The Lost Legacy by Stephen Alfers

Author:Stephen Alfers [Alfers, Stephen]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Evergreen Publishing LLC
Published: 2022-08-22T22:00:00+00:00

They argued that night, Maryna and Katarzyna.

“We are Poles, you and me,” Maryna began. “This is our homeland. We were both born right here. This is Polish land, and we are not Ukrainians.”

“Mother, this is now Ukraine. And we are Ukrainians. We have Polish roots, and I'm very proud of that. And I'm very proud of you…”

“Katarzyna, the Soviet Army brought destruction to Poland. And they brought death and ruin to our family.”

“Oh, this is about Ilya, isn't it, Mother?”

Maryna started to answer, “Katarzyna, that uniform means…”

“Mother, that was not Ilya,” she said, interrupting. “Ilya has not hurt us, and he never would. He has not hurt anyone.”

“Not yet, Katarzyna. Not yet.”

Katarzyna started to leave the room.

“Don't forget who you are.”

“I won't, Mother…”

Then she paused and came back into the living room. She put her arms around her mother, still seated. She kissed her cheek. “I’ll try not to.”

Katarzyna and Ilya continued to see each other. Soon however, the travel demands on Ilya became greater and greater. Ilya and Pavel were frequently in eastern Europe, mostly Bucharest.

That meant Katarzyna and Ilya had to rely on the mail. They had an additional obstacle. Censors. For Ilya, that meant Pavel. The censors shared their private correspondence with Pavel.

Ilya returned to L’viv from an extended trip late one afternoon. He went straight away to a club they both knew. Katarzyna was there. They were together that night. Ilya had to report back to the base before midnight.

Before he left, he said to her, “I want to see you tomorrow. I will pick you up at home in the afternoon. At 1:00 p.m., maybe 2:00 p.m. I'll be there as soon as I can.”

Katarzyna nodded her head, “Okay, I’ll be ready.”

The next day, Ilya was there about 1:30 p.m. Maryna was not at home. They left and soon arrived at an apartment on the base Ilya had arranged. It was there that Ilya told Katarzyna he'd been transferred to Bucharest, and that he had a week to prepare his move. He told her that he expected to spend every minute he could with her. They made love until after midnight. Then he took her home.

Every day that week was the same. On their last night, they vowed to stay together. They would write, and he would be back for her as soon as he could.

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