Souvenirs from Kyiv by Chrystyna Lucyk-Berger

Author:Chrystyna Lucyk-Berger [Lucyk-Berger, Chrystyna]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781803146560
Publisher: Bookouture
Published: 2022-04-21T16:00:00+00:00

A rooster crowed, and Kulka curled himself tighter into the hay, his teeth still chattering. Every muscle was stretched and cramped, and he ached all over. He burrowed deeper into the sweet-smelling grass, and still he could not stop shivering. Reprieve came in the sound of a door opening. He lifted his head and crawled far enough out to look into the farmyard. He recognized his cousin right away. He’d found her. He scrambled out of the haystack and climbed down the ladder before Havka could come into the stable.

She stopped in the doorway just as he reached the bottom rung. “Who are you?”

“Havka, it’s me,” Kulka said, turning to face her. “Danylo Hanchar, Ivan’s son.”

She rushed to him. Smiling, she turned him around. “Danylo, my goodness you’ve grown!” She sounded relieved. “Mykhailo was looking for you a couple of days ago. He’s worried sick about you.”

“Where are they?”

“They’ve had to move to Polissia,” she said. “The Germans’ retaliations have put them in grave danger.”

Kulka’s heart sank. Lys was somewhere in that vast forest, which stretched to the borders of Belarus and Poland.

“Where have you been?” Havka steered him towards a stall. Only one cow was in the whole barn. She grabbed a bucket and moved her hands beneath the udder. Milk squirted into the pail. She looked up. “You look hungry. Are you all right?”

Kulka wondered how to answer all her questions.

“Anyway,” she said, “Mykhailo told me how to get word to him. And then he said he’s got a job for you. Back in Luts’k.”

“But I just came from there,” he complained, though he did miss Filipchuk and those bulletins.

Havka pulled the pail out and took a tin cup hanging from the wall. She dipped it into the pail and handed it to him. He drank. She filled the cup twice more, then wiped her hands on her apron.

“I don’t know anything about that, but he wants you to go back and do something for them. My husband will accompany you.”

Kulka shook his head, the milk filling his stomach. He wanted to just sleep. That was all. He shivered and sniffed. Angrily, he brushed away a tear.

Havka pursed her lips and pulled him to her. “Come now, Danylo. Come with me into the house. You get some rest first.”

She led him through the yard but stopped before going into the house. From a wicker basket, she removed a large cloth with red-and-white embroidery. A tablecloth. She patted Kulka’s shoulder and carried it to the wash line and hung it. When she returned, she ran a hand over his head.

“Now they know you’re here.”

Kulka slept deeply beneath the down covers. When he awoke, it was dark outside, and it had turned unseasonably warm again. Crickets chirped in the tall grasses before the forest. He went into the kitchen and stopped in the doorway.

A man was seated at the table, noisily sucking the meat out of a pig’s ear. He dropped it into his bowl and rose.

Havka stopped washing the plate she had in her hand and nudged the man.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.