Page 72 of The Half Life of Valery K

They were the kind that went on over your own boots, but that was fine if you pulled the strings tight enough. They all teetered together to the lake shore, laughing, because it was hard to balance on skates on the frozen grass. All of Valery’s muscles opened up, relieved, when he reached the ice and he could glide. When he looked back, both of the students had collapsed.

‘It looked easier than it is,’ reported the one who had been crushed underneath. Valery untangled them and helped them up, and made sure they had their stopwatches.

Maybe other people had noticed them or maybe come out of their own accord, but over the next few minutes, more little groups arrived. Valery’s heart did an unpleasant lurch when he saw Shenkov and Tatiana. Tatiana was dressed as the Snow Maiden, including a paper snowflake crown. When she saw Valery, she waved and rushed across. She couldn’t skate yet, so she just sort of clunked, and he had to catch her before she went flying. He didn’t have the heart to say she shouldn’t be skating. Soon, she would be exhausted all the time, and she wouldn’t have the energy for any of it. Better to let her do it all while she could.

‘Hello!’

‘Like the crown,’ he said.

‘I made it. Can you skate? I’m rubbish, and Dad won’t come on the ice. He says tall people fall further.’

Valery offered his hands and skated backwards to tug her along forwards. She told him about the hospital in Chelyabinsk, which she liked, and the market in town where a fake Father Frost was giving everyone sweets.

‘The real Father Frost lives in the forest,’ she said. ‘Mum says that if I’m bad I’ll have to go and live with him.’

‘Well, he’s all right as long as you’re polite,’ Valery said. He had a dim recollection of a fairy tale that asserted so, anyway.

‘No, he’s definitely imaginary,’ she said severely. ‘How do I go backwards?’

He showed her, still holding her hand, very aware that he didn’t want her to fall. He didn’t know the state of her bones, but it wouldn’t be strong. But she had good balance, so very slowly, he straightened up again and taught her how to spin. When it was her turn, he kept his hands to either side of her ribs just in case. He only set her right twice before she got it.

‘Arms up like a ballerina – and bow. Nice!’

‘Let’s show Dad!’

Valery swallowed and took her back to the shore, where Shenkov had been watching with both hands in his pockets.

‘You can really skate,’ Shenkov said.

‘Ice hockey,’ Valery explained. He squashed down a blast of memories from an overeager bit of his brain. Hadn’t they won something, some inter-university thing that Svetlana had watched in full army uniform to psych out the other team? He didn’t want to remember. ‘We’d better get off the lake, it’s been half an hour.’

‘Why is there the half-an-hour rule?’ Tatiana asked.

‘We’ll get too cold,’ Shenkov told her. ‘I’m already too cold.’

‘You’re always too cold,’ Tatiana told him. ‘You should pretend not to be so cold, or everyone will think you’re a foreigner and put you in prison.’

‘You know there are bits of the Soviet Union that aren’t cold. Ones with actual liquid water,’ Shenkov said, lifting her off the ice. He glanced at Valery. ‘Come with us? We’re going to find a cafe. Hot drinks.’ It was a politeness offer, not a real one.

‘Or,’ said Tatiana, patriotically, ‘cold ones.’

‘Thanks, but I should get to work,’ said Valery, balancing to undo the skate laces before he had to step on to the shore again.

‘I can’t do it,’ Tatiana said to her own laces. She studied her fingernails. ‘My tools of the patriarchy are getting too long.’

Valery laughed so much he had to pull his sleeve over his eyes. Shenkov only smiled, and then looked emptied out.

As they began to move away, a man in a long coat did the same. He had been sitting on a bench, smoking, for nearly the whole time Valery had been there, just watching people skate, without so much as a newspaper to keep himself entertained. He saw Valery notice him and saluted with his cigarette hand.

‘That didn’t take long,’ Shenkov said. He was looking back too.

‘What didn’t?’ Tatiana asked.

‘That man back there is following Comrade Kolkhanov.’

‘They only follow you around to make sure you’re not evil,’ Tatiana said factually. ‘And Comrade Kolkhanov’s not, so that’s fine.’

‘I don’t think he’s just following,’ Valery said, because the man was coming closer.