Red Winter

32

To my right was the dark shape of the izba from which we had run a few minutes ago. To the side of that, overshadowed by the trees, only the slightest hint of light was visible, nothing more than slashes of orange round the curtained windows of the old woman’s house, as if cut into dark cloth by a sharp sword. Above, the sky was blacker than Koschei’s heart, but all around, the air was sprinkled with a gentle fall of snow, the delicate drops sinking to the shapeless dirt at our feet.

To my left, though, looking out at what should have been a never-ending sea of night, something was moving.

‘They’re coming.’

Tanya and Lyudmila released the reins of their horses and came to the door. Anna did the same, but she was a part of me now, just as Kashtan and Tuzik were, so she came closer, fitting herself under my left arm, looking for my protection.

‘Is it them?’ she asked. ‘Is it him?’

Nothing could have prepared me for the shocking beauty of the approaching evil.

Lamps danced in the gloom like fallen stars, floating first this way, then that. Stopping, starting, raising and lowering. Small patches of the field were brightened as they came, revealing snatches of hedgerow, casting shadows in the furrows and making giants of even the smallest thistles.

‘Looks like we fight,’ Lyudmila said, working the bolt on her rifle, then pushing past me for a better look.

‘I count five,’ I said, watching the mesmerising motion of the lights, slow and illusory, moving like spirits coming at us across the field. Demons risen from the broken, frozen soil, spilling from the forest to come and claim us. But these were not the demons Marianna told about. They were not the kind that inhabited the stories Babushka used to spin. These devils were real.

‘Shoot at the lights.’ Lyudmila pulled the rifle butt into her shoulder and aimed into the night.

‘No.’ I put my hand on the barrel and pushed it down. ‘We have to get away. Save it for when we need it.’

‘What?’ Lyudmila snatched the weapon away.

‘They don’t know we’re here. They think we’re in the house, asleep. They can’t see us—’

‘So we shoot…’

‘No. So we head into the forest. We disappear where they won’t follow, and then we come back. When it suits us. When we have a plan.’

‘Don’t need a plan.’ Lyudmila raised the rifle once more. ‘We shoot.’

‘No, we have to leave,’ Tanya said. ‘Come on, get the horses.’

‘Don’t lose your nerve,’ Lyudmila argued.

‘I haven’t,’ Tanya replied. ‘There might be two men for every lamp. Three men. Five. As soon as we fire the first shot, they’ll put the lamps out and we’ll have no idea where they are or how many they are. If we let them trap us in here…’

‘No windows, only one way out,’ I said. ‘We’ll be blind in here and they’ll burn us alive. At the moment, as far as they know, we’re fast asleep. It’s better to keep it that way, keep them slow and quiet.’

Lyudmila hesitated. She knew we were right. We weren’t running to escape but to fight better and on our own terms.

‘Horses,’ Tanya ordered, and Lyudmila lowered her rifle, shaking her head. Her face was a picture of frustration.

I glanced down at Anna. ‘Bring Kashtan. I’ll watch.’

But even as she turned to go, the front door to the izba opened, light spilled into the yard, and the old woman came out onto the step.

‘They’re getting away!’ she shouted. ‘Hurry! They’re getting away.’

For a heartbeat, the lights stopped. They hung in the air amid the snowflakes falling around them as if through a dream.

‘Hurry!’ the old woman shouted, and her voice broke the trance.

The lights began to move again, faster now, the men running.

I looked from the old woman to the lights and back again, knowing they would be here in just a few seconds. Those once-mesmerising lights were now frantic in their movement, jerking from side to side, accompanied by the swish of material in the grass and the thump of boots on the ground.

In the darkness, where the trees stood tall and thick, it would be safe, but we didn’t have time to reach them. We probably wouldn’t even clear the fence before the men were on us.

There was only once choice for us now.

‘Into the house,’ I shouted, grabbing the sleeve of Anna’s coat and pulling her backwards, spinning her round. ‘Everybody get into the house.’ It was the most secure place for us, with its thick walls, sturdy roof and front-facing windows.

I pushed Anna into the yard, yelling at her to run, Tanya and Lyudmila spilling out after her. Kashtan snorted in confusion, the other two horses shying backwards, stamping their feet, beginning to rear, spooking her further. Tuzik, too, was troubled by the commotion and he brushed past my legs, slipping out into the yard ahead of me. Oksana remained at the back of the barn, cowering in fear, blocked by the horses.

‘Come on,’ I shouted to her. ‘Run!’

She hunched her shoulders as if she was trying to make herself small enough to disappear. The horses moved backwards and forwards in front of her.

‘Now!’

But she stayed as she was, giving me no choice. The thought of abandoning her passed through my mind, but I couldn’t leave her alone at the mercy of the approaching devils. If they were the men we had been following, they would show her no compassion. They would use her against us, leaving her with a red star of her own. And her children were in that house. Two more children who would be left without a mother.

With time running out, I dashed across the barn and took hold of her wrist, dragging her to the door, dodging the movements of the horses. Kashtan was the calmest of the three, but the actions of the other two had troubled her and she turned and turned, moving from one side of the barn to the other, needing my calm words. There was no time for words, though, and as we came to the half-open door, Lyudmila’s horse bolted, heading for the opening, its hooves skidding on the cold ground. It lost its footing, striking its shoulder on the wall and bouncing off as it found its balance and forced its way outside. Tanya’s horse followed, eyes wide and rolling with fear as it thundered past, bursting into the night and rearing onto its hind legs.

‘Faster!’ I pulled Oksana hard now, not caring that my fingers were crushing her wrist. Almost wanting to hurt her, to punish her for betraying us.

I pushed her out in front of me, sending her stumbling into the yard, where Tanya and Lyudmila’s horses ran round in circles, following the line of the fence. As soon as Oksana was clear, I placed both hands against the door and used all my weight to swing it shut, keeping Kashtan inside. It cost precious seconds to drop the latch and secure it, but I wanted to keep her safe.

When I turned, Oksana was already rushing through the gentle snowfall towards the izba. Out in the field, the lights were coming closer, swinging and lurching like demons in the darkness. The devils were cutting through the night towards us, but I didn’t stop to watch them. I bent low, bracing for the incoming volley of shots, and sprinted for the protection of the izba.

Lyudmila had already reached the house, the old woman backing away from the door when she saw us coming, wanting to slam it shut, not even caring that Oksana was out here, vulnerable, but the old woman was slow and Lyudmila’s foot was in the door before she could retreat.

Tanya followed on her heels, holding Anna’s hand in one of her own and her rifle in the other. Oksana went into the house just a few seconds behind her, and I was last, slamming the door shut behind me and throwing the bolts across.