Requiem in the Snow

by Catrin Collier

  ‘There’s hot water in your bedrooms and a fire lit under the boiler in the bathhouse. The meal will be ready when you are. My mother has made Ukrainian borsch to warm you, and shashlik.’

  ‘Shashlik?’ Sarah repeated.

  ‘You’ll love it,’ Glyn stripped off his wet coat.

  ‘It’s very good,’ Alexei explained. ‘Lamb and onion on skewers with rice marinated in pomegranate juice. What’s the dessert, Praskovia?’

  ‘Kisel with cranberries and blackcurrants.’

  ‘You won’t be eating any, Alexei!’

  A grey-haired man stood in the doorway, his face contorted in anger. ‘I warned you never to enter this house again. Where’s your tutor?’

  ‘Father Theodore’s ill. He had to stay in Taganrog.’

  ‘I will terminate his employment.’

  ‘It’s not his fault he’s ill.’

  ‘Home now, Alexei.’

  The silence intensified. The sense of suspense escalated. But instead of answering his father, Alexei left the house without another word.

  Moments later the sound of horses’ hooves echoed through the open door.

  Chapter Two

  Glyn Edwards’ house, Hughesovka

  September 1870

  ‘Sheer bliss.’ Glyn reached up from the high-level wooden bench he was lying on, scooped a ladle of water from the tank above the stove, and poured it over the stones on the hotplate. Steam hissed and rose, intensifying the broiling atmosphere.

  ‘I could get used to this,’ Peter murmured from a bench two levels below Glyn.

  Glyn rolled on his back. ‘You will; there’s nothing like relaxing in a banya – bathhouse to you until you learn Russian – after days of hard graft or travelling over a rain-sodden steppe.’

  ‘Do all Russian houses have a bath house?’

  ‘The manor and estate houses I’ve visited with Mr Hughes all had their own. Even the smallest village has a communal one.’

  Peter was curious. ‘With separate bathing times for men and women?’

  ‘The rules are laid down by the head man and council. They vary between villages. Some allow mixed bathing, some discourage it. Apparently Peter the Great tried to outlaw it because he thought it might lead to orgies.’

  ‘Might? If there was a mixed bath house in Merthyr and girls were reckless enough to patronise it, every male within walking distance would be fighting to get in.’

  ‘I’ve never visited a banya that caters for both sexes but I’ve been told they’re surprisingly chaste, with men occupying one side of the steam room, women the other. Given that anyone, including the priest, can walk in any time, they’re probably models of propriety.’

  ‘Apart from the nudity.’

  ‘Nothing disgraceful in nudity. God gave us all a body. I’ve been told a communal bath house is a good way to check out the credentials of a woman you fancy as long as you realise they’re giving you the once-over too.’

  ‘I don’t like the thought of a woman eyeing me when I’m naked.’

  ‘You prefer them to do it when you’re clothed?’ Glyn asked.

  ‘I’d prefer they didn’t do it at all.’

  ‘It’s what we do to them. Or was it different for you and Sarah? Did her intellect mesmerize you, not her looks?’

  There were some things Peter considered too private for discussion, even with his brother. ‘Why are there half a dozen brushes over there?’

  ‘The bundles of birch twigs?’

  ‘They look like miniature witches’ brooms.’

  ‘Veniks, used for massage or masochism, depending on your preference and whether you like being lightly or severely thrashed. The Russians believe a gentle beating stimulates the circulation and opens the pores.’

  ‘I’ll take the Russians’ word for it.’

  ‘The peasants call the banya the first Russian doctor. No matter what the ailment, their first call is to the steam room.’

  ‘The second their physician?’ Peter was mindful of his potential earnings.

  ‘Vodka.’

  ‘From the drivers’ brews I sampled on the journey, that’s more likely to finish off someone who’s under the weather. Especially if they drink it in bath house temperatures.’

  ‘The third Russian doctor is raw garlic.’

  ‘Which explains the stench of the drivers. Would it be too much to hope the fourth Russian doctor is a qualified man?’

  ‘I’ve never heard mention of a fourth.’

  ‘Which says something for the contempt my profession is held in this country.’

  ‘The locals have no opinion on doctors because few medical men have ventured onto the steppe.’ Glyn turned over again. ‘I pity Sarah and Anna in the house bathroom. There’s no plumbing; the only boiler is in the kitchen, so all the water will have to be hauled by hand. We’ll have to set up a timetable so you and Sarah can enjoy the banya together – and experiment with the venik.’

  ‘It wouldn’t be fair for us to hog it when we’re the only married couple in the house.’ Peter ran his fingers through his damp hair. ‘I would have said this is more like a Turkish bath than a Russian.’

  ‘There are similarities. Cleanliness through perspiration.’

  ‘From Alexei’s description, I expected a rough wooden hut with a smoky stove next to a stream so you could jump in after you’d been baked.’

  ‘He was talking about black banyas,’ Glyn explained. ‘They haven’t a chimney. This is a white banya, because the smoke from the oven is ducted out. But every banya experience should culminate in a quick dip in icy water or a roll in snow. Cooling and invigorating.’

  ‘Sounds more painful than energising.’

  ‘It’s a shock to the system.’

  ‘I didn’t know you were an expert on Russian baths.’

  ‘Mr Hughes asked me to look into them. He wants to build a few for his workers.’ Glyn poured another ladle of water on the stones.

  Suddenly faint and dizzy, Peter sat up slowly.

  Glyn looked down in time to see the door close. He followed Peter into the washing room.

  Peter had climbed into a tub of cold water and was pouring it over himself. ‘I felt light-headed.’

  ‘It’s easy to overdo the steam. Leave by the entrance room and give the steam a miss until tomorrow.’

  The door opened, and Huw Thomas stepped in, stark naked.

  ‘You’re letting in one hell of a draught,’ Glyn complained.

  Huw shut the door. ‘Praskovia said you’d arrived. How are you? Did you have a good journey? Is Mr Hughes with you? Have you brought everything we need to finish the furnaces and sink the pits?’ Huw offered Glyn his hand. ‘You’ve no idea how glad I am to see you.’

  ‘Spoken like a man who’s missed his fellow countrymen,’ Glyn shook Huw’s hand. ‘My brother Dr Peter Edwards.’

  ‘You’re very pink. First time in a banya?’

  ‘It shows?’ Peter fought nausea.

  ‘I turned bright red on my first visit – before I passed out. Pleased to meet you.’ Huw pumped Peter’s hand. ‘Glyn told me about you. Your services are sorely needed. We’ve had a number of accidents, not just among the builders but in the brickworks. A kiln exploded yesterday. Two men were burned and the best we could come up with was goose-grease salve.’

  Peter didn’t venture an opinion on the efficiency of animal fat as a remedy. ‘I’m pleased to meet you too. May I call you Huw?’

  ‘Certainly, as we’re going to be living in the same house until more are built. Given the builders’ lack of progress that’s likely to take some time. Have you heard about the problems I’ve had with the construction workers, Glyn?’

  ‘Alexei told me.’

  ‘They’ve quietened down but they won’t stay calm.’ Huw filled a tub with warm water and rinsed himself off.

  Glyn sat on a bench. ‘To answer your questions, Huw, no, we didn’t have a good journey, not after Taganrog and not after the rain started. Mr Hughes should reach here
tomorrow morning. Yes, we did bring everything we need to finish the furnaces although I don’t want to think about how many carts of supplies we’ve abandoned in the mud.’

  ‘Praskovia said you’ve brought young people with you.’

  ‘Richard and Anna Parry, distant members of our family,’ Glyn didn’t offer a more detailed explanation. ‘Richard’s a collier and Peter’s wife, Sarah, intends to train Anna as a nurse. We’ve also brought a collier, Alf Mahoney. He’s occupying one of the servants’ rooms in the house.’

  ‘I’ll ask Praskovia if there are any spare rooms that can be furnished. I’ve booked the available accommodation in the hotel but I doubt we’ll get all the workers Mr Hughes has brought in there,’ Huw said. ‘I’ve also had wooden dormitories erected for the colliers until something better can be built.’

  ‘Everyone will have to make do,’ Glyn declared. ‘Mr Hughes asked me to check you’ve made provision for the workers’ arrival. Accommodation, warm food …’

  ‘It’s done. I have spies on the steppe. There are four bedrooms in the main part of the house. If your guests take two and your brother and his wife the third …’

  ‘I told Praskovia to make me up a bed in the alcove off the downstairs study,’ Glyn interrupted. ‘You have an office in town, Peter in the hospital …’

  ‘If the hospital’s ever finished.’

  ‘It’s Peter’s hospital, Huw. He can galvanise the builders.’

  ‘Thank you, brother.’ Peter was still feeling ill but felt he had to say something.

  ‘Meanwhile, I’ll move into the ground floor study and use it as an office and bedroom.’

  ‘You’re renting this place; you should have the largest bedroom, Glyn.’

  ‘After seeing it, I’ll be buying not renting it – if Catherine Ignatova agrees.’

  ‘She spent a fortune on renovations. It had been empty for years. I could move into the hotel.’

  ‘I wouldn’t hear of it, Huw.’ Glyn insisted. ‘By the way, a Cossack Regiment is travelling with Mr Hughes. They have three girls with them.’

  ‘To join Madam Koshka?’

  ‘Koshka from Moscow is here?’

  ‘She turned up a couple of weeks ago. She and a dozen of her girls moved into the hotel but the house she’s building should be ready this week. She paid her Austrian builder treble the going rate to finish it. She could afford to, the money she’s made from the men here. It was those wages that triggered the trouble with our builders. They wanted the same and refused to listen when I told them the company couldn’t afford to pay that much, but we could offer them longer-term contracts. They only backed down when her builder started laying off tradesmen. I’m hoping now her brothel’s nearly finished there’ll be no more grumbles about our rates of pay.’

  ‘Is Koshka staying in Hughesovka?’ Glyn splashed water on his face.

  ‘So she says. She’ll want to see you, Peter. She’s been asking when a doctor’s going to be appointed. She likes her girls medically checked on a weekly basis.’ Huw opened the door to the steam room. ‘You’ve got this temperature about perfect, Glyn.’

  ‘You thought I’d forget? Join you in a couple of minutes.’

  Peter reached for a towel. ‘You know this Madam Koshka?’

  ‘Intimately. Koshka’s “cat” in Russian, The name suits her. She’s sleek, smooth, and sensual. You wouldn’t believe the tricks she knows and has taught her girls, but you can find out for yourself after I introduce you.’

  ‘I’m happily married.’ Peter left the tub, opened the door to the entrance room, and filched a robe from one of the hooks.

  ‘The difference between a Koshka girl and a wife can be likened to the difference between tripe and wine-marinated beefsteak.’ Glyn opened the door of the steam room.

  ‘Not my wife.’ Peter called after him.

  Glyn Edwards’ house, Hughesovka

  September 1870

  ‘Will Alexei’s father hurt him?’ Sarah asked.

  She and Anna were bathing in slipper baths. The indoor bathroom was small, its floor, walls, and stove tiled with blue and white Dutch tiles that gave the place a jaunty air.

  ‘I don’t know, Madam.’ Praskovia folded towels on the stove.

  ‘I’m Sarah. I’ll never get used to madam.’ Sarah finished soaping herself and rinsed out her sponge.

  ‘I’m your servant. You’re the mistress. It wouldn’t do for me to call you by your given name.’

  ‘I’m not your mistress. My brother-in-law is master of the house, not my husband. How about we keep “madam” for when there are guests, and “Sarah” when there’s only family.’

  ‘It would never do, Madam.’

  ‘What difference does it make how we address one another in private?’

  ‘We might forget when people visit. If anyone overhears us it wouldn’t look good for either of us.’ Praskovia offered Sarah a towel. ‘They would say I didn’t know my place and you didn’t know how to put me in it. Will Mr Edwards’ wife be arriving?’

  ‘I’m not sure.’ Sarah stepped out of the bath.

  ‘I hope you won’t call me madam, Praskovia,’ Anna said shyly.

  ‘You are a young lady, so you are “Miss Anna”.’ Praskovia tried to ignore the faded bruises and marks on Anna’s body. The young girl had done her best to conceal them and Praskovia realised she was sensitive about them.

  Encouraged by Praskovia’s friendliness, Anna asked, ‘Why doesn’t Alexei’s father want him to visit us?’

  ‘In Russia nobility do not mix with Mujiks – in English you call them peasants – or Cossacks. Count Beletsky would prefer not to be reminded of the existence of those he regards as “low”, or is it “lowly”? Alexei, unlike the rest of the nobility, makes friends with everyone, whether they live in a palace or a pit.’

  ‘I don’t know him well, but Alexei seems kind.’

  ‘He is, Miss Anna.’ Praskovia took Anna’s robe from the back of the door.

  ‘Cleaning this room will be a lot of bother, between emptying the baths, and mopping the floor,’ Sarah observed. ‘If there’s an outside bath house – what did you call it, Praskovia?’

  ‘Banya, Madam.’

  ‘We should draw up a timetable so we can use it when the men don’t need it.’

  ‘Pyotr – that’s my brother – does the heavy work, Madam. He’ll empty the baths.’

  ‘Six extra people will create a lot of work. You must talk to Mr Edwards about increasing the staff.’

  ‘I intend to, Madam.’

  ‘Thank you for getting the house ready. You’ve made it warm and welcoming.’ Sarah slipped on her robe and waited for Anna to finish drying.

  ‘I enjoy working here, Madam. Dinner will be served as soon as you are dressed.’

  ‘Thank you.’ Sarah handed Praskovia the towel. She left and Anna followed.

  ‘What’s your room like?’ Sarah asked as they walked along the landing.

  ‘Beautiful. Come and see.’

  The wooden floorboards had been stained dark but the effect was lightened by blue and red rugs. The drapes and bedcover were red wool, embroidered with white and blue crewelwork.

  A mahogany table stood next to the window with two matching upright chairs. A vast wardrobe and chest of drawers of the same rich dark wood filled the wall opposite the bed. A cheval mirror and red plush upholstered chaise longue completed the furniture.

  ‘My two dresses are going to look lost in the wardrobe and I only have two sets of underclothes to place in the drawers. But it’s a wonderful room.’

  ‘The first of your own?’ Sarah guessed.

  ‘How did you know?’

  ‘From your expression. I was brought up in a workhouse and went from there to a post as a ward maid in a hospital. I didn’t have a room of my own until I qualified as a nurse and was able to move out of the trainees’ dormitory into a cubicle. I thought it was a palace. Compared to this it was a cupboard. As for clothes, you’ll soon have your hospital unifor
m and you’ll be able to buy more after you’re paid.’ Sarah walked to the stove. Someone had unpacked Anna’s bag and laid her damp clothes on the tiles. ‘Did you do this?’

  ‘No. I just dropped my bag before I went to the bathroom. I didn’t want to drip everywhere.’

  ‘Praskovia’s a treasure.’ Sarah opened the drapes. Stars shone brightly in a moonless sky. ‘If you want me, Peter’s and my room is next door. Richard is on the other side of you. Dress warmly. Stoves have been lit in every room but this country is piercingly cold and it’s not even winter yet.’

  Banya, Glyn Edwards’ house, Hughesovka

  September 1870

  Huw returned to the washing room to find Richard crouched in one of the tubs, washing the mud from his legs. He held out his hand.

  ‘You must be Richard. I’m Huw Thomas, the overseer Mr Hughes left to supervise the building. I’ll be living with you.’

  ‘That will be nice, Mr Thomas.’ Richard had been shocked by the casual attitude of the Edwards brothers to nudity on board ship. Both men had stripped off in the communal bathroom without showing the slightest sign of embarrassment. He’d deliberately hung back in his room that evening in the hope he’d be able to wash in privacy, only to be greeted by a man who held a senior position in the company who thought no more of his state of undress than Dr and Mr Edwards.

  He was accustomed to men unbuttoning and relieving themselves underground, but no collier would dream of undressing to bare skin and parading in front of their fellows the way Huw Thomas and Edwards’ brothers did.

  Huw took an empty tub, dragged it below a brass tap, and turned it on. Cold water bubbled out. ‘I always need to cool down after ten minutes in the steam room.’ He tested the water before climbing into the tub. He lifted a jug from the shelf above the taps, crouched down, sank the jug between his legs, filled it with water, and poured it over his head. ‘Glyn said you’re a collier.’

  ‘I worked for Mr Edward Edwards – Mr Glyn Edwards’ brother – in a drift mine in Merthyr.’

  ‘You must have started work young to be a collier now.’

  ‘I started when I was eight.’ Richard climbed out of his tub and self-consciously turned his back.