“Get down!” I yelled as I dropped to the floor, trying to pull him after me. I wasn’t strong enough, and he didn’t move. A brick hit the table next to us, and somehow that made Carter fall off his chair, landing on me and knocking the wind out of me.
Chapter Eleven
I GASPED, TRYING to get some air back in my lungs, pushing at Carter to get him off me. I tried to breathe again and the air came back. I pushed harder until Carter rolled off. Grabbing a chair, I pulled myself up into a sitting position.
“Golly! We’re right in the middle of it!” Carter said, sounding weirdly happy. “This is sure something!”
“We’d better move back in case he throws another brick.” I had to shout because everyone else in the café had begun to shout too. Police whistles blared. I began to crawl away from the table toward the back of the café. When I had gone as far as I could, I looked over my shoulder. Carter was on his feet, scribbling furiously in his little notebook. No more bricks had been thrown, but scores of people came crowding in. A few ran to the back and took some of the cakes out of the display case, cramming them into their mouths. Some policemen rushed in and grabbed the people who were trying to eat, dragging them back out into the street.
I stood up, taking hold of a chair because my legs felt wobbly. Carter was talking to a man who still sat at a table. He didn’t notice me when I reached him.
“Carter, we need to get out of here, and I need to go get my little sisters.”
He nodded, still scribbling. “Yes,” he said.
I repeated myself, but since he didn’t make any move to leave, I said goodbye, though I wasn’t sure he heard, and made my way through the crowd to the street. Mounted police units had joined the Cossack soldiers and were ordering everyone off the streets. People scurried to get away from them. The mounted police were far more frightening than the foot police. They too wore black uniforms, but their helmets topped with black horsetails, and the black horses they rode made them seem like something out of a nightmare. As soon as I was clear of the crowd, I ran.
I wasn’t thinking of anything except getting to my sisters. When I reached the grand duke’s house, the footman opened the door, giving a start when he saw me. I realized that my hair was falling down. I also realized I’d lost my skates.
“I’m here to get my little sisters,” I gasped, trying to catch my breath.
“They’re not here. The nursemaid took them back to your house about an hour ago. Anna Andreevna has developed a high fever.”
Anna’s flushed face. I should have known. The twins looked the same way right before they came down with a fever. I hoped whatever she had wasn’t contagious.
Later, I didn’t remember walking home. When I went into the house, Dmitri was coming down the stairs. He saw me and nearly dropped the book he was carrying. “You’re hurt!” he said. “What happened?”
“I’m not hurt.” I brushed back my hair. More of it had come down.
“Your face,” he said, gesturing to his own. “You’ve got scratches, and some of them are bleeding a little.”
I reached up and touched my cheek, feeling darts of pain. I’d forgotten that something had hit my face when the window broke.
“Bits of glass hit me. We were at Pekar’s, the American journalist and I. Someone hurled a brick through the window.” My legs got wobbly again. I didn’t understand why—when I was safe at home, they shouldn’t be wobbling.
“Why don’t you come into the sitting room?” Dmitri said. “And I’ll go get Zarja. She can help with your face.” He took hold of my hand very gently. I let him lead me into the sitting room.
Zarja ended up having to pick several bits of glass out of my face. I didn’t know why I hadn’t felt them before, because they certainly hurt like fire once she began to remove them. No wonder the footman at Anna’s house had looked at me so strangely.
After Zarja was finished, she insisted I drink some tea. She fixed a glass and then handed it to me. “I have to get back to making dinner. You just sit there until you feel better.”
“I will.” My hand shook. I put my other hand up to steady the glass. As soon as she was out of the room, I set the glass back down.
Dmitri was pacing around, which was uncomfortable to watch, since he was in obvious pain with each step. “Where is this journalist?” he asked.
“I suppose he’s still there interviewing people.”
“He didn’t see you home?” Dmitri stopped pacing. He sounded angry.
“I didn’t need him to do that, and he wanted to do his job.”
Dmitri muttered something I couldn’t make out and then started pacing again. “What’s the situation on the streets? Is it getting worse?”
“Yes, or at least there are more and more people out. I never expected anyone to attack a café, though. It’s not like there was that much food in there.”
He stopped his pacing and sat down next to me. “They didn’t just attack it for the food. It’s rumored that Russians who are secretly working to promote the German cause go there to meet.”
I’d heard about the pro-German Russians. They were the faction that wanted Russia to sign a peace treaty with Germany and concede lands to the Germans as a way to end the fighting. I couldn’t believe they sat in Pekar’s over tea and cakes planning ways to bring down the government, not caring what that meant for everyone who lived in Russia. Not caring about giving away parts of Russia. Not caring that the Germans might turn on us, deciding they wanted the whole of Russia. If Dmitri hadn’t been there, I would have cursed them and cursed the war.
I closed my eyes, wanting not to think about any of it for a little while. I heard Dmitri get back up.
“Where are you going?” I blurted out. I didn’t want him to leave.
“I thought you had fallen asleep. You should rest.”
I forced myself to sit up. I knew we couldn’t stay there all day in the little cocoon of safety, just him and me, even if I gave in to the sleep that was trying to creep over me. “No, I need to get ready to go to the hospital.”
“I’ll walk with you,” Dmitri said.
I wanted to say yes, but I didn’t want him to think I was scared to go out again. “No, thank you. I’ll be fine.”
“I know you will, but I want to.” He took a step toward me and his leg gave way. I jumped up and tried to catch him, but I wasn’t strong enough, and we both went down. Dmitri cried out. I moved away, afraid I was somehow in the way and making the pain worse.
He sat up and pounded on the floor, his face twisted in frustration. “I’m so sorry,” he said. “I can’t do anything with this cursed leg.”
“You’re doing more than enough, sticking it out here. And you know your leg will get better.” I got up, wanting to offer him a hand but afraid it would make his frustration worse.
He pulled himself up. “Perhaps I won’t walk with you. I’ll only slow you down.”
“Do you like to skate?” I asked. “I mean, would you like to skate when you’re better?”
He frowned, and I realized I’d probably confused him by suddenly talking about skating. “I only said I’d go with Carter because I wanted to be outside,” I added. “It’s not like … it’s not like I wanted to skate with Carter in particular, but I do like it.”