The Red King of Helsinki

by Helena Halme

  Leena felt a lump in her throat. She should protect these children against the monster she had befriended and…loved?

  ‘You must wait here!’ Leena told the girls. She grabbed her long coat.

  The corridor was very dark. Only a faint light was filtering through from the arena upstairs. Leena could hear the Soviet anthem playing. She paused.

  The Russians had won.

  Of course, it had always been a lost cause.

  Leena started running towards the end of the corridor.

  As she passed the Russian girls’ changing rooms, she paused for a moment. It was quiet. They must be upstairs collecting the trophy, Leena thought. Would the Lyceum team be missed? It would cause alarm, Leena hoped.

  There was the door at the end of the long corridor.

  Leena pushed the door open. A cold gust of wind made her wrap her arms tight around her long coat. The sky was pitch black above Leena. The lights from the hall reflected onto the snow beyond the small car park. Leena could just about see the shapes of two bins. There was something behind them. Leena walked over and saw from between the two bins the shape of a car. Suddenly she heard the car door open and shut. Leena took a quick intake of breath. Her heart started racing as she heard heavy footsteps scraping against the compacted snow. A tall figure in a long coat came into her view from the far side of the other bin.

  ‘I think I’m owed an explanation!’ Leena shouted.

  The figure stopped. When he turned, Leena could see he was carrying a bundle. Pia! Leena ran towards the man, but he was quick. He went back to where he’d come from and pushed the bundle inside the car. He shut the door and turned to look at Leena. She was now standing so close to Vadi she could smell the vodka on his breath. His blond hair was tussled, and he had a hurried look about his eyes.

  ‘What?’

  ‘Bastard!’

  Vadi didn’t expect the blow, Leena could see that. She surprised herself with the force she was able to put into it. She’d never punched anyone in the face before. Her knuckles hurt a bit, but she didn’t care. He deserved every bit of it!

  The car door opened on the other side and the woman Leena had seen at the InterContinental Hotel last night stepped out. She screamed when she saw Vadi on the ground.

  Vadi had lost his balance and was holding onto his face. Leena ignored the woman’s screams and took advantage of Vadi’s momentary lack of concentration and kicked him between the legs. She aimed her heel where she knew it would hurt the most. The effort of the kick was so great she too fell to the ground. When she looked up, she saw Vadi was doubled over, on the floor next to the front wheel of the car. The woman was holding onto him. Leena stood up quickly and went to open the passenger side door.

  ‘Pia?’

  The girl was hunched up, wrapped up in a blanket in the corner of the car. Her eyes were closed.

  ‘What has he done to you?’

  Vadi was moaning loudly. His eyes flashed angrily at Leena. The woman was trying to help him up. Leena was thinking fast. She looked at the dark forest that surrounded them. The black tree trunks stuck out from the white snow, at least a metre high. To escape there with the girl was impossible. There was no one in the car park, and she could not carry the girl even the short distance to the other side of the sand bins and the door of the changing rooms. She decided to flee alone and try to get help. But as she turned around, Vadi had regained his composure and was upon her. He pushed his face into Leena’s and opened up his coat. Leena saw a flash of metal. She looked into Vadi’s eyes and wondered how she could have fallen for this man. His eyes were cold and his teeth looked yellow when he spoke. She felt tears well up inside her. Vadi grabbed her chin with his gloved hand and said, ‘Quiet, enough games Leena?’ His warm breath was sour. Leena forced her face away from Vadi. She could no longer stand the sight of him.

  22

  Maija couldn’t understand why the Lyceum girls didn’t return to applaud the Russians when they were presented with their medals. She surveyed the dark entrance where the competitors had emerged, searching for Pia, or Miss Joutila, or one of the smaller girls. But no one stood in the shadows. Neither the judges, nor the dignitaries in the boxed area seemed to notice the absence of the girls. Where were they? Maija looked around the hall, trying to spot Iain. She left her seat as soon as the Russian anthem finished.

  Suddenly there was a throng of people, all trying to get out of the hall at the same time. Maija tried to look above the heads of the crowd, to see if she could spot either Pia or Iain. When she got to the top of the staircase leading out onto the exit, she saw the Russian in the long black coat. He had his arm around a girl.

  ‘Pia, Pia!’ Maija shouted. Several people turned around, but the Russian carried on walking out of the ice-hockey hall. Maija pushed past people and shouted ‘Mr Kovtun, Pia!’

  At last the man turned around. Maija was now standing so close to the girl she could touch her shoulder, ‘Pia, where have you been?’ She’d recognise Pia’s white down jacket anywhere.

  The girl turned around, but it wasn’t Pia. The Russian smiled at Maija and said, ‘Goodbye, Mrs Mäkelä.’ He put his arm around the girl and led her towards the glass doors. The girl said nothing, just allowed herself to be led by Kovtun. It was the same girl who had smiled so sweetly at the man before the performance. Something about the way she looked now didn’t seem right.

  Kovtun and the girl disappeared somewhere into the shadows of the car park. Maija guessed they’d got onto the Russian bus. It looked menacingly dark with its black windows. A row of other Russian girls, led by their masculine trainer, walked past Maija. The trainer had a clipboard as she counted the girls out of the hall. There were at least thirty gymnasts and staff. Maija couldn’t help but feel sorry for the Russians. She had heard awful things about the Soviet Union. There were food shortages, imprisonment for the tiniest criticism of their leaders, and severe poverty. She wondered if these talented gymnasts had it any better. Did their families benefit from their successes abroad? Did they strive for perfection so they could leave the Soviet Union? Like the ballet dancer, Nureyev?

  Maija watched as the Russian bus was loaded up with bags by two men in shiny black jackets. The Finnish yellow and blue bus, parked next to the Russian one, was locked up. There was no driver and no lights on.

  The Russians looked ready to leave. Kovtun had reappeared and was discussing something with the trainer with the clipboard outside the open doors of the bus. Kovtun was waving his arms about, and finally they both stepped inside the bus. Kovtun came out just before the doors of the Russian bus closed and it turned away from the ice-hockey hall. Kovtun then walked into the dark car park and Maija lost sight of him. Maija felt relief when she saw the Russian was gone. She went inside the hall again. She must find Pia.

  * * *

  Leena woke with a start. She felt for her hands, but she wasn’t able to move them. Her ankles were also tied together. She lifted her head slowly and looked around. She was in the back seat of the car, alone. The fabric of the seat smelled stale. Leena struggled to lift her body into a sitting position. Where was Pia? She saw there was someone sitting in the driver’s seat. Or was there? It was dark, but she could make out the shape of a head with long hair. Suddenly a set of headlights of another car lit the space and Leena saw briefly the eyes of Vadi’s woman in the rear-view mirror. But the eyes had looked different from the way they had the night before. Where was Vadi? Why was this woman holding her prisoner? And where was Iain? She needed to know Pia was safe. A glimmer of hope entered her mind. Perhaps Iain had rescued Pia from the car and taken Vadi to the police. But in that case, why hadn’t he also freed her. No, it was hopeless. Leena’s head hurt and her mouth was dry.

  She leant over towards the front seat and said, ‘Please,’ in English.

  Another flash of light from a car leaving the ice-hockey hall revealed the woman was gripping the steering wheel hard. She was no longer looking at Leena, but staring out of the window into the e
mpty woods.

  The front door of the car opened, startling both Leena and the woman. No lights came on inside the car, but a cold gust of wind hit Leena’s face. She winced; it made her face sting. A girl with long brown hair sat down in the passenger seat. She glanced briefly behind her, with an expressionless face. Leena recognised her, Vadi’s daughter. Leena shivered.

  At that moment the back door on Leena’s side was flung open. Leena saw Vadi’s boots and the hem of his coat. He bent down and looked at Leena, grinning. He was holding the gun, casually pointing it at Leena. He motioned for Leena to move and sat next to her. Leena was too slow and was half crushed. He shoved the gun onto Leena’s ribs and said, ‘Not a sound!’ Vadi made a gesture with his other hand, and the woman put the car in gear and drove slowly away.

  ‘What are you going to do to me? Where are we going?’ Leena said.

  But the Russian didn’t reply. Instead he took hold of Leena’s shoulders and tied a rag around her mouth. Then he pushed her down to the floor. Leena hit her head hard against the seat in front of her, but she was too afraid to make a sound. She sat silently, trying to think.

  * * *

  Iain came to as the door hit his back He tried to lift himself up, but felt an intense pain in his temples as well as his back. Suddenly he remembered and got to his feet. The door to the large shower room was open and a boy was standing in the doorway gawping at him.

  ‘Mr Collins?’

  ‘Good God,’ Iain said, ‘Help me up, Heikki, we haven’t got much time.’

  Iain motioned for the boy to follow him. They ran through the corridor. Iain banged on the door of the Finnish girls’ dressing room. A small face peered at him. Iain forced himself to appear calm and friendly when he asked, ‘Is Miss Joutila there?’

  ‘No,’ the little girl whispered. Her thin hair was limp on her shoulders.

  ‘Pia?’ Iain said, ‘is Pia inside?’

  ‘No, she already went with her mother, and Miss Joutila went after her. She told us not to open the door to anyone, but we’re frightened.’

  ‘What’s going on?’ Heikki said.

  ‘I’m not sure.’

  Iain ran along the eerily quiet corridor and back through the equally deserted arena. Heikki followed, then overtook him and was in the main hall before Iain. He saw a lonely female figure waiting in the middle of the vast space.

  ‘Maija,’ Iain shouted.

  ‘Where’s Pia?’ Maija asked.

  ‘She’s not with you?’ Iain said.

  Maija’s face turned white. She looked at Heikki, and then back at Iain. ‘Where is she?’ she whispered.

  ‘We have to find her,’ Iain said and grabbed Maija’s hand. Followed by Heikki, they ran through the cold car park to the back of the building. ‘Get into the car!’ Iain threw the keys towards Heikki.

  Iain ran to the bins and looked behind them. The Russian’s car was gone. He flung himself onto the driver’s seat, next to Maija.

  ‘What’s going on? Where’s Pia?’ Maija asked. Iain swerved dangerously out of the car park. Damned ice, there’s no grip. He forced his voice to calm, ‘Don’t worry, Maija.’

  Iain was now on the narrow lane with the pot-holes. It was dark, and impossible to avoid them. Iain pushed his foot down onto the floor of the car and wished it could go faster.

  ‘Where are we going?’ Heikki said from the back seat.

  Iain half turned to say something to the boy but saw Maija was holding onto the dashboard. Her eyes were wide with fear. He decided not to tell them what he feared had happened to Pia. The next moment, he misjudged the sharpness of a bend in the road and the front wheels hit the edge. Snow was billowing in front of them. All Iain could see was white.

  Maija screamed.

  Iain turned on his windscreen wipers. He could see the main road a few metres ahead. Without stopping he turned right. There was a slow car in front of them. ‘Hold on,’ he said to Maija and went to overtake. He narrowly missed an oncoming lorry.

  ‘What are you doing?’ Maija shouted.

  ‘We have to get to Pia. I think she’s on her way to Moscow.’

  ‘What?’ Heikki said. Maija was quiet, too quiet.

  ‘With Kovtun?’ she said.

  ‘No, I don’t think so,’ Iain said. ‘I think Kovtun is on his way to a ship with his daughter.’

  ‘The ship?’

  ‘Yes,’ Iain said.

  ‘What’s Kovtun’s daughter got to do with Pia?’ Heikki said. He was leaning towards the front, in between the back seats.

  ‘I don’t understand…?’ Maija said.

  ‘Look Maija, you’ve got to trust me – and you too, Heikki,’ Iain glanced at the boy through the rear-view mirror. ‘I think the Russians have taken Pia instead of Kovtun’s daughter. If I’m right, Pia is at this moment in the Russian bus, somehow disguised as Kovtun’s daughter.’

  ‘Oh my God!’ Maija put her hand over her mouth. ‘I saw him, with the girl, and she had Pia’s coat on. I thought she must have the same kind of coat.’ She was quiet for a moment, and then said, ‘I could have stopped him.’

  Iain pressed his foot hard on the accelerator.

  Maija was quiet for a while, then she said, ‘And what happened to you?’

  Iain touched his face. It hurt and he was ashamed, but he forced himself to tell Maija how he had been attacked and shut into the Russian girls’ changing rooms.

  Iain drove on, feeling the warmth of Maija’s presence next to him. She was a good woman, he thought. If he’d be in her situation, he doubted whether he’d have the kindness of heart to be friendly.

  Iain overtook a few more cars, but otherwise the road towards the Russian border was quiet. Maija had told her she’d seen the bus leave about 25 minutes before Iain found her. But it could easily have been more than that, Iain thought. He looked at the speed they were making, nearly 120 kilometres per hour. They were now on the outskirts of Hamina. He’d seen a sign as they were approaching the small seaside town, saying the border at Vaalimaa was 48 kilometres away. Assuming the bus was also breaking the speed limits, Iain knew there was little hope of reaching the border before the Russians. Iain looked over to Maija. With her hands on her lap, she was staring out of the window. She’d been like that for the past hour, quiet, despondent. But as they came into the centre of the town, she pointed to a small church.

  ‘That’s where Ilkka and I were married.’

  Iain looked at the small neoclassical church. ‘So you know this area?’

  ‘Yes, I was born northeast of here, a small place called Juvakkala, near Lappeenranta,’ she said, sounding absentminded, as if none of her past mattered.

  Iain was thinking.

  ‘Isn’t that on the Russian border?’

  Maija turned to look at Iain, ‘Yes, very close.’

  ‘But…’

  ‘Look Iain, it’s less than half an hour to the border from here, if you’re right and Pia is on that bus, we must hurry!’ Maija’s voice was quivering. She was holding back tears.

  ‘It’s alright, Mrs Mäkelä, I’m sure we’ll get to Pia,’ Heikki said.

  Iain glanced at the boy. He too looked pale and miserable. Iain blamed himself for being such a fool to allow Pia to take part in the tournament and then get himself knocked out by the Russian. Now here he was, on a wild goose chase after a bus that by now could be closer to Moscow than the border.

  They left Hamina and the street lights came to an end. Iain drove as fast as the little car could go on the deserted country road. Suddenly the road widened and became straight, with generous curbs on either side. There was a sign ‘Vaalimaa Border Crossing’.

  There was still no sign of the Russian bus.

  Suddenly Heikki shouted, ‘Look, there are lights ahead!’

  ‘Yes, I can see them too. Iain drive faster!’ Maija put her hand on Iain’s knee again.

  Iain skidded as he pushed the car to its limits. But he got to the coach just as it reached a sign saying ‘Border Control Ahead 1 km�
��. Iain overtook the coach, then turned the car so that it came to a halt in front of it. The Russian coach swerved, but stopped just short of Iain’s car, diagonally blocking the road. Maija looked at Iain. ‘Thank God!’ She stumbled out of the car, but Heikki had pushed past her and was in front, running. Heikki was already at the door of the coach and was banging hard on it when Maija and Iain got there.

  ‘Why aren’t they letting us in?’ Maija said. She was standing a little behind Iain, in the headlights of the Russian coach. The fumes from its exhaust filled the air. Iain looked further along the road, at the lights of the Customs building in the distance. Would they see what was going on? If the Russians didn’t let Pia go, would the Finnish border police come and help? The Colonel would not like this, Iain thought. He pushed Heikki aside and banged the glass with his fist, harder. Suddenly he heard the noise of a lever being released and the door swung open. A man in a black shiny jacket stood on the steps.

  ‘Can you help us?’ Iain said in English. He took a step into the coach, but the man would not let him pass. Iain shouted, this time in Finnish, ‘You are holding one of the Finnish gymnasts!’

  ‘Pia!’ Maija came up behind Iain and was trying to force herself past Iain into the bus. The man’s face registered surprise and he looked behind him. The Russian trainer had come to the door and stood in front of the guard. She was at least a foot taller than him.

  Maija stood close to the woman and started talking in Russian.

  Iain stared at Maija, but she continued talking, waving her arms about. Once, she turned around and said something about Iain, pointing to his face. Iain touched his cheek.

  For a long while, the Russian woman stood and contemplated.

  Heikki stepped forward and said something in Russian.

  Everyone is speaking Russian all of a sudden, Iain thought.