“Of course,” Aunt Bogdana went on, “if your poor dear father does recover his health, this will become less of an issue for you, Jena.”
“Oh?” My attention was caught.
“My dear, we all accept that Tatiana will marry first. For all Teodor’s neglect of the upbringing suitable to young ladies, your elder sister has great natural charm, and her manners are at least acceptable. She will do well enough for herself, given the right introductions. As the second sister and somewhat less … As the second sister, it would be entirely appropriate for you to remain at home and look after your father. Teodor will never take another wife; he was devoted to Bianca. He’ll need a companion in his old age. That is one advantage of producing so many girls.”
I could feel Gogu’s outrage in every corner of his small form, even through the woolen fabric of my gown.
“I expect that one of us will stay at Piscul Dracului, married or unmarried,” I said, struggling to stay courteous. “We love the house, we love the forest, and we love Father. Of course we wouldn’t leave him all alone.” It was interesting that our aunt never raised one obvious possibility: that one of us should wed Cezar. Not that any of us would want to. My sisters disliked him and I—I was not sure I wanted to marry anyone at all. Not without love. And whatever I felt toward my cousin, it was not the kind of passion I had heard about in tales, the feeling that swept you off your feet and into a different world. It was foolish to expect that, of course. In choosing a husband, practical considerations almost always came before the inclinations of the heart. This was something Aunt Bogdana had explained many times before.
A certain expression had entered my aunt’s blue eyes, one I knew from experience meant she was planning something. “I’ll have a word with Nicolae on the party question,” she said. “It’s not yet too late in the season, if we move quickly. It is a long time since Vǎrful cu Negurǎ has seen a night of celebration.”
“There’s no need, Aunt Bogdana.” My heart sank at the thought of yet another complication in my busy existence.
“Believe me, Jena, there’s every need. What if the worst should occur? Nicolae is hardly in a position to support the five of you indefinitely. Of course, we must hope poor Teodor recovers from this terrible malady and that he returns to us by springtime. But, as good daughters, you are duty bound to prepare yourselves—”
Behind Aunt Bogdana, the door of the chamber opened a crack. I glanced up, surprised that Daniela had been so quick. Instead my eyes met Iulia’s, and I turned cold. She was standing just beyond the doorway, motioning frantically for me to come out. We had not expected the hunt back before dusk. My sister’s face was pinched and strange, her eyes dark with shock. She stayed out of view of both Paula and our aunt.
“Excuse me a moment,” I said, putting down my handiwork and going casually to the door.
The moment I stepped out, Iulia clutched violently at my arms. She was babbling something about the snow and an arrow. “The blood,” she kept saying. “So much blood.”
I drew her along the hallway, out of Aunt Bogdana’s earshot. “Take a deep breath, Iulia, and tell me slowly.” I was starting to hear noises from outside now, horses’ hooves, men calling out, doors slamming, running steps on gravel. “That’s it, good girl. Now tell me. What’s happened?” My heart had begun to race.
“The man couldn’t see—the light was funny in the woods, like dusk, almost.… It was the deer he was supposed to hit, but the crossbow bolt—it went straight into his chest, Jena! The blood, I’ve never seen so much blood.…” Iulia was stammering and shaking.
“Who?” I gripped her shoulders, my heart pounding. “Who’s been hurt, Iulia?”
“Uncle Nicolae,” she whispered. “Oh, Jena—Uncle Nicolae’s dead.”
A moment later the burly figure of Cezar appeared in the hallway, still in his outdoor woolens and his hunting boots, the front of his tunic soaking wet. And red; all red. I felt sick. Uncle Nicolae—kindly, smiling Uncle Nicolae—who only this morning had hugged us in welcome and made jokes as the hunt rode off.
“I must talk to Mother.” Cezar’s voice was cold and tight.
“Paula’s in with her,” I said, struggling to be calm. “You can’t walk in like that—you must change your clothing, at least.”
My cousin looked down at his blood-drenched garb. It was as if he hardly understood what he was seeing. “I must tell Mother,” he said blankly.
“Cezar,” I said, blinking back tears. “Wait, while someone finds you a clean shirt.”
“Oh.” Cezar seemed to shake himself, to force himself into the here and now. “A shirt …”
“I’ll ask someone to fetch one.” Iulia was making an effort to help, even as she wept.
“Tell them to hurry,” I said. Noises from the hall suggested they were bringing Uncle Nicolae in. Someone was crying.
“I’ll stay, if you want,” I offered. My hand was still on my cousin’s arm. He felt as tightly wound as a clock spring.
“No,” Cezar said, frowning at me as if he’d only just noticed I was there. “No, you must take your sisters home.” Then, after a pause during which he stared at the wall: “Thank you, Jena.”
We stood there in silence until a servant came with the shirt, which Cezar put on. The servant bore away the tunic. There was a trail of red droplets on the stone floor. I wondered if our uncle had bled to death in his son’s arms. The awfulness of it made it difficult to say anything. If this had been someone else, I would have put my arms around him and held him—but Cezar was not the sort of man folk embraced. I hugged Iulia instead, and she clung to me.
“Go now,” Cezar said, squaring his shoulders. Watching him, I saw a frightened eight-year-old about to give his parents the news that their elder son would not be coming home. “There’s nothing you can do here.”
He opened the door of Aunt Bogdana’s sewing room. A moment later Paula came scurrying out, workbasket over her arm, an expression of surprise on her face. The door closed. I gathered my sisters and led them away, muttering the terrible news to Paula as we went. Somewhere deep inside I was willing my aunt not to make a sound until we were out of the house. I put a hand in my pocket, feeling for Gogu. He was all scrunched up tight in the bottom corner, as closed in on himself as Cezar had been.
Uncle Nicolae was lying on a board. They had brought him into the hall and laid him across two benches. There was a blanket over his still form with a creeping bloodstain on it. His dog stood nearby, tail down, shivering. There were men everywhere—grooms, villagers, friends of Cezar’s who had come for the hunt—standing about, grim-faced and quiet. I just wanted to go. I wanted to be home, to be with Tati and Stela, to be able to lie on my bed and cry. I made myself stop beside Uncle Nicolae. Part of me was still refusing to believe we had lost him. He can’t be dead, he can’t. It must be a bad dream.…
I touched his ashen cheek with my finger. It was cold; cold as frost. This was no dream, but the worst sort of reality. I muttered a prayer; my sisters echoed the words. We had reached Amen when Aunt Bogdana’s scream tore through the house.
My stomach churned. A wave of dizziness passed through me. You’re fifteen—nearly grown-up, my inner voice reminded me. I took my sisters’ hands in mine. “Come on, then,” I said. “We’re going home.”
Dear Father, I wrote, by now Cezar’s messenger will have brought you the terrible news of Uncle Nicolae’s death. They held a pomanǎ seven days later. Florica and Petru came with us, as well as Ivan and his family. There were lots of Uncle Nicolae’s friends, and folk from all over the valley, including Judge Rinaldo and, of course, Father Sandu, who spoke very well. The winter has already begun to pinch, and many people are in need of warm clothing and other supplies. All of Uncle Nicolae’s things were given away. Aunt Bogdana wanted you to have his best embroidered waistcoat and his special writing materials; I have put them away for you. We have not seen Aunt since then, but Cezar has been at church. He told me his mother is prostrate with grief and wants
no visitors.
I paused, quill between my fingers. It was cold in Father’s workroom. Outside, snow lay everywhere: piled up in drifts around Piscul Dracului, frosting the trees with white, blanketing the many odd angles and planes of our roof. Icicles made delicate fringes around the eaves, and the ponds were frozen solid. It was almost Full Moon again—two months since Father had gone away—and we still hadn’t received a single message from him.
“I don’t even know if he got my first letter, Gogu,” I said out loud. “It’s hard to keep reassuring the others that he’s getting better when they know there hasn’t been any news.”
Gogu made no response. He’d not been himself since the terrible day of the hunting accident. Often his thoughts were a complete mystery to me.
“Come on, Gogu,” I said in exasperation, “say something.”
He turned his liquid eyes on me. Why not tell your father the truth?
“What am I supposed to tell him? That I can’t get any of the local men to come and work for us this winter? That the fences still aren’t fixed and we’ve started losing stock? I can’t worry Father with those things.”
Winters were always harsh in the mountains. All the same, Dorin could usually get men from the valley to come up and help us with our heavy work, for a reasonable payment. This year, when the men of the district were not busy keeping their cottages clear of snowdrifts, their hearths supplied with dry wood, and the river away from their doorsteps, they all seemed to be at Vǎrful cu Negurǎ, working for Cezar. Ivan had come up to give Petru a hand whenever he could, but the immediate work of the farm meant the bigger job of mending the fences had been put off too long. It must be completed before we suffered any more losses.
“I’m worried, Gogu,” I told my friend as I dipped the quill in the ink once more. “I thought I’d be able to manage better than this. I know Florica and Petru are working too hard, and it’s my job to get help for them, but I don’t seem to be able to do it. And I really don’t want to ask Cezar. He’ll just see it as an opportunity to remind me that girls shouldn’t trouble their pretty little heads with such weighty matters.”
Don’t bother yourself with him. Gogu had found an ink drop on the table and was dabbing it experimentally with a webbed foot.
“Stop it! You’re just making more mess for me to clean up, and I’m tired!” My tone was much too sharp for such a minor misdemeanor. I saw the frog flinch, and made myself take a deep breath. “I’m sorry,” I told him, reaching a finger to stroke the back of his neck. “I’m upset. It’s not just the farm, it’s Tati as well. She should be helping me, but she’s off in a dream half the time. I know she’s thinking about him—about Sorrow. It’s as if the moment she clapped eyes on him, she forgot every rule there is.”
On this topic, Gogu had nothing to contribute. I picked up the quill again.
We would love to know how you are keeping, Father, I wrote. Could you give Cezar’s messenger a brief note? I am not sure if you received my earlier letter; I sent it some time ago. Please be assured that we are all in excellent health and are coping well, though the weather is extremely cold. We’ve had word that the consignment for Sibiu was delivered safely and unloaded at the warehouse. Your agent there will arrange for the items to be dispatched to their purchasers, and he will hold the payments in his strongbox until your return. I have not spoken to Cezar yet about Salem bin Afazi’s goods. As I said, we have hardly seen him since the pomanǎ. Of this I was quite glad. I could not forget the image of our aunt bent over in her grief like an old woman, her hands lingering on each item of Uncle Nicolae’s clothing before she passed it to a ragged man, a skinny boy. I could still see Cezar’s stony face, which had seemed more furious than sorrowful.
As for Iulia, the shock of our uncle’s violent death had at first left her withdrawn and tearful. Then, just as suddenly, she had become more willful and demanding than ever before, complaining about everything from the cold weather to the endless diet of mămăligă to the fact that Tati wasn’t doing her share of the work. To my surprise I realized that on this last count, Iulia’s dissatisfaction was justified. I kept finding my elder sister gazing out of windows, or staring into space, or taking fifty times longer to perform a simple task than she should. Challenged over this, she gave vague answers: “I don’t know what you mean, Jena.” “Oh, was I meant to be cutting up vegetables?” I tried to ask her about Sorrow. I tried to explain that things were difficult, that I needed her help. She did not seem to hear me. She was drifting in a little world of her own, her lips curved in a secret smile, her eyes seeing something that was invisible to me.
I signed and sealed Father’s letter, wondering whether it was fair to ask Petru to take it over to Vǎrful cu Negurǎ. I didn’t want to go myself. I would never be able to walk in there again without seeing Uncle Nicolae’s blood, without hearing Aunt Bogdana’s scream.
Someone’s coming. Gogu made a leap in the general direction of my pocket. I managed to catch him and scoop him in as the door to the workroom opened and Paula appeared, looking apologetic. “Cezar’s here,” she said, and a moment later he was marching into the room, where he sat himself down opposite me at the small square table on which my writing materials were laid out. He was neatly dressed, all in black, and around his neck he wore an ornament that had belonged to Uncle Nicolae: a gold chain with a medallion in the shape of a hunting horn.
“Oh,” I said. Then: “Cezar, I wasn’t expecting you. Paula, will you fetch Tati, please?” Whether my cousin was here for business or for family matters, I knew I did not want to deal with him alone, not now that his father’s death had changed things so much. Besides, to do so would be considered unseemly under the rules of polite conduct that were so important to our aunt.
Paula fled. Cezar was looking at the sealed document on the table before me. I seized on a topic of conversation. “I was just writing to Father. I’m hoping you may have someone who can deliver it to Constanţa for me.”
“Of course, Jena.” He took it and slipped it inside his jacket. “You realize that it may not be possible for a while. The roads are unreliable at the best of times. And it looks like a bad winter—”
“Yes, I know.”
There was an awkward silence. I willed Tati to hurry up.
“How are you, Cezar?” I made myself ask. “How is Aunt Bogdana coping?”
His jaw tightened. His eyes took on a distant expression. “My mother is as you might expect. Women lack the resilience to deal with such losses and move forward.”
Such a statement could not be allowed to go unchallenged. “I can’t agree with you,” I said, twirling the quill pen in my fingers. “I’ve always believed women to have great strength of endurance. In times of war, for instance, it is they who bear the loss of their men and the disruption to their lives. It is they who keep their communities together. But I do understand how sad and shocked Aunt Bogdana must be.”
Cezar stared at me. I had no idea what he was thinking. “You, I should imagine, would be different from Mother in such circumstances,” he conceded.
If that’s meant to be a compliment, we’d prefer an insult. Gogu circled inside the pocket, his mood indignant.
“Have you had any word from Father since we last saw you? Anything at all from Constanţa?” I tried for an unconcerned, businesslike tone, though his last comment had struck me as quite odd.
“I’m afraid not, Jena. You must not distress yourself.” His hand crept out and laid itself over mine on the table.
I snatched my fingers away; something about his gesture felt entirely wrong. “I’m not distressed, Cezar,” I snapped. “I realize not much gets through in winter.” I made myself take a deep breath.
Cezar gave a small, knowing smile. That irritated me even more than his ill-advised gesture of comfort. I reminded myself that he had lost his father only a month ago, that he must still be grieving. If his behavior seemed a little out of place, that was probably why.
“It’s kind of you to pay us a
visit,” I said, trying to act as Aunt Bogdana might expect under the circumstances. “I’m hoping your mother may be able to receive visitors in return—”
A tap at the door—Paula again. “I can’t find Tati anywhere,” she said. “And there’s a man at the door, his clothes are all ragged, and he says he has no work, no food, and no money, and his wife and children are starving. Florica said to ask you if we can give him something.”
“Some food, of course,” I said, getting up and going to the shelf where our store of silver and copper coin for household expenses was kept in a locked box. There had been a steady stream of travelers to the door of Piscul Dracului since the start of winter, and it did not seem right to send them off without a coin or two in their pockets. The pinched features and tattered garb of these wayfarers worried me. For every man we saw, there would likely be a woman and a gaggle of children out in the woods, trying to survive on what they could get from one landowner’s door to the next. I wondered how many died between one grand house and another. The fields were thick with snow.
“You are overgenerous,” Cezar commented, eyeing the iron-bound box as I placed it on the table and turned the key. “A package of food, a kind word—even that is more than many of these folk deserve. They are wanderers because they don’t know the meaning of hard work, because they have squandered their opportunities. You shouldn’t waste your money—What is it, Jena? What’s wrong?”
I was gaping into the box. Last time I had opened it, to make a small payment to Ivan, it had been three-quarters full, copper well balanced with silver. Now the contents barely covered the bottom, and there were only five silver pieces left. Almost overnight, our winter funds had disappeared.
“Jena?”
I suppose I had gone pale. I sat down slowly, gripping the table for support, my mind desperately seeking explanations. A mistake, some kind of mistake … Someone had moved the money.… Someone had put the household coins in the business coffer in error.… No, I had checked the business funds myself only this morning.