East Lies the Sun by Alla Crone

Author:Alla Crone
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781504029698
Publisher: Open Road Distribution

CHAPTER 24

One of Konev’s officers, Lieutenant Protasov, offered his parents’ home in Chita as a temporary refuge for Tanya and Paul. An escort went ahead with Tanya’s sleigh, and by the time Paul came out of the izba Tanya was already gone.

They were received warmly by the middle-aged couple. The senior Protasov had done some favors for the current government, and because he served on the city council, he was allowed to keep his spacious mansion in spite of the influx of refugees.

Tall and solemn, with gold-rimmed pince-nez, Protasov spoke little, allowing his short, fluffy wife to do the talking and the fussing. She clucked her tongue and shook her head while she cleaned the lacerations on Paul’s face with water and peroxide. He winced, but endured the discomfort without protest.

“Madame Bolganova’s welt is not broken like yours,” she volunteered calmly, looking at Paul searchingly. “She’s lucky she wasn’t violated. And aside from that one bruise on her hip, she wasn’t even beaten. I can’t understand why she’s crying so much. There must be something else that’s upsetting her. You’ll have to talk to her. She wouldn’t tell me. Your room is next to hers, so maybe you can help.”

Madame Protasova led him across a wide entrance hall, whose painted plank floor was covered with small Oriental rugs. At the foot of the stairs she paused, picked up the ruffled hem of her long striped skirt, and climbed the stairs with surprising agility for a woman of her bulk. Paul, still shaken from the ordeal, followed her stiffly, conscious of the long-forgotten fragrance of freshly soaped skin and cheap cologne.

Upstairs, she led him down a narrow corridor, and, opening one of the doors, showed him in.

“I hope you’ll be comfortable here, Prince Veragin. Madame Bolganova is next door on the right. Our cook, Fyokla, is preparing a tray for you. She’ll be up shortly.”

Paul looked around the room. Its heavy oak bed with a canopy and deep red eiderdown comforter were inviting, but he knew he could never fall asleep until he had seen Tanya. There was a large inset mirror in the tall armoire at the far corner of the room, and cautiously he approached it. A colorless face with an angry red welt slashed across it stared back at him, as if someone had taken a thick red crayon and tried to smudge the image. His blond hair had lost its luster, but his pale eyes still burned with zeal.

While he waited for his food, he checked the adjoining bathroom and found it thoughtfully equipped with necessary toiletries. A long luffa and a bar of soap lay on top of a wooden stool; on a shelf over the basin, a razor was placed near a leather strop hanging from a hook in the wall. Paul bathed and shaved, and when he came back into the room refreshed, the dinner tray was waiting for him.

After he had eaten sparingly—in spite of a long fast he was not very hungry—Paul turned the kerosene lamp out and left the room.

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