"You've done what?"
Rivka looked across the table at an astonished and very angry Nikolai Koulikov.
"I said, I've volunteered to help out at the field hospital - that's where I've been all day, as if it's any of your business." She was surprised at her own calmness, which was more than could be said for Nikolai.
She had finally got home half an hour ago to find a frantic Nikolai pacing the street outside the cellar, the big sniper having come home to find no Rivka and the cellar locked. He had searched the surrounding buildings as darkness fell, and he was on the point of going to fetch Vassili to help him search for her, sure he would find her dead somewhere, when he had seen Rivka making her way wearily up the street.
She had spent the next few minutes wrapped in his arms, the big man so relieved he was almost incoherent with joy. But the joy soon turned to anger when she explained what she had been doing.
Nikolai stared at her, uncomprehending.
"What the hell possessed you to do a thing like that? God knows, Rivka, you could have been killed!"
Rivka arched an eyebrow at him.
"No, Niko, I was perfectly safe - well, as safe as anyone can be here. And I did it to give myself something to do, to try and take my mind off the fact that you might end up dead one of these days."
Nikolai snorted.
"But Rivka, that's just plain silly! You have plenty to do here, to keep you occupied - you'll wear yourself out, traipsing down there at all hours. And goodness knows what you might pick up down there! Don't you know these bloody hospitals are full of disease?" Nikolai shook his head in bewilderment. The woman was mad - she could get herself hurt … even die! Nikolai shuddered at the thought. No, she couldn't carry on with this foolishness. "Please, Rivka, tell them tomorrow you can't go back, that's all. I won't have you putting yourself at risk - "
Now Rivka was beginning to get angry.
"I will do no such thing, Nikolai Koulikov! I will not tell them! I like it, Nikolai … I like being able to help out, and God knows they need the help! Those poor boys, Niko … so many of them, and no one to care for them! I will not give it up, and I don't care what you say - you're not my husband, Nikolai Koulikov, and even if you were I would take not one bit of notice of you, not in this matter! This is nothing but stupid male pride, I'm sure, so you can just keep quiet!"
Nikolai blinked in astonishment at the vehemence in her voice, and he saw the characteristic tilt of her chin in defiance. He knew then there would be no reasoning with her - she had made her mind up, and that was that. He sighed and threw his hands up in exasperation.
"Rivka Velonina, you are a stubborn, prideful woman and I have no idea what I'm going to do with you, I really don't." He looked into her beautiful dark eyes and saw the humorous twitch at the corner of her mouth. He gave in with an explosive sigh, knowing he couldn't stay angry with her for long. "All right, all right! You win! I'm not happy about it, but as you seem to think the place will grind to a halt without you and you'll do whatever you want anyway, there's no point in me saying otherwise … but there's one thing I will insist on, my lady - I'll meet you there at night and walk home with you. I won't have you walking home in the dark by yourself, Rivka, so don't even think you can win an argument about that one, d'you hear?"
Rivka concealed a smile.
"Yes Niko."
"And you promise me you'll wait until I get there if you finish early?" He glared at her.
"Yes, Niko, I promise." Rivka could be very meek and mild when she wanted to be.
Nikolai crossed his arms, sure his decision on the matter wouldn't now be questioned.
"Good. That's sorted then."
Rivka giggled.
Nikolai frowned.
"What's so funny?"
"You, my Niko - you're very funny when you're angry, did you know that?" Rivka stood up and moved around the table, standing behind Nikolai and putting her arms around his neck, kissing his soft curls. "It'll be fine, Nikolai, I promise. I just needed to be occupied, and where better than in a hospital? I saw things today that made me realise I had done the right thing - the staff are exhausted, working under difficult conditions with limited equipment - I feel good about myself for the first time in a very long time, Nikolai. And that's all thanks to you."
Nikolai kissed her hand and smiled, surprised.
"Me? What did I do?"
"You've given me confidence in myself again, made me realise I have a lot to give. You, my sweet, are a treasure."
Now Nikolai had to laugh.
"A treasure? A rough and ready soldier like me? Hardly, my lady …"
Rivka hugged him.
"Yes, my Niko, a treasure. Don't argue. Now, I think we should have some supper, don't you? We've both had a hard day I think, and I also want an early night - I have to go to work in the morning."
Nikolai pondered out loud.
"Hmmm. An early night, you say? Well, seeing as you're a working woman now, I suppose I can't say no." He stood up and touched Rivka's cheek. "Righto, Missus - let's get some supper, and I'll light the fire. And then … and then, my lady Rivka, I'm going to take you to bed …"
Rivka's reply was lost in a flurry of passionate kisses.
*********************
Rivka arose early the next morning, intent on doing her chores before she set off, but discovered Nikolai had beaten her to it. He had made tea and fetched water, and his only comment was that if he lived with a woman who worked then he would take on more of a share of the chores. He had the stove hot and the brazier stoked, and Rivka for once got up to warmth and a cup of tea.
After breakfast they walked down to the field hospital, Rivka delighting in seeing the appreciative gaze of the other nurses as they saw her arrive with the big, brawny soldier, and they were even more appreciative when he gathered her to him and gave her a deep, longing kiss right in front of them all as they arrived for their shift.
Then Nikolai reluctantly let her go and winked at his Rivka.
"I'll see you later, my lady. Remember - you promised to wait for me."
Rivka, still blushing furiously, gave him a peck on the lips.
"I will, Niko. You be careful, and come home to me safe and sound, do you hear?"
Nikolai grinned.
"I will, Missus, I promise."
Turning to go, he looked at the delighted nurses and gave them a cheeky grin. Then he was off down the rutted street towards Army Headquarters, where Vassili Zaitsev and a subdued Natalya Raskolnikova were waiting.
*******************
Rivka Velonina discovered she enjoyed her work, despite the horrors she saw.
As the day wore on, she realised that Oleg Chernyenko and his team of exhausted young doctors and dedicated nurses were fighting a losing battle against the tide of wounded flooding into the hospital from various parts of the city and beyond.
So she did what she could, feeling woefully inadequate but determined to do her best, and Oleg soon decided he had done the right thing in accepting her offer of help.
Rivka never balked at whatever she was told to do. She cleaned up vomit and washed filthy, vermin-ridden bodies, dressed amputated limbs and festering wounds. She changed urine-soaked sheets without a murmur, and talked to dying young soldiers with warmth and humour, calming their fears and soothing their pain. Twice that day she sat beside a battered, beaten soldier as he slipped away and she never turned a hair, and they died peacefully and without fear because Rivka held their hands. Then she wept, and carried on with her work.
It was hard. Very hard, and she had one or two moments through the day when she thought she couldn't do the job, but she persisted. It didn't get easier, but she quickly learned that the only thing she could do was work through it. And by the end of the day she felt different … she felt fulfilled. She had helped, and it made her feel good, although she had not understood how difficult it would be. But she persisted, and it took her mind off Nikolai's danger-fraught job. Before she knew it, it was dark outside.
"Rivka?"
She turned to see Anna Svenskaya, one of the young nurses. The staff had taken Rivka very much to heart in such a short time, and she had begun to relax in their presence.
"Yes?"
"Your Major's here. He's waiting outside for you." Anna smiled shyly. "He's very big, isn't he?"
Rivka was amused by the idea of Nikolai being 'her' Major.
"Yes, he certainly is. Can you tell him I'll be with him in a moment? I want to finish dressing this wound. "
Now it was Anna's turn to blush. She was twenty-one and had come to Stalingrad only weeks before - it had been a shock to the girl, but she was learning how to cope with the danger and noise. But as for speaking to men … she was terribly tongue-tied, having come from a little village in Siberia and had never had to deal with speaking to strangers. She nodded and headed off out of the door into the hall, where a nervous Nikolai waited. He didn't like these places at the best of times, but if Rivka wanted to work in this hell-hole, then he would deal with it.
"Major? Major Koulikov?"
Nikolai turned to see Anna Svenskaya looking up at him shyly.
"Yes, girl, that's me. I'm looking for - "
"Rivka, yes, she said you would be here."
Anna smiled up at this big bear of a man with the gentle blue eyes.
"She'll be a few minutes yet, so she was wondering if you wouldn't mind waiting. I'm tea-girl for the day, so would you like a mug of tea while you wait?" She saw Nikolai's hesitation. "I make it at this time anyway, so the girls can have a hot drink before leaving for their billets. It's no trouble, really …"
Nikolai studied this little slip of a girl who worked in such dreadful conditions, and saw the youthful sparkle in the grey eyes. He smiled at her, thinking how sad it was that such a sweet little thing had to cope with the horrors she saw every day.
"As long as it's no problem, lass. I don't want to put you out - "
Anna touched his arm and then blushed at her forwardness. He seemed so easy to talk to.
"It's no trouble, Major. I'll fetch you a mug and you can sit here if you like."
As she disappeared along the corridor, Nikolai lowered his tired frame onto the bench Anna has indicated and stretched out long legs. He relaxed and began to take in this place that cared for so many wounded and dying men. Within minutes Anna brought him a mug of hot, strong tea and he cupped it in both hands, warming his fingers and sipping it slowly.
He could see Rivka through the doorway opposite, the room crowded with battered beds with equally battered occupants, sitting beside a lad of about eighteen, both legs gone at the thigh. She was dressing one of the stumps and alternately soothing him with soft words and teasing him that the girls all loved a wounded hero, and Nikolai's heart lurched at the gentleness in her. He had been on the receiving end of her tenderness and care, and he knew how much that meant to him. He had been wrong - Rivka should be here, and the soldiers she tended needed her badly.
For a moment Rivka's eyes strayed to the doorway and saw Nikolai sitting watching
her, his mug of tea clutched in both hands, looking tired and ready for his
supper. But the smi
le
she gave him set his world alight. He smiled back, and she knew then he was
happy for her, his blue gaze shining with pride.
Fifteen minutes later, Rivka had finished up for the day and walked back from Oleg's office to where Nikolai sat dozing on the bench. She stood for a moment and watched him, his eyes closed and arms crossed, propped against the wall with his forage cap down over one eye. She smiled.
Look at him - that man could sleep on a razor blade, I don't know how he does it. But look how vulnerable he seems …
Leaning down, she kissed him on the end of his nose.
"Niko … Niko, love … wake up …"
Blue eyes snapped open.
"Rivka?" Nikolai blinked out of his doze and stretched, feeling joints crack. "Um … sorry. Must've drifted off there …"
"You, my lad, are just about out on your feet. Come on. It's time we went home and had some supper, don't you think?"
Nikolai grinned at her, standing up and lifting his rifle.
"Sounds good to me, Missus." He offered her his arm. "Righto - let's go home."
As Rivka linked her arm in his, she heard him chuckle, and looked up into amused azure eyes.
"What's so funny?"
Nikolai looked down at his lady.
"Me. Listen to me. I never thought I'd ever hear myself say that. 'Let's go home'. For the first time in my life I have a home to go to. It feels good, Rivka … it feels right."
Rivka squeezed his arm, and together they left the hospital, setting off home to warmth and a hot supper.
*****************
The days merged into weeks, and November drifted into a desperately cold and very wintry December. It became obvious that Stalingrad would not be won by Christmas - Paulus' besieged army had dug in deep into the cellars and underground holes and crannies of the centre of the city, and were not giving in, despite dreadful conditions. The Germans were starving. But they fought back, and Nikolai spent his days with Vassili and Natalya hunting through the beleaguered city and picking off officers if they could - officers were difficult to replace and their loss undermined morale.
Natalya Raskolnikova never spoke of Rivka again. She did her job quietly and efficiently, although Vassili could sense the smouldering resentment coming from the young woman towards Nikolai. If the big sniper noticed, he never mentioned it. But she also stopped pursuing men. It was obvious Nikolai's words had struck home, and she now went to the bomb shelter at night and sat reading the many propaganda pamphlets that lay about, or a grubby newspaper that was passed around from someone's parcel from home. Natalya Raskolnikova was a sadder, but wiser person.
Rivka carried on with her work. Some nights Nikolai almost had to carry her home she was so tired, and she would clutch his arm and hang on, nearly asleep on her feet. He would sit her down and give her hot tea, and then he would make supper and take her to bed, where she curled around his big, comforting body and fell asleep almost immediately.
At other times she would cry herself to sleep if her day had been hard. Sometimes it could be downright horrific, and Nikolai wondered how she did it - but she coped, with Nikolai's help, and he would soothe away her tears and hold her until she slept. The hospital staff soon became used to seeing Nikolai's big, broad frame sprawled on a bench, sound asleep, as Rivka finished her work. The nurses became very fond of him - he charmed them and was always polite and cheerful, even though they could see the exhaustion on his face sometimes, and he would help if he could - more than once he helped carry some dreadfully wounded soldier into the hospital, his strength always there when needed.
But Nikolai's scavenging brought him the greatest pleasure. He continued his rummaging in bombed-out houses, and brought home odds and ends to refurbish their home. He asked Rivka about the chair he had seen in the fire-wrecked store, and she had told him not to be so silly - if he wanted the thing he was just to bring it home. It was his home too, and he could furnish it any way he wished. A thoroughly delighted Nikolai not only brought home his chair, but also a small sofa he found under a heap of rubble. It took Rivka most of her day off to clean it up, but when she had finished she was thrilled with it.
Nikolai's chair was a huge, burgundy Victorian monstrosity with bulbous legs and a deep seat, and he loved it. He would sit sprawled in its ungainly depths at night, mug of tea in hand and gaze sleepily into the glowing coals of the brazier, comfortable and warm. Rivka would curl up on the sofa, either sewing or reading a book, and the pair of them were content.
At night they would share their passion. Rivka learned how to bring Nikolai great pleasure, and she delighted in seeing him shudder and cry out as she loved him to completion, and more than once he fell asleep cradled between her thighs and soothed by her voice as he lay, still buried deep within her welcoming body. Rivka would lie holding him, the weight of his body a joy to her, and listen to his steady, relaxed breathing as he slumbered.
But night-time was also the time for talking. Sometimes they would lie, replete from their loving, and talk of many things. Nikolai saw Rivka's eyes sparkle as she described her village and the people she knew as a child, many of them long dead, and heard her laugh with the pleasure of the memories. He saw her blossom. Rivka became a girl again in Nikolai's arms, and she teased him and flirted with him, and he would pull her into his arms and shower her with kisses. In return she would ease the pain of memory for him, kiss his scars and soothe him with her touch until he slept.
But never once did they discuss their love. It was too fragile a thing in this terrible time, and would not bear recognition. Nikolai often watched her sleep and told himself it was fleeting … how could she love him? She cared for him a great deal, he knew … but love? How could he dare hope she loved him? As always, the little voice of doubt niggled in his mind, telling him their love couldn't be possible.
Nah, he thought. She's meant for a better man than a silly big bugger like you, Nikolai Koulikov. One day, you idiot, she'll find a man to love her and that she can love back. Because you're not going to make it through this war … as sure as eggs is eggs, you'll probably meet your end in a ditch somewhere, lying there with your guts blown out and nobody will give a damn. But right now … right now, make her live again … love her while you can. Love her as long and as much as you're able, make her as happy as possible … you will never get the chance again because it won't last … you'll see, you fool … you'll leave and then you will die, and she'll have to look elsewhere …
And Rivka would see his pain and kiss his dear face, tracing the outline of his moustache with tender kisses, and she would murmur soft endearments, all the while never guessing at the cause of his heartache. She thought he knew how much she adored him, but she did not say it for fear of making his hurt worse. She thought Nikolai worried about leaving her, as leave he would one day, and she did not wish to cause him distress.
So they lived in ignorance of each other's love, and did not dare to face the truth of it.
**********************
The end of the year drew to a close, and the battle did not abate.
Nikolai and Rivka kept up their punishing schedules, Nikolai freezing in the ruined city, fingers stiff with cold and joints aching from hours of trying to keep hidden. Rivka carried on nursing terribly maimed human beings in an ill-equipped hospital hopelessly overwhelmed by the death and destruction around it.
But they survived. It was hard most of the time, but they made do with what they had and treasured their life together. As in all relationships conducted in such circumstances, they learned to cope.
On the night of December 16th, the Volga finally froze over. The night sky turned an arctic blue, and the terrible grinding of the ice floes that had disturbed Rivka as she worked in the hospital finally stopped. Everything was rimed with frost. Telegraph lines, tanks, tarpaulins … everything lay under a rigid sheet of ice. Boots rang on frozen mud like metal. But finally supplies began to get through over the frozen river, and two days later Nikolai brought home a bar of soap, chocolate and coffee. As a special treat for himself he had managed to get a small ration of tobacco. That night, to Rivka's amusement, he contentedly smoked his meerschaum pipe - the chocolate she put by for a special occasion.
Just before Christmas there was a blizzard. The following morning Nikolai had to dig snow away from the trapdoor, and it took him an hour to defrost the pump before he could get enough water to sustain them both through the day.
He dropped Rivka off at the hospital, and meeting up with Vassili and Natalya, headed off into the barren waste of ruins that surrounded the Red October factory, where the starving German army had turned the main office building into a fortress.
They reached the edge of the factory grounds by mid-morning, listening to the pounding of the howitzer that had arrived over the frozen river just for the purpose of destroying the buildings of the old works. But that wasn't what Vassili and Nikolai were after - they weremore interested in the pockets of German soldiers wedged into the various broken buildings surrounding the main offices.
Vassili led the way as they worked through the frozen rubble, skirting the
main buildings and edging their way through masses of
tangled
barbed wire wrapped around anti-tank pillars ironically set there by Russian
troops before the German assault on the city. A wall ran around an open courtyard,
half a metre thick and two metres high, still upright despite the terrible pounding
from Stukas and now the Russian howitzer as it tried to blast the enemy from
their lair.
Following the line of the wall Nikolai and Natalya skulked after Vassili, the young soldier wending his way through angled girders and into a factory building originally intended for storage. Two stories high, the building was still standing albeit somewhat battered, and they managed to scramble up a partially-destroyed staircase and along a corridor until they found an abandoned office overlooking one of the German outposts on the other side of the courtyard.
Settling down and setting his rifle through a broken window, Nikolai pulled his thick gloves from his hands and sighted in, wincing as his skin stuck to the freezing metal of the Zeiss scope.
"I'm going to have no bloody skin left on my fingers at this rate!"
Vassili heard the soft curse and grinned as he sighted in his own rifle, aiming for a window in the German-occupied building opposite.
"Maybe I should tell Rivka you crawl about all day without your gloves on." Vassili couldn't resist needling the big sniper.
Nikolai scowled.
"You do that, boy, and I'll kick your ungrateful little arse all the way to Vladivostok and back - do you hear me? Rivka's already convinced I'm going to lose all my extremities to frostbite as it is! You know how she fusses …"
"Well, I know there's one extremity in particular she's worried about - " Vassili raised an eyebrow at his friend.
Nikolai grinned. Rivka certainly had fussing down to a fine art, and frostbite was her latest concern. After supper each night she checked Nikolai's hands and feet for any sign of blackening, and without fail gave him a lecture on how to keep them warm and active. Nikolai would sit quietly and submit to her attentions, secretly delighted that she cared enough to fuss over him. Then she would kiss him thoroughly and make him sit in his big chair and rest. Her fussing had a serious side to it - frost was killing wounded soldiers in their hundreds, and Rivka had to watch as they died, skin blackened and corrupted by gangrene.
"I can assure you, young Vassili Zaitsev, that particular extremity is well-cared for, thank you very much, and if you so much as mention it to Rivka she'll turn you into a plate of borscht - "
"Line-man. Over there to your left, working over to the end of the wall." Natalya's voice broke through the banter and suddenly life became deadly serious.
Blowing on his fingers to get the numb cold out of them, Vassili followed the line-man through his scope. The German soldier scurried through the rubble, as always the communication line unravelling from the reel on his back, and Vassili zeroed in on the bobbing helmet.
"Wait!" Natalya's voice hissed in the sudden silence. "Behind him … away over to the left. Two officers. I'm not sure, but there may be a door just behind them."
"Any anti-tank or MG42s?" Vassili wasn't about to take his eye off the line-man until he was certain there was more chance of a shot at an officer.
The two men waited as Natalya scoped out the area. She frowned.
"Not that I can see. No sign of tarps or netting. Maybe it's too cold for 'em." She returned to the officers now standing talking to another figure that had emerged from the door behind them, all three bundled in warm greatcoats and heavy hats and gloves. Natalya grinned. "Bloody hell! It's a Colonel! We've got a bloody Colonel!"
Nikolai's eyebrow raised in surprise. He shifted the Moisin-Nagant over to the left and adjusted his scope, and true enough, he could see a short, squat figure wearing the insignia of a Colonel on his epaulettes.
"Well, my girl, a Colonel will do just nicely." He smiled in approval at Natalya, but she never acknowledged his words. Nikolai sighed.
Ah well. Perhaps she'll come to her senses one of these days, he thought. Still, at least she's behaving herself and not causing trouble among the men like she used to …
"Are you ready?" Vassili was scoped in on the Wehrmacht Colonel, the man oblivious to his fate as he stood and talked to his subordinates on this bright, freezing sunny winter day.
"Mm-hm. I'll take the two lackeys, lad, if you'll take the big-wig."
Vassili settled down and readied himself for the shot.
"Ready when you are, Nikolai."
Nikolai adjusted his scope a little more, and aimed at the nearer of the two officers. For long seconds there was silence as both snipers waited for the optimum moment to fire … and then the first shot rang out.
First one, then both of the officers collapsed bonelessly, Nikolai working the bolt action on his rifle smoothly and efficiently, and to his right Vassili fired the single, fatal shot that sent a welter of blood from the colonel's cap and sent him slamming against the wall of the building, a huge smear of red spattering the old bricks.
The whole thing took less than five seconds.
Chaos erupted. There were shouts of alarm and rifle barrels appeared at windows, a few haphazard shots slamming against the walls, but none came near the three Russians. Other voices yelled at the soldiers to stop firing, and there was a flurry of activity - and what looked like the end of an old pipe appeared from under a piece of tin.
Nikolai's eyes widened.
"Oh … shit!!! Go!!! Let's get out of here!!"
Natalya was confused for a moment.
"What? What is it - "
But no-one had the time to answer as the 'pipe' belched smoke and flame and something boomed into the side of the building.
The whole exterior side of the room exploded inwards. The three soldiers were showered with rubble and bits of brick, but they managed to haul themselves out of the remains of the room and pelted down the corridor to the ruined stairs.
But they never made it. The German soldiers wielding the 88mm Panzerschreck had found their mark and blew the wall out over the stairs, collapsing what was left of their escape route.
Nikolai looked around desperately, trying to figure a way out - if he didn't, they were finished.
"Back!! Let's go back! We have to find a window over the wall!"
Vassili caught the drift of what Nikolai was saying and dashed along the corridor, going from room to deserted room, Nikolai and a now panic-stricken Natalya following on behind with the gear.
"Here!!! Found it! Come on Nikolai … let's get our arses out of here before we get blown to bits!"
Vassili waved them into a room with a blown-out window, and Nikolai leaned over the sill. It was a drop of about two metres, he thought, but if they could get down onto the wall they could jump the remaining two metres and disappear into the ruined buildings beyond, where the Germans would never find them. There was only one problem - as they stood on the wall they were sitting ducks for any Fritz bastard able to take a pot-shot at them and there was nothing they could do about it.
He took a deep breath. At least on this side of the building they were safe from the anti-tank gun that was busy blowing holes in the building further down the corridor.
"All right. It's our only chance, so let's get on with it. Vassili, I'll lower you and Natalya down and then I'll follow you." He saw Vassili open his mouth to protest, but he cut him off short. "No lad, no time to argue. I'm the strongest and the tallest - I'll manage the drop on my own, don't you worry. Now then - let's get going. Rivka will have my hide if I'm late for supper." Nikolai gave them both what he hoped was a reassuring grin.
"All right." Vassili dropped his gear and readied himself by climbing
over the sill. Nikolai caught him by the wrist and held tightly as he lowered
the slightly-built young sniper down onto the wall below, Vassili teetering
for a moment. Then he righted himself and crouched down, jumping from the wall
onto the frozen ground. He turned and caught the gear that Nikolai threw down
to him.
"Right, girl - you next." Nikolai indicated to Natalya, urging her
to climb over the sill.
But she didn't move. Nikolai suddenly realised she was terrified.
"I … I can't … I'll fall …"
He smiled.
"No, Natalya Raskolnikova - I won't let you. It's perfectly safe."
Her eyes widened in terror.
"But you'll drop me, I know it! You'll let me fall after what I said about your woman …"
So that was it. Nikolai shook his head.
"No, Natalya - I won't. I don't have time to argue with you, so you'll just have to trust me, won't you? Come on, woman - let's get out of here." He held out his hand.
Shaking with fear, Natalya took it and allowed Nikolai to lower her down onto the wall. She balanced lightly for a moment or two, and then she jumped, Vassili catching her as she dropped to the ground. Within moments Nikolai landed beside them, his height allowing him to lower himself safely from the window.
It was not a moment too soon.
Realising that their prey had moved to the rear of the building, the German artillerymen had shifted position and taken a spot where they could see the wall and the wire-tangled courtyard. The side of the building blew out as the anti-tank gun fired another round into the room they had just vacated, and the three snipers decided to run for it.
They almost made it. Scrambling towards the safety of the warehouses that lay beside the factory, the Panzerschreck dropped another bomb right behind them.
The blast deafened them, and Nikolai was blown off his feet as rubble rained down about him. He felt a body beside him and instinctively grabbed at the heavy quilted jacket, hauling the slight frame into his grasp and shielding it from the flying pieces of brick and glass. His back took the brunt of it, and a thought meandered through his brain that Rivka was going to give him hell because he would carry the bruises for a month, he was sure.
As the debris slowed, he raised his head to see a rather squashed Vassili Zaitsev huddled in his grasp.
"You all right, boy?"
Vassili nodded wordlessly, shaken.
"Where's Natalya?" Nikolai coughed, trying to clear the dust from his lungs.
Vassili blinked.
"She was right behind me a moment ago. I don't know - "
It was then the screams began.
Nikolai and Vassili levered themselves up and looked around … and spotted Natalya.
The blast had blown her clear through the air into the middle of a massive tangle of barbed wire. It wound around her limbs and body, buried itself deep into her clothes and skin, and she couldn't move - she was hopelessly entangled. But that wasn't all, Nikolai realised with a sickening lurch in his stomach.
The blast had blown most of her insides away. A huge gaping tear was in her abdomen, and he was thankful he wasn't closer, but he knew she was dying. Even if they could have untangled her - and it would have taken hours - she would not survive the journey home.
But all he could see was her tortured, agonized face, and all he could hear were her screams for help.
"Help me!!! Don't leave me, please … please … don't leave me here … Major … Nikolai … for the love of God, Vassili, help me … please …!!!"
Her keening cries of terror ran through him like a knife, and there was nothing he could do.
He caught Vassili by the sleeve and pushed him in the direction of the nearest warehouse, well out of range of the anti-tank gun.
"Go, boy!"
Vassili looked up at him, confused.
"But - "
"GO!" Nikolai's voice was a low growl.
Vassili jumped at the tone in his friend's voice … and began to run.
It took them long minutes to reach safety, and every step of the way they heard Natalya's screams for help, her pleas for them to come and save her. But they couldn't.
As they collapsed breathlessly in the relative safety of the warehouse, Vassili looked at the big sniper.
"We … we can't leave her like that, Nikolai. We can't!"
Nikolai looked at the lad's earnest, kind eyes.
"I know, Vassili. God help me, don't you think I know that?" Slowly, Nikolai got to his feet and unslung his rifle. He searched for a suitable window and peered out - four hundred metres away, Natalya hung, suspended in a gleaming tangle of razor-sharp wire, her head straining towards him as she screamed out her terror. But now her cries were different.
"Kill me! I beg you, Major … please, don't leave me here for them! Shoot me!!! I can't let them take me!!"
Nikolai could see the dark 'o' of her mouth in her pale face, Natalya's pretty blond hair ruffling in a sudden chill breeze.
"Nikolai … I'll do it - "
Nikolai turned to see Vassili standing with his rifle in his hand. He smiled at the young man, his blue eyes gentle.
"No, lad. This is my job. You're young with a life ahead of you. The last thing you need is something like this hanging over you."
Without waiting for a reply, he lifted his rifle and wound the strap around his arm to steady it. He took a deep breath as he zeroed in on Natalya's blood-streaked face. Exhaling slowly, he began to squeeze the trigger.
"Forgive me …"
Vassili heard the whispered words seconds before a shot rang out.
The screaming stopped.
For long moments neither of them moved. Then Nikolai slowly lowered the rifle and turned to his young friend, eyes glistening with unshed tears.
"Come on boy. It's time to go home."
Gathering up their gear, they made their way slowly through the rubble and back towards the Russian lines and safety.
**********************
Rivka was in an agony of despair.
After her shift had ended, she had gone out into the hospital corridor to find no sign of Nikolai. No-one had seen him, the nurses said. Her heart in her mouth, she had sat and waited … and waited … and waited.
Near to tears, she had decided to go home. If Nikolai came to the hospital they would tell him where she was, and she didn't think she could hold on to her emotions for much longer. She needed to go home and be surrounded with familiar objects … things that belonged to them both.
Oleg and Anna Svenskaya had also finished their shift and offered to walk her home, and Rivka accepted gratefully. Nikolai would be angry if he found out she had walked home alone, she explained. Oleg and Anna had looked at one another and said nothing.
When they reached Rivka's underground home they had offered to wait with her for news of Nikolai, but she declined. She was happier on her own, she said. He would be home soon, she told them. He had probably been detained at Headquarters, she decided. Oleg told her that if they heard anything they would let her know, and they reluctantly left her to her grieving.
Inside the huge old cellar, she collapsed into tears. Sobs spilled from her in hacking shudders, her hands covering her face and her body shaking with fear. He was gone. Dead. Her Niko was -
The slam of the trapdoor made her jump.
"Niko! Dear God, Niko …"
Tears forgotten, she stood to meet him.
And then he was coming through the doorway, dusty, dirty and tired, but very much alive.
As he came into the room he dropped his rifle, helmet and bag onto the table and swept Rivka into his arms, murmuring quietly to her, words of need and comfort, and she held him tightly to her as she felt him tremble in her arms, reassuring him that he was safe and sound.
"I'm sorry, Rivka … I'm sorry I couldn't get home in time …" His voice broke with emotion as he held her.
"It's all right love … you're safe, that's all that matters …"
But soon his hands needed more than comfort, and they began to stroke her body and she melted into him, hearing his voice become husky with desire.
"My Rivka … my beautiful, magnificent Rivka … so lovely … I want you, Oh God, how I want you … I must have you, Rivka … I need you now …"
He lifted his head from the hollow of her neck and gazed at her with such need her heart lurched, and then his hands were at her skirts, pulling them up to her waist. Rivka felt the rigidity of his erection pressed against her belly and the heat begin in her own loins, and helped him as he fumbled through her petticoats to find the waistband of her drawers. His hands slid inside and his moan inflamed her as he grasped her bare buttocks and ground his pelvis against her hips, his hands kneading the soft globes gently but with a desperation that brought a sob from Rivka's throat.
He stood still for a moment, releasing her so she could push his jacket from his shoulders and slip off his suspenders, her hand shamelessly stroking his arousal through the bulging material of his heavy pants. She felt his hands return to her body and push down her drawers, so she let them slip to the floor so she could step out of them.
"Now Rivka … it has to be now … please …" Nikolai's voice was a deep, feral growl, and lifting her he turned and tipped her backwards onto the bed, his hands pushing up her skirts and spreading her thighs so he could see the soft, damp curls at her groin. He leaned over and kissed her with deep, bruising kisses and she groaned with need. She began to cry out as his mouth went lower, tracing kisses along her belly and groin, then his tongue found the nub of nerves between her nether lips. He suckled urgently, feeling her skin quiver along her thighs. Rivka clutched at his short curly hair, urging him on.
"Come into me, Niko …"
With a sob of need Nikolai stopped his laving of her soft, wet centre and towered over her, unbuttoning his pants, his fingers clumsy with the urgency of his desire. But within moments he was free, easing his pants and longjohns down over his hips, his penis arching away from his belly, glistening with the first drops of semen oozing from the tip. He smoothed the drops into the crown, intent on making his entry easy for both of them but Rivka reached down to touch her own slick wetness and stroked her juices onto the hard length of him.
It was too much. He caught her wrists and pulled them away and within moments he had mounted her as he stood beside the bed, her legs open wantonly, welcoming his body. He nudged into her, teeth bared at the sensation of pushing into her depths, and then he thrust hard, seating himself fully within and feeling his testes snug against her buttocks.
All Rivka heard was a deep grunt of pure pleasure from him - he was very, very ready, and she moaned as he began to move forcefully, his hips flexing against her, driving into her body in powerful, rhythmic thrusts.
And then the world became nothing more than sensation and sound, Nikolai loving her, his blood singing with fire for her and Rivka arching and moaning against him. He powered into her, his body tense with need and he knew somewhere in his mind that he wouldn't last long - the feel of Rivka beneath him, her body welcoming his even as he took her roughly, was sending him quickly towards ecstasy.
Rivka was submerged by the feel of him moving in her depths, he was reaching to her very heart, she felt, and she managed to open her eyes and look up at him, seeing his face taken by an agonized bliss, words and sounds tumbling from him as he thrust and thrust again.
"Rivka … you're mine … my own Rivka, so … uhnh …
so beautiful … all mine … oh God … so good … so sweet …
uhnh
… uhnh
…"
And with her hands and body she urged him on, entranced by his passion and feeling her own beginning to overwhelm her as he thrust harder, his hands now holding her hipbones tightly as he pounded into his Rivka's body. She crooned to him, arching into him, her voice reaching him in his need.
"Yes, my Niko … fill me … give me all you have … oh … oh yes … harder, love … Niko!"
She teetered on the edge … and then convulsed wildly, her hands clutching at him, cries of lust torn from her as Nikolai drove harder, his thrusts now ragged with his own want.
He felt her orgasm as she pulsed around his penis, the contractions coming hard, and a wild glory came upon her and he saw her for a split second, sprawled on the bed, her hair spread about her like a black pool of liquid ebony, eyes closed and face awesome in its beauty. She was his woman, and he loved her more than life itself.
With a wordless shout he ejaculated, his climax ripping through him in a huge river of sheer pleasure, and he lunged into her with his last, shuddering thrusts as his semen pulsed in jets into her convulsing body. His back arched and his hips flexed with each pulse, his seed pumping into her welcoming depths, and with each spurt he cried out in his joy.
"Rivka! My lady … my woman … so beautiful … Oh God! Oh God!!"
For long, timeless moments they were overwhelmed by ecstasy, Nikolai poised above Rivka, her legs tight around his hips, Nikolai's hands holding his woman firmly to him as he finished within her.
And then the room was filled with gasps and sighs as they came down from the heights of their joy. Rivka's legs slid from his hips to lie once more on the bed, and Nikolai had to put his hands on either side of Rivka's waist to stop himself from collapsing on her, chest heaving, his head hanging, utterly spent .
Recovering her composure a little, Rivka looked up at this man she loved, and saw how exhausted he was, his face lined with both passion and tiredness. She sighed as he withdrew, feeling the damp trickle of his seed as he left her body and wished with all her heart he could have stayed in her forever.
Nikolai looked down at her for a moment and saw her frown - and was shocked. Oh God, what had he done? He had been rough, he was sure. Had he hurt her? Stunned at his own lack of control he straightened and fastened his pants, wincing at the tenderness of his softening member. Mortified, he muttered apologies to her, appalled that he had taken her in such a way.
"Oh God, I'm sorry! I'm so sorry, Rivka … I was too rough … I shouldn't have - "
But his words were stopped by a kiss as Rivka slipped from the bed and was suddenly beside him, holding him close, whispering reassurances to him.
"It's all right, Niko - it was wonderful! You were wonderful! I loved you making love to me like that … it's all right, my Niko … don't worry …"
But he would not be consoled.
"I was too rough … I shouldn't have treated you like that … oh Rivka, my lady … I'm sorry …"
His voice stilled as he felt her arms around him, and the tension in his body began to ease despite himself. Rivka felt him relax a little and led him to the bed, making him sit down.
And there she slowly undressed him, and while she cared for him she kissed his face and mouth with feather-soft lips, telling him how much she needed and wanted him. She guessed something dreadful had happened through the day, she knew he desperately craved the comfort of her heart and her body - and she had given him both freely. Once he was in bed she brought him some food and sat beside him as he ate, his eyes watching her with such intensity her heart almost broke with the love she felt for him. Then she changed into her nightgown and slipped in beside him - he was tired and shaky now, the strain of the day catching up with him, and she held him close until he slept, safe in her arms and soothed by her body.
*********************
In the deep of the night Rivka awoke to find herself alone in bed.
Lifting her head, she saw Nikolai sitting quietly in his big chair, a mug of tea in his hand and wrapped in a quilt. He was gazing into the depths of the coals glowing in the brazier, and Rivka knew it was time for him to tell her what had happened.
Slipping out of bed and putting on her shoes, she wrapped a blanket around her and knelt down beside him, her hand touching his arm.
Exhausted blue eyes turned to look at her, and never in her life had she seen such sadness in a man. She leaned forward and wrapped her arms around his shoulders, kissing his short curls, holding him close.
"Tell me, my Niko." Her voice was soft and reassuring.
Nikolai saw the gentleness in this woman he loved, and suddenly realised it was time.
"I killed her, Rivka."
Rivka tilted her head, puzzled.
"Killed who, love?"
"Natalya. I killed her. I seem to be making a habit of shooting my spotters." He added bitterly.
Oh God! Not again! Why does he put himself through this?
She sat quietly, waiting for him to continue. Nikolai sighed.
"I took my rifle, aimed it at her head and put a bullet in her brain, Rivka. I had to. I couldn't leave her … I couldn't leave her in that wire, all tangled up like that … I couldn't …"
And as he spoke his voice broke, sobs wrenching from his deep chest, the pain ripping through him and tearing him apart.
Rivka shushed him and held him in her arms, rocking him as he wept, unable to ease his pain. He had killed a woman. Her poor Niko had killed a woman in cold blood, and she knew he would do it again in the same circumstances. She knew he might never forgive himself.
So she held him tight and let him know he was cared for, and that she would always be beside him when he needed her. He would live though it, and he would heal inside, but it would never leave him.
He was scarred forever, and she, Rivka Velonina, the woman who loved him with every inch of her being, could do absolutely nothing about it.
***********************