gently along the corridor, and shut the door before going to answer the bell.
Gena looked out of the window. The Mercedes was sitting like a great sleek black beetle in front of the building. As he watched, a scruffy stray dog trotted up and sniffed at the rear wheel. Then it lifted its leg. The driver’s window slid down and a burning cigarette butt flew out and hit it hard on the nose. The dog whimpered and slunk away. The window rolled silently up again.
In the room, Masha had pulled a big book off the shelf and was studying it, still occasionally wiping the tears from her cheeks.
“It’ll be all right, Masha,” said Gena. “We managed to get your granny out of hospital, didn’t we? If we did that we can do anything.”
“But what if the police come for us?”
“We didn’t do anything wrong.” Gena sounded more confident than he felt. “I mean, there can’t be a law against throwing melons on the floor, can there? I bet those guards are too embarrassed to tell anyone what happened anyway.”
Masha smiled tearily. She looked back at the book, which she’d just opened as something, anything, to take her mind off Uncle Igor there in the kitchen. It was a world atlas, and it had fallen open at the Turkey page. She read the city names.
Ankara. Istanbul
. She remembered the postcard her mother had sent her, over a year ago, had been from Istanbul, and the church had been called St Sophia, like the church in Kiev.
She turned the pages slowly.
Bulgaria. Moldova
.
Ukraine
. She traced the roads with her finger, wondering if Mama had come along them on her way home to Kiev.
Belarus. Russia
. She flicked through Siberia. That was where she’d like Uncle Igor to be. That bit there, where there was nothing at all marked, not a road, not a town, nothing, just a great freezing river and unending wastes of killing snow. And tigers. Siberian tigers, bigger and more terrible than anything in the whole world, to terrify him to death.
It was no good. She just couldn’t forget what was going on. She shut the book and went over to the door.
“Where are you going?” asked Gena.
“Shh!” Masha opened the door very gently. She tiptoed along the corridor and into the bathroom. There was a little window in the wall, just below the ceiling, that looked out into the kitchen. Masha climbed onto the edge of the bath. If she balanced against the basin she could see and hear everything that was happening.
Uncle Igor was sitting right below the window; she could see the pink spot on top of his head where he was going bald. There was a big bunch of plastic-looking dark red roses in front of him on the table.
“I’m sorry to break the news to you,” Uncle Igor was saying. “I can see it’s a shock. Of course, I don’t really know what happened. But it’s clear your granddaughter has somehow become involved in affairs in Turkey that are, well, illegal, to say the least. Not to mention immoral.”
Masha stared down at Granny and Ira, who both sat very still. Then Granny said, “Whatever my granddaughter may or may not have done, I don’t see that it’s any of your business. And how do you know about it anyway?”
“You forget, Sveta put various things into my hands before she left,” Igor said softly. Sveta was Masha’s mother’s name. “She asked me to look after Masha, for example. As I’ve reminded you before. And that’s what I’d like to do. I trust you’ll let Masha come to me, once you’ve thought about all the advantages she would have. I have a large house, my income is, um, adequate. My wife adores children, and my darling Nastya would love to have a little sister to play with – they could share so many things.”
Be Anastasia’s little sister? Masha almost fell off the bath in horror.
“You still haven’t answered my question: how do you know what happened to Sveta in Turkey?” Granny said sharply.
“I have my contacts,” said Igor. “You don’t have a phone, Babka Praskovia. You
Gena looked out of the window. The Mercedes was sitting like a great sleek black beetle in front of the building. As he watched, a scruffy stray dog trotted up and sniffed at the rear wheel. Then it lifted its leg. The driver’s window slid down and a burning cigarette butt flew out and hit it hard on the nose. The dog whimpered and slunk away. The window rolled silently up again.
In the room, Masha had pulled a big book off the shelf and was studying it, still occasionally wiping the tears from her cheeks.
“It’ll be all right, Masha,” said Gena. “We managed to get your granny out of hospital, didn’t we? If we did that we can do anything.”
“But what if the police come for us?”
“We didn’t do anything wrong.” Gena sounded more confident than he felt. “I mean, there can’t be a law against throwing melons on the floor, can there? I bet those guards are too embarrassed to tell anyone what happened anyway.”
Masha smiled tearily. She looked back at the book, which she’d just opened as something, anything, to take her mind off Uncle Igor there in the kitchen. It was a world atlas, and it had fallen open at the Turkey page. She read the city names.
Ankara. Istanbul
. She remembered the postcard her mother had sent her, over a year ago, had been from Istanbul, and the church had been called St Sophia, like the church in Kiev.
She turned the pages slowly.
Bulgaria. Moldova
.
Ukraine
. She traced the roads with her finger, wondering if Mama had come along them on her way home to Kiev.
Belarus. Russia
. She flicked through Siberia. That was where she’d like Uncle Igor to be. That bit there, where there was nothing at all marked, not a road, not a town, nothing, just a great freezing river and unending wastes of killing snow. And tigers. Siberian tigers, bigger and more terrible than anything in the whole world, to terrify him to death.
It was no good. She just couldn’t forget what was going on. She shut the book and went over to the door.
“Where are you going?” asked Gena.
“Shh!” Masha opened the door very gently. She tiptoed along the corridor and into the bathroom. There was a little window in the wall, just below the ceiling, that looked out into the kitchen. Masha climbed onto the edge of the bath. If she balanced against the basin she could see and hear everything that was happening.
Uncle Igor was sitting right below the window; she could see the pink spot on top of his head where he was going bald. There was a big bunch of plastic-looking dark red roses in front of him on the table.
“I’m sorry to break the news to you,” Uncle Igor was saying. “I can see it’s a shock. Of course, I don’t really know what happened. But it’s clear your granddaughter has somehow become involved in affairs in Turkey that are, well, illegal, to say the least. Not to mention immoral.”
Masha stared down at Granny and Ira, who both sat very still. Then Granny said, “Whatever my granddaughter may or may not have done, I don’t see that it’s any of your business. And how do you know about it anyway?”
“You forget, Sveta put various things into my hands before she left,” Igor said softly. Sveta was Masha’s mother’s name. “She asked me to look after Masha, for example. As I’ve reminded you before. And that’s what I’d like to do. I trust you’ll let Masha come to me, once you’ve thought about all the advantages she would have. I have a large house, my income is, um, adequate. My wife adores children, and my darling Nastya would love to have a little sister to play with – they could share so many things.”
Be Anastasia’s little sister? Masha almost fell off the bath in horror.
“You still haven’t answered my question: how do you know what happened to Sveta in Turkey?” Granny said sharply.
“I have my contacts,” said Igor. “You don’t have a phone, Babka Praskovia. You
Similar Books
