The Child Thief by Dan Smith Page B

Dariya.’
    ‘Dimitri’s forbidden her from coming to our house.’
    ‘That’s what Dariya said. But she told me that if they play outside, they won’t be in our house. And who am I to argue with such a sly girl?’
    ‘You don’t know where they are now?’
    ‘In the field, rolling snowballs. Are they in danger?’
    ‘No. She’s probably better off not being here.’
    ‘You’re sure?’
    ‘Not really.’
    ‘What’s going on?’ she asked. ‘Has something happened?’
    I could see the crowd was growing as more people joined Dimitri, arms raised, voices raised, tensions raised.
    ‘Petro,’ I said, ‘go find your sister.’
    ‘Why me? Why not send Viktor?’
    ‘Because I might need Viktor here. Find your sister and bring her home. Keep her inside.’
    ‘Papa—’
    ‘Don’t argue with me, Petro Lukovich.’
    Petro shook his head and stayed where he was, deciding whether or not to defy my wishes. But the hesitation was short and he rolled his eyes, moving away. I watched him go, disappearing around
the rear of our home, before I looked back at the crowd.
    ‘Has something happened?’ Natalia asked again. ‘Why is he saying our children aren’t safe?’
    ‘Because he’s an idiot,’ I said. ‘Nothing has happened.’
    Dimitri was drawing more people in now, addressing those who had gathered round him, telling them they were unsafe, that a child-killer had come among them. Ivan, who had been at the burial, had
gone to intervene, but he was not a strong man and he pleaded quietly, his voice lost in the growing cacophony. He was respected, but he had no voice in this confusion. He had no control over a mob
like this. Josif and Leonid too tried to reason with the people, but when Dimitri pointed towards me, raising his voice, directing the stares of the other villagers, I could see how this was going
to turn out.
    ‘Natalia, you need to go inside.’ I stepped back and took her arm, drawing her with me through the gate, pushing open the front door with my foot. ‘Into the back.’
    Viktor followed us inside and shut the door. Together we pushed the bolts across and closed the wooden shutters over the windows.
    ‘Papa? What’s going on?’
    I went straight to the shelf and took up the revolver Natalia had found among the stranger’s belongings. ‘Here.’ I pressed it into Viktor’s hands before grabbing the
pistol that had been on the sled, dropping the wooden holster onto the table.
    ‘Papa?’
    ‘Viktor, I’ve seen crowds before. I’ve seen what they can do.’
    He held up the revolver. ‘I don’t even know what to do with this.’
    ‘You won’t need to. As long as they see it, it should be enough.’
    Viktor nodded, a grim expression on his face. He was scared but he knew how to push it down inside him and hide it. His mother though, Natalia, I could hear her breathing. Heavy. Panic was tight
in her throat. ‘What’s happening?’ she asked, the words constricted.
    I pulled her close and told her it would be all right. ‘Go into the back room. Stay there.’
    Outside there was shouting. It might have been Dimitri but it was hard to tell. There were other voices too. A sea of voices that grew with tension. More and more of them, building, the crowd
becoming a mob of fearful peasants who needed something to strike at.
    ‘Listen to them,’ Natalia said. ‘What are they going to do?’ She looked down at the bundle lying by the hearth, where the flames had weakened. The man was still asleep,
oblivious to the trouble he had caused.
    ‘Nothing,’ I told her. ‘They’re not going to do anything. Please – go into the back room.’
    She looked up at me, a kind of understanding dawning on her, and I knew what she was thinking.
    ‘Lara,’ she said. ‘Lara and Petro.’
    ‘They’ll be fine,’ I reassured her. ‘I haven’t forgotten them. Petro will see what’s happening; he’ll keep her away.’
    ‘No, we have to find them. Make them safe.’
    I saw the fear in her