Red Winter by Smith Dan

Author:Smith, Dan [Smith, Dan]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
ISBN: 9781409128175
Publisher: Orion
Published: 2013-07-17T16:00:00+00:00

Kashtan moved on at a steady pace for another hour, and apart from the occasional fresh, clear print in the frozen mud, we had the road to ourselves. Anna and I hardly said a word to one another – both of us were consumed by our own thoughts – and we travelled in silence but for the thump of Kashtan’s hooves, the regular rhythm of her breath and the creak and clink of tack.

There was almost no distinction in the landscape of this part of the steppe. The road ahead and behind were the same. The land to either side of us was untouched grass with the occasional field in the distance to east or west, but nothing distinct, and for a long time, the horizon remained unchanged. We saw one other farm, at least a kilometre east of the track, and with the lenses, I watched a single farmer working in the field.

‘Are you going to go closer?’ There was tension in Anna’s voice.

‘No.’ I was convinced I was heading in the right direction and was sure I would learn more when we reached Dolinsk, so we continued until we reached the top of a rise that looked down at the steppe before us. From here, there was an unbroken sea of frost, with only a hint of forest on the horizon. The road snaked away to our right, cutting down the slope and disappearing in the whitened grass.

‘Is that where we’re going?’ Anna asked.

‘Dolinsk,’ I said.

In the middle distance, perhaps eight or ten kilometres away, the town settled in the bowl of the shallow valley. Larger than Belev, Dolinsk had grown in a different way. In the centre of the town stood the traditional izbas, but they were surrounded by other buildings built from stone and, at the far edge, the blue dome of a modest church.

Remaining in the saddle, I pulled the heavy binoculars from my saddlebag and scanned the steppe beyond. In the magnification, I spotted two dark smudges on the road, moving away from me, directly towards Dolinsk.

‘That’s them,’ I said under my breath.

‘Who?’

‘The people I told you about – Tanya and Lyudmila.’

‘Can I see?’

I put the strap over her neck and let her take the binoculars.

‘How can you tell it’s them? It just looks like dots to me. Or lines.’

‘It’s them,’ I said. ‘I’m sure of it.’

‘What if you’re wrong, though? What if it’s someone else? Koschei . . .’

‘If it was him, there would be more of them. No, I’m sure it’s Tanya.’ It had to be them.

‘What’s she like?’ Anna asked.

‘Who?’

‘Tanya.’

‘I don’t really know.’ I took the binoculars and watched the two figures for a while, seeing their steady progress, then swung them across to study the steppe on either side of them. Over to the right, there was a shine in the grass and thistles; a trail of bent and broken stems suggesting a larger number of horses had passed either up or down the rise, but without being close enough to see which way the stalks were lying, it was impossible to know which.

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