“Where is Papa?” I asked Osip, who stood looking at the door in horror.
“He’s … he’s out, but he should be back anytime.”
“Don’t open the door unless they try to break it down,” I said as I whirled around and ran to the kitchen. Papa often came in the back way to save Yermak a trip all the way down and around the block just to drop him off at the front door. I didn’t see Zarja anywhere, but my stepfather was coming through the door.
“There are men here to arrest you!” I cried. “Go back out. Get Yermak to take you somewhere.” I pushed him toward the door.
“Lottie, stop. Yermak has taken Zarja out to buy food,” Papa said. “Who has come to arrest me?”
“I don’t know. Militia, I suppose, but they are banging on the front door.”
There was movement out the back window. Two militiamen were headed toward us and one of them was looking right at me. The sight of me had given away that someone was in the house.
I felt a brief flash of panic but I pushed it down. Papa couldn’t run fast enough to hide anywhere, and eventually the men would probably search the whole house. I had to think of something else. I grabbed one of Zarja’s aprons. “Put this on,” I said. “And pretend you only speak French.” He got the apron on just as the men began to pound on the back door. I shoved a spoon in his hand. “Stir the soup. Remember, only French.”
I hoped he’d understand what we were doing. When I opened the door, I spoke first in English, thinking the men might be confused by a foreigner at the house of a Russian.
“What do you want?” I asked.
The two looked at each other and then at me. One of them spoke to me in Russian, telling me about the arrest warrant. I pretended I didn’t understand. I said, “Nyet Russkiy,” which meant “no Russian.” They saw Papa, who stood holding the spoon in the same spot I’d left him. They pushed their way around me and began telling him they were looking for General Cherkassky. He looked over at me.
“He doesn’t understand Russian either. Nyet Russkiy.” I pointed at him. “Français.” I doubted they spoke French either but thought they might recognize the word.
They did recognize it, but continued to talk at me in Russian for a while, asking me where the general had gone. I pretended I didn’t understand any of it. Papa was miraculously playing the part of a chef, getting down spices and putting pinches of things in the soup.
If I hadn’t been so scared, I would have smiled to see him like that. One man came over and smelled the soup, then backed away and shook his head. They continued to poke around the kitchen a bit until they found some bread and some biscuits. They took those and left.
As soon as they were gone, I looked over at my stepfather, afraid he would have another attack of illness at the shock. I was amazed to see him smiling.
“Those devils aren’t going to get the better of me!” he said. “I did well, didn’t I? All those theater performances your mother dragged me to, I suppose I learned a thing or two.”
“You did wonderfully, Papa!” I ran over and hugged him. “You were so brave!”
“Did you forget I am a general?” he said. “We’re supposed to be brave.”
The twins came running in the kitchen. “Zarja, we’re hungry!” Nika shouted. They froze at the sight of Papa wearing an apron, their eyes enormous.
He waved a spoon at them. “Hello, my little chickabiddies. I’m learning to make soup. Would you like some?”
They looked at me and then back at Papa. He laughed like he didn’t have a care in the world, and they ran to him. I couldn’t believe that what should have been a terrifying encounter was making my stepfather seem twenty years younger. As I stared at him, I realized I could see traces of the soldier he had been.
While Papa was teasing the twins, Zarja and Yermak came through the door.
“Girls, why don’t you go back upstairs?” I said, grabbing some pieces of bread for them. “Tell the boys I’m coming up soon, and then later I’ve got a surprise to tell you about.”
Once the twins were gone, I told Zarja and Yermak how Papa had almost been arrested. It was time to tell them our plans. “So you see, we’ve decided, as much as we don’t want to, we need to leave Russia until things settle down again. We’re going to the United States on a visit.”
“Good,” Yermak said. “Get the children away where they will be safe.”
“Will you take Zarja and Polina to the country?” I asked Yermak. “And Osip, too, if he wants to go. It’s too dangerous for any of you to stay here.” I didn’t want to leave until I knew they were safe.
“Yes,” he said. “That’s where they came from and that’s where they belong.”
Zarja hadn’t said a word so far. She’d just stood there with her mouth open, and then her face changed to one of dismay. “But I can’t leave the house to those people! What would Mr. Archer think?”
Papa put his hand on her arm. “He’d want you to take care of yourself,” he said. “Please go, my old friend. It will be hard for me to leave if you don’t.”
I knew Zarja was stunned at the thought. “Please, Zarja,” I said. “We’re going to try to leave as soon as we can get everything organized. You have to go. Papa, I need to talk to the boys.”
I left them, hoping she’d listen to reason. When I told the boys about Papa’s near arrest, Stepan turned very pale.
“We’re all leaving the country,” I said to him, trying to sound like I was excited. “We’re going on a trip to the United States until it’s safe to come back. We’ll all be together. It will be fun, don’t you think? A real adventure.”
He nodded, still pale, but his face wasn’t quite so tense. “And I thought you might like to tell the twins,” I said. “Do you think you can explain it to them for me?” I wanted him out of the way so I could talk about the passport problem. He nodded again and ran off, looking happy he got to be the one to bring news.
Once he was out of earshot, I explained to Miles and Hap about the passports, talking so fast I wasn’t sure they followed it all. “While I’m working on getting them, you have to help Papa figure out what papers and things he needs.” I didn’t know what that would be, beyond money, but I hoped he did. “Put any papers he wants to save but can’t take with us in the attic. I hope they’ll be safe there.” I didn’t want to think what the house might look like in a year without Archer to manage it. “And you need to pack a bag that’s easy to carry.”
I wanted to talk to Dmitri before I left the house again, so I decided to pack my own bag while I waited. I gathered what I thought I might need, including my nursing veil. I didn’t know how easy it would be to sell the jewels. If we didn’t have enough money to get all the way to the United States, I hoped I could at least work as a nurse to earn a little money no matter where we ended up.
I opened the drawer of the dressing table where I’d put my mother’s jewels and looked down at them, knowing I couldn’t just carry them around in a bag. I’d heard people were constantly being asked to give up anything valuable, and the jewels were certainly valuable. I knew some women sewed jewels into hiding places in their clothes, but I didn’t have time for that, and I didn’t know how to take the stones out of the settings anyway.