Mitrofanych puffed out his chest. “What exactly do you need?”
“I need information about a certain Klim Rogov. His birthday is July 4, 1889. If you can find out anything about him, I’ll give you a voucher for felt boots.”
Mitrofanych’s face brightened at the suggestion. “That’s very kind of you. My shoes are falling to pieces. Maybe I can do something else for you?”
Galina thought for a moment. “Yes, you could ask them to look for any mention of Rogov in the St. George Church archive in Nizhny Novgorod.”
Back in her room, Galina collapsed onto her bed. She did not know what was worse: to live in ignorance or to find out the truth.
“Whatever will be, will be,” she told herself.
She did not dare say a prayer. After her witchcraft, false accusations, and treachery, she felt that any prayers she said would only be heard by the devil himself.
24. HOLIDAY IN CRIMEA
After the dark and rainy north, Crimean sun seemed dazzling to Klim. Jumping down from the footboard of the railroad car, he caught sight of Nina and Kitty straight away. They were hurrying to meet him, both in identical flowered muslin dresses and white crocheted berets.
“Daddy’s here!” squealed Kitty in delight.
He lifted her up and kissed her. “Well, how are you enjoying yourselves here?”
Kitty immediately began to tell him about how she and Nina had been to the cinema to see a film called Tip-Top in Moscow, which featured a little cartoon black boy against a real city backdrop.
Klim peered up at Nina. She was standing beside Kitty, absently fiddling with a small mother-of-pearl giraffe on a string around her neck.
“A present from Elkin?” Klim asked.
Nina blushed and tuck the pendant into her dress. “Well, it’s just—”
She and Klim did not even say hello to each other.
“All right. Let’s go and find the bus.” Klim picked up his suitcases. “Is Kitty better now?”
Nina nodded. “I found out what the problem was. She mustn’t eat chocolate.”
As they walked to the bus stop, Nina told him how she had made her discovery. Klim tried to think of something to say without success.
Nina was looking at him expectantly.
“Well done,” he said at last and immediately felt annoyed at himself. He sounded exactly as if he were thanking Galina for bringing him a press report.
On the way to Feodosia, Klim had decided that he would try to act naturally. The problem was that what felt most natural to him was to shun Nina, and she sensed it.
When they took their seats in the bus—opposite one another, not side by side—Nina put her feet on Klim’s suitcase while he moved his knees to one side to avoid accidentally brushing her legs. Nina gave a wry smile as if to say she certainly had no desire to touch him.
The bus set off. The wind from the open windows ruffled Nina’s hair and made her skirt billow up like a sail. Klim stared around him, careful to look anywhere except in Nina’s direction.
Across the aisle, an old man was scolding his wife affectionately, telling her that on no account was she to lift buckets of water because it would hurt her back.
A little fair-haired boy was pestering his mother: “Is Lidia here already? Is she expecting us?”
You wait, thought Klim. You’ll get involved with some Lidia or other, and the next thing, you’ll be cursing everything under the sun.
“Are you playing that game where nobody’s allowed to say anything?” piped up Kitty. “I want to play too! One, two, three—and the first to speak is a big fat flea!”
She puffed up her cheeks and covered her mouth with her hands. Klim was very glad of the excuse to stay silent.
The bus bounced over a pothole, and Klim was thrown toward Nina. He barely managed to stay in his seat by grabbing the handrail.
“Damn!” he swore.
“You lost!” crowed Kitty. “You’re a big fat flea! Mommy, now he has to do everything we tell him!”
When they got to Gloria’s House, Nina took Klim to meet the hostess.
Gloria was sitting in the small, smoky kitchen with its whitewashed stove and huge array of shelves holding various pots and dishes. The last rays of the setting sun glowed on the glass jars of jams and preserves, and the smell of toasted sunflower seeds hung in the air.
When she saw Klim, the old woman got to her feet and put her hands on her hips. “What does he want? I don’t have any rooms left to rent.”
“He can stay in my room—” began Nina, but to her surprise, Gloria became angry.
“Where’s he going to sleep, I’d like to ask. You’ve divorced him—let that be an end to it!”
Klim looked at Nina, confused. Evidently, he was not welcome here.
The cockatoo, which was perched on the window sill, suddenly shrieked in a terrible voice: “Take aim, squadron—and fire! Finish him off, I tell you!”
Nina started to argue with Gloria, explaining that she had already warned her that her husband would be arriving.
Klim smiled to himself. How about that? he thought. I’ve been promoted to the rank of husband again.
“It’s all right,” he said. “I’ll go.”
“Stop!” cried Nina. “Wait outside. I’ll sort everything out.”
On the porch, Klim ran into Elkin.
“So, you’ve arrived, have you?” Elkin muttered grimly.
Klim remembered the mother-of-pearl pendant around Nina’s neck. He was starting to realize why he had been given such a cool welcome. Aunt Gloria and her nephew were clearly of one mind.
“Let me give you the money for your car,” said Klim.
He handed Elkin a package of ten-ruble notes. Elkin stuffed them into his pockets without bothering to count them.
“So, do you plan to drive Mashka yourself?” he asked, after a pause. “Or will you hire a chauffeur?”
“When I get back, I’ll sign up for driving lessons at the Red Army Club,” said Klim.
“And when will that be?”
They heard footsteps behind them, and Gloria and Nina came out onto the porch.
“It’s too late tonight to do anything,” muttered the old woman with a hostile glance at Klim. “You can sleep on the terrace if you want. Tomorrow, go to see Ainur—he’s renting some rooms too. He’s not here though. He’s at Koroneli—on the other side of Feodosia.”
Clearly, she wanted to send Klim as far away as possible.
Nina had not expected her hostess to put such obstacles in their path.
“Why are you throwing Klim out?” she asked her. “You said you would help me.”
“And that’s exactly what I am doing!” snapped Gloria. “You had a trap somewhere in your past, and you need to rid yourself of it. Your future happiness is walking about under your nose!”
“Elkin, you mean?” asked Nina tentatively.
“Clever girl! At last, you’ve worked it out for yourself.”
The old woman’s “fortune-telling” had had nothing to do with Klim after all. Nina had simply read her own story into it.
Klim left his cases in Nina’s room and went straight off somewhere with Kitty. Nina went out to look for the two of them on all the nearby beaches but was unable to find them.
When she got back, Elkin announced that it was his birthday. All the holidaymakers were preparing for the celebration with great excitement. Gloria took out some old kerosene lamps from the scullery, and Alyosha and Ira hung them on the apricot trees. The table was laid with bunches of black grapes with a silvery bloom, white cheese made of sheep’s milk, and golden smoked mullet. The women had baked unleavened bread, which filled the air with a delicious aroma.