‘Ah, very good,’ the Admiral said, smiling at Pia.
Pia had had enough.
‘I forgot to tell you, I’m going to be in a gymnastic competition!’ Pia said to her mother.
‘Really?’ Her mother looked at the Admiral’s full plate; he hadn’t eaten much of it at all.
‘Yeah, this Russian,’ Pia glanced at the Admiral, ‘I mean a man from the Soviet Union came to the school and announced it. Then I heard them talk about me – they’ve chosen me to take part! Even though I am good – I mean I am very good – Anni and Sasha are good too, so I was really surprised…’
The Admiral dropped his fork.
Pia’s mother moved her eyes from the Admiral to Pia. ‘Slow down – what did you say?’
Maija listened in silence as Pia told her the story of the gym teacher knowing this Soviet official, and how she’d – accidentally – overheard them discussing her.
‘I mean, it’s not absolutely sure yet. It’ll be announced tomorrow.’ She looked at her mother’s worried face. ‘It’s fantastic. You know how much I love gymnastics! This is a great chance.’
Maija smiled. She leant over the table and patted Pia’s hand, ‘Well done, good girl.’ But Pia knew she wasn’t happy, for some reason.
‘Who did you say this Soviet man was?’ the Admiral asked.
Pia hadn’t told them his name.
‘Kovtun, I think.’
The Admiral stared at her.
The Colonel gave Iain a long, severe look, ‘Collins, looking after civilians is a little different.’
‘Sir?’
They were sitting in the darkened Council building with only Iain’s desk lamp for light. Iain was behind his desk and the Colonel sat opposite him. It was past midnight. The city behind him was quiet. Even the trams had stopped running. In the semi-darkness his dull office had taken on a menacing air.
The Colonel shifted in his seat. ‘For one thing, you need to keep the girl’s mother out of this.’
‘Of course.’
‘I know you’re new to the Agency, but…’ the Colonel considered Iain for a fraction of a second and continued, ‘When you quiz Pia you need to make sure she doesn’t talk to her mother.’
‘How?’ It seemed impossible to control two people when you weren’t with them all the time. Did the Colonel want him to move in with the two women?
The Colonel stared at Iain for a moment too long. Iain felt he was being incredibly stupid.
‘For Goodness sake!’ the Colonel said under his breath. ‘OK, a young girl like that could be involved in anything. All you have to do is convince the mother that she’s gone a bit wayward. You become the mother’s confidant and supporter through the difficult times with her daughter. She doesn’t believe anything the daughter tells her and so forth.’
Iain’s first thought was, how the hell was he to come between mother and daughter? He cleared his throat. ‘Wayward?’
The Colonel inhaled deeply. After a long silence he said, slowly, as if speaking to a child, ‘Use the old trick of drugs.’ Seeing Iain’s grave face, he resumed a normal tone of voice. ‘Everybody with a teenage child is terrified they’re high these days, I know I am.’ The Colonel paused for a moment, looking at Iain. ‘You’re lucky not to have these kinds of worries. Bloody children, nothing but trouble! Anyway, take money from the mother’s purse when she’s not looking. Hint that it was the daughter needing it for drugs. It works every time.’
The date of the competition was announced in assembly the next day. It would be less than a week away on Monday. The Old Crow addressed the back of the vast hall.
‘We haven’t been given much time to prepare, but I am sure the chosen girls will give the best performance of their lives. Remember, you are not only representing your school, the Helsinki Lyceum, but also the city of Helsinki and your fatherland, Finland.’
Nobody seemed to be interested. The Crow had to clear her throat several times to be heard. She scanned the room with her brown eyes full of threat. The restlessness in the vast assembly hall subsided. Pia was sitting right behind Sasha. Next to her was an empty seat, which she’d reserved for Anni. But she was late and would miss the whole of the announcement. At last came what Pia had been waiting for.
‘And now, I’ll pass you onto Miss Joutila who will announce the team.’
When Miss Joutila read out Pia’s name first, she saw Sasha jerk her head towards the left, as if she wanted to look at Pia but stopped herself at the last second.
After assembly, Pia walked past the lockers in the hallway towards the central staircase. She scanned the hall for any sign of Anni. She’d have to slink into the line of pupils making their way to lesson if she didn’t want the Old Crow to know that she missed assembly. But there was no sign of Anni. A few people patted Pia’s back as they passed her. Heikki was waiting at the top of the stairs. He stood with his feet apart, with his hands in the pockets of his jeans.
‘Meet me at the smoking place after class,’ Heikki whispered into her ear. Pia’s heart started pounding. It was so loud she was afraid Heikki would hear it. She nodded. Someone pushed her from behind and she saw the Old Crow had appeared behind them. Heikki and Pia entered the classroom side by side and everyone stared. Pia didn’t look at the people in the room, but hurried to her desk. As she flung her bag down to the floor, she saw Anni’s empty desk. Where was she? Usually, if she was bunking off school she’d call Pia to ask if she wanted to join her. They’d spend the day in town, walking around Stockmann’s department store looking at all the clothes and shoes they couldn’t afford. Or at least Pia couldn’t afford. Anni must be ill. Pia decided to go and see her after school.
The Old Crow started handing out sheets on some grammatical point or other, ‘You must all listen very carefully. This is the most common mistake you all make, and making it during the exam will deduct valuable points from your essay.’ Pia sighed and tried to concentrate on the writing on the sheet. But all she could think about was the Friendship Trophy. Why had the Russian wanted her to take part and not Sasha or Anni? They were both good on the mats. Because of Sasha’s size, it seemed to come easy to her. Pia was forever cursing her long legs. They took so much more effort to control. How did he know which girls were good? Had Miss Joutila told him? And how did Miss Joutila know a Russian from the Soviet Embassy?
Whatever, Pia wasn’t going to let Miss Joutila and the school down. She was going to train hard. She wouldn’t have any dinner tonight. She would lose at least two kilos before the competition.
That would show Sasha.
‘Pia!’ The Crow called, after the most boring Finnish class ever. ‘You are to go and see Miss Joutila in her office.’ Pia looked at her watch. Miss Joutila would have to wait until next break.
Pupils weren’t allowed to enter the area behind the Lyceum. But to have their break-time ciggies the smokers climbed through a massive hole in the chicken wire fence. When it was cold like today, they huddled under a large pine tree, and the smoke rose straight up to the large, lower branches. The ground was covered with cigarette butts. Pia had only been to the place a couple of times, because she didn’t smoke. She’d tried it once, but inhaling made her feel sick. She didn’t mind the smell of it, though, especially when it was on Heikki.
When Pia got to the tree, Heikki was already there, smoking and talking with Sasha. Because of the Old Crow she’d got there before Pia. Sasha was standing close to Heikki, her down coat touching the sleeve of Heikki’s jacket.
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