The Moscow Train

The Moscow Train

A cold wind howled around the platform as Irina Kuznetsova climbed on board the Moscow train. She was glad of the fine leather gloves that her parents had given her as a going away present. The journey by horse and carriage from her home town of Suzdal to the railway station at Vladimir had been slow and uncomfortable. Her brother, Ivan, had had to steer the carriage cautiously along the rough road. Melting snow meant that the road was muddy and the potholes and sidings were difficult to discern. But the horse was strong and well shod by their father, Igor, who was the most proficient blacksmith and farrier in their district. Ivan had a steady hand and a cool head and delivered his sister to the station just in time for her train. He hugged her forcefully and then raised her chin towards his face. Looking directly into her eyes he said, “You’ll be fine little sister. Don’t worry, Uncle Michail will be there to meet you. Just mind your bag and don’t talk to strangers. It’s only two hours you know. See you in August.”

Boarding the train Irina was dismayed to find that the carriage was almost full and she could see no vacant places. This meant she had to struggle with the door at the end of the carriage, manoeuvre her way across an unstable metal plate and wrestle herself and her bag into the next carriage. This one was more promising, with fewer passengers, although an unpleasant smell of cigar smoke hung in the air. She quickly surveyed the open carriage with its rows of wooden seating on either side and spied an empty spot. Plonking herself down she sighed with relief and hauled her bag onto the seat beside her. She wished she had had time to purchase a drink at the station and wondered if a tea-seller would make it down to this third class carriage. She was now cold, tired, thirsty and extremely nervous.

She remembered that her mother had made her a sandwich, wrapped it in a napkin and stuffed it into the top of the carpet bag that contained all of Irina’s worldly goods. At the time she had protested, not wanting to be fussed over with trivia and reminding her mother she was hardly going to starve on a two hour journey. However, now she was glad of the sandwich made with two slices of rough country bread, spread with butter and filled with ham and gherkins, all produce from their own smallholding.

Eating the sandwich brought Irina’s thoughts straight back to her family’s kitchen. In particular she began to reminisce about her dear babushka Elena. As the matriarch of the family Elena had overseen the growing of vegetables and the farming of the pigs that supplied the family with the greater part of their staple diet. Irina remembered the summer days picking small cucumbers and helping her grandmother to pickle them, packing them tightly into jars, making a supply of gherkins that would last for the whole year. She remembered that during the long cold winters those same gherkins would be used to make the delicious rassolnik soup with barley and pork and whatever herbs were to hand. Since leaving school two years previously Irina had spent a lot of her time learning the skills of horticulture and husbandry from her grandmother. Now as she munched on her sandwich and enjoyed the sharpness of the gherkin and the sweetness of the ham she contemplated how the death of her grandmother three months earlier had brought great changes in the Kuznetsov household. For as soon as one member had departed a new one had arrived. Irina’s older brother, Alexei, had married his sweetheart, Natalya, and moved her into the family home. Numerically, this restored the balance in the household but in its own way it created an imbalance. Natalya was tall and strong unlike Irina who was considerably smaller.

Irina was quiet and reserved whereas Natalya was loud and outgoing. Irina’s parents noted the differences in the two young women and felt that something had to be done to remedy the disharmony that they could see developing. After some weeks of discussion and some anxious waiting for the post to arrive a plan was revealed. Irina was to be given the opportunity to work outside the home and develop skills that she might one day use to set up a business of her own in her hometown. She was to be sent to Moscow to live with her aunt and uncle where she would be apprenticed as a seamstress to her aunt, who had a successful business making and altering women’s clothes in Moscow. It seemed that Irina had become surplus to requirements in her own home, between them her mother and her sister-in-law were capable of running the house and smallholding. As well as having been occupied with chores set for her by her grandmother Irina had also grown up learning how to sew and knit, and it was these skills that were going to be developed in her new position in Moscow. Although she was extremely nervous about taking the train journey to the city by herself, she was secretly looking forward to her new adventure.

Finishing her sandwich, Irina brushed the crumbs off her coat, tidied away her napkin and leaned her head on the back of the hard wooden bench. Just as she was about to close her eyes and drift off in her reverie she sat up with a start. She had felt a sensation of warm breath on her neck and an odour of tobacco that was nauseating. As she spun around she was greeted by the sight of a bespectacled old man with whiskers smiling at her. Instinctively she recoiled from the intrusion and pulled her bag closer. Undeterred, the irritating gentleman leaned over the back of the bench and spoke:

“Good afternoon my dear, looks like you enjoyed your lunch, I was hungry just looking at you.” his eyes were smiling but Irina felt no hint of friendliness towards him. “Are you comfortable there?” He continued, “I’ve got a cushion and a blanket here on my bench if you’d like to come around and share them with me? I always come prepared on this journey and make the best of it. No point in wasting money on a first class ticket when I can provide my own comforts. You look cold. Are you cold my dear?” Irina remembered her brother’s advice about strangers but didn’t want to appear rude so she shook her head and answered simply: “No, no thank you.”

Undeterred, the old man tried a new line of conversation, “Off to Moscow, are you? Going for a job in the big city is it?”

“Yes, to Moscow, to a new job.” Irina blurted out, unable to stop herself.

“Well if you won’t come and sit with me, perhaps you’d like to come and visit me in the city when you settle in? Here’s my card my dear. Maybe if the new job doesn’t suit you, you’ll call on me? Or indeed when we get to the station later if you need a carriage into the city maybe you’d like to share…”

Suddenly there was a whoosh and Irina saw her bag being swept off the bench and onto the floor. At the same moment a young man dressed in a military uniform landed on the seat beside her. Through her shock Irina saw a handsome smiling face and heard the young man say loudly, “Cousin! There you are! I searched every carriage for you, and here you are hiding away in the very last one!” Under his breath he whispered “Pretend you know me. My name is

Relaxing slightly, Irina smiled back at the young soldier and asked, “What are you doing?”

“Rescuing you! It sounded like you were under some stress. I could hear the old man from where I was sitting and I supposed you needed rescuing from his evil clutches.”

 Irina giggled and glancing over her shoulder she could see the old man had retreated to his seat and was taking out a book to read. He had a disgruntled look on his face but knew he had met his match in the handsome young soldier.

Although her brother’s warning still rang in her head Irina relaxed in Sasha’s company. As the journey progressed they chatted incessantly. She told him about her home and how she missed her grandmother. And she told him all about her brother’s marriage and the upheaval of her sister-in-law’s arrival. He agreed that the move to Moscow was a great opportunity for Irina. He told her that he had recently completed his time in military academy and that after spending a couple of weeks leave at his family home in Vladimir he was now off to join his regiment in Moscow. In less than two hours the pair shared so many details about themselves, their families, and their futures that they felt they had known one another for years.

The chatting made the time fly too and before they knew it they were passing through the outskirts of the city. As the train drew into the station Sasha stood up and said, “I’d better get back to my own seat and fetch my kit bag, I’ve enjoyed making your acquaintance Miss Kuznetsova.”

And with that he bowed down, took Irina’s hand and kissed it. Irina was so taken aback she was momentarily speechless. Regaining her composure she reached for her own bag and stood up to leave. By now everyone was crowding into the aisle, blocking her view of the carriage and Sasha was enveloped by the stampede. As her bench was adjacent to an exit Irina was swept along in the throng and in no time at all she found herself at the end of the platform, passing the barrier and whirling into the expanse of the main concourse of the station. With her heart thumping in her chest and barely able to focus on her surroundings Irina was relieved to hear her name being called. Looking in the direction of the voice she saw her uncle Michail and rushed to his embrace.

“My dear Irina!” he boomed, “How are you? How was the journey?”

“I’m very well Uncle, the journey was good. How are you? And how is Auntie Ekaterina?”

“We are all well, Ekaterina can’t wait to see you, she’s going to finish working early today so we can have an early supper with you. Now let me take your bag and we’ll get going.”

As her uncle bent down to pick up her bag, Irina glanced at the crowds over his shoulder, scanning all the way around the vast space. There was no sign of Sasha. Exiting through the grand doors out onto the street, Irina noticed a smell of cigar smoke and looked left to see the elderly gentleman from the train passing by her side. Tipping his hat to her, he hurried past, uttering a fleeting “Adieu!”