Page 93 of Pioneer Summer

“That’s not important right now. Go to the first aid station, you need the doctor to certify that you—”

“We’re going together!” Yurka repeated, interrupting him. “There are some bushes by the first aid station—”

“Yur, this isn’t the time! What if Masha tells on us? I can’t leave! Maybe she won’t say anything if I’m there. And if she does, then at least there’s a chance I can make something up right on the spot. Go by yourself, please. Don’t pour more oil on the flame, you’ll just make it worse.”

In the end, Yurka didn’t do any more pouring. He resisted a bit longer, but eventually gave in.

At the first aid station, he described everything as they had agreed he would: he said he’d evidently gone into hysterics because of the show and yelled at Masha.

He was indeed called onto the carpet. There, too, Yurka recited everything as per the story Volodya had invented. Nobody asked him any strange, unnecessary, or personal questions. Everyone looked at him with sympathy. Not even Olga Leonidovna got angry. In fact, she was the one people got angry at: she shouldn’t have given children such a heavy burden. In the waiting room, Yurka found out that Volodya and Ira had also been called in. And that later Masha had been invited in, too, of course. But it looked like management wasn’t going to make a big stink about it. And that was good, because it meant Masha hadn’t told on them. Yet.

There was one more piece of evidence that nobody knew anything about what had happened. This proof was provided by the Pukes.

As soon as Yurka appeared on the movie theater porch after his session on the carpet, Ksyusha beckoned him over, calling, “Yur! Yurchik! Come here!”

Yurka shot her a dark look and shook his head. But Ksyusha, and then Ulyana and Polina along with her, got up and ran over to him. They grabbed him by the elbows and led him off to a corner of the theater next to the stage.

“What’s going on between you two?” whispered Ksyusha.

“Something’s going on between you two!” said Ulyana, nodding.

Polina just stared at him silently, her eyes burning with curiosity.

“I don’t want to talk about it. It’s private.”

“Oh, come on, we’re going to find out about it anyway,” said Ulyana, trying to persuade him.

“It was Masha. She got up to something, didn’t she?” asked Ksyusha.

Polina was nodding encouragingly.

“We just had a fight, that’s all,” said Yurka dismissively. “Nothing special.”

“Because of the piano?” Ksyusha narrowed her eyes speculatively.

“Oh, well, that’s boring, then,” sighed Ulyana.

“But tomorrow’s the last day, Yura!” Polina burst out unexpectedly. “Make up with her! You have to make up with her! Tomorrow is it! Then it’s get on the bus and go back home. Don’t part on that note.”

“And speaking of notes, tomorrow you have to play music together!” said Ulyana, backing Polina up.

“Not together. We take turns playing. And just one time,” explained Yurka, irritated. “As if you didn’t already know that.”

“Yur, speaking of music,” said Ulyana excitedly, “can you play something fromAthena and Venture? Just real quick, before rehearsal starts?”

“No. I don’t know anything from that.”

“A pop song, then? What about, say, ‘The Last Time’ from the Jolly Fellows album? I really want to sing! Play something, won’t you? Please! Come on ...” She started humming and danced a few steps.

“Sorry, Ul. Not in the mood. Some other time, okay? Or ... hey, look, Mitka’s here.” Yurka turned around and caught Mitka’s jealous stare. “Ask him. He’ll bang out whatever you want on that guitar.”

Yurka ran over to Volodya after extricating himself from the Pukes. Volodya had come back to the movie theater while Yurka was talking with the girls and was sitting in the audience, in the middle of the first row.

While he was still walking, Yurka asked, “Did she blab about us?”

“She didn’t say anything like that in front of me.”

“But when she was with the director?”

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