Page 63 of Tiger's Trek
“Fine. In we go, then build him a fire, and back out. Agreed?”
“Agreed.”
The door opened as they carried him into the house, and a blazing fire sprang to life in the hearth. Nik tried to mumble a, “Spasibo, Mama,” but his lips just knocked together along with his teeth.
Andrey ran from the nursery with a change of clothing for him, which was, of course, provided by Mama, and the two men helped him into them. As Nik thawed by the fire, sipping a warm mug of sbiten that had appeared at the hearth, the greedy men grabbed the bag he’d scrounged from the well and headed to the front door, which slammed and locked of its own accord.
“Rotten luck, that,” said Andrey.
“Don’t think it’s the bad one though,” replied Eldar. “Calm yourself, Prababushka,” he said loudly. “We’ll help the boy.”
“Yeah. We’ll keep an eye out.”
They sat down and started sifting through what Nik had found at the bottom of the well, discarding most of it as rubbish. The two men jumped nervously every time they heard a noise.
When Nik was sufficiently warm, he slid closer to the table, examining the pile of items they were keeping, which included a few coins, an earring, and some metal pieces they might be able to reuse. None of the things they’d collected looked like a key. Then one of them set aside a matryoshka nesting doll.
“What’s that?” Nik asked.
“A child’s toy,” Eldar said.
“May I see it?”
Eldar pushed the muck-covered doll over to Nik and continued pawing through his pile.
Picking up a cloth and dipping it in hot water, Nikolai cleaned the doll’s face and uncovered a sweet-faced grandmother wearing a dress bright with the same purple-and-cream tones that he’d uncovered in the kitchen. Her bow mouth and cheeks were pink, and her bright eyes were rimmed with lashes. “Hello, Mama,” Nik said softly.
Carefully, he opened the nesting doll and found another woman. This one had white hair, not gray like Mama’s. Her dress was blue. The next one was a redhead who looked a lot like Stacia. Then a blond who reminded him of Veru. The last was a child.
Nik twisted the tiny doll, trying to open it.
“It’s likely the last one. Most of them have five.”
“Some have more,” Andrey said. “My mama had one with ten.”
Ignoring them, Nik kept at it. Finally, it gave. Inside wasn’t a doll but a tiny silver key.
“Hey, fellas?” Nik said, holding up the key. “I think I found it.”
“Now look,” said Eldar. “Before you go getting any ideas. Anything in this house, including that there tin box, belongs to me. It’s my rightful inheritance, see?”
“That’s right,” Andrey said. “Belongs to him.”
Nik raised his hand with the key between his fingers. “That’s fine with me. If you two want it all, you can have it. I won’t fight you for it. You’d clearly win. I mean, it’s two against one. Now, if you were to go up against me in cards, that’s a different story. No one can beat me at that. Cards are my game. Ialwayswin.”
“That so?” Eldar said.
“Yep,” replied Nik. “It’s just a gift. I was born with it, I think.”
“Okay. Tell you what—let’s play to see who gets to open the tin. Now, it’s just to open it, mind. Don’t mean you win the contents.”
“Sounds fair to me. Though I might want to raise the stakes a bit. Say, if I win, I get to live.”
Andrey looked at Eldar and shrugged. “Seems fair enough. Boy almost did die to bring us the key.”
“Yeah, all right. But we get to deal.”
“Only if I get to cut the cards.”
