“They’re destroying the records,” Dmitri said. “Very clever. No one will be able to try to round the prisoners back up if the authorities regain control.”
“Even if they tried, they might not have a place to put them. Look.” I pointed to one of the upper windows of the district court building next to the prison. Smoke was creeping out the edges of it. As we watched, more smoke came from an adjoining window, and then the next one filled too, down the line.
More prisoners trickled out of the building, these in far worse shape than the ones who had come before. My breath caught when I saw Raisa emerge holding up a man I knew must be her father, but whom I didn’t recognize. The man she was supporting was completely bald and small and so bent up, he looked like a collection of bones someone had put a prison uniform on.
I realized I was swaying on my feet, feeling so light-headed I had to grab Dmitri’s arm.
“Are you all right?”
“Yes,” I said. “I need to go help someone.”
Before I could take a step, other people rushed forward, and Raisa and her father were soon surrounded. I reminded myself that I had to concentrate on finding Stepan. I could see Raisa later. “We should keep going,” I said.
I took a few steps and then stopped. “Wait. I have an idea. Stepan might have gone to the imperial stables. Papa takes him there once in a while because Stepan loves the horses and we don’t have any left at the dacha. They were all taken by the army. Stepan has made friends with some of the stablemen and knows a lot of the horses by name.”
Dmitri sighed. “If he’s there, I don’t know if we’ll find him on a day like today. I’m sure the place is in an uproar.”
He was right. The imperial stables were huge. With six thousand horses, the place was as big as the Hermitage, and I didn’t know which section of the stables Papa took him to.
I tried to think of another plan. “Let’s stop at home first. Maybe he’s returned, or if he hasn’t, Papa might be home and he would know where we can look.”
When we reached home, Osip wasn’t at the door, but I didn’t bother looking for him. If Stepan had returned, Miles and Hap would know. They were both in the schoolroom.
“Stepan’s not here,” Hap said as soon as we went in.
“What’s happening out there?” Miles asked. “It’s maddening not to know.”
“I’m not sure. It’s chaos,” I said. “Is Papa home?” I didn’t want him out on the streets.
“No,” Hap said. “He’s been gone all day.”
I hoped my stepfather was with friends who would watch out for him. “We’re going to the imperial stables to look for Stepan. I can’t think of anywhere else he might be.”
“I’ll go,” Hap said. “I can move faster than Dmitri with that leg of his.” He held up his hand. “Lottie, I know you’re going to say it’s too dangerous.” That was exactly what I’d been about to say. “So don’t say it,” Hap continued. “I’m tired of you treating me like a child. You don’t have to be the martyr who takes care of everything.”
I was shocked to hear him speak like that. It wasn’t fair. I wasn’t trying to be a martyr. I just wanted everyone to be safe.
I heard the twins running down the hall, chattering away to each other in the baby language they’d made up. They had mostly given it up over a year ago, so I didn’t know why they’d gone back to it. I looked out. Polina was running after them, calling their names.
When they burst through the door, they flung themselves at me, wrapping their arms around my legs.
“Lottie! Lottie! Come see. Stepan is in the attic and he won’t let us in!”
I should have thought of the attic. I ran up the flights of stairs, the others clattering behind me. When I got to the door I tried to open it, but it was locked. I knocked. “Stepan, are you in there? I need to talk to you.”
There was no reply. I put my ear to the door. I could hear someone moving around.
“Stepan, please let me in,” I said. “I’m not going to make you come out. You can stay in there as long as you want. Just unlock the door.”
Archer had a key, but I didn’t want to ask him for it. I didn’t know how Stepan had gotten in. Papa had ordered it kept locked after Miles had opened some of the trunks.
I heard footsteps moving to the door. I motioned everyone back. “We’re not all going to pile in there,” I whispered.
My words didn’t have much effect. As soon as Stepan opened the door, the twins rushed in. “Stepan! Stepan! We thought you were lost!”
Stepan glanced at me and then looked at the floor. In that brief instance, I saw that his eyes were red. He’d been crying.
“Why are you up here?” Miles asked. “We were worried about you.”
“We need a hiding place from the Germans.” Stepan burst into tears. “If a revolution happens, the Germans will win the war. That’s what Archer says.”
“Hey, Stepan, don’t cry,” Hap said. The twins surrounded Stepan. Nika hugged him and Sophie patted him on the arm.
I could scarcely control my anger at Archer. Everything was bad enough. We didn’t need him to make things worse.
I glanced over at the door. Dmitri hadn’t come all the way into the room. At first I thought the expression on his face was from pain, because even from across the room I could see he was breathing heavily, but then I realized from the way his mouth was set that it was anger.
I was about to urge everyone to go back downstairs when Miles opened a trunk. He pulled out a picture in an old-fashioned frame. “Who’s this?” he asked. I was close enough to see that it was Papa with his first wife and a girl who looked to be about thirteen or fourteen. I recognized the wife because there was a small portrait of her in the library.
The girl had to be the other daughter.
I took the picture from him and put it back in the trunk, trying to signal to him not to ask more questions. “I don’t know,” I said. “It’s not important.” We didn’t need a lost relative at that moment, or at any moment, especially not one who was a murderer. “Let’s go downstairs now. It’s cold up here. Stepan, why don’t you come down and have some tea? You can come back up here later if you want.”
We moved to the schoolroom, all of us, including Polina and the twins. Somehow it felt like we all needed to be in one place. Every once in a while I thought I caught faint sounds of gunfire, but I couldn’t be sure.
At least the twins were completely unaware that anything was wrong. They were delighted to be allowed to play in a room that was usually off-limits, and had soon set up their own little school area. Dmitri stood at the window, looking out, though there was nothing to see except the back courtyard.
I couldn’t sit still, but the room was so cluttered it was hard to move around. “I’ll be back in a minute,” I said. “I want to talk to Zarja.”
Dmitri followed me out in the hall. “I know it’s not my place, but I’ll talk to Archer if you like. He’s got to stop this nonsense about the Germans.”
“Is it really nonsense?” I asked, searching his face.
“Yes,” he said. “If I thought your family was in any danger, I’d tell you. Don’t you know that?”