The snow was falling harder now, and Nikkolai struggled to make out the road before him. Six days of unrelenting snowfall had left the roads in miserable condition, even by Siberian standards. The muscles in his calves were aching, and in spite of the heavy boots he was wearing, his toes felt as if they were frozen. The five mile trek home from the naval base was tiring at best, but the added exertion of trudging through the drifts of heavy snow was making the journey almost impossible.. It was worth it though, he thought with a smile, to be with Riasa.
They had been through a rough time this last year, and the transfer had not made things any easier.. A move to Siberia, scarcely days from the icy grip of winter, held little attraction, and very few of Nikkolai's fellow officers had chosen to bring their wives and families here with them. It would never have occurred to Riasa to stay in Kiev. She was a naval officer's wife, and where duty called her young husband she followed without question or complaint. The naval base did not offer family accommodations, and they had been fortunate to find the small fishing shack on the outskirts of Magadan.
Riasa had barely been out of the military hospital in Kiev a week when he had received his new orders. This latest miscarriage, so far into the pregnancy, had been devastating for them.. The doctors had been quite frank.. It was unlikely that they would ever have a child of their own. Ove the next weeks Nikkolai had witnessed the subtle changes in his sweet wife. She had become quiet and sometimes withdrawn. Though she always tried to put up a cheerful front for him, he knew that during the long days while he was at the base she sat in the rocking chair and cried.
Nikkolai was dealing with his own disappointment as well. Like most men he'd dreamed that someday he'd have a son. Sadly, that was not meant to be. He and Riasa had each other; that would be enough. Somehow he would make her see that, and they would get on with their lives.
A rustling in the nearby bushes drew his thought back to the present. Instinctively he drew his weapon from its holster. He had heard stories of bears in these woods . Two sailors stationed at his base had been mauled to death less that a month ago. Nikkolai strained his ears, but heard only the fierce pounding of his own adrenaline-charged heart. He had just returned the pistol to its holster and was chiding himself for his overactive imagination, when a dark shape emerged from the bushes. Hastily retrieving the weapon and sighting the shapeless dark creature through the white curtain of snow, he prepared to pull the trigger.
"Help me," a faint voice whispered. Nikkolai lowered his weapon and studied the figure approaching him. The posture and gait were not those of an animal but of a human being, his form obscured by a heavy black cape. Nikkolai's finger judiciously sought the reassurance of the pistol's trigger as the dark figure reached out toward him.
"Please, help me."
Nikkolai cautiously moved toward the stranger. "Who are you?" he asked. Moving closer he could see that this mysterious stranger was much smaller than he'd originally thought. "Who are you?" he asked again, keeping his pistol leveled at the dark specter. He reached out hesitantly and pulled back the hood of the cape. "My God!"
"Help ," The woman said softly then collapsed into the snow.
Riasa Kuryakin awoke to darkness. The fire had almost died out, and the small room was freezing. It had been light when she'd decided to lie down for a few minutes. It had been almost a month since the miscarriage but she still tired so easily. The room was in darkness now; she must have been asleep for some time. She had dreamed of the woman again. A pale woman with eyes that were blue like the ocean, and frightened, terribly frightened. This time the woman had spoken to her. "The pain will soon be over for both of us," she had whispered. Then she had pressed something into Riasa's hand, a stone, an exquisite blue stone. She pondered the puzzling image for some time. When she was a child her grandmother had told her that dreams could reveal secrets of the future. What secret, she wondered, could this strange dream be trying to reveal?
Shaking off sleep, Riasa roused herself to tend the fire. The stew that she'd started earlier was till warm. Anxiously her eyes journeyed to the clock on the mantelpiece. It was close to seven. Where was Nikkolai? "Stop this foolishness, woman," she scolded herself, certainly the snow was the cause for her husband's delay. It seemed that she worried constantly. The doctor at the hospital in Kiev had warned her that this might continue for some time. It was important that she stay busy to help keep disturbing thoughts from settling themselves in her mind.
"Pull yourself together Riasa." That was what her friends had told her. They couldn't understand how she still grieved so for the lost child. Perhaps if she had told them of the other miscarriages, the other lost dreams, she could have made them see. But she was a terribly private person, and it was not her nature to share her pain with others. Poor Nikkolai. He had been so patient with her endless crying and moodiness these last few months. Nikkolai was such a good man, such a wonderful husband. It was hard at times to believe that he still wanted her.
She had offered him his freedom when the doctors told them that there was no hope for a child. For a man of his position a divorce would be so easy. Then he could find a wife who could give him the son he deserved. He had embraced her so tenderly. "I do not know what the future holds for us Riasa. I only know that we are meant to be together. We just need time to heal ourselves."
She drifted toward the window and stared out at the falling snow. Siberia hardly seemed like a place to heal a broken spirit. It was a barren, lonely place that few would choose to call home. Riasa took a long twig from the kindling basket and lit it in the fire place. Methodically she went around the room lighting each of the oil lamps. Somehow the soft, forgiving glow of the lamplight made the drafty little cabin seem more inviting. She tried her best to make the place a home for the two of them. She'd scrubbed the filthy wood floors until they'd shone, and hung curtains on all of the windows. Perhaps tonight she would use the lace table cover that her uncle Illya had given them to celebrate their wedding. Maybe if she tried to act happy she might actually feel some happiness?
"Can you walk miss," Nikkolai asked the woman as he cautiously eased her to her feet. She did not answer him but simply began walking. Kuryakin was baffled. What on earth was she doing out here in the middle of nowhere. They were less than half of a mile from the cottage that he and Riasa rented. There was no other dwelling for miles in any direction.
"Are you hurt?" he asked gently.
Still she did not respond, but only stared at him with wide blue eyes.
"My home is not far away. It's warm, and my wife could find some dry clothes for you to wear. Would you like me to take you there?" he asked.
She nodded almost imperceptibly. Kuryakin offered her his arm and supported her has they trudged through the snow. It was half an hour before they arrived at the cabin.
"Nikki." The relief in Riasa's voice transformed itself in puzzlement as she saw the young woman.
"Help me Riasa." he called as he settled the woman into one of the chairs before the fire.
"Is she hurt?" Riasa asked.
"I'm not sure. I found her in the woods about a half a mile from here. Her clothes are soaked. Could you find something for her to wear?"
Riasa scrambled up the rickety wooden stairs to the open loft where she and Nikki slept. She returned a few moments later with several pieces of clothing draped over her arm. Nikkolai had set himself to unfastening the lacings which held the black cloak. The garment was heavy with melting snow, and he carefully draped it over a chair by the fire. "Can you..." He turned to Riasa looking a bit embarrassed. "Can you take the rest of her clothes off? I'll go outside and get more wood for the fire."
Riasa nodded. The woman's clothing seemed strange to the young Russian woman. The fabric was quite fine, and the stitching very elegant. She'd never seen anything quite so grand before. It was obvious that this woman was someone important, or at least was with someone important. Most of the officers were far from home, and far from their wives. It was common knowledge that many of them had taken mistresses for themselves. Riasa felt a knot in her stomach. The woman couldn't have gotten to the woods on foot. Perhaps someone had left her there for a reason. They could be in danger simply for helping her.
The woman let out a soft moan, and began to stir. She opened her eyes and Riasa gasped. It was the woman from her dream, the woman with the frightened blue eyes.
Don't be afraid." Riasa whispered gently, despite her own vague sense of fear. "You're safe now."
The woman remained mute, staring at Riasa.
"You need to get out of these wet clothes. Do you want me to help you?"
The woman merely stared at her blankly, and Riasa began to wonder if perhaps she did not understand Russian. Riasa stroked the woman's arm, hoping to calm her, and gain her trust. Without warning the woman's body convulsed and she cried out in pain.
"Are you hurt?" Riasa asked.
The woman didn't answer, but after a few moments it appeared that the pain had passed. Riasa tentatively began to unfasten the flowing jacket of the woman's dress. She pulled the jacket open and was barely able to believe what she saw. The woman was in an advanced stage of pregnancy.
"My God. Are you in labor?"
She studied Riasa silently for a moment then said simply, "Yes."
Nikkolai gallantly allowed some time for Riasa to dress the woman before returning to the house with an armload of firewood. In the dim light from the fire he saw his wife tenderly wrapping the quilt from their bed their mysterious guest.
"Don't be afraid." Riasa assured the woman as Nikkolai tended the waning fire.
"Is she all right? Nikkolai asked softly.
"She's going to have a child."
"A child? Now?" he responded.
"Very soon. Her labor has already begun."
"I'll go for the doctor," he said, reclaiming his coat from the hook by the door.
"No!" the woman responded with a ferocity that startled Riasa and Nikkolai.
"You need a doctor." Riasa answered looking from the woman to her husband.
The woman grabbed Riasa's hand and stared into her eyes. "I came to you, Riasa. You are the only one who can help me. You know what to do don't you?"
Riasa felt herself nodding yes.
"No one else," she turned her pleading gazeto Nikkolai. He looked to his wife.
"No one else," Riasa agreed. "You need to get into some dry clothes. All right?"
The woman nodded and began to remove the silky blue dress. Nikki turned his back to the women and busied himself with tending the fire..
Nikkolai had finished his dinner and cleared the plates from the table. The woman was sleeping peacefully in the makeshift bed that he and Riasa had set by the fireplace. By the dim light of one of the whaleoil lamps Riasa was studying through a book on childbirth. He had silently cursed his beautiful wife as he'd struggled to unload the heavy crates full of books that she had insisted on bringing with them from Kiev.
Riasa seemed possessed by an insatiable curiousity about life, and the books held an almost mystical fascination for her. She had assembled various and sundry items on the kitchen table in preparation for the birth. Nikkolai sighed. He had been crazy to let the two women talk him into this. They needed the doctor or a midwife. Riasa's face was so serious as she read.
"We must wash everything very carefully." She looked up to him. "And get out the vodka."
"That's a good idea." Nikkolai said wth a smile.
"Not for you, for her. It might help her with the pain."
"Are you certain that you know what you are doing Riasa?"
"There's very little for us to do." She answered. "It's all up to her. I just hope that she can get a bit of sleep before we get started. She's exhausted."
"She said that she came here looking for you Riasa. Do you know her?"
"No." She shook her head."I've never really seen her before."
"What do you mean you've never 'really' seen her before?" Nikkolai responded warily.
"Well... it's foolishness really, but last night I dreamed of someone who looked like her, and then again this afternoon."
"Don't start with that gypsy nonsense," Nikkolai teased. "Dreams are just that, dreams. The future is unknown to us until it comes to pass."
"But you must agree that it's curious that she would turn up here."
"I can't understand that .How could she have gotten herself out this far? She's as weak as a kitten. I almost carried her here. Do you think that she's in some kind of trouble?"
"I'm not sure. I think she's frightened of something, but what?"
"Maybe not what but who?"
"Do you think that we could be in danger for helping her Nikki?"
"I don't know," he answered, his voice somber.
"It's late. Why don't you go upstairs and sleep for awhile. I want to stay down here in case she wakes up."
Nikkolai pulled his wife into a long, comforting kiss then climbed the rickety stairs to their bedroom..
Riasa wasn't sure how much time had passed when she heard a low moan from the woman.
"The pains are coming closer now, it won't be much longer." Riasa said as she added another log to the fire.
The woman struggled to bring herself to a seated position. Riasa studied her in the soft flickering light. She was very beautiful, with light hair and fine features. Though her Russian was flawless, there was something about her that struck Riasa as alien.
"Have you no husband?" Riasa asked.
The woman shook her head. The poor woman, Riasa thought, even though it was nineteen thirty four, an unmarried woman bearing a child was still the object of scorn.
"What of the child's father?"
"He does not know."
"You didn't tell him?"
"He must never know," she answered, her blue eyes wide with fear. "No one must ever know."
"I understand not wanting others to know, but the father?"
"What happened between the two of us is forbidden. If anyone found out...". Riasa took the woman's hand and stroked it gently trying to stem her anxious state.
"It's all right. Just relax. No one will find you here."
The woman had just begun to calm down when another contraction seized her body. Riasa checked the clock on the mantelpiece. The pains were coming much more quickly now. After the contraction subsided she rose to put another pan of water on the fire.
"Is he married?" Riasa asked.
The woman responded with a puzzled stare.
"The father of your child, is he married to someone else?"
"No."
"Perhaps you could-"
"You don't understand, you couldn't possibly understand. If they ever found out..."
"What?" Riasa feeling a knot of fear growing within her. "What would they do to you?"
"They would take the child. I would never see the child or the father again."
The woman was growing more agitated. Riasa stroked her head gently. "No one will find out, everything will be all right."
She felt the woman's body stiffening, a precursor to the contraction that quickly followed. As a tide that flows into shore, then just as quickly recedes, the pain diminished and was gone.
"I don't understand, who are these people you speak of with such fear? How can they take your child? They must be in a position of great power."
"Their power is beyond anything that you could possibly comprehend. Our duties oblige us to keep ourselves free from human desires. What passed between the man and myself was a grave breach of conduct. Such transgressions are not treated lightly."
"No one is free from human desires."
"I know," the mysterious woman answered .
"The baby's father, what is he like?"
For the first time the woman smiled. "He's a strange sort. At first meeting he appears to be a cold man, hard to the point of unkindness." She paused for a moment as if she were mentally drawing a picture. "But there is a place within him, a place underneath the coldness... an unfathomable depth of soul. He hides it from the others, but I could see it."
Once again a wave of pain swept over the woman and she cried out. Riasa held her hand tightly and comforted her. "Be strong, it won't be much longer. The pain will be over soon."
"The pain will soon be over for both of us," the woman whispered. Abruptly another contraction began. Anxiously Riasa positioned the pillows under the woman's knees. It would not be long now. She checked the knife and twine that she would need to cut the cord. She had unearthed the box filled with the layette she'd assembled for her own child.
"I don't even know your name," Riasa said stroking the woman's hair tenderly.
"I am called Sapphire." Riasa heard the words in her mind though she felt certain that the woman had not actually spoken.
"It's coming now Riasa, the baby is coming now."
"It's all right Sapphire, I'm here. You must push hard now, can you do that?"
Sapphire nodded and began to push.
"You're almost finished now. Just one more strong push."
Barely a full minute later, Raisa held the child up for Sapphire to see. He was a beautiful boy, with intense blue eyes like his mother's. Following the directions in the book, Riasa cut the baby's cord and wrapped the child in a warm blanket. After removing the blood soaked blankets from the makeshift bed, she covered Sapphire and the child with a woolen blanket. She lay down on the floor beside them and, exhausted, fell into a deep sleep.
The sound of floorboards creaking wakened Riasa. The room was frigid, the fire almost burned out.
"Sapphire?" Riasa scanned the darkened room.
"I'm here Riasa." Sapphire's voice seemed to come from somewhere inside of Riasa's head. Sapphire stepped out of the shadows and into the firelight. She was dressed in the shimmering blue silk dress.
"Why did you come here?" Riasa struggled to her feet.
"You called me here."
"I called you here? I don't understand Sapphire. How could I have called you here? I don't even know you."
"I was lost Riasa. I was frightened and alone. I had no one to turn to for help. In the midst of the confusion I heard your voice cry out for a child. It was so clear to me then, what I must do."
Riasa heard Nickkoli coming down the stairs from the loft.
"I must go back now. I've been gone for far too long already."
"You can't take the baby out yet, it's too cold."
Nikkolai stared at the woman, then turned to Riasa.
Silently Sapphire moved toward the tiny cradle where her newborn son lay. She lifted the infant and stared into his blue eyes. Such a beautiful child, so like his father.
"Illya," she whispered.
"Illya?" Riasa responded.
"When I came to you in the dream, you told me that you wanted to name your son Illya. I think it suits him."
Sapphire cradled the child tenderly. She kissed her son then handed him to Riasa. "Now we shall both be at peace."
Tears streamed down the Riasa's face and she held her son for the first time. Nikkolai embraced his wife and the tiny child. When they looked up Sapphire was gone.