Katya stopped to wipe her hand across her brow as she worked in the garden. There were rumors that the French had entered Russia a few days earlier but all was quiet here in the protection of the Novodevichy Convent. She gazed across the fields at the towers of Novodevichy, admiring the way that the sun played on the gold crosses of the domes and bell tower. She had lived all her sixteen years in the shadow of Novodevichy, but familiarity did not bring about indifference to the beauty before her. The convent, with its collection of churches, bell tower, and other buildings was the most beautiful place that she knew. And sometimes, in the holy sacredness, she believed she heard God speaking to her.

As she bent back to the weeding, a curious sound filled the air, a whistling sound that stopped abruptly as she heard a thud nearby and felt the ground shake at an impact.

Turning around quickly, she saw a man lying on the ground some distance away, crumpled and still. "Papa! Mama!" she cried as she rushed toward him. "Come quickly!"

Reaching the man, who was lying on his side, she reached out a hesitant hand to his shoulder and pulled him over to his back, gasping as his face was revealed. She had never seen such a beautiful man! She touched his chest and felt a steady rise and fall, but his eyes remained closed and as she examined him more closely she saw blood trickling through his hair above his right ear. From his clothing, he looked like a sea-faring man from another land.

"Katya!" her father cried, falling to his knees beside her. "Are you all right? Who is this man?"

"I'm fine, Papa," she assured him quickly. "I don't know who he is or where he came from. I just found him here. He's hurt, he has a wound on his head."

Her father, who was gentle for such a large man, carefully examined the man's head. He tapped his cheek. "Sir? Sir, can you hear me?" As the man remained motionless and still, he said, "Well, whoever he is, we can't just leave him here. I'll bring him into the house and your Mama can doctor him. Run ahead and tell her to get a pallet ready."

Katya hurried to do as directed as her father, with some effort, pulled the man onto his shoulder to carry him. "Mama!" she called to the woman who was hurrying toward them. "There's a hurt man here. Papa says get a pallet ready."

Katya and her mother ran into the house. There was only one crude mattress and frame in the house, where her mother and father slept. Katya slept on a pallet on the floor near the fireplace. She quickly gathered some straw and heaped it up in front of the fireplace, covering it with a rough blanket. As Katya's father brought the man in and carefully lowered him down, the man groaned but did not wake. Katya's mother gathered some cloths and a basin of water and carefully cleaned his head wound, then looked over the rest of his body, stopping to pry open his right hand.

Leaning back, she announced to her husband and Katya, "He has a long straight cut, as if from the edge of a blade, but it is not deep. However, there is quite a lump on his head as if he took a hard blow. He does not seem to have any other injuries. I wonder where he came from. He is strangely dressed. And he was holding this." She held out a golden object that looked like it might be some kind of heavy timepiece. "There is not much else we can do but wait for him to wake. I will watch him while I bake. Katya, you must get back to the crops."

Reluctantly, Katya looked away from the man's face. "Yes, Mama," she said obediently and headed back outside, with a last look over her shoulder.

Sonya, Katya's mother, examined the object she had found in the man's hand. It looked as if it might open, but she decided it was not her place to pry into the man's personal life at this point. If he did not wake, then she and her husband would see if there was anything inside that would identify him. Placing the object on the table, she went back to the baking that had been interrupted by the man's arrival.

As she worked through the afternoon at the week's bread baking, she checked on the man several times, but he was still and unmoving. After she had finished the bread, she worked on preparing an evening meal for her family. Her husband, Mikhail, and Katya would be hungry after working all day on their small farm. Mikhail and Katya returned to the house as the daylight faded and washed for their meal.

As they ate a meal of soup, bread and cheese, Katya kept sneaking glances toward the man. "He hasn't woken at all?" she asked Sonya.

"No," Sonya said. "If he does not wake by the morning, I am thinking we should send for the doctor. Mikhail, what do you think?"

"A doctor will be expensive," Mikhail mused. "I do not know if we should spend our small savings on a stranger."

"Papa!" Katya exclaimed. "How can you say such a thing? We should do whatever is needful to help him! It is our Christian duty," she concluded piously.

Sonya and Mikhail exchanged an amused glance. "I don't suppose his handsomeness has anything to do with your desire to help him," Sonya said, smiling. Katya blushed.

After dinner, she knelt beside him and stroked his hair from his face. At her touch, the man stirred slightly and his eyes opened. They were a heavenly shade of blue. "Where am I?" the man murmured. "Who are you?" He blinked as if trying to clear his sight. "What happened?"

"Mama!" Katya cried out. "He's waking up!"

Sonya hurried over and knelt down beside the man. "You're safe here," she said reassuringly. "I am Sonya and this is my daughter Katya. What is your name?"

The man said, "My name is - my name is -" he broke off and put a hand to his head. His gaze moved between Katya and Sonya in increasing panic. "I don't know! I don't know who I am!"