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As she stands there, afraid to go forward, a feeling er or desire: she shivers with it

It is wanting to turn and run, to hold on to this terrible truth a little longer, but she knows that running will not help, so she takes a deep breath and walks forward, one step at a time, until she is at her own front door

It opens at her touch and suddenly she is in her hoain, as small and cluttered as it is Never has the broken-down furniture and peeling paint looked so beautiful

And there is her ray hair all but hidden beneath a threadbare kerchief, stirring soht s; worse is the way it fades away and is replaced by sorrow Only one has come home

“Ma at her like a windstor from his hands Anya is beside him in an instant and they throw themselves into Vera’s arms

They sood, so pureLeo’s cheeks are as soft and sweet as ripe pluhtly, unaware that she has begun to shake and to cry

“Don’t cry, Ma her cheek “I still have the butterfly I didn’t break it ”

Vera slowly releases the not to cry as she stares across the kitchen at her mother In that look, Vera feels her childhood leave her at last

“Where’s Aunt Olga?” Leo asks, looking past her

Vera cannot answer She just stands there “Olga is gone,” Maht trea, and that is hoe must think of her ”

“But”

Ma her so hard that neither can breathe There is only silence between them; in that silence,and fluid, and when they pull back and look at each other, Vera understands

They will not speak of Olga again, not for a long ti that can be handled

“You need a bath,” Maes on your hands need changing, so co ”r />

Those first days back in Leningrad seeside other library e up the most valuable books for transport She, who is so low on the roster, finds herself actually holding a first edition of Anna Karenina The pages have an unexpected weight, and she closes her eyes for just a moment In the darkness she sees Anna, dressed in jewels and furs, running across the snow to Count Vronsky