CHAPTER NINE The path the two girls took down from the ridge was steep, and despite Nataly''s urging, her horse, Zirka, picked his way carefully until the trail finally levelled out. As they approached the beech grove, she pulled Zirka to an abrupt halt and whistled to Savruk. The dog immediately circled the sheep and brought them back to the denser woods, and when Natalya whistled the "hold" command, he crouched in front of the small herd, his eyes fixed on the leading dam. Now, so long as Savruk was there, the sheep wouldn''t move. "One of us should stay with them," Yuliya said, nervously eying the trail to the farm as if she expected the soldiers to come riding down it at any moment. Natalya jumped to the ground. "You stay. I''m going to warn Papa that the soldiers are coming!" As she started running through the trees, Yuliya also slid from the horse, hastily tying the animal to a small fir sapling.
"Wait! I''m coming with you!" she cried. When they reached the edge of the paddock separating the woods from the farm, she grabbed Natalya''s arm. "Remember, Papa said we should make sure there''s no one about before we come home!" Although Natalya wanted desperately to run forward, she reluctantly altered her course, creeping southward through the willow thicket along the eastern end of the field until she found a spot where they had a clear view of the farmyard. At first everything seemed so peaceful that had she not seen the soldiers from the bluff, Natalya might have thought nothing at all was wrong. Her father was perched on a ladder working on the roof, and they could hear the rat-tat-a-tat of his hammer as he fastened a shake in place. A few chickens roamed about the yard and she saw Catherine disappear into the barn with the basket she used for collecting eggs. Then suddenly the ground trembled and the calm was shattered by the thunder of galloping hooves as twelve mounted soldiers rounded the bend in the road and splashed through the muddy gateway. Pulling his horse up sharply in front of the porch, the officer shouted a series of commands, too rapid and distant for Natalya to understand.
Their father, having come down the ladder, marched towards the porch. He stood tall and straight, his hand resting on the butt of the axe strapped to his waist, and he showed no fear as he faced the officer and roared so loud that the girls could hear every word, "What is the meaning of this?" Ignoring him, the officer issued another sharp command and all of the men, except Bailiff Wojcik, dismounted. Fixing bayonets to their rifles, they jogged forward in groups of three, one group into the house, another to the granary and a third to the barn. The tenth soldier stayed with his commander. Only when his men were dispatched did the officer address Vasyl. Natalya could not hear what he said, but she saw the bailiff gesturing wildly, pointing first at her father and then at the house. Her heart almost stopped when the officer nodded to the soldier on the ground, who immediately pointed his rifle at her father. The commander and the bailiff dismounted and marched into the house, followed by Vasyl, with the guard''s bayonet poking at his back.
Natalya started forward, but her sister grabbed her arm and pulled her back. "They have guns!" she cried. "There''s nothing we can do!" Afraid that Yuliya''s hysteria would give them away, Natalya forced herself to stay put, but it seemed to take forever before the officer stomped back outside, clearly furious with the little man who followed him. "You waste my time, Bailiff!" he shouted. "A blanket on the wall is not a Russian symbol!" A soldier stepped from the house with a bulging sack that he set on the ground, while a second soldier came out with another sack, and a third carried a stack of blankets that Natalya recognized as ones her mother had woven to sell in the village. Behind them came Vasyl and the soldier with the bayonet. Zhanna followed, her hands clasped towards the commander. When they were all outside, the officer dismissed the soldier guarding Vasyl and mounted his horse once more.
While the bailiff struggled to do the same, the three men who had gone into the granary came out with several bulging sacks, which they proceeded to fasten to their mounts. Natalya watched helplessly, sick to her stomach, but not daring to move. If the soldiers discovered her and Yuliya, they might also discover the trail and follow it to the sheep. Suddenly, they heard a raucous squawking of chickens and a piercing shriek, and in the next instant a grinning, thickset soldier emerged from the barn with Catherine, kicking and screaming, imprisoned in his arms. Whipping out his axe, Vasyl ran forward, refusing to stop when the soldier who had been guarding him shouted, "Halt! Halt!" Yuliya tightened her grip on Natalya''s shoulders and forcing her to the ground, straddled her so the younger girl couldn''t move. "Let me go, Yuliya!" She tried to wriggle free and at the same time watch what was happening in the yard. As the soldier raised his gun, a shriek rose in her throat, but before it reached her lips Yuliya''s hand closed over her nose and mouth in a vice-like grip. Unable to breathe and with the meadow slowly spinning about her, she heard a shot ring out and saw her father fall.
As if in a dream she watched Catherine break free of her captor and run to her father, reaching him at the same time that their mother did. She saw them turn him over and her mother cradle his head in her lap. Then overwhelmed by blackness, Natalya went limp. Yuliya jerked her hand from her mouth, though she continued to pin her to the ground. "Stay still, Natalya!" she begged in a hysterical whisper. Gasping for air, Natalya realized that the squawking in the barn had stopped. She raised her head and saw the remaining two soldiers emerge with Nich bearing the pack saddle that was laden with more bulging sacks. At a sharp order from the officer, the men assembled near the porch where the pile of blankets and even more sacks were added to Nich''s load.
When all of the soldiers had mounted, two torches were set aflame, and the troop circled the yard, tossing one torch into the barn and the other onto the roof of the house. Then they galloped through the gate and disappeared the way they had come. The pounding of hooves gradually faded, the sound replaced by the crackle of burning wood, and Yuliya''s sobs as she finally released her sister and began running across the field, shouting, "Papa!" Natalya scrambled to her feet and ran forward, but midway across the farmyard she froze. Dreamlike, she watched her mother rising from the ground and heard her scream, "He''s dead! God have mercy on us! They have killed my husband!" Behind her flames were igniting the interior of the barn, but the torch that had been thrown onto the roof of the house had rolled off before causing any damage and was smouldering on the wet ground. The door opened and Leysa, with Pylp bundled in a blanket, peered anxiously out. With tentative steps, ready to flee back inside at the least provocation, she crossed the porch and sank down onto the top step, clutching her baby brother in her arms. Zhanna started to run toward her but halfway across the yard stopped and returned to her husband''s body where she sank to her knees, her clasped hands reaching imploringly to the grey skies. "Mother of Christ, I beg you, show some mercy!" Yuliya dropped to the ground beside her mother and Catherine and grabbed Vasyl''s hand.
"Papa!" she sobbed. "Get up, Papa!" Forcing herself to move closer, Natalya stared down at her father whose sightless gaze was fixed skyward, his face contorted in everlasting fury. He wouldn''t want them to be staring down at him, she thought. He would want them to do something "We have to stop the fire," she said woodenly. "We need some buckets . and sacks." Her sisters didn''t move and her mother continued to beg her saints for mercy. "It''s Papa''s barn, Mama!" Natalya pleaded.
"We can''t let it burn!" Zhanna stopped praying. The crackle of burning wood grew louder and as some of the smoke pouring from the barn washed over her, she got to her feet. "Yuliya, go to the house," she said in a voice that grew more commanding with each word, "Get a blanket to cover your father." When Yuliya didn''t move but continued to wail over her dead father, Zhanna grabbed her daughter''s shoulder and pulled her to her feet. "Go to the house," she repeated in a voice as cold as ice, "and get a blanket to cover your father. Then you must help carry water to the fire." By the time her mother finished speaking Natalya was already halfway to the well in the middle of the farmyard. Alongside an empty bucket was a small container of water.
Her hands shaking, she poured the water into the shaft to prime it and began pumping madly, filling the bucket just as Zhanna arrived with two more. Dropping one, Zhanna grabbed the full bucket, thrust the other empty one beneath the spout and ran toward the barn, passing Catherine who was running with an empty bucket in each hand. After hastily trading them for two full ones, she hurried after her mother. Natalya pumped frantically, barely looking up when Leysa appeared with Pylyp in a large basket. Setting the basket do.