Cheka headquarters, Perm. July 26, 1918.
A white bearded man is being interrogated in a small room; he sits on a chair in front of an empty desk while a younger man walks behind him from one side of the room to the other.
"Who gave you the idea to let the woman accompany the boy?" The young interrogator asks the older man.
"No… no one, I thought it would make his departure faster, and a bit easier for the prisoners", the scared middle-aged man responds, "but I asked for permission to the Ural Soviet, if there is anyone you should blame from any complications resulting from my suggestion, it is them".
The interrogator does not say anything else; he looks pensive, and he knows his suspicions are a stretch, but, how else could the recent events be explained? The prisoner breathes deeply, he thinks he is safe for now.
"Have you ever been in contact with any foreign intelligence?" The interrogator asks after a few minutes of silence. The eyes of Pavel Antonovich widen.
"Absolutely not!" Pavel exclaims, his forehead furrows. "How did you get such an idea?"
The interrogator places himself in front of Antonovich with his back to the desk, leaning on it.
"Let´s review the situation, shall we?" The interrogator says, sounding a bit calmer, but his eyes remain cold and fixed on the former commander. "You made a petition to allow one of the sisters to travel with the boy. Now, this wouldn't have been a problem if your superiors had refused, I am willing to admit that, but the fact is that you, and only you, took the initiative." Antonovich tries to protest, but the interrogator continues talking over him even louder. "Not even a full day has passed and the heir, who is a cripple, escapes, something he would not have managed to do without help from his sister."
"I had nothing to do with the relocation", Pavel protests, but the other man does not acknowledge what he said and continues talking before Pavel even finishes his sentence.
"Less than a week later we receive reliable evidence that a band of underground anarchists have kidnapped the boy and are now threatening to turn him over either foreigners or counterrevolutionaries operating under the shadows if we don't release all of their family members and fellow anarchists, the ones that were arrested after the revolts in July. Do you see where I am going here? Don't you think it is an amazing coincidence?"
"That's all you have?" Antonovich asks. "If anything this proves the ineptitude of the people who planned the transfer of the tsarevich, something that, again, I had little to do with."
"And yesterday, in the middle of the night, we captured an informer who was trying to obtain information concerning who has authority over the mansion where the three remaining Grand Duchesses are being detained. I don't think it is cynical to suggest someone is trying to work against the best interests of our government behind the scenes, and we have good reasons to suspect you didn't have the purest of intentions the moment you suggested to allow citizen Romanova to accompany her brother."
"All I wanted was for the removal of the boy from the house to go smoothly!" Pavel yells. "That is all! I have no clue of any conspiracy, and if you allow me to be sincere, comrade Anisimov, I think it is quite a stretch to think of any foreign intelligence working side by side with bloody anarchists! You are young, you're wrong, you are inexperienced with these matters, you are not as smart as you think you are, and you are lazy!"
Alexander Borisovich Anisimov´s first meets Pavel´s cheek for the first time. Antonovich takes his hands to his face, but recovers quickly. Alexander´s eyes widen profusely, he has never used violence before. He considers that maybe the old man is right, although he did wound his pride. He has no evidence connecting the boy´s kidnaping to the people trying to rescue the former grand duchesses, as he suspected was happening.
He has to keep searching, maybe interrogate that man they arrested recently again. The young man claims he doesn't know who he works for, who instructed him to get a job at the headquarters and walk into the offices in search for anything concerning the mysterious prisoners of the blue mansion, as the neighbors call it. He claims he is only doing it for money.
Alexander does admit it may be so, he knows the basics about how intelligence work operates, they pay informers who know little about who they are working for, that way the people behind the investigation can stay hidden. That way their entire plan won't crumble if they catch a single person working for them. But Alexander also knows there are British spies living in the city, German spies as well, he suspects the British because the Germans already think Moscow will eventually set the four women free for something in exchange.
It wouldn't make sense now for the Germans to risk the negotiations. And the Cheka has intercepted a telegram, they indeed have, and there is no doubt it comes from the English. They want to communicate with their extended network of spies, to inform the world that three daughters of the tsar, at least, are still alive. Alexander won´t let that happen, the best way to botch this plot of theirs is to stop their communication, he will find them somehow, and cut their cables.
The young Chekist will at least interrogate the informer again, maybe he remembers something about the person who recruited him, then they can arrest the people that look like that person until they find the indivudual and ask him about who he works for, then find that person and then the next one, until they get to the bottom of it.
Maybe this time, Alexander will be more willing to use force. There is always a first time, he thinks, as to Pavel Antonovich… well, he is a member of the party, so that gives him the benefit of the doubt. But the former commander will stay in prison until the entire Romanov affair is sorted out.
Olga.
I had a nightmare recently, probably had more throughout the night, but I don't remember them.
I am awake now with my eyes closed, longing for my sisters and anxious about my missing brother, but relieved about my present circumstances nonetheless.
It felt so good to finally take a bath and get to wear normal clothes yesterday. I hadn't done either of those things in days. I open my eyes in a comfortable bed, dressed in a comfortable nightgown, with a small glimmer of hope.
To my great delight and surprise, my still swollen eye can at least open up a bit now, I need to make sure I can still see with it. Yes. It was uncomfortable at first, but I can see with it just as clear as I can with the other. It must have been the ice in a piece of cloth that Dunia, the maid, gave me yesterday after taking a bath. Thank you God.
I stay in bed for a few minutes, enjoying the little positive sides of my desperate situation before I enter into a panic again once the subject of my brother and sisters comes up.
Yesterday, after I had explained to the agents my brother's situation, they had claimed it would be next to impossible to find him in a city as big as Moscow, especially if he hadn't been taken by the Bolsheviks. The superior officer James Wilson didn't even have the courtesy to say it would be next to impossible, he used the word "impossible", without adding anything to soften the blow. I appreciated that old tactless man way more than the others, at least he was honest. I had still begged them to try with pathetic sobbing pleas.
If I lose all hope my brother is will be found, I can at least focus my mind on grieving and accepting God's will. It would be better for me to accept it, it would be painful, but oh! So much easier! Way easier, and not as painful as having unfulfilled hopes for the rest of my life.
But this is not only about me, it is not fair for my brother that I stop looking for him, not when, no matter how impossible it is for us to meet again, it would still be even more impossible if I didn't try.
I asked them to tell the king about it, he would make them do something to find his nephew, I know he would. He may have not allowed us to come to England when our situation wasn't desperate, but it is different now. Papa was still his cousin, uncle George can't be completely heartless, he just can't. James Wilson´s expression had changed, becoming cold.
Some of the others had said that the agents in Moscow would probably be too busy with other missions; political or military espionage, the more "important" things. They didn't use that word, but I know what they meant.
Charles had interrupted them, saying they could at least ask the higher ranks to contact their people in Moscow to make sure an attempt was made to look for Alexei. Then, probably thinking I was becoming hysterical, he had told me not to worry about either my sisters or brother, that they would find a solution, and had asked Dunia to take me upstairs so I could take a bath, eat in my room, make myself feel comfortable, and rest.
As the other agents seemed to respect Charles´s opinion, I let myself put the search of my brother in their hands.
Now, laying in bed and having had more time to consider this entire situation, I think the agents are not taking, at least my brother´s situation, seriously enough. It is like the world stopped caring about him the moment papa abdicated, if he was still the tsesarevich and had been kidnapped everyone would be looking for him. They would have found him the morning after, maybe the same night he was taken.
Now my brother means nothing to them, cousin Cyril could take his place for all the English care, they just want to win the war and keep Russia as an ally after that happens. My parents idolized the English, my father was appalled when he saw how easily the British press turned against him when he abdicated. I understand now that Great Britain looks out for its own interests mainly, every nation does. There is no real brotherhood in alliances.
Alexei means the world to our family, every loved one means the world to their families, and that never helps any common man. We are like that poor young girl I saw in Kambarka, no one cares about her fate, not enough. Our only hope is that the king cares. I wished we lived in a world where everyone mattered enough.
I get out of bed and dress up with new clothes, normal clothes. The long skirt is light gray, unlike the dark one I left with. I find the new corset and shirt pretty, with its round collarbone and short sleeves. They gifted me a lovely pink sweater. Tatiana would love it, I wish she was here to I could gush about it with her, she always loved clothes, however simple. I am reminded of how much I miss her, I just want to talk to her now. They even gave me new boots. I can't complain about a lack of kindness.
I go down the stairs, where I find Charles and another agent having breakfast, Dunia asks me if I want to eat as well, I nod and thank her for her kindness.
"Good morning", Charles says when I sit, and he folds the newspaper he was reading in order to start eating.
"Good morning, did the others have breakfast already?"
"Only me and Erik live here", Charles explains, "the others live in different hotels and houses, just so we don´t draw too much attention."
"We received a letter earlier this morning", the other agent, probably Erik, states, he is a light blond.
"It is from Anastasia and Valeriy in Moscow", Charles elaborates.
"Are they doing all right?" I ask.
"They are fine, living with a couple that works in the hospital where Anastasia is nursing now", Charles assures. "The letter is from the 23rd of July, and it is numbered as the second, I am guessing the first one didn't arrive, they did well in sending several just in case."
Many letters we sent to our parents in Ekaterinburg while we were in Tobolsk also went missing. With the way things are in the country I am surprised any letters still reach their destination. But what if someone reads the missing letter and finds it suspicious?
"Does it contain any damning information?" I inquire.
"It just says that Charles should wait for a certain ´Ms. R.´" Erik responds. That is a code name Anastasia, Valeriy and me had chosen, they meant myself. "Is that you?" I nod.
"The letter also said that they haven't found any good places to see, which is suspicious considering we are in the middle of a war, not the best time to go on a pleasure trip", Charles continues. I almost cry. The arrival of the food stops me.
"It is in code", I explain before I start eating the eggs. Charles nods.
"That is not the only choice of phrasing that seemed strange, it is pretty obvious this letter is in code", Charles tells me. "They haven't found any good places, what does that mean?"
"It means they haven't found any clues for the whereabouts of my brother" I lament. Then I explain to them the code Anastasia, Valeriy and I had agreed upon. They would communicate they had found witnesses or leads by writing they had found "interesting plays to see in a theater".
"The letter is from three days ago", Charles says. "It would be faster to communicate through telegrams", then he put his hand on his chin. "Anastasia and Valeriy are not trained to communicate in code through telegrams, I fear for their safety if anyone were to figure out the meaning of those letters somehow". He turns towards Erik. "We have to make sure the people that search for Alexei in Moscow also get in contact with them, they were there when it happened and must have much more information". Erik nods, and we all continue eating.
I explain to Charles the secret code Valeriy, Anastasia and I agreed upon while we drink coffee, and Charles writes it down. As I drink the coffee I think of my sisters, and how much they would enjoy it.
"I was reprimanded today", Charles informs me. This is distressing to hear, he is the person I trust the most among these men. "Was it because you asked Sergei to take us to the Crimea?" I ask, he nods.
"Despite explaining to Wilson that I had received no orders to do the contrary and informing him about what had taken place", he complains to me.
"Did you tell him you didn't expect to find us walking free?"
"I did, it is the argument I used the most", he says. "But now I think I made a terrible mistake". I lower my gaze. "Maybe if I had been there…"
"You had no way of knowing", I interrupt. I have been through this, it does no good to think about what would have happened.
"Today we are revisiting the issue of your sisters when the agents return", Charles changes the subject. "You can stay to listen if you want to, and then we can decide where you want to go next."
"I don't want to go anywhere until I know for sure my sisters are safe. Is there anyway I can help?" I ask. He smiles at me.
"We will see."
I want to see my sisters as soon as possible, but I do not know if that will be possible, I want to do whatever will be best for their escape.
The men I saw yesterday do not talk about anything other than the red army's retreat and what they know about their forces when they arrive. This lasts for hours. I am stuck in a chair watching them not plan out the rescue of my sisters, it is incredibly distressing. We eat before they are even mentioned, but the men continue talking about the red army's retreat. They eventually bring up the subject after Charles communicates with Wilson in a series of stares and eyebrow raises, it takes a long time for him to get the message.
"Yes, Miss, don´t believe for one second we have forgotten", Wilson says. "We are simply having trouble planning where to hide you if the rescue operation is indeed successful, and then we have to make plans for your next location." I nod, but it sounds awful, it sounds as if they really have forgotten. I imagine me and my sisters ending up hiding somewhere inside a house in Perm, without hope of leaving anytime soon, not being able to go outside because there are people looking for us. At the mercy of a group of agents that may or may not abandon us if things get too hard.
"Well, not only that", Erik interrupts. "We are also having difficulties planning the rescue itself, we need someone inside the house to provide us with information on the routines of the guards."
"When they are changed, where they sleep, if any sleep there, who feeds them", another man adds. "Or depending on the method we use for the rescue, we would have to warn the Grand Duchesses about the shooting." Those words make me freeze.
"Wha-at, what do you imply?" I ask.
"Well, if it comes down to it, that is, if we suspect your sisters are in danger, and we don't have enough information to come up with a better, more subtle plan..." Erik responds, "we are going to have to use force to rescue the Grand Duchesses". That means people would die. I cross myself.
I have not considered the issue of the guards in a long time, part of me wants not to care, to let them face the consequences of keeping us locked up, but that is not what papa would have wanted. It is not evil that conquers evil.
More importantly, Galina´s grandson is there, she doesn't deserve that. Oleg probably doesn't deserve it either, he was kind the last time I saw him, who knows… and I don't know enough about the other guards, but we have had no quarrel with them, at least not yet. One of those four demons was a guard who acted no different from the others.
The possibility of any of them dying doesn't make me sentimental or scared anymore, like it would when my family was imprisoned, but together and unharmed. This feelings don't make me feel good about myself, they make me feel tainted, less closer to God. Disgusted with myself.
"How can we avoid a bloodbath?" I question the men.
"We are still gathering information about the people who have authority over that house", Charles explains. "With luck, we may be able to falsify a telegram ordering your sisters´ transfer, we just need to recruit some locals that are willing to perform the dangerous task of disguising themselves to escort your sisters out. No one would be harmed if everything goes according to plan, but we still need time." I really hope they manage to do that.
"It is just proving hard", Erik says. "Yesterday, one of our informers was arrested, and a few days before, commander Pavel was, which makes us suspect that they are already aware of some sort of conspiracy to liberate your sisters." My spirits either rise or fall everytime a new agent speaks.
"But worry not, they have no clue of our location or anything like that, and in case the safe idea doesn't work," Wilson explains. "We are going to need someone inside who can also come and go as she or he pleases, we need to communicate with the prisoners so that they are able to follow instructions in case the worst case scenario occurs."
"Well, we have already found her", Erik explains to me, "we are just having trouble getting our informers to convince her to talk to us".
"She appears to be scared of us", another agent confirms as he nods. We stay silent for a while.
I curse myself for how slowly my mind is working. There is only one woman living in the house, and she goes out all the time.
"You mean Galina?" I offer.
"If you refer to the old lady that works in the blue house and goes to the nearby market every Friday, then yes, that is who we are talking about", the same guard corroborates.
"I can convince her to help us!" I immediately offer. They accept. They usually wouldn´t let the informants know who they work for, but this is a special case.
They gave me a headscarf to cover my swollen eye, which could give me away if they ever suspected I was here. I cover the other side of my face as well as I can too, but the headscarf won´t help much anytime I see someone face to face.
Erik walks with me and leads me to the open marketplace, where I should find Galina in about half an hour. At 3 o'clock in the afternoon. She always comes on fridays.
Erik wishes me good luck and leaves to watch out for me from afar. He tells me he is originally from Denmark, or at least his mother is. An aesthetically pleasing man. I can't call any new man I meet handsome anymore, not even in my mind, without feeling repulsion.
I start exploring the place. I really don't know what I am going to say to Galina, part of me is ashamed of doing this, trying to convince an eighty year-old woman to do something so risky for the sake of four girls she has only known for a week. It is not fair for her. I have little time to think of the moral implications when I spot the old lady looking at the meat.
She has a big basket on her shoulder full with supplies for the kitchen. Poor dear, that must weight a lot. I approach her slowly.
"Good morning", I say to her while I cover my swollen eye. She almost drops the basket when she jumps.
"Olga! What are you doing here?" She exclaims loudly.
"Shh, shh", I try to calm her as I extend my arms. She frowns and opens her mouth, then she uses her free hand to cover her distressed expression.
"What happened to you?" She asks. I shake my head many times, maybe too fast, as my eyes fill with tears.
"Nothing", I respond as they roll down my face. I keep crying at the realization that this woman has seen my sisters everyday I have been away. "It is too long of a story to tell".
Galina tries to touch the side of my face with her hand to display compassion, but I flinch away. The the pity manifested in her gray eyes makes me burst into sobs.
She seems understanding and does not press the matter further. I try to breathe again.
"How are, my sisters?" I immediately ask between pauses to breathe when I have composed myself, at least enough to talk.
"They are in good health", she responds with a kind smile. "No one has harmed them child, do not worry." I nod, again, many times, way too fast.
"Morally? I mean, how are they feeling?" I continue my inquiry. Galina´s smile disappears.
"Missing their sister and brother, missing their parents. They cry everyday. Probably more than I see them cry, since they don´t like to appear too distraught in front of me, or anyone other than themselves. They always wipe their tears when they see me."
"Please tell me everything you know", I say, pressing her to continue. I miss them so much.
"They scream in the middle of the night, everynight at least one of them does, for their parents mostly, sometimes they just scream the word ´no´ over and over again, sometimes they just scream. They wake the few guards who remain in the lower rooms to sleep, some of them become angry and yell back to shut them up, but there is nothing they can do about it.
"They are also trying to put on a smile during the days, sometimes they succeed, especially Maria. She is such a sweet girl your sister, did you know she and I prepared an improvised birthday party for Oleg?" I chuckle in tears at, it sounds like something Maria would do. It is like getting a small piece of her.
"Tatiana is good at playing piano," Galina continues. "She does it almost daily nowadays, when she is crying it helps her relax, they also sing religious hymns after praying some days."
"Oh! Did they joke about missing a fourth voice and sounding terrible without it?" I ask.
"Well, yes!" Galina responds. "It is amazing how well you girls know each other, they make lots of witty comments about it". I smile, remembering the times in Tobolsk we were making those funny comments about Maria´s missing voice.
"And Anastasia…" Galina begins to say.
"How is she?" I ask, I am extremely worried about her.
"It seems she has found a friend", Galina says. "She plays a lot of games with one of the youngest guards whenever she is in the mood, they mostly run around the corridors and up and down the stairs, yelling and chasing each other, that is, when the new commander isn't there." I really hope it never comes down to the agents entering the house by force then.
"Galina…" I start to say, hesitantly, with a low voice. "I hate to ask you this, and I completely understand if you refuse, it is extremely dangerous, but I am now living with a group of British intelligence agents, and they need someone from the house to pass them information."
"Oh! So that it what it was!" She crosses herself, looking quite alarmed. "Oleg told me not to do it, he says it would be dangerous if I get caught". For a second I feel an irrational hatred for Oleg, then I urge myself to relax when I remember this is the woman who raised him. Of course he told her that. I am starting to feel like a monster, but I want my sisters to live, so I press on.
"It could save my sisters´ lives Galina", I tell her the truth, feeling guilty about doing it knowing she will probably accept now. "We don't trust the government to keep them alive for more than a few more months, at least that is what they say, they have evidence the Bolsheviks have already executed numerous people without trial." She puts her hands in her mouth, then she crosses herself again.
"That is horrifying!" She exclaims. "You poor girls, I have no other choice but to accept, are you sure I would be of use?"
This bothers me too much. I don't know whether the information she provides will be that useful, we have two plans already, and one of them doesn´t require that much information on the house itself, only on the people who have the authority to order my sisters´ transfer. But regardless of what plan the English decide to go for, what Galina is offering to do will put her at risk.
While we were in Ekaterinburg, we received letters from some allegedly loyal people who wanted to rescue us, they asked us about the interiors of the Ipatiev house, of its security. We answered back, I wrote the letter myself. Papa and mama were so anxious, they didn't want anyone to get hurt, but they had hope. T
hose "loyal people", however, didn't have a well thought out plan. They wanted us to be brought down from the window, for Alexei to be drugged so he would cause no trouble, for mama to actually use a rope or stairs to go down, I repeat, an actual high window! And for all of us to do all of that without any of the guards noticing; preposterous.
We decided to answer that we couldn´t be rescued unless it was against our will, without our cooperation.
Those "loyal people" never came.
I have wondered if the Bolsheviks got hold of the letters and that was the reason they killed my parents. Other times, I have wondered if there were loyal people out there at all, if those letters weren't forged by our jailers in order to have an excuse to murder my parents.
Either way, I completely understand, even now, why we didn't accept their offer, it was too risky, a bit ridiculous in fact, and we were not aware of the danger we were in. We even wrote back that our guards were taking good care of us. We genuinely cared about the safety of the men guarding us, especially my almost saintly father. How naive we were! But I know that it is right to care, no matter how I truly feel about it. It is what papa considered right. It is the Christian thing to do, or think, I don't know.
Now that I have seen firsthand what we really needed to be rescued from, I don't think the offer from those "loyal people" was ridiculous at all. Risky? Very. Likely to fail? More than to succeed. Likely to get some people hurt? Yes, it could have. But if I could go back in time I might have written to beg them to think of another way to rescue us, to keep trying, I may have written we would cooperate in some other way. I might have even convinced mama to agree with the plan to drug Alexei, with the plan to get out through the window. Mama might have gotten hurt, but she might still be alive. My poor mama… I get the urge to cry thinking about her.
I won't make the same mistake we did when we turned down that rescue offer, as flimsy as it was. Now that I know there are real people seemingly willing to help us, I am going to play a part in my sisters´ rescue, as small and insignificant as it might be.
I curiously remember the words the Jewish man in Kambarka said to my brother and I. At the time I considered them interesting, but a bit condescending. Now I think there was some truth to what he said.
Maybe we have been told there was a special and untouchable place for us in the world, mama certainly made us believe that sometimes. We felt that things would fix themselves, and that the ways of the world would change to give us satisfaction, even if we knew that was not the case. In the constrained circumstances we found ourselves in, there was not much we could do other than pray and hope, so I don't think a more pessimistic attitude would have helped, it would have actually made things worse; but it is not that way anymore, at least not for me.
I have to act. Things won´t fix themselves. The ways things are in the world right now won´t either, now for our sake.
I still believe God has a plan, but God works through us.
Maybe I am becoming a monster. Some of the guards might get hurt, and I am putting Galina at risk. But Galina is willing to do this, and my sisters are in danger, so not doing anything would be equally monstrous.
I won't let fear ruin the only chance we might have.
"Any information you may give will be extremely helpful", I answer. Please forgive me Lord.
English is not my first language, so making British characters sound British is a bit hard for me. I don't know which phrases or vocabulary to use. If you know more about this and recognize any type of expression in my writing coming from a British person that is more American than British, or even too modern for the setting, please let me know and give me the "correct" words a British person from that era would use, or at least a British person would use (I know there are different British accents depending on the region, so just tell me if I am using an expression that is American and give me an alternative as well if you can, please).
For OTMAA or the Russian characters is different, I honestly don't care about it because they are supposed to be talking Russian most of the time anyway, and it is only written in English because I don´t know Russian, so I can take the liberty of not thinking much about how American or even modern their expressions sound, at the end of the day those are not the words or phrases they are "really" using, only the "translation" so to speak, of what they are saying or thinking.
For these British characters though, there is no logical explanation as to why they would be using American expressions, because they ARE supposed to be speaking in English, just as I have written it, so it would be better to make them use English or other British expressions or manner of speech, something I am a bit ignorant about . Any help with that would be greatly appreciated.