Dan Smith - The Child Thief

‘That’s right,’ I said. ‘You can’t.’ I took the pistol from him and eased down the hammer. ‘Because you know it’s wrong. When it’s right, you know it’s right. But when it’s wrong, Evgeni, the trigger is a heavy thing to pull. These men don’t need to die. My son Petro is right. We’re not barbarians.’

‘Then what do we do with them?’ Viktor asked.

‘We let them go,’ I said, looking down at Yakov lying close to my feet. He was on his back, one arm outstretched, the other twisted under his body as if it had broken when he fell. There was blood across one side of his face where one of Viktor’s bullets had caught him in the neck. He had leaked into the snow, and already the blood had started to thicken and freeze. His eyes were wide open, staring at the few wisps of cloud.

‘Let them go?’ said Viktor. ‘We can’t just let them go. They’ll come after us before we—’

‘It’s the only way,’ I said.

‘So what do we do now?’ Evgeni asked. He was standing with his shoulders hunched, the weight of his situation weighing him down. He glanced back at the group of prisoners huddled behind him. ‘What do any of us do now?’

‘My sons and I are going to take these horses and we’re going to go to my village. My wife is there. My home too, but that is lost. I think, perhaps, your homes are lost too.’

None of them spoke.

‘I know they’ve found my village. They’ve stripped the food, taken anything of any value, arrested or shot the men. I’m going to find my wife and then I’m going to head for Poland.’

‘You think you’d make it?’ Evgeni asked. ‘In the winter? With the borders closed and the villages occupied? Even if you can take your wife from the village, you really think you can make it to Poland? On a horse?’

‘I’m going to try,’ I said. ‘There are many ways to get into Poland, and I know how to live when the weather is bad. It’ll be hard, but I have to try. You people are free to do whatever you like. You can risk returning to your homes, or you can go somewhere else; it’s up to you.’

‘Just like that?’

‘What else can I do?’

‘What about them?’ He gestured at the soldiers.

‘What about them?’ I asked. ‘They’re in the same position as we are. You really think they can go back? Do you know what the Red Army does to men who retreat? Men who lose their rifles and their prisoners? If these men go back to Sushne, they’ll be shot. They can’t go back there any more than you can.’

Evgeni looked at me for a long while. Beside him Dimitri was silent. The scene was like a photograph, no one moving, no one making a sound.

After a moment, Evgeni nodded and that simple gesture broke the scene. Dimitri spoke quietly to him before they went to the group of prisoners.

‘Strip him,’ I said to Viktor, pointing to Yakov’s body.

While Viktor did as I instructed, I removed Andrei’s coat and gloves. I took his shirt and his boots and swapped everything for my own. I pulled on Andrei’s budenovka hat, dropping the flaps over my ears, and dragged the young soldier from the road into the trees. Viktor pulled Yakov in beside him, and while Alek-sandra and Petro watched the soldiers and the horses, we threw snow over the bodies.

‘You should have gone home,’ I told Viktor as we worked.

‘Maybe.’

‘But I’m glad you didn’t. And it’s good to see you looking strong. You did well.’

Viktor nodded.

‘You have the things I left in the cabin?’ I asked.

‘In the woods.’

‘Everything? You have the rifle?’

‘Yes.’

‘Good.’

When we were done, we piled Yakov’s clothes together with the soldiers’ rifles by the roadside. I could see Evgeni and the others in conversation. They were still in a huddle, and they reminded me of sheep, the way they’d come together for mutual protection. Even Yuri had lost himself among the others. It surprised me he hadn’t stepped forward, a soldier with his experience. It had never seemed as if his spirit had been broken, yet he remained huddled among the others, looking to Evgeni and Dimitri for leadership.

As Viktor and I approached the place where Petro stood with the horses, so the huddle became silent and Evgeni and Dimitri came to join us.

‘None of us has anything to return to,’ Evgeni said. ‘Nowhere to go.’

I waited. Beside me one of the horses began scraping the ground with its hoof, nuzzling the area, looking for something edible.

‘They want to follow you to Poland.’

I almost laughed at the thought of leading this rabble to Poland. ‘We’ll be on horseback,’ I said. ‘They’d never keep up. And I can’t be responsible for these people. I already have enough.’

Evgeni looked down. ‘They’re afraid. Cold. They have nothing to eat.’

‘What about you?’ I asked. ‘ You can take them.’

‘I’m not skilled enough.’

‘You’ll have Yuri with you. He has enough experience. He said he was a soldier; he’ll know how to survive. Let him help lead you to Poland.’

‘We’ve spoken to him; he’s not coming.’

‘What?’ I looked back at the huddle of prisoners but couldn’t see Yuri.

‘He said he’ll be safer alone, that he’s going east.’

‘East to where?’

‘He wouldn’t say.’ Evgeni shook his head. ‘He’s afraid of informers.’

‘ Everyone’s afraid,’ Dimitri said to me. ‘That’s why we’re looking to you.’

‘You know how to use a rifle?’

‘Yes.’

‘Good. There are rifles there for you.’ I pointed to the small pile of belongings. ‘Take them and whatever you need of the clothes; it’s all I can do. You can make it. Yuri will see sense if you talk to him. He’ll go with you.’

‘I’m not so sure.’

‘Then you’ll have to manage. I haven’t time to stand here talking, and you won’t be able to follow us when we’re gone. We’ll move too quickly on the horses.’

Evgeni nodded once to Dimitri, then took my arm and walked me away from the others.

‘You must be very proud of your sons.’

‘There’s no time for pride,’ I told him. ‘There’s only time for doing what we can.’

‘And what about these people here?’

‘I’ve no time for them either – I told you that. I have enough responsibility already.’

‘These people have seen what you can do,’ Evgeni said. ‘You and your sons. They see what kind of men you are, and now they want to follow you. They won’t follow me like that.’

‘And what do you think?’

He shrugged. ‘I think if I want to stay alive, I need to be with you.’

I looked Evgeni in the eye and ran a gloved hand across my face. I had watched his brother die in the belfry, and he had given me warmth and the last scraps of bread and water. ‘You know Vyriv?’ I asked.

‘I’ve heard of it.’

‘You know how to get there?’

‘I think so.’

‘That’s where I’m going. On horseback I think we can make it by tomorrow morning, but I don’t know how long I’ll be there. There’s a ridge to the north-west that overlooks the village. Head there and I’ll try to meet you, and we’ll travel together. But I won’t wait. As soon as I have my wife and daughter, I’ll move on and I’ll try to leave no tracks.’

Evgeni nodded and turned as if to go back to the others, but I stopped him.

‘There are enough rifles, so you should split into two groups.

You take some of the people; Yuri and Dimitri take the others. Try to cover your tracks, but if someone finds them, you’ll be harder to follow if there are two trails.’ I glanced up at the sky. ‘And it looks like someone is finally looking out for us.’