Free Riding Icarus by Lily Hyde Page A

hand to show she couldn’t say anything else. Masha realized it was better to hug than to ask questions just now.
    At last her mother wiped her eyes and sat back on her heels. “How ever did you find me, you clever girl?” she asked anxiously.
    “Nechipor brought me. He’s still by the river, catching a big fish for tea. I can call him—”
    “No! Don’t do that,” Mama said with such terrified haste that Masha was startled. “Nechipor? What a funny old-fashioned name. Who is he? How do you know him?”
    “He’s a Cossack, a real one, with a topknot and everything. I met him on the night—” Masha stopped. This was going to be hard to explain. “Somewhere along by the river,” she finished lamely. “I saw him dancing – it was brilliant.”
    “A Cossack? How did he know I was here?”
    “He didn’t know.
I
didn’t know. Why
are
you here?”
    Mama spoke over her. “Is he a good friend?”
    Masha considered. “I think so. He grows melons on an allotment. He brought me home when I got lost, and he helped call an ambulance to take Granny to hospital.”
    “
To hospital?
What’s happened to her?”
    “It was the night of the storm,” Masha explained. “She fell when… She’s in hospital but she says there’s nothing wrong with her except some witchcraft, and she wants to leave but they won’t let her.”
    “So who’s looking after you?”
    “I’m staying with Gena and Ira.”
    “I can see I have a lot to catch up with,” Mama said rather dazedly. “Is Granny really all right?”
    “She said so. Why haven’t you come to see me, Mama?”
    Her mother took her hands and looked at her so seriously that Masha felt scared.
    “Masha, it’s hard for me to explain but you must listen carefully. It’s a very big secret that I’m here. I so much wanted to come back to you but I couldn’t and I still can’t.” She gave Masha’s hands a tight squeeze. “I’m so sorry, but you must carry on living with Gena and Ira a little longer, and you must tell no one, absolutely
no one
, that I’m here. Not even Gena. Not even Granny.”
    “Why not?” Masha couldn’t believe what she was hearing. It sounded like something out of an adventure story. “Is someone chasing you?”
    After a pause, her mother sighed. “Yes.”
    Masha stared. “Who? Someone from Turkey? Why are they after you?”
    “Mashenka, I can’t tell you any more.”
    Masha felt suddenly angry. “Why not?”
    “Maybe later.”
    “Later?” That sounded familiar. Tell you later, tell you when you’re older, that’s what grown-ups always said. “Why won’t you tell me now? You thought I was old enough for you to go away to Turkey and leave me all on my own!” she shouted. “That’s not fair!” She started crying, and her mother, sniffing herself, enfolded her in another huge hug.
    “I can’t tell anyone,” she said. “Not even the police. All I can tell you is that I’ve run away from Turkey, but very bad people in Ukraine are looking for me.”
    A dreadful certainty possessed Masha’s mind. “Is Uncle Igor one of them?”
    Masha’s mother put her hand over her mouth. “Yes, he is,” she said at last. “Has he asked you where I am?”
    Masha nodded. “I won’t tell him anything, though. Not a thing. He’s horrible. He wants me to go and live with him, Mama,” she added. “But now you’re home I won’t have to, will I?”
    “He wants…” Her mother looked stunned. “He can’t do that. He can’t take you away from me.”
    “Of course he can’t.” Masha felt quite sanguine about Uncle Igor now that her mother was here, even if she was behaving so oddly.
    “Does he want to use you against me?” Mama whispered. “Of course! He thinks if he’s got you then I can never tell the truth about what happened…”
    “Mama?” Masha shook her knee. “Mama! What are you talking about?”
    Her mother seemed to come out of a horrified daze. “Nothing. I’ve been on my own for so long, Masha, I’ve got