Gone by Nightfall

by Dee Garretson

  The next morning I woke up to find that Papa and Dmitri had both gone out. Papa came back just as I was getting ready to try to make my way to the hospital to see the situation for myself. Osip opened the door for him, and he shuffled in, looking as if he had aged ten years overnight. Osip and I helped him off with his coat.

  “What’s wrong?” I asked.

  He wiped his eyes. “The czar has abdicated for himself and his son. He was trying to come back to the city, but a mob pulled up the train tracks so he couldn’t get here. His brother is next in line but I’m sure he will abdicate too. He doesn’t want the job. The Duma is to be given power again and be the ones in charge of the provisional government. But I’m afraid the Duma won’t succeed. Too many officials who can’t agree on anything.”

  I saw that his hands were shaking. I put my arm in his.

  “Romanovs have ruled Russia for three hundred years, and now it’s all over. Just like that.” He slumped over and would have fallen if Osip hadn’t caught him.

  I got a better hold on him, trying to keep my voice steady but fearing he was going to have another spell. “Let’s get you to your room.”

  “No, Lottie. Osip, will you help me into the library? I need to go to the library. I must record this day.”

  Osip looked over at me, and I nodded. I understood why my stepfather felt he had to write it down. He worshipped the czar—not the man himself, but the idea of him—and the thought of a country without a czar must have made him feel like the world had turned upside down.

  It made me feel like the world was upside down. I got the same twisted-up feeling inside again and felt sick. We’d wanted things to change, but talking about it was far different from the reality.

  We settled him in his chair and then he nodded at us. “I’d like to be alone.”

  As we left the room, I heard him say, “Only God knows what will become of us now.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  I WAITED A little while and then checked on Papa, who did seem better after he’d had some tea. Osip promised to keep a close eye on him, so I decided I could take a quick look at the hospital.

  The streets were crowded again, though most people just seemed confused by all that had happened. There was no further news of the czar, and the troops had disappeared. I heard some distant gunfire, but since no one else seemed concerned, I tried to ignore it too.

  When I came into the square, it was a relief to see the hospital, but as I got closer, I began to see the damage. The door was completely gone, and all the windows on the lower level had been smashed. Dmitri had said it was badly damaged. Somehow I hadn’t taken in what those words meant.

  When I went in, it felt like the place had been abandoned months ago, not hours. Snow was already drifting in through the windows. I walked through the nearly empty rooms, glass crunching beneath my boots. The fire damage was confined to the nurses’ sitting room. The settee had burned, leaving a charred frame behind and damage to the floor and the wall.

  A dull feeling came over me, like I was shriveling up from the cold and the emptiness. All the time we’d spent there, my mother and I, and a shell was all that remained. I didn’t even feel like crying. I didn’t feel anything.

  “Charlotte?” It was Dr. Rushailo’s voice. She came into the room and gave me a hug. “I heard the news. Galina came to see me.”

  It was good to hear her voice, the brisk no-nonsense tone that never faltered.

  “I’m sorry,” she said, surveying the damage. “I’ve seen many things in my life, but I’m still astounded at the things people do to each other. I’ll never understand.” She sighed. “Your mother put her soul into this place.”

  I brushed away a tear. “She did,” I whispered.

  The doctor patted my back. “You know she never let a setback stop her. This is a setback—a big one, to be sure, but one we can overcome. We can reopen the hospital later when things calm down or even wait until after you finish medical school. It’s going to take a lot of work and quite a bit of money to get the place back into operation, but it can be done if we have the will.”

  I couldn’t imagine so far in the future any longer. I had a hard time picturing what the next week would be like, much less years in the future.

  “What about the other nurses?” I asked. It hit me that without the hospital I didn’t know when I’d see everyone again. They were almost like a second family.

  “Don’t worry about them. There is plenty of demand for nurses. They can all find jobs today if they want. Galina and Tanya are going to stay with me for the time being. I need a housekeeper, and Galina can help me deliver the babies.”

  “That’s good.” I tried to sound positive, to match her tone.

  She went over to one of the windows and examined the frame. “Now, do you want me to find someone to board up the windows and the door until they can be replaced? We don’t need any more water damage in here. I know someone in my neighborhood who will do the work.”

  “Yes, thank you!” The snow coming in was burying the place, like it was covering up all that we’d done.

  “All right.” She patted my back again. “I have to go, and you shouldn’t stay here. It’s too cold and the streets aren’t safe. We’ll talk soon. Think about what you want to do.”

  I went home. I didn’t want to think about it right then.

  * * *

  Over the next few days it felt like we were in some sort of limbo. The hours were taken up with trying to find food to buy and helping Zarja and Polina.

  Dmitri was at first elated about the new provisional government, but within days his mood changed.

  “There is so much bickering going on, I don’t know if the government will last,” he told me. “Everyone wants power and they don’t want to share. It’s as if they can’t understand that one group holding all the power led to the need for a revolution in the first place.”

  “What happens if the government doesn’t last? You don’t mean the czar will come back?”

  He shook his head. “No, I don’t think so, though some would like that. I don’t know what will happen. But be careful when you go out. Things could change at any time.”

  People had raided all the food-storage depots, and for a few days the streets were safer—until all that food ran out and the looting began in earnest. No one took the place of the hated policemen, which was both a blessing and a curse.

  I tried to see Raisa. I wanted to tell her about Dmitri, but she was so busy helping her father restart his newspaper that we never had a chance to really talk, grabbing a quick visit here and there. I was glad she was so occupied with the newspaper that she no longer seemed to be interested in Miles.

  The seventh day after the hospital burned, I came home from the shops to see a group of men pounding on the door of the house next to ours—General Stackleberg’s—while they screamed to be let in.

  No one opened the door. I realized one of them was Vladislav, but he was dressed as a workman, not a footman.

  He began cursing and kicking at the door. Each of the men had a turn. The door was big and thick like ours, and I didn’t think they’d be able to kick it in, but they seemed overtaken with a rage that I didn’t understand.

  I didn’t know what to do. I heard Osip’s voice from behind me. “Lottie, Lottie, come inside!”

  Another man took out a gun and aimed it at the door handle. I froze at the sight of the gun. He shot the door, and the wood around it splintered. I let out a scream, but they didn’t act like they heard me.

  They went back to kicking it until more and more of the wood broke. A shot came from inside the house, and one of the men staggered back, blood dripping from his shoulder. That enraged the rest of them, and they rushed inside, shouting. I grabbed hold of the railing on the steps. They had to be stopped but I didn’t know how.

  More shouts and then another shot and then, to my horror, they dragged the general out and down the steps. He was older than Papa and much more frail, though he tried to
struggle. His glasses fell off and someone stepped on them.

  “Stop!” I yelled. They ignored me. When they reached the bottom, they let go of him and he fell to the ground. Before I could react, Vladislav aimed a revolver at the general and pulled the trigger.

  Bile rose in my throat and the scene wavered in front of me like I was seeing things underwater. I thought I was going to faint, so I put my head down on the railing.

  I heard them cheering. “Let’s go get those guns!” one of them yelled, and they ran back inside.

  I knew the general was dead, but I couldn’t just leave him there. I had taken a few shaky steps toward him when Osip came out the door and down the steps.

  “Get inside!” he said, taking me by the arm and pulling me back. “You can’t do anything now.” He shut and locked the door behind us.

  “He’s dead,” I said. “We have to do something.”

  “We can’t. Those men will kill you if you get in their way. Lottie, don’t you understand? They might come here next.”

  I felt like I’d been punched. “Where’s Papa? Is he here? What about Dmitri?’

  “No, they are both out. Someone came to pick up your stepfather and I don’t know where the tutor went.” I saw he was shaking. “I don’t know what to do. We should get Mr. Archer or Yermak.”

  “No, no.” Archer still wasn’t feeling well, and from what little I knew, I suspected that the bluish look to him meant there was something wrong with his heart, though he refused to let the doctor see him. I didn’t want to get Yermak, either. He would just roar at the men and put himself in danger.

  “We can act as if no one is here,” Osip suggested.

  “They’ll break the door down if we don’t open it for them,” I said. “What is Vladislav doing with them?”

  “He left his job and joined up with a group of friends. They aren’t really revolutionaries—they just want weapons and money and liquor.”

  “They were yelling about weapons.” Papa had a few guns in the house. I knew then what we had to do. “It’s probably better to let them have what they want,” I said, though the thought of them and their fury was terrifying. “They’ll take them anyway, but if we let them in, they can take them and then go away before anyone is hurt.”

  We could handle this, I told myself. We had to. “When they get here, I’ll show them where the guns are,” I said. “Can you go to the end of the block and watch for my stepfather? If you see him or Dmitri, tell them to go away until it’s safe. Go out the back and warn Zarja before you go. Have her tell the others to stay upstairs.”

  I didn’t want to be near those men, but I didn’t want any of the others near them either. It would be safer for me to let them in than anyone else. I prayed that neither Dmitri nor my stepfather would come home while they were here.

  After Osip went downstairs, I waited a long time, hoping maybe I’d been wrong and they’d gotten all they wanted at the other house. I was just about to open the door and peek out when someone pounded on it.

  “Open this door!”

  I took a deep breath and made myself call out, “Just a moment.”

  When I opened it, I held on to the handle so tightly my fingers hurt. “Please don’t be so loud,” I said. “My little sisters are taking a nap. If they see you here, they’ll be frightened.”

  The man who had shot at the general’s door was in front. His face was badly scarred and he was very thin. He looked at me, his eyes narrowed.

  “We want weapons. Are there guns in the house?” he asked.

  “Yes,” Vladislav snarled. “I told you already there is a general here too.”

  “There are weapons,” I said. “But not many. My stepfather is very elderly and got rid of most of his guns a long time ago. You can have what’s still here.” I pretended to be exasperated. “I don’t know why he keeps such old pieces of junk around anyway.”

  I knew Papa had a pistol in his desk drawer in the library and an old rifle hung on the wall behind his desk, so I took the men in and showed them both.

  The leader examined the pistol. “This is a good weapon,” he said, frowning. “It’s not junk at all and it’s been kept up. Are you sure there aren’t more here?”

  My mouth was so dry, I had to swallow a few times before I could answer. “I’m sure. It’s just my stepfather and me and my little brothers and sisters, and I can assure you none of us hunt.”

  Vladislav took the rifle off the wall. Another man went over to a small table that had a bottle of vodka on it and a decanter of whiskey. “Take that, too,” I said. “My stepfather drinks too much.” I heard a noise out in the hall and my breath stopped. I was afraid Stepan or one of the other boys had come down. “I really need to check on my sisters. I don’t want them to get out of bed and come looking for me.”

  “All right,” the leader said. He motioned to the other men. “Get that alcohol and let’s go. I’m ready to celebrate.” He raised his gun in the air and the other men cheered again. I followed them back out in the hall to see Archer marching toward them.

  “You now!” he yelled at the man. “What are you doing? That’s the general’s pistol! You can’t have that!”

  “Archer! It’s all right! I gave it to them.”

  “You—you—” he sputtered as he reached up and tried to wrest the pistol from the man’s hand.

  Vladislav came forward, and I yelled again. He raised the butt of the rifle. I grabbed at it but I missed. The man hit Archer on the forehead with the weapon. Archer’s eyes went wide and he opened his mouth, but no sound came out. He collapsed to the floor.

  I dropped down to him, only dimly aware the men were leaving. “Archer! Archer!” He didn’t open his eyes. I put my hand on his heart. I couldn’t feel a beat. His face went gray.

  I leaned back on my heels, crouching there. I didn’t even realize I was crying until Zarja found us. At the sound of her scream, I managed to get up and put my arms around her as I tried to make her understand what had happened.

  “Old fool!” she said. “Old fool! Why didn’t he let them have the guns?”

  “He thought he was doing his job,” I said. “It was important to him.” I wiped my tears and tried to pull myself together. We had to do something before the twins or Stepan saw him.

  I went up and got Hap, who found Yermak. The two of them moved Archer into his bedroom and then went for the doctor. Zarja sat in Archer’s room, rocking herself and whispering prayers. I left her there and made myself go upstairs to tell the others. It turned into a nightmare because I wasn’t able to hold myself together after all. After their initial shock, Miles and Hap did better, saying the right things to the younger ones while I stood at the window watching for Papa and Dmitri, but really only seeing that last look on Archer’s face.

  When Papa came home and heard what had happened, I feared his heart would fail him too, but he surprised me by taking charge of everything. Over the next few days it was Zarja who fared the worst, coming and going throughout the house without a word. I didn’t know what to say or do to make her feel better. I helped Osip, which took my mind off things, but none of us seemed to be able to believe Archer was gone.

  We had the funeral at one of the English churches, though we were the only ones in attendance. I sat through the service thinking of all the years Archer had spent in the house, never seeming to want to return to England, though he complained about all things Russian all the time.

  After the funeral, Dmitri and I found ourselves alone in the sitting room. I couldn’t stop thinking about Archer. “Why do you think he never went back to England?” I said. “He lived there when he was a young man. You’d think he’d miss his home.”

  “Maybe he didn’t feel like it was his home,” Dmitri said. “The general told me Archer had a bad time when he was a young boy, and he was happy to get out of England with the general’s wife.”

  “He told you that?” Papa never spoke of Archer to me.

  “I asked him. The general said Archer l
iked the house. I suspect Archer secretly liked Zarja, too. It’s too bad he never told her. He even liked Russia, believe it or not. Did you know he went every week to view the art at the Hermitage?”

  I was flabbergasted. I’d had no idea.

  “And he liked to listen to you and the boys play music together. Archer told me that, not the general, and not in so many words, but he did give you a roundabout compliment. I think he secretly liked all of you. This was home to him, not England.”

  Dmitri laced his fingers in mine, and the warmth spread through them and up into me. I sat there very still, not wanting the moment to pass.

  “He liked it when you played Bach,” Dmitri said. “I’d like to hear you play that too. I’ve only ever heard you play folk songs.”

  “I’m very out of practice.” I was going to make more excuses, and then I remembered the image I’d had of Dmitri sitting next to me on the piano bench.

  “I’m sure you are very good.” He got to his feet, pulling me up with him.

  I played, though Dmitri sat so close to me, I could hardly keep my mind on the music. Poor Mr. Bach would have been appalled at the jumble I made of his piece.

  I got to the end of the page, but Dmitri didn’t turn it. I looked over at him. He wasn’t paying any attention to the music. He was looking at me. I felt the heat rise in my face.

  “Very nice,” he said, his eyes fixed on mine. He had such lovely eyes.

  Hap burst into the room. “You’re making a real hash of that piece, Lottie. You need to get back to practicing.”

  I jerked away from Dmitri.

  “My fault,” Dmitri said. “I was distracting her.”

  “Since you’re at the piano,” Hap said, “let’s practice some of our other music.” He went out in the hall and yelled, “Miles! We’re practicing.”

  “Thank you for playing,” Dmitri said as he got up from the piano bench. “Next time I really will turn the pages for you.”

  We played long into the night, and I hoped Archer was somehow listening to us.