Chapter Twelve
Linka had checked that their absence and the use of the eco-copter was ok with Gaia the day before so when she woke Wheeler early the following morning they were able to head out as soon as they were ready, albeit with the Fire Planeteer in a semi-comatose state.
The only place to land seemed to be at the edge of a narrow forest that almost completely surrounded the town. Fortunately the wood was light and airy and Linka enjoyed pointing out the various species of bird they encountered on the way through. Wheeler had managed to sleep on the way in so he was happy to listen as well.
"Are you sure we're on the right side of town?" The American asked as they emerged into a somewhat dilapidated street.
"Da." Linka pursed her lips, "I do not know why they would let it get like this."
Wheeler nodded and re-adjusted his back pack to the other shoulder so that he could lay a protective arm around her waist. "Like the football ground."
She looked up at him in confusion and he realised that with everything that had happened he'd forgotten to mention it, and began to explain while they looked for the hotel Susichka had suggested.
"That is just wrong!" Linka complained, beginning to list all the ways in which they could address it.
"You're preaching to the choir, Babe." he interrupted.
Linka frowned up at him, "Did you explain this to Mischka?"
"Nope. I was still trying to impress him at that point." he shrugged, "Guess I was wasting my time."
"Nyet, he approved of you and when he sees Svetlana as she really is he will be glad you stuck by us." She told him positively.
Wheeler hugged her a little closer, "Don't get your hopes up too high Babe. We'll probably find out some bad stuff about her but that doesn't mean he'll believe it, or that it will make a difference if he does."
She stopped in front of a shabby looking building whose sign proclaimed it was a hotel, "We are here."
"Classy." Wheeler snorted, "Let's hope the price is as cheap as it looks."
"Da," She paused, stopping him from entering, "I do know that this is not necessarily the answer to the 'Slutlana Problem' but Mischka is not stupid, he will figure it out eventually, the question is whether it will be too late."
Pulling her fully into his arms, the American gave her a loving kiss, lingering but not deepening it. "It's never too late when you have people who care about you."
She leant into him, and made him laugh by saying, "See I knew you were a softy."
"Come on." He released her to take her hand and led her into the hotel but when he spoke to the receptionist she looked at him blankly and then crossed her arms.
Guessing the problem and feeling a little embarrassed, Linka spoke to the woman in Russian and she immediately thawed a little… but only a little. The middle aged and somewhat frumpy lady kept throwing darkling glances at the two of them, mostly at Wheeler, but she went through the motions of signing them in and explaining that she had someone come in to cook breakfast but that they'd have to go somewhere else for dinner.
When they finally made it to their room, up three flights of stairs and along a creaking corridor, they were actually pleasantly surprised. It was light, and though the furniture was showing signs of wear it was all clean and well maintained.
"It's actually nicer than our apartment building back home." Wheeler commented. "We should run away to cheap motels more often."
"Do not… you know why she thought we were here, da?" she blushed.
He laughed, "Yep her face definitely broke the language barrier. Do you mind very badly?"
"It is not as if we are having an affair, we are a couple, what we do is our business." Linka shook her head, and began pulling the covers back off the double bed, "I am sorry, I am going to have to check the sheets. I know I am being fussy and you probably think it is paranoia or OCD…"
"Nope, actually I was thinking you probably shouldn't look too closely if it's our only option." He pulled a face and checked out the room's second door, "It has a bathroom… well a toilet and shower but I was expecting a walk down the drafty hall."
"And we are good here, I am impressed." She re-made the bed and then sat on it, "It seems quite comfortable too."
"Oh yeah?" Wheeler grinned making her laugh, "You know, maybe you'd better make that call before we forget why we came here."
Linka's eyes gleamed with mischief and her lips pursed into a saucy smile but she picked up the phone receiver anyway and retrieving her letter, dialled the number Susi had sent her. After a couple of minutes she put it down again. "No answer."
Wheeler had flopped into a chair by the window, looking out at the street below while he waited, but now he turned back towards her. "Maybe we should just go to her house?"
She shook her head, "There is no address on the letter."
The Fire Planeteer shrugged, "So what do you want to do?"
"Look for somewhere to have dinner?" The Russian suggested, "I will try her again when we get back."
The receptionist directed them to a small family run restaurant a few streets away from the hotel. It was still day light however and really too early for dinner, so they took their time, looking in shop windows, not that there was much to be seen. Several businesses had been boarded up and there were, as Wheeler put it, 'shady characters lurking in the shadows'.
"There are nicer areas here… I am worried for Susichka that she asked us to meet her in this part of town." Linka fretted.
"Do you think it's a set up?" Wheeler asked, knowing she wouldn't like the suggestion but needing her to confront the possibility.
She shook her head, "I do not think so… I cannot think why it would be."
He hugged her closer, "Ok."
Linka smiled up at him, grateful for his support. They turned a corner and she halted outside a dingy looking building with tables inside. "This is it." She said the name of the restaurant in her native language and then translated it as 'Home Cooking'."
Reading the menu that was posted outside she frowned, knowing that whilst Wheeler loved his food, he wasn't overly fond of experimenting, "As I suspected, it is not a place for tourists... do you trust me?"
"I don't have much choice do I?" he laughed and then wrapped his arms around her from behind, kissing her neck and making her shiver as his cold nose tickled her skin. "Of course I trust you."
She chuckled in response and took his hand, leading him inside. The early hour meant that they practically had the place to themselves but they chose a quiet corner anyway and ordered some soft drinks while Linka read the menu more carefully.
There was a wooden barrier behind Linka, which actually marked the way to the cloakroom where they'd left their heavy winter coats, and the toilets, but it gave them a certain amount of privacy, although Wheeler could still see the bar and the main entrance.
Their waitress was taking a lot of notice of Wheeler as she waited for their drinks at the bar but for once he had no interest in flirting with anyone but Linka and he hoped it wouldn't lead to an argument. He was still unconsciously watching her however and so when she suddenly looked at the door in alarm and disappeared into the backroom, forgetting their drinks, he turned curious eyes that way.
Two men entered, they were tall and heavyset and their clothes spoke of a kind of rough prosperity. Wheeler leant back out of their line of vision and said in a low voice to his girlfriend, "Don't look round, but we might have trouble."
"Oh?" she raised her eyes to his but before she could say any more an older gentlemen bustled out of the back carrying an envelope and offered it to one of the men with a few quiet words.
They nodded and left.
"Protection racket." Wheeler commented in disgust.
"Well then I am glad that he paid, at least for tonight." She coloured a little at her companion's evident surprise, "I like being a Planeteer Jason, but we cannot solve every problem, and I always feel like we have to try."
He took her hand, "I know what you mean. That's not what we're here for and I have no problems staying out of it."
She smiled, "I wish we were just here for dinner though… that it was just about us."
"Right now it is." He leant over the table and kissed her lips, pleased when she kissed him back. Sitting back in his seat but retaining her hand he said, "And it's not like we're here on Planeteer business, it's about family, which is still 'us'."
Linka nodded, "You are being very understanding."
"I'm not being anything except your boyfriend," he told her, "but in case you hadn't figured it out, I like being that."
The waitress finally returned carrying their drinks but this time it was Linka who noticed her attempts to catch the American's eye. She said something in Russian and the girl blushed and fumbled with her notepad, ready to take their order.
"What did you say to her?" Wheeler asked when she'd gone, amused by the exchange.
"I told her what we wanted for dinner." Linka replied, sipping her drink while her eyes sparkled with amusement.
"Uh huh." He grinned at her and reclaimed her hand.
Linka shrugged, "I like being your girlfriend too, even if it means having to see off the competition now and then."
He laughed but said, "There is no competition Babe, you do know that right?"
"Da." She smiled, "And I hope you know that too, no more getting jealous."
"I'll do my best." He grinned, "But you might have to remind me. Tell you what, next time a guy can't take his eyes off you, come over and give me a cuddle or something… or course that does mean you'll never be able to let go, but I'm good with that."
"Durak," She giggled, but decided she'd do exactly what he asked if she actually noticed another guy's interest, though normally it was Wheeler's reaction that brought it to her attention.
Their conversation turned to food when their first course was brought out, although Linka insisted Wheeler try it before she told him what it was and they spent a couple of happy hours not thinking about anything but each other.
The shadows were lengthening outside when the Planeteers were brought their desserts but neither noticed. Linka thanked their waitress for the mixed selection of delicacies including squares of Ptichye Moloko cake and Pastila but continued her story without trying any.
"Susichka insisted that she was not afraid of the haunted castle ride but I was always more timid and could not bring myself to go in," she told her companion.
Wheeler chuckled around the cake he was eating and swallowed so he could ask, "How old were you?"
"Eleven, we had not long started senior school. Anyway, Mischka is just like me but he was a teenage boy and not going to admit it so finally he agreed to go in with her and when they came out they were both shaking and clinging to each other's hand." She laughed at the memory, "The fair returned a couple of years ago while I was home visiting and I went by myself, I have no idea what scared them, the tunnel of love ride we took was far more frightening."
"Things look different when you're a kid." He laughed along with her, "I'd never have let Mischka forget it if I'd been there though."
Linka chuckled, "I did not and neither did Papa, at least until… that was the last birthday I got to spend with him."
The Fire Planeteer reached out and took her hand, "He'd be proud of you Babe."
She nodded, "He would have approved of you, you know, and he would have done something about Svetlana by now."
Pleased by her assertion he nonetheless tried to change the topic before it became too sad, "So you and Susi went back a few years huh? I thought when you told me about how she wouldn't keep in touch that maybe you hadn't known her that long."
"We played together before we even started school, I was devastated when she moved away but by then Papa was gone… she would not have come to the fun fair with us that day if it was not for my Papa," she took a sip of her drink before explaining, "She had got a bad report, or grade or something… I do not remember exactly what but I know I came home crying because Susichka had been told that she could not go to the fair and I did not want to go without her. Papa called her parents and explained that it was my birthday and they relented."
"Grounded for one bad grade? That's harsh." Wheeler tried another of the little squares and found it to his liking. "You better try one of these before I finish them."
She laughed and did so, agreeing that they were delicious. "Do you… do you have any good memories from your childhood?"
Linka had said it so tentatively that her boyfriend laughed, "Yeah… course I do, they just don't involve my Dad." He shrugged. "My grandad had this old piano he used to play and when Mom would take me round there he'd try to teach me."
"You play the piano?" Linka asked, surprised, "You have never said!"
He laughed again, "Because I don't, I sucked at it, that's why I took up the guitar. But he taught me to read music and to sing along… and Gram too, she could really sing when she was younger. It was fun, you know?"
Linka nodded and he continued, "Of course we had to hide it from my Dad, some of my earliest memories are of Mom telling me what not to say in front of him. I'm amazed he never got on my case about the guitar, but then I didn't actually play it when he was around and since it was a present from Grandad he didn't dare hock it, he relied on them too much for when things got really tight."
"I am sorry." She squeezed his hand and he returned the pressure.
"Don't be, I didn't tell you to make you feel bad," He shrugged, "It's not the sort of thing I usually talk about at all."
Smiling, the lovely blond snagged the last sweet square away from his reaching fingers and popped it in her mouth, making him laugh at her. "I am glad you can talk to me."
"So am I." he linked both their hands together.
They sat like that for a few moments before finally agreeing it was time to return to the hotel. Wheeler paid while Linka excused herself to visit the facilities and after waiting for him to do the same they pulled on their winter coats and headed back out into the night.
To be continued…