Candle in the Attic Window(39)
Iryna, I would gladly submit to this if I thought that my future were foremost in Uncle Adolf’s thoughts, but I know this is not so. Various fragments of conversation that I have chanced to overhear have revealed that Uncle hopes to benefit from certain friendships and associations of Vladimir, after his term as Governor is ended. I should have seen it. I am not his daughter, after all. And what is the life of one girl where the promises of wealth and comfort are concerned?
Having learned Uncle’s true motives, I knew I must make a decision soon. I spent the better part of a day locked away in my rooms, praying for guidance; alas, nothing came of it. I fear I have spent my life amused and distracted; now that decisive action had become necessary, I found myself paralyzed.
It was Yevgenia, my maid, who forced me out of my helpless state. She came to me with a brilliant new escape, only, we were to make this egress together. She laid out trousers, shirt and sturdy boots for me and, just before midnight, she spirited me out of the castle.
Yevgenia has been at Baranof Castle forever, it seems, having served governors for almost as long as Alaska has been part of the Empire. She has seen much, and knows a great many things about this island, most of which had held for me no fascination at all. As I discovered, she was privy to secrets I couldn’t have imagined.
I had seen the local savages before, of course, though I had naturally always kept my distance; they often came into Novoarkhangelsk to sell their pelts. It is my understanding that there are similar tribes practically everywhere on the continent! I cannot imagine the nuisance they must pose the Americans, French and Spanish. I should have gladly kept away from them my entire life, but it was not to be.
Yevgenia and I left the town behind and soon found ourselves thrashing through the most vulgar, brush-infested woods. I was glad of my trousers, though when I had first put them on, I thought them quite scandalous; how snug they were at the hips, Iryna! We went on forever, old Yevgenia practically dragging me at times. I was perspiring in a most uncomely way. Just when I had had my fill and was about to insist on our retreat, Yevgenia stopped and pointed.
Ahead of us was a dilapidated house– a shanty, really, with a small fire blazing nearby. Sitting in the doorway, in a battered wooden chair, was one of the savages! The ‘Koloshi’, we call them, though I understand they call themselves the ‘Lingit’ or ‘Tlingit’, or some similar gibberish. This particular Koloshi had taken note of us, staring in our direction without blinking, like a lunatic.
Yevgenia bade me remain and went to the man, engaging him in whispered conversation, occasionally gesturing in my direction. He nodded slowly, once, and held out his hand. Yevgenia withdrew a small sack from her pocket and emptied into the savage’s palm several gold coins, no doubt liberated from my personal funds.
My maid motioned me forward. As I approached the fire, I got a proper look at the savage. Iryna, he must have been older than Moses! Beneath his ragged clothing, his skin clung to his bones like wet silk and the lines etched into his brown face looked like the veins in an autumn leaf. His eyes, still unblinking, were black pits.
Yevgenia explained that he was what might be called a ‘shaman’. He had been here since before the Russians came, and he would tell me my destiny, so that I might determine the proper course of action.
When he spoke, his voice was faint from age, but unwavering: “You are the blue lady.” My surprise was twofold: that he spoke passable Russian and that he knew Uncle Adolf’s pet name for me, especially because, for the first time in years, I was wearing no blue. My borrowed men’s clothing lacked that shade completely. Yevgenia swore before God that she had not told him and I believed her.
“You are bound to two men. One rope you grasp willingly. It stretches into the sea. One rope has been tied to you by another. Its end bears a great weight.” He can only have meant Pavel and Vladimir, Iryna. Are shivers running down your spine as you read?
“All that you see around you was once our country. The Russians have it and, though there has been conflict, we are content to live under your law. For now, it is profitable for us. But hear me. This land is still Tlingit. The land obeys Tlingit law and no Emperor can change that.
“For the Tlingit, there is the light and the dark. The water and the earth. The ocean that gives food and the forest that gives danger. The soft, wet cold of the outside, which causes sickness, and the sturdy, dry warmth of the inside, which protects from sickness. All things are two.
“You and your sailor are one. This I see. And, being one, you are two.
“You can never truly leave this island. And the sailor can never truly remain. He can come, but always, he will be drawn away again. You may go, but never far and never for long.”
He rose from his chair, doused the fire with water from a rusted bucket, and retired to his shanty, shutting the door behind him.
Yevgenia and I walked back to the castle in silence. She held my hand the entire way.
What do you make of this, Iryna? If the savage was able to guess at my identity and my situation, was he also right about my future? Must Pavel and I be apart forever?
I wish I might talk about this with Pavel. He is intelligent and logical, and would know what to do. Alas, I will not see him until after I am to be married to Vladimir.
I must think. Perhaps, I might find the answer myself, as I have some months to consider the problem. I shall make certain you are informed, my dear.