Valdis reached for her hand again but their fingers had barely touched when they saw a man driving a horse and cart come around a bend in the trail. He was dressed in rough clothes and his cart carried a load of firewood.
Anna was about to bolt but Valdis grabbed her. "He’s only a peasant farmer. He may even help us."
As he drew closer, Anna cried out, "He’s the vender at the market who gave me the apple."
They stepped in the road and the man stopped his cart. Feeling confident that the tattered-looking couple were harmless he said, "Are you friends or comrades?"
Anna was uncertain how to answer the question, but Valdis dared say, "We are friends. Friends who are in desperate need of food and shelter."
"You look familiar," the man said to the bedraggled-looking Anna.
"You had a stall at the market in Riga the other day," Anna said anxiously. "You gave me an apple."
"Ah yes, the girl who looked like she lost her best friend." he laughed.
"I did. I lost a lot more than a friend. I lost my whole family."
"What are you doing out here?"
"We had to get out of Riga," Valdis said.
"Is the invitation to visit you still open?" Anna dared ask.
"Running from the Reds, are you?"
"Yes. If they catch us we’ll both be shot!" Anna exclaimed
"Have they bothered you?" Valdis asked.
"Not too much," the farmer replied. "They came and searched my place once just to see what I owned then gave me a quota of produce that I have to give to the state."
"What about the produce you sell at the market?"
"That’s my own to keep. When I have enough to sell."
"Would you like some help on your farm?" Valdis asked. "We only ask to be fed and have a place to sleep."
"We’ll even sleep in your barn," Anna added.
"You might as well climb on the cart. I’ll see what we can do for you when we get home."
"Thank you kind sir," Valdis said, as he and Anna climbed on board.
A short while later they arrived at a well-appointed farmstead. The house and other buildings were clustered together in a block that resembled a small fortress. The buildings were made of stone with large thatch roofs.
The farmer, who had since introduced himself as Atis Vagris, took them directly into the house.
His wife, however, regarded them with suspicion as they entered the main room. Anna’s heart fell as they saw both a small plaster bust of Lenin and a framed photograph of Stalin on the mantle.
Noting Anna’s concern, Atis said to his wife. "You can put them away Astra, these people are friends not comrades. Astra quickly put a shroud over the bust and put the picture in a nearby drawer.
"Anytime someone comes," Atis chuckled, "we get them out in case our visitors are Comrades."
Both Anna and Valdis felt greatly at ease for the first time.
"Astra, Anna and Valdis here will be staying with us for a while to help, but no one must know they are here."
"Hiding from the Reds?" Astra asked with a half smile.
"If they catch us they will shoot us," Anna replied.
"They want to shoot everyone it seems," Astra replied. "Either that or take everything you have. I used to own over a hundred hectares. I was told I could only keep thirty hectares. The state took the rest."
"They took my father in the night and I know they murdered him," Anna said with a pained look in her eye. She sobbed as she added, "they took my mother and sister away to Siberia."
Astra put a sympathetic arm around Anna and eased her down to a chair. "Our own daughter Jelena, who is about your age, disappeared when the Russians came," she added with a note of sadness in her eye.
"We have no way of knowing whether she is dead or alive," Atis added in a morose tone.
"I, along with my family, was on a prison train," Valdis said. "But I jumped off and came back to Latvia."
"You are welcome to hide out here," Astra said, "but our house is small."
"We could sleep in the loft of your barn, at least until winter," Anna said. "We don’t want to put you in danger by being here."
"They don’t bother us much," Atis said. "As long as we give the state its share of our produce and mind our own business. Besides, if you’re an enemy of the Reds, you are a friend of ours."
"Yes Astra. Make a place at the supper table for them while I unload the firewood," Atis said.
"I’ll help you," Valdis offered.
"We will gladly help you with whatever chores need to be done," Anna added.
Valdis helped unload the firewood and Anna helped with preparing supper. It was a simple meal of roast chicken and fresh vegetables with cake and tea for dessert. It was the first filling meal that either Anna or Valdis had eaten in some time. The meals that Jacob and Golda provided were sparse in comparison.
About the time they rose from the table, an automobile drove into the yard. There was a tiny red flag on the hood.
"Quickly, you must hide," Astra said. "Go to the pantry. There is an access door to the attic there."
Valdis stole a glance out the window and exclaimed, "Evalds! What is he doing out here?"
As Anna and Valdis went to the pantry, Astra quickly pulled the shroud from the bust and got out the photo of Stalin. Atis went outside both to greet them and to stall them. Valdis lifted Anna up so she could push the trapdoor open and pull herself into the attic. Once there, Valdis jumped up grabbing the edge of the opening. He soon pulled himself into the attic with Anna’s help, and pushed the trapdoor shut again and waited.
"Welcome Comrades welcome," Atis said as the two men got out of the car. A uniformed man accompanied Evalds. The uniformed man carried a submachine gun "To what to I owe the pleasure."
"Two reasons," Evalds said. "For one, the state is increasing its quota. We need two more litres of milk and a dozen more eggs a week from you and we will take another calf in the fall."
"But Comrade Commissar, what if the chickens quit laying? Or the cow dries up?"
"If you have problems with the livestock, you will have to prove it to us. Now the second reason. We have reason to believe that one or two criminals may have fled into the country. One, a man named Valdis, escaped from a prison train and killed a soldier, and his accomplice is a woman named Anna, who is a dangerous agitator."
"Do you think they might come this way?" Atis asked, feigning concern.
"It is possible. Do you mind if we check your buildings, Citizen Vagris?"
"By all means comrade. I haven’t been out to the barn yet this evening and if there are criminals in there, you’re better equipped to deal with them than I."
Evalds spoke to his companion in uniform, and the man in uniform then headed for the barn. Evalds also brought a machine-gun out of the car but stood in the middle of the yard. This all gave time for Astra to clean up the table and hide the extra dishes used by their guests lest the Comrades come into the house.
Evalds lit a cigarette as he stood in the middle of the yard and thought about his situation. He was supposed to be an assistant commissar, sitting behind a desk helping to organize Latvia as a Soviet republic. Instead he was out here chasing after enemies of the state, all because of his superior’s strange obsession with capturing Anna. Now that rumour had it Valdis was back, they were probably teamed up and the search had been widened to the area surrounding Riga, just in case they had fled the city. Evalds disliked Valdis and was somewhat jealous of his closeness to Anna. Thus, he felt he’d have little trouble arresting Valdis and seeing to his execution if necessary. He still felt ill at ease about capturing Anna and, when the inevitable occurred, he hoped he would not be part of her interrogation or execution.
A burst of machine-gun fire could be heard from the barn loft. Evalds stood poised with his own machine-gun, while Anna and Valdis cringed in the attic. The uniformed man came to the opening at the end of the loft and said, "Just making sure no one is hiding in the straw."
The uniformed man came back from his search and announced he could see no evidence of anyone having been in the barn.
"What about in your house?" Evalds said, eyeing Atis suspiciously.
"Search it if you wish," Atis said evenly. "If they broke in I think either Astra or I would have known about it."
"We’ll look anyway," Evalds said, as he and the uniformed man headed for the house, still carrying their machine-guns.
Astra opened the door for them but remained expressionless as they entered. The two men walked through the house. They even went into the bedroom and poked through a closet. They opened the cellar door and clamored down the stairs with flashlights in hand. When they emerged, Evalds said, "You have plenty of preserves and root crops down there, perhaps the state should up its quota from you."
"We always give all we can," Atis said. They noticed he glanced at the picture on the mantle that Astra had quickly gotten out when they had arrived at the farm. "We know that Comrade Stalin wants everyone to share. Long Live Stalin."
"Yes, our glorious leader is working very hard in creating a new world for us," Evalds said. "Well we will leave you now and come back in a few days. Especially if those two criminals haven’t been caught yet."
"Yes, please do," Astra said. "We have no way to protect ourselves except with a pitchfork and garden shovel."
"Use them if you have to," Evalds laughed, "but the NKVD wants them alive. Especially Anna."
It was about a half-hour after the two officials left before Astra tapped on the trapdoor so their guests could come back down.
"So they say you are a murderer," Atis said, as Valdis helped Anna out of the attic.
"The soldier’s death was accidental," Valdis insisted. "If I wanted to intentionally kill someone, it would be a traitor like that Evalds who was just here."
"They hunt you for that?" Astra questioned.
"Who knows what their reasons are, but they want you alive," Atis said
"They want us alive so they can torture us for information." Valdis said.
"Are you going to turn us in?" Anna asked.
"It’s too late now. We are already guilty for not handing you over when they were here." Astra laughed.
"Yes, we’ll probably all be at the same firing squad someday." Atis sighed.
"So do you think Comrade Stalin is building a brave new world," Valdis laughed.
"If there is anyone left in it after he finishes killing everyone." Atis added dryly.
"So now that they have finished searching the loft, it should be safe for Anna and I to make our living quarters there."
"There is plenty of straw from which you can make yourselves comfortable, and I’ll get you a horse blanket for a mattress." Atis said.
That night as they lay side-by-side on the blanket in the barn loft, Anna remarked, "The straw is quite comfortable."
"Yes. It is a lot more comfortable than the warehouse floors and alleyways of Riga." Valdis replied.
" It is almost like a feather bed." Anna said in a dreamy voice.
"One day I’m going to sleep in a real feather bed," Valdis said emphatically. "One day, when I get to Canada, I’m going to be rich. Never again will I go hungry or be hunted by the police."
"Yes, Canada," Anna sighed. "That far away land, where they say everything is peaceful and beautiful."
They were silent for a long moment then Valdis said, "Think of how in a different time and place we could be man and wife."
"Yes, in a different time and place," Anna sighed. "For now we are hunted like animals and cannot afford the luxury of love."
Even though we are hunted, it cannot hide feelings." Valdis continued.
Anna shifted and looked him in the eye. "I love you as a brother she said firmly, I dare not see it any other way. We must not see it any other way."
"Yes, sister," he said dolefully and withdrew his arm.
"I am sorry Valdis. Fate has thrown us together and if we both survive all of this, maybe there will be a time for us. But I don’t want to lose you like I lost Father and the rest of my family."
"You’d feel nothing if they shot me or sent me away to Siberia?" Valdis said anxiously.
"I don’t want to think about that," Anna said sharply. "Lets think about how we can survive and help these kind people who gave us their loft. Father said ‘don’t let them take you.’ and that should be your motto too." She rolled over turning her back to him
"Yes Anna," Valdis sighed. "I will say this only once. I love you."
Anna wanted to return the phrase, but knew she must place
survival and escape foremost in her mind. "Goodnight Valdis," she replied
gently. She reached back and squeezed his hand for a moment.
Index About the Author Ginny – A Canadian Story of Love & Friendship Ginny Excerpt
Ingrid - An Immigrant’s Tale Ingrid Excerpt Anna – Her Odyssey to Freedom The Promise