chased by soldiers. It was her father!
He ran directly toward her, surely he could see her hiding ahead, behind the tree, then she saw him stop and turn toward the soldiers.
He shouted and taunted them as they slowed to engage him. «Ya ne boyus!» he screamed as they pulled their swords and came closer to him.
Maria watched in horror as one of the soldiers impaled her father in the abdomen. Her father grunted then fell to the ground. He kneeled forward, holding his hands over the wound as blood ran from his body.
«Idi! Idi» he shouted as his body collapsed on the street.
Then there was silence. It was her father’s last effort to help her get away.
Maria was horrified by seeing her father killed; she couldn’t move, she felt terrified. It was like someone had bound every part of her body and no matter what she did, she was trapped, frozen in her place. She felt guilt, shame, and fear binding her without mercy.
She struggled to breathe as the terror took her breath. She stayed behind the tree’s generous silhouette as the soldiers kept looking along the path toward her.
Then, she realized, the soldiers knew where she lived. Her father was the town beekeeper everyone knew their farm, and soon the soldiers would arrive to take their land and her mother.
The immobilizing fear left her at that moment, she burst into action, running harder than she had ever tried. She had to get to her mother before the Tatars!
She ran like a rabbit darting down the streets where moments ago she and her father has just ridden quietly on their way to the church. Finally, she reached the edge of town and saw the light in the window of their farm. The distance home never seemed so far. She consumed each step toward the door, running harder and thinking what to say when she arrived. Finally, she felt the clasp of the door to their home in her hand.
She pushed through the door still running and panting, «Mama, we have to go,… now!» Maria said as she began to grab the packed items her mother had assembled for their trip the next day. Her mother slid down from the top of the oven, dressed in bed clothes.
«Masha, what’s happened?» Lena said, «Where is your father?»
Maria couldn’t bear to say the words, «They tried to take me, Mama, it’s all my fault, and Papa protected me so I could get away… they’re coming! …we have to go!» Maria said as her voice cracked from the horror she was describing.
Lena, put her hands on Maria’s shoulders to get her to slow down, «Masha, where is your father?» she asked, fearing the answer.
«They killed him!» Maria said as she collapsed into her mother’s arms crying.
The two of them held each other sobbing, terrified, and lost. Lena now understood the look on her neighbor’s faces when their husbands had been killed. How no words could ever comfort such a loss.
«Why?» Lena cried, «Why my Alex?»
Maria felt remorse overwhelm her body and soul. If she had just stayed in the cart, if she had just listened to her father, he would be alive now.
The dogs that lived on the farm began to bark as soldiers approached the farm house.
«We have to go!» Maria insisted as she carried as much as she could hold and opened the back door. Lena followed in shock, quietly behind Maria’s lead as she tried to understand what had happened. They walked through the rows of the garden and bee hives to conceal their escape.
The air had grown colder outside as Maria suddenly remembered her mother’s coat was still inside. She looked at her mother, following her in bare feet and only a nightgown on as they stood in the damp soil of the garden.
«Your coat, your shoes!» Maria exclaimed, as her mother looked at the ground unaware of anything but the loss of her husband.
Lena looked up at Maria, and as their eyes met, she spoke in a tone Maria had never heard. It terrified her to hear her Mother talk this way. «I won’t need them,» her mother announced. «Let them come.»
Maria started back toward the house to get her mother’s things, but Lena grabbed her arm and stopped her. Maria looked and saw that her mother had no intention of escaping with her.
«Maria, go and find Dima, he can get you out of town. Go to my sister in Neva, tell her what has happened.» Lena said in a disturbingly calm voice.
«What about you?!» Maria asked in shock.
«Two of us could never outrun them, but you can if you go… now!» Lena said as she reached and took a thick support stick from the nearby row of green beans.
The sound of soldiers kicking in the front door echoed in the air. Their voices shouted as they quickly shuffled into the house looking for Maria.
«Go now! I’ll join you later!» Lena said as she walked back toward the house, stopping in the middle of the bee hives.
Maria, set the bag of their belongings down, preparing to fight with her mother. She reached for an equally sized stick, but her Mother turned and stopped her. «No! You run!» Lena said.
Masha was reluctant but obeyed her mother’s wishes, she grabbed the bag and ran toward the nearby woods, hiding in the shadows. She watched as her mother walked into the midst of the bee hives and waited for the soldiers to emerge. Suddenly the back door flew open as the soldiers shuffled out, with swords drawn. They saw Lena standing calmly and began to charge toward her.
Maria’s hands squeezed the bark of the tree she stood behind, fearing her mother would be killed just as her father. Then she heard her mother, shouting in anguish as she struck the bee hives, breaking them open, sending thousands of angry bees into the air just as the soldiers got close to her mother. Lena lowered herself into a small ball on the ground as the soldiers stepped into the swarms. She knew very well how to remain calm in the presence of bees and had baited the soldiers toward her.
Suddenly the sound of terror filled the air as the soldiers were defenseless against the bee stings that easily penetrated their clothing and armor. Their bare hands and faces began to swell from venomous punctures until they could no longer hold a sword or see anything around them. They only knew to back away and try to escape the endless assault of the bee’s wrath.
Lena was spared the wrath of the bees although she was stung a few times, she kept still and waited for the soldier’s retreat. The clever farmer’s wife had bought her daughter an escape, but she knew Maria would not go without her. She looked toward the woods, suspecting Maria was there watching, then ran in the opposite direction, leading the remaining soldiers away from Maria.
Maria watched until her mother disappeared with soldiers chasing behind her. She continued with their plan to meet and made her way along the edge of the nearby woods until she arrived at the river. She knew this place well as she often played here as a child. She was undetected by the soldiers as it was quite dark that night and she could make her way easily on the familiar path leading to the dock where her cousin Dmitri worked.
Hours passed as she walked in the cold night air, her mind was a blur of everything in her world changing in an instant. The sun would come up soon, and she knew she had to keep hidden for fear of being caught. Her arms soon exhausted from carrying the heavy bag. She tied a belt around her waist and put as much as would fit inside the top of her dress to keep warm and free her arms from carrying. She reluctantly left behind things that would not fit in her dress but kept the illuminated the scroll, so dear to her mother, as she knew this would have to remain in her possession. She slipped it carefully inside her dress and continued on her way along the river.
She arrived at the ship dock just before sunrise. She knew guards would be at the dock and slowly stepped along the outer wall of the dock, to remain undetected from their surveillance of the main street. Her eyes searched the piers for the ship where her cousin worked. She couldn’t remember the name of it, but knew it was a cargo transport with a wide deck and yellow trim