“Not all of them. That’s Lenin’s propaganda. But we’ll band together with them to get rid of the Bolsheviks. It’s our only hope for Russia and to hold out against the Germans.”
I couldn’t believe Dmitri wanted to throw himself back into fighting. “What can a few regiments do against the whole German army? You’re just giving your life away!” I wanted to grab hold of his shirt and shake him to put some sense in him. They’d be wiped out immediately.
“I don’t know what good I can do, but I can’t stay in Petrograd. My leg is almost healed. I can’t hide away here, as much as I’d like to stay with you.” He paused. “But you can’t stay here either. We’ve got to find a way to get you all out of the country, not just to the dacha. I’ve heard things, unsettling things.”
The day before, my automatic response would have been no, we weren’t leaving. The last few hours had changed my mind. “What sort of things?” I couldn’t imagine how much worse it could get.
“Some of those in power don’t want foreigners here. They think you’re all part of the old ways, and they want to remake Russia into something completely different. And more and more people are speaking out against the nobility. They want to punish anyone who has held power in the past. I told you I’d let you know when your family was in danger. It’s in danger now.”
I pulled my hands out of his and clenched them together. I’d tried to pretend things would get better even as they had gotten worse and worse, but it was time to stop pretending.
“You have to leave the country,” Dmitri said. “I won’t leave until you are safely away, but you have to go. All of you. And you have to go soon. I don’t know how much longer the trains will be running and it’s still not safe to leave by the western route.”
“I know.” I got up to go to the window. It felt as if the gray fog that hung over the river were seeping into the house.
Dmitri came to stand beside me. I turned to him and put my arms around his neck, pulling him down so that I could kiss him, wanting not to think for just a little while.
I didn’t hear the boys until they were already in the room. It was Miles’s voice that brought me back to reality. “Oh,” he said.
I pulled away from Dmitri to see both Miles and Hap in the doorway, their mouths wide open.
“We’re busy,” I told them. “Why don’t you go away for a little while longer.” It wasn’t really a question and they knew it. They were back out the door as fast as they’d come in.
Dmitri gave a bit of a sheepish smile. “I suppose I’ve just destroyed any sort of authority I might have had over them, not that I had that much anyway.”
“Don’t worry about it. It’s about time they realized I’m not just someone who exists to arrange their lives for them.”
“No, you are far more than that, Charlotte Danielovna.” He brushed my hair off my face. “I have to go out for a while again, but I’ll be back soon.”
“I’ll talk to Papa. It’s going to be hard to convince him to leave.”
“If anyone can do it, it will be you.” He kissed me once more and then left.
I went up to Papa’s room, weighing what to say about the daughter. When I got there, I didn’t have to say anything.
“Lottie,” he called out. “Lottie, come here. I’ve made a decision. You and all the children need to leave the country. It’s too dangerous at the moment.”
His voice was strong and his color back to normal. We had to get him out of the country so he wouldn’t have any more shocks. “We will,” I said, “but you have to come with us.” I told him everything Dmitri had said. “It’s dangerous for you too. We can all go to the United States until things settle down here.”
I could tell he’d never even thought of the idea. Even when my mother was alive, he hadn’t liked to travel out of Russia.
“You can take all your papers and work on your memoir while we’re gone,” I said. “There will be plenty of hours on the trains and the ships.”
He leaned back on his pillows and twisted the end of his mustache. I waited, trying to read his expression. He sat up. “Perhaps a trip is not such a bad idea. After all, no one here seems to want my help with anything.”
I was relieved it hadn’t been as difficult as I feared. “And if the war in Europe ends soon, we can come back through Paris and stop there for a while,” I said. “We haven’t been to the apartment there in a long time.” We’d gone back only once and that had been before the twins were born.
His mouth turned down. “We could go to Paris for a few days, I suppose, but not to the apartment. I sold it.”
“You didn’t tell me.” The news stung. There was nothing special about the place, but we’d been there all together with my mother, and she’d made each trip like an adventure. It was breaking a link to her.
“Yes, I sold all my properties in Europe and moved all my money back to Russian banks at the start of the war. The czar asked us to as a way to show we supported the country and him.”
I felt a pinging of unease about Papa selling everything. If Papa had all his money here, why were his gambling debts a problem? We’d need money to get us out of the country, and we’d need money to live on.
He slapped his hand down on the bed “Yes! Let’s do it. There’s still some life left in me. Let’s take a trip!”
But as soon as the elation came onto his face, it disappeared. “It will take quite a bit of organizing. My bones are getting old. I’m not sure I’m meant to leave Russia again.”
“Please, Papa, we don’t want to leave you behind.” I’d keep begging as long as it took.
“All right.” He looked around the room. “I suppose a few months away isn’t that long.”
“It won’t be. Papa, we have to get ready to leave as fast as we can. We’re going to need money. I’m going to the bank to get what’s left from the hospital account, but we’re going to need more than that.”
He didn’t say anything for a few long moments. “I’ll go talk to some people,” he said. “I’m afraid we’re a little short of funds, but we’ll manage.”
“We’ll manage,” I said. Nothing was going to stop us from getting everyone to safety.
Chapter Eighteen
IT WAS TOO late to go to the bank that day but when I got to the bank the next morning, there were some of the new Red Militia standing around inside with rifles. They all wore red armbands. A line of people waited to get to the single clerk, so I went to the back of the line.
When I finally got to the front, the clerk stood up.
“We’re closed,” he said to me. I didn’t recognize him. I thought I knew everyone in the bank.
I gripped the edge of the counter. “I need to see the bank manager. It’s very important.”
“He’s not here.” The man picked up a stack of papers and turned away.
“No, wait! Where is he? It’s important.”
The man turned back to me and shrugged. “I think he quit.”