‘Thank you,’ he said, smiling. ‘It’s my fourteenth birthday next month. Will you do the same thing then?’
‘Yes, of course,’ I said. ‘Every year on August the twelfth I will do it. For as long as I live.’
Alexei nodded and looked around the courtyard. He seemed lost in thought and I said nothing to disturb him, simply got on with my work.
‘Will you be able to stay here, Georgy?’ he asked finally.
I looked across at him and shook my head. ‘I don’t think so,’ I said. ‘One of the soldiers said that he would give me a few roubles if I changed this tyre.’
‘And what will you do with them?’
‘Eat.’
‘Will you come back afterwards? We don’t have anyone to protect us, you know.’
‘The soldiers protect you now,’ I said. ‘That’s what they’re here for, isn’t it?’
‘That’s what they tell us, yes,’ he replied, his brow furrowing a little as he considered it. ‘But I don’t believe them. I don’t think they like us at all. I know I don’t like them. I hear them saying terrible things all the time. About Mother. About my sisters. They show us no respect. They forget their place.’
‘But you must listen to them, Alexei,’ I said, anxious for his safety. ‘If you are good, then they will treat you well.’
‘You call me Alexei now?’
‘I apologize, sir,’ I said, bowing my head. ‘I meant Your Highness.’
He shrugged his shoulders as if it didn’t matter, not really, but I could tell that he was utterly confused by his new status.
‘You have sisters too, don’t you Georgy?’ he asked me.
‘I did have,’ I said. ‘I had three. But I don’t know what’s become of them. I haven’t seen them in a long time.’
‘So between us we have seven sisters and no brothers.’
‘That’s right.’
‘Strange, isn’t it?’ he asked.
‘A little bit,’ I said.
‘I always wanted a brother,’ he said quietly, looking down at the stony ground. He picked up a few pebbles from the driveway and tossed them back and forth between his hands.
‘You never told me that,’ I said, surprised to hear him say such a thing.
‘Well, it’s true. I always thought it would be nice to have an older brother. Someone to look out for me.’
‘Then he would have been the Tsarevich, not you.’
‘I know,’ he said. ‘It would have been wonderful.’
I frowned, surprised to hear him say that.
‘And you, Georgy, did you ever want one?’
‘Not really,’ I said. ‘I never thought about it. I had a friend once, Kolek Boryavich – we grew up together. He was like a brother to me.’
‘And where is he now? Is he fighting in the war?’
‘No,’ I said, shaking my head. ‘No, he died.’
‘I’m sorry to hear it.’
‘Yes, well, it was a long time ago.’
‘How long?’
‘More than three years.’
‘That’s not so very long.’
‘It seems like a lifetime,’ I said. ‘Anyway, you have no brother, Kolek Boryavich is dead, but you and I are alive. Perhaps I could be like an older brother to you, Alexei. What would you think of that?’
He stared at me and frowned. ‘But it’s impossible,’ he said, standing up now. ‘You’re just a moujik, after all. I am the son of a Tsar.’
‘Yes,’ I said, smiling. He didn’t mean to hurt me, poor boy. It was simply the way that he had been brought up. ‘Yes, it’s impossible.’
‘But we can be friends,’ he said quickly, sounding as if he knew that he had said something he shouldn’t have and regretted it. ‘We’ll always be friends, Georgy, won’t we?’
‘Yes, of course,’ I said. ‘And when you leave here, we will remain great friends for ever. I promise it.’
He smiled at me again and shook his head. ‘But we’ll never leave here, Georgy Daniilovich,’ he said in a calm, measured tone. ‘Don’t you know that?’
I hesitated, quite unsettled by the certainty in his voice, and tried to think of something I could say to reassure him, but as I opened my mouth I glanced towards the house once again and could see Marie walking quickly towards us.
‘Alexei,’ she said, taking him by the arm, ‘there you are. I was looking for you.’
‘Marie, look, it’s Georgy Daniilovich.’
‘I can see that,’ she replied, looking me directly in the eyes for a moment before turning back to her brother. ‘Go indoors,’ she said. ‘Father is asking for you. And don’t tell him who you were talking to, do you understand me?’
‘But why not?’ asked Alexei. ‘He will want to know.’
‘We can tell him later, just not now. We’ll save it as a special surprise. Trust me, can’t you?’
‘All right,’ he said, shrugging his shoulders. ‘Goodbye then, Georgy,’ he said, thrusting his hand out in the formal manner that I had seen him extend to generals and princes; I grasped it tightly and shook it, smiling at him.
‘Goodbye, Alexei,’ I said. ‘I’ll see you later, I’m sure.’
He nodded and ran back indoors.
When he was gone, Marie turned back to me. ‘I’m sorry, Georgy,’ she said. ‘I told her. And she wanted to come, of course. But the soldiers were playing cards all night. She couldn’t come downstairs.’
‘And where is she now?’ I asked.
‘She’s with Mother. She’s desperate to see you. I was able to get out. I was coming to the cedars to find you. She said to tell you that she’ll come tonight. Very late. She promises that no matter what happens, she’ll come tonight.’
I nodded. To wait another half a day seemed like torture, but then I had waited this long, more than eighteen months. I could wait just a little longer.
‘All right,’ I said. ‘Over there.’ I pointed towards the clump of trees where we had talked the previous evening. ‘I’ll wait there from midnight and—’
‘No, later than that,’ she said. ‘Come around two o’clock tomorrow morning. Everyone will be asleep by then. She’ll come to you, I promise.’
‘Thank you, Marie,’ I said.
‘Now you should leave here,’ she insisted, looking around anxiously. ‘If Mother and Father see you… well, it’s best that as few people as possible know that you’re here.’
‘I’ll go,’ I said, ignoring the fact that I hadn’t yet finished tightening the wheel nuts on the new tyre. ‘And thank you again.’
She reached forward and kissed my cheeks before returning to the house. I watched her leave, feeling terribly grateful to her. I had never known her all that well while I served her family but she had been kind to me, and Sergei Stasyovich had loved her. I looked around and considered waiting for the soldier to return and pay me my roubles, but there was no sign of him and I suddenly felt a great desire to be away from that place.
I turned to leave and was exiting the gates when I heard the sound of feet running quickly along the gravel behind me. I turned and saw Alexei, who showed no sign of slowing down, so I opened my arms and he ran into them, embracing me tightly, his arms wrapped around my neck as I lifted him off the ground.
‘I wanted you to know,’ he said, his voice choked up as if he was trying to stop himself from crying, ‘I wanted you to know that you can be my brother if you like. As long as you let me be yours.’
He separated himself from me then and looked me directly in the eye, and I smiled and nodded. I opened my mouth to say yes, that I would be proud to be his brother, but my assent was all he needed; within a moment he had turned around and disappeared back into the house, into the heart of his family.
Every minute dragged.
I had no watch, so stepped inside a small café in the village to ask the time. Ten past two. A half a day to wait. It seemed impossible. I paced up and down the streets, growing more and more anxious and emotional with every second. I spent what seemed like hours wandering the streets aimlessly, before going back to the café to check the time once again.