Part 39 (1/2)
I continued. ”I went to see Galina yesterday, and I accidentally left it at her house.” This was true-in my haste to get away from Timofei Mstislav, I had been forced to leave the bicycle behind.
”I went over to Galina's to retrieve the bike this morning, and I rode it back. Making the trip over there took me a little while.”
This was also true-I just happened to leave out the fact that I'd gone looking in the Pure Woods for a vampire.
GM seemed mollified. ”Well, I suppose you can't leave rental property lying around. It was a good idea for you to retrieve the bike as soon as possible. But you should have mentioned that that's where you were going in your note. I would have worried less.”
”Sorry, GM.”
She was right, of course. Mentioning the bicycle in the note would have given her a good reason for my long absence-I hadn't been thinking clearly.
And that was due in no small part to my anxiety over Innokenti.
My stomach twisted itself into knots at the thought of him.
”What's wrong, Solnyshko?” GM asked. ”Are you ill?”
”No, I'm not ill,” I said. I thought back to Galina's empty house. ”It's just-Galina wasn't home, and neither was Aleksandr. And then I heard they were missing.”
GM sighed.
”You knew?” I asked.
”Galina and I were in contact when we first returned to the U.S. in October,” GM said. ”And then Galina broke off contact rather abruptly, which was unusual, as she had been quite a voluble correspondent. I suspected that something must have changed for her, so I tried to be noncommittal when you asked if we would see her and Aleksandr. I didn't know if she would see us or not. And then once we arrived here in Krov, I too learned that Galina and Aleksandr had gone missing.”
”Do you know what happened to them?”
”No,” GM said simply.
”You don't seem very concerned.”
”Katie, my relations.h.i.+p with Galina has always been difficult, and Aleksandr I'm sure, is a nice young man, but it may be for the best that they are out of our lives at the moment.”
”GM, what if something terrible happened to them?” I asked. ”What if they're hurt?”
Or worse, I thought.
”I do not want any harm to come to Galina or Aleksandr,” GM replied. ”But look how much simpler things are without them. There hasn't been so much as a whisper about the supernatural since they've been gone-except for that little bit of nonsense about the witch-fire. The atmosphere around here is much healthier without them.”
I supposed from GM's perspective that that was all true. So far, I had been able to keep her out of all the supernatural terrors I had encountered on this trip. In fact, the worst thing that had happened to her was that her granddaughter had met her former fiance.
I just hoped I could continue to keep her safely out of everything that was going on.
GM's cell phone rang, and she quickly answered it.
”Yes, yes, she's here now, Maksim. Thank you for looking. No, I think I'd better not. I don't know about tomorrow. I'm sorry. But I thank you for your concern.”
GM ended the call and looked up at me apologetically. ”I called Maksim when I thought you had gone missing. Good man that he is, he went out looking for you.”
I could hear GM's fondness for Maksim in her voice, and I felt the stirrings of conscience.
I didn't want to tell her what I'd found out about Maksim's family ties last night, but I felt like I had to. If there was any chance that he could be dangerous, as Odette had suggested, she had to know.
”GM,” I began, ”I heard yesterday that Maksim was related to the Mstislav family on his mother's side.” I paused. ”And then, this morning I saw him walking on the grounds of the Mstislav mansion.”
GM looked amused. ”I know about his mother, Solnyshko. I did meet him long before you were born. And I am not surprised to hear that he was over at the mansion. Since the horrible things Timofei did there, Maksim has been called in by other members of the family to go over both the mansion and Timofei's finances to make sure that there are no more terrible secrets he hid away.”
She ran a hand over my hair. ”Not all the Mstislavs are bad people, though I can understand why you might think so. And I don't blame you for the way you feel. That's another reason why I didn't want you to meet Maksim. I didn't want his family a.s.sociations to cause you any distress.”
I was greatly relieved-I had really liked Maksim, and I didn't want to be suspicious of him.
GM began to steer me toward the kitchen that she had recently stocked.
”Now, I have a feeling that you did not eat anything before you left,” she said. ”I insist that you eat something now.”
Once in the kitchen, GM pushed me into a chair and began to bustle around.
As she started to pour out cereal, GM's brief phone conversation with Maksim came back to me. ”GM, did Maksim want to meet up with you today?”
”Yes-we had planned to have lunch together, but now it is out of the question.”
”Why?” I asked.
”Don't be silly,” GM said.
”Why is it silly?” I asked. ”I'm not ill. I'm not hurt. I just went to get my bicycle, and now I'm home again. You shouldn't change your plans because of me.”
”You pointed out that Maksim was a Mstislav yourself,” GM said. ”So how can I see him now?”
”I don't dislike Maksim,” I said. ”In fact, I like him a lot. It's just that someone told me he was a Mstislav and that you should be careful. I was just worried about you.”
”You are sweet to be worried about me.”
”GM, I'm glad to find out Maksim is not dangerous and that all Mstislavs are not evil.”
”That is a good lesson,” she said.
”GM, I don't want you to ruin your life because of me. I've seen how happy Maksim makes you.”
GM set a bowl and a gla.s.s in front of me.
”Eat your cereal. Drink your juice.”
”I will eat if you agree to have lunch with Maksim.”
GM and I stared at each other for a long moment.
Eventually, GM smiled and threw up her hands.
”All right, Solnyshko. I will have lunch with Maksim.”