Tatiana and Alexander: A Novel(147)

"I'm joking," he says, reaching for her. "I'm joking, Tatia. It's just a nosebleed. It'll stop in a minute."

Alexander catches her remorseful expression. Remnants of the dream are lodged in her squared jaw, in the tense bones of her face.

"I'm all right," he says. He turns his head and kisses her breast next to him and then presses his cheek Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html

against her as she holds him to her, squeezing the bridge of his nose with one hand and stroking his hair with the other.

"You were alive," she whispers, "and pieces of you were being fed to me. Do you understand?"

"Extremely well," Alexander says. "I'm bleeding to prove it."

Tania kisses his head. Soon he stops bleeding. "I'll go and wash off. Tomorrow we'll deal with the sheets."

"Wait--don't go. I'll get something to clean you with. Hop down, can you get down? We have water in the cabin. Do you want me to help? Here, hold my arm."

"Tania," says Alexander, holding her arm, hopping down and perching on the hearth, "I have a nosebleed. I'm not dying."

"No, you're going to be quite bruised tomorrow." She wets a small towel, sits on the hearth and gently cleans the blood off his face and neck and chest. "I'm dangerous," she murmurs. "Look what I did to you."

"Hmm. I'll say this--I've never felt you that crazed before. You were in that state. I sometimes see men in war like that when their normal strength becomes the strength of ten people."

"I'm sorry. Come, you're all cleaned up. Don't have a bad dream about me, Shura, all right?"

"Where you're lying in front of me and I'm eating you?" he asks, smiling. "That would be a terrible dream."

"Not that one, or any other one, either. Climb up. Do you need my help?"

"I think I can manage."

She says she will be right back and leaves, returning a minute later with the towel washed in the Kama's cold night-time water. "Here, put this on to stop the swelling. Maybe you won't be too black and blue tomorrow."

He lies on his back with a wet cold towel covering his face. "I can't sleep like this," he says in a muffled voice.

"Who wants to sleep?" he hears her say, as she kneels between his legs. He groans through the towel. "What can I do to make it up to you?" he hears her ask.

"I can't think of anything..."

"No?"

She purrs, her gossamer fingers stroking him, her warm mouth breathing on him. He is in her mouth, and the cold wet towel is covering his face. Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html

The train stopped, they disembarked and were arranged in columns outside the small, war-ruined station. Alexander got his boots on; he was sure they weren't his. They were too small for his feet. They stood groggily in the dark, illuminated hazily by one flickering floodlight. A lieutenant guard broke open a piece of paper out of the envelope and in a pretentious voice read aloud that the seventy men in front of him were accused of crimes against the state.

"Oh, no," whispered Ouspensky.

Alexander stood impassively. He wanted to be back on the wooden shelf. And nothing surprised him anymore. "Don't worry, Nikolai."

"Stop talking!" the soldier yelled. "Treason, colluding with the enemy, working against Russia in the enemy's prisoner camps, cooking for the enemy, building for the enemy, cleaning weapons for the enemy. The law is very clear against treason. You are all remanded under the provisions of Article 58, code 1B and will be incarcerated for no less than fifteen years in a series of Zone II corrective work camps ending with Kolyma. Your term begins when you will start to shovel coal into our steam train to refuel it. Coal is there by the side of the tracks. So are shovels. Your next stop will be a work camp in eastern Germany. Now, let's move it."

"Oh, no, not Kolyma," said Ouspensky. "There must be some mistake."

"I'm not finished!" yelled the guard. "Belov, Ouspensky, step forward!"

They shuffled forward a few steps, dragging the chains behind them. "You two, aside from allowing yourselves to fall into enemy hands which carries an automatic fifteen-year prison term, have also been charged with espionage and sabotage during times of war. Captain Belov, you are to be stripped of your rank and title, as you are, Lieutenant Ouspensky. Captain Belov, your term is extended to twenty-five years. Lieutenant Ouspensky, your term is extended to twenty-five years."

Alexander stood as if the words had not been spoken to him.

Ouspensky said, "Did you hear me? There must be some kind of mistake. I'm not going away for twenty-five years, speak to the general--"

"My orders for you are clear! See?" He waved a document in front of Ouspensky's nose.

Ouspensky shook his head. "No, you don't understand, there's definitely been a mistake. I have it on good authority..." He glanced at Alexander, who was looking at him with cold bemusement.

Ouspensky did not speak again while they were shoveling the coal into the furnace of the train and then into storage compartments, but when they were back in their berth, he was seething in a way Alexander could not understand.

"Will the day ever come when I will be free?"