"Dmitri!" Katya called, shading her eyes against the bright summer sun and looking across the field. "Where are you?"

She whirled around at a chuckle behind her. "I'm right here, no need to yell," the tall man said. Katya smiled at her friend, the man they called Dmitri. When she had suggested the name, he had shrugged and said, "It doesn't matter what you call me," with a shadow of grief in his eyes. After two months, he still had no memories of his past. But he dealt with the uncertainty and pain of his missing life with hard work. And sometimes he was able to forget long enough to laugh and enjoy the life he had now.

"I'm about to take the vegetables to the convent. Do you want to come with me? Papa said it would save him the trip if you don't mind."

"Sure," Dmitri said. He seemed to find pleasure in their visits to the convent, as who would not? It was so beautiful there.

As they fell into step together to collect their delivery items, Katya said, "I heard that the French are very near now. What do you think will happen? Will we be safe?"

"I don't know, Katya. War is an unpredictable thing. But your father and I have been making some plans. If worst comes to worst, we'll make sure you and Sonya are safe."

Katya smiled. She always felt safe with Dmitri. At first she had been dazzled by his handsome face and beautiful eyes, but she had quickly learned that what made him beautiful was not just his looks but his heart. Even when he felt lost and surely afraid with no memory of his family or past life, he was always looking to the needs of others. She and her family had come to depend on him for so much.

After collecting the cart and pushing it to the convent, they entered by the north gate and made their way to the storage buildings where Sister Irina met them. "Good day, Katya and Dmitri!" she said, smiling. "You can put the vegetables in the bins as usual."

As Dmitri began unloading, Katya and Sister Irina exchanged the gossip they had heard about the approach of the French army. "The convent has stood for 300 years," Sister Irina said firmly. "God will not allow it to fall now."

"I believe that," Katya said solemnly. "I dreamed last night that a darkness covered Moscow, but Novodevichy stood in light. I believe it was a vision from God that Novodevichy will survive no matter what."

"Ah, child," Sister Irina said, taking her hand. "I truly believe that you are one of God's chosen ones."

After Dmitri finished, Katya asked if they could go into the cathedral for a moment. She loved seeing the paintings and icons and statues that adorned the beautiful building. After receiving permission, she and Dmitri entered the coolness of the sanctuary and gazed around them.

"I love it here," Katya whispered. "It feels like such a holy place. Do you feel it, Dmitri?"

"Yeah," Dmitri said. "I can almost remember being in places like this before, having this feeling of searching for something, something that I could help with…" His voice trailed off and Katya saw a yearning on his face for something that he couldn't remember.

"Come on," she said gently, taking his arm. "Let's go home."

vVvVv

That evening, as the family ate together, they heard a distant sound rolling across the sky. "Is it going to rain, Papa?" Katya said. "I didn't see any signs of rain today."

Dmitri and Mikhail exchanged troubled glances. While Katya and Sonya were mostly at home, they had made it a point of going into town regularly to speak with others and to check the news. Everyone agreed that the French were on their way to Moscow and would likely arrive within the week. Russian troops had been spotted nearby and were converging on the city. In Moscow, most of the residents were packing to leave and abandoning the city.

After the meal, while Katya and Sonya busied themselves with clearing the table and cleaning up, the men sat outside, talking in low voices. "I moved more supplies into the bunker today," Dmitri said. "I think we could fairly comfortably survive there for several weeks." He and Mikhail had, over the last weeks, dug out a bunker of sorts in the forest outside their small farm. The plan was for the family to take shelter there at the first sign of trouble.

"Good, good," Mikhail said. "I'll go and tell Sonya and Katya that we should be ready to move there at a moment's notice."

As he went inside the house to speak to his wife and daughter, Dimitri leaned on a fence and looked out over the peaceful scene. He could not say where or when, but he had the feeling he had seen war. The distant sound of cannon fire almost sparked a memory within him. Sighing, he took the heavy golden device that hung from his belt and opened it. Inside was a bewildering set of dials surrounding a small globe and a baffling red light. Dmitri had spent many hours staring at the device, wondering at its purpose and how it might be connected to his life, but always ended up frustrated and discouraged.

Of late, he had been having strange dreams. He would be in different places, with people dressed in clothes from different points of time in history. He would be searching for something or someone, becoming more frantic as time went by, but he never knew who or what he was looking for. He would wake up from the dreams drenched in sweat, with his heart racing, and last night he had woken with a voice echoing in his head, a voice crying out in fear. It had sounded like a young voice and it still echoed in Dmitri's mind.

The door opened behind him and Katya stepped outside. Crossing to stand beside him, she reached out to take his hand. "Papa told us about what the two of you have been doing," she said. "Do you really think the French will take Moscow?"

"It sounds like it is inevitable," Dmitri said gently. "But don't worry, you'll be safe."

"But what about Novodevichy?" Katya said anxiously. "Will it be safe?"

"I wish I could promise you that, but I can't." Dmitri stared at the soaring bell tower and the beautiful churches and buildings inside the walled convent. He too wanted such beauty to survive but, although he couldn't say how he knew, he did know that war was no respecter of beauty or historical worth.

"I would do anything to protect it," Katya said fiercely.

Dmitri smiled at the petite girl beside him. With her long brown hair and innocent brown eyes, she looked like a child. But the determination in her eyes was not that of a child, but of a young woman. He squeezed her hand as they gazed at the convent together.

vVvVv

Dmitri and Mikhail crouched behind a wall and cautiously peered over it. The scene before them was nothing that they could have imagined a few weeks earlier. Soldiers filled the streets and looted the abandoned shops and homes. Napoleon himself occupied the Kremlin. Moscow was a city under occupation.

The men had hoped to gather more supplies, but the scene before them was too dangerous. "Let's try another part of the city," Dmitri said and the two men headed in another direction, being careful to stay out of sight.

Several hours later, they had gathered a bag of food and other supplies from any source they could find. As they headed back toward the outskirts of the city, Dmitri said, "Can we go by Novodevichy and see how things stand there? I promised Katya I'd try."

"I think she worries more about the convent than herself," Mikhail said, shaking his head. "We'll see if it looks safe."

As they made their way toward the convent, Dmitri felt in his pocket for the bag of marbles he had picked up during their scavenging. They were nothing special, just some clay marbles, but Dmitri had felt compelled to pick them up. He wondered if it was related to the young voice that continued to haunt his dreams, but try as he might, he could not bring any memories to his mind.

Reaching the convent, they entered by an unguarded gate. As they crouched behind the cathedral, Dmitri saw a nun passing by that he recognized. "Sister Irina!" he called softly.

The nun paused and saw Dmitri waving. Making sure no one was watching, she quickly joined the two men behind the cathedral.

"Are you all right?" Dmitri asked urgently. "Have any of you been harmed by the French? We heard that they had housed their wounded here."

Sister Irina smiled tiredly. "We are all safe," she assured him. "Napoleon has given orders that we are not to be harmed as long as we care for his men and cause no trouble for him. The men are generally well-behaved although," she added sadly," there has been some damage inside the cathedral and some of the other buildings."

"Is there anything we can do for you, Sister?" Mikhail asked, clasping the nun's hand.

"Just take care of yourselves, and entreat God for safety for all of us and for Novodevichy," Sister Irina said. "Are Katya and your wife safe?"

"They are," Mikhail said. "We are all in hiding."

"Good, that is best at this time. Tell Katya I miss her and remember her in my prayers." As the nun hurried away, Mikhail and Dmitri headed back out the gate and toward the forest.