously in his little notebook. No more bricks had been thrown, but scores of people came crowding in. A few ran to the back and took some of the cakes out of the display case, cramming them into their mouths. Some policemen rushed in and grabbed the people who were trying to eat, dragging them back out into the street.

  I stood up, taking hold of a chair because my legs felt wobbly. Carter was talking to a man who still sat at a table. He didn’t notice me when I reached him.

  “Carter, we need to get out of here, and I need to go get my little sisters.”

  He nodded, still scribbling. “Yes,” he said.

  I repeated myself, but since he didn’t make any move to leave, I said goodbye, though I wasn’t sure he heard, and made my way through the crowd to the street. Mounted police units had joined the Cossack soldiers and were ordering everyone off the streets. People scurried to get away from them. The mounted police were far more frightening than the foot police. They too wore black uniforms, but their helmets topped with black horsetails, and the black horses they rode made them seem like something out of a nightmare. As soon as I was clear of the c
rowd, I ran.

  I wasn’t thinking of anything except getting to my sisters. When I reached the grand duke’s house, the footman opened the door, giving a start when he saw me. I realized that my hair was falling down. I also realized I’d lost my skates.

  “I’m here to get my little sisters,” I gasped, trying to catch my breath.

  “They’re not here. The nursemaid took them back to your house about an hour ago. Anna Andreevna has developed a high fever.”

  Anna’s flushed face. I should have known. The twins looked the same way right before they came down with a fever. I hoped whatever she had wasn’t contagious.

  Later, I didn’t remember walking home. When I went into the house, Dmitri was coming down the stairs. He saw me and nearly dropped the book he was carrying. “You’re hurt!” he said. “What happened?”

  “I’m not hurt.” I brushed back my hair. More of it had come down.

  “Your face,” he said, gesturing to his own. “You’ve got scratches, and some of them are bleeding a little.”

  I reached up and touched my cheek, feeling darts of pain. I’d forgotten that something had hit my face when the window broke.

  “Bits of glass hit me. We were at Pekar’s, the American journalist and I. Someone hurled a brick through the window.” My legs got wobbly again. I didn’t understand why—when I was safe at home, they shouldn’t be wobbling.

  “Why don’t you come into the sitting room?” Dmitri said. “And I’ll go get Zarja. She can help with your face.” He took hold of my hand very gently. I let him lead me into the sitting room.

  Zarja ended up having to pick several bits of glass out of my face. I didn’t know why I hadn’t felt them before, because they certainly hurt like fire once she began to remove them. No wonder the footman at Anna’s house had looked at me so strangely.

  After Zarja was finished, she insisted I drink some tea. She fixed a glass and then handed it to me. “I have to get back to making dinner. You just sit there until you feel better.”