by Lily Hyde
Masha looked around nervously to see who else might pop up to startle her. There was one other person she was almost expecting. But the riverbank was deserted in the drowsy late sun. She closed her eyes again, listening. She was waiting for someone to say her name. Rustling leaves, crickets whirring, and that was all. She was half sorry, half relieved. She wasn’t sure she had recognized that voice anyway. She wasn’t sure that if he were to come along right now, she would recognize him. Perhaps the old woman was right: she wanted too much. Getting one parent back was good enough.
So she looked at the things in her lap. First, the encyclopaedia of animals Anya had given her, where the Siberian tiger had been. Masha wondered if that page was blank now. She wondered where the tiger was, after what it had done. Had it gone back to Kamchatka; back to the same place that voice had come from? She didn’t know what to do with the book. Would she ever dare open it again? She weighed it experimentally in her hand, and then on a sudden impulse she threw it into the river. It landed smack! on its back on the water and floated, slowly slipping away downstream.
Second, the envelope Gena had given her. It said Masha on it in big round English letters, with a smiley face inside the first a and a flower sprouting from the tail of the second. Inside were a letter and a photograph.
Masha looked at these. And then she jumped up, kicked off her sandals and ran down the riverbank to where the encyclopaedia was gliding away. She waded out into the cool water to retrieve it. Its hard shiny cover seemed to have kept it from much harm.
She returned to her place and propped the book open beside her on the grass to dry. Then she turned her attention back to the letter. It was written in English, and said:
Dear Masha,
Hello! I have heard lots about you from Gena; I know you live in a trolleybus (although I don’t really know what a trolleybus is; we don’t have them in England). And I know you can dance really well, and to show you that I do know a bit about Cossacks I have sent you a photo. Yes, this is me! I am coming to Ukraine soon – my dad has got some work in Kiev and he is bringing me and my mum for a holiday. So we will get to meet each other. I’ve been reading and dreaming lots about Ukraine and I’m really looking forward to it.
See you soon!
From Alice
Masha couldn’t read English very well, but she could understand most of this letter. It also had pictures drawn down both margins. On the left there were knights on horses with swords and shields, some fish, and an animal Masha thought might be the mysterious guinea pig. On the other side there were people in Cossack costumes jumping over a big fire. There was also a small house standing on a chicken’s leg, and a curly fern plant with a big flower sprouting out of it.
The photograph showed a girl Masha’s age, peeking out from under a furry Cossack hat. Her Cossack trousers were green and shiny, her boots were red as cherries, and round her waist was a red and orange woven belt just like the one Masha had tied round her waist.
Masha smiled into the sun. She beamed at the gilded oak trees on the island. She put the letter and photograph back in the envelope, and slipped it inside the animal encyclopaedia. She had decided she would never dare look at that book again, but now she thought she would probably want to show it to her friend, the little Cossack girl.
The book of animals tucked under her arm, Masha set off for home.
GLOSSARY
borscht beetroot soup
Cossacks runaway serfs and soldiers who founded their own society and army on the Ukrainian and Russian steppes in the seventeenth century. They battled the Poles and the Turks and Crimean Tatars before losing their independence to the Russian Empire. Their songs, dances, costumes and history are still a beloved part of Ukrainian tradition
dacha summer cottage
hopak a Cossack dance
horilka vodka
rusalka a female river spirit
salo salted pork fat, a Ukrainian delicacy
samogon home-made vodka
shashlik kebab
syrniky small fried curd cheese cakes
vareniky dumplings filled with potatoes, cabbage, fruit or curd cheese
NOTE ON IVANA KUPALA
An ancient Slavic midsummer festival. Originally a pagan celebration (where the word Kupala comes from) it was later combined with the Christian feast of St John the Baptist (Ivan). On the night of Ivana Kupala people lit bonfires and jumped through the flames; if a couple managed to hold hands as they jumped it meant they would stay together for a long time. Girls floated candles and flower wreaths on the river to foretell who they would marry. Midnight on the eve of Ivana Kupala was the only time the fern flower bloomed. It was said to grant wishes and bring riches but only if the seeker could withstand the devil and evil spirits. One of the most famous retellings of the fern flower legend is The Eve of Ivana Kupala by Nikolai Gogol, and this is the story Granny tells in chapter fifteen.
Amnesty International
Amnesty International is a movement of ordinary people from across the world standing up for humanity and human rights. Our purpose is to protect individuals wherever justice, fairness, freedom and truth are denied.
Human rights are basic principles that allow individuals the freedom to live dignified lives, free from abuse, fear and want, and free to express their own beliefs. Human rights belong to all of us, regardless of who we are or where we live.
We work in two main ways: we try to make people aware of human rights and we oppose abuses of human rights.
Youth groups
We have an active membership of over 550 youth groups. Youth groups are gatherings of young people in schools, sixth form colleges or youth clubs who meet to campaign for Amnesty International. They hold publicity stunts, write letters to government leaders and officials, fundraise, get publicity in their local paper, hold assemblies and create displays. You can also join as an individual member and receive magazines and letter-writing actions.
If you would like to join Amnesty International or set up a youth group, or simply find out more, please telephone our Education and Student Team on 020 7033 1596, email [email protected] or visit our website.
Amnesty International UK, The Human Rights Action Centre, 17–25 New Inn Yard, London EC2A 3EA. Tel: 020 7033 1500.
www.amnesty.org.uk
“It is difficult to explain how greatly our life changed after that first postcard. I never felt lonely any more… Every letter was a miracle – they changed my life, they gave me hope. And I think the correspondence saved my mother from having a nervous breakdown or from total despair.”
Marina Aidova, who was eight years old when her father was arrested and imprisoned by the Soviet authorities. Amnesty International asked its members to write to Marina and her mother Lera.
“Amnesty’s greetings cards really helped me in prison. In total, I received more than 4,000 – amazing! I read each one: the best, I think, were those from children and other student activists… It amazed me to see that those children know about human rights. What a good omen for the future!”
Ignatius Mahendra Kusuma Wardhana, an Indonesian student who was arrested at a peaceful demonstration in 2003 and spent more than two years behind bars, where he was beaten and threatened.
“It is impossible to paint an accurate picture of [my] reactions as I sat in that tiny cell, the floor carpeted with cards and envelopes, generated through Amnesty’s efforts. It was deeply touching, greatly encouraging and strengthening… I knew that I was not alone… Maybe you just send one card – but all of these cards are like little drops of water that combine to create an avalanche of pressure… It was so moving. I gained such strength from them. I knew I had committed no crime and now I knew the world also knew why I was in prison.”
Chris Anyanwu, Nigerian journalist and Amnesty International prisoner of conscience, imprisoned in 1995 and released in 1998. Nine thousand cards were delivered.
DREAM LAND
It was meant to be like coming home. All her life,
Safi’s parents have dreamt of returning to Grandpa’s native village in Crimea. But exchanging their sunny Uzbek house for a squalid camp is more like a nightmare. Will the return to a country where no one welcomes them tear Safi’s family apart, or can this strange land ever become home?
A compelling story about the Crimean Tatars’ struggle to reclaim the land from which they were exiled in the Second World War.
BY LILY HYDE
RIDING ICARUS
Lily Hyde is a British freelance writer and journalist based in Ukraine. She has been covering cultural and social issues in the former Soviet Union for several years, and her journalism and travel writing has been widely published in the international press.
After graduating from university, a childhood fascination with Russian fairy tales led Lily to travel around eastern Europe where she discovered that fairy tales aren’t always true, but the reality is even stranger and more magical. She was inspired to write her first novel, Riding Icarus, by the places she has been and the people she has met. She says, “I love listening to people’s stories, trying to understand what they dream about, what makes them tick; wondering what our lives would be like if I’d been born in their place and they’d been born in mine.”
Books by the same author
Dream Land
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or, if real, are used fictitiously. All statements, activities, stunts, descriptions, information and material of any other kind contained herein are included for entertainment purposes only and should not be relied on for accuracy or replicated as they may result in injury.
First published 2008 by Walker Books Ltd
87 Vauxhall Walk, London SE11 5HJ
This edition published 2013
Text © 2008 Lily Hyde
Illustrations © 2008 Angela Hogg
The right of Lily Hyde to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, transmitted or stored in an information retrieval system in any form or by any means, graphic, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, taping and recording, without prior written permission from the publisher.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data: a catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN 978-1-4063-5360-0 (ePub)
www.walker.co.uk