Nyura, Nyur, come here quickly,” Zinaida leaned on the gate, trying to catch her breath.
“Who was chasing you?” laughed Anna, wiping her wet hands on the edge of her apron. “Oh, you didn’t even change, all city-like! What’s happened?” she asked more seriously. “Don’t keep me in suspense!”
“Oh, don’t even ask, Nyurka! I’ll tell you now. But you’d better sit down on the bench, let’s go into the yard, I’ll sit too, my heart nearly stopped. And bring some water if it’s not too much trouble, it’s boiling out here.”
Zinaida pulled a handkerchief from her skirt pocket and wiped her forehead where beads of sweat had formed.
Anna disappeared behind the door and soon returned with a bucket of cold water. Zinaida drank, wiped her mouth, and looked at her neighbor with a strange expression.
“Well, here’s the thing,” Zina slapped her knees, “I’ve brought you some unpleasant news, friend, but don’t kill me. It’s not my fault, but I can’t keep silent.”
“What is it?” Anna began to worry. “Nothing happened to Katyusha, did it?”
She unbuttoned the top button of her robe and pulled at the fabric.
“No,” Zina waved her hand, “I passed on all your treats to Katyusha, she made me tea. Everything’s cozy and pretty in her apartment, she herself is well-kept, she’s ready to be married off!”
“God forbid!” Anna brushed it off, “Let her get her degree first. Married,” she drew out the word. “So why scare me like that if everything’s okay with the child? Are they selling our farm?”
There had been talk since spring that city people wanted to buy the farm to start some construction there, and this scared the locals.
“I don’t know about that, I won’t say,” nodded Zina and continued, “Okay, I won’t torment you, I just don’t know how to tell you.”
“Just say it as it is!” Anna was getting nervous because of Zinaida’s strange behavior.
“Alright, I’ll just say it,” Zina seemed to be trying to hide a smile, and Anna thought she was about to be teased, “You were always afraid that Katyusha would bring you trouble in her skirt, but instead, it’s your husband who brought it!”
“What?” Anna even rose from her seat, “Such jokes you have, Zin, I never thought you capable of this.”
“What jokes,” Zinaida tried to look simple, but she couldn’t, “His mistress came with a boy, about two years old, she’s afraid to come to you.”
“What are you carrying on about? Zin, I’ll hit you with something right now!”
“Why me? Go hit her, if you feel like it, or your Vanya when he returns.”
“Can you explain properly? It’s not April Fool’s, why are you spouting nonsense here?”
“I’m not making it up,” Zinaida snorted offendedly, “I sell what I bought. A woman was on the bus from the city, with a little boy, about thirty years old, beautiful, and slim, dressed decently. I saw – she’s not from here, never seen her before in the village. I sat closer to her. The boy started whining, asked for water, and she didn’t have any, so I gave him my bottle, he drank and fell asleep in her arms. I then asked, who are you visiting in our parts? She then mentions your Vanya’s name and asks if I know him. I thought – maybe his niece Irka changed so much. I asked – Ira, is that you? No, she says, I’m Svetlana. Well, one word led to another, and I got it all out of her. When I said that Ivan wasn’t home, that he went fishing with my husband, they’ll return tomorrow evening, only his wife is home, she burst into tears. She says, I didn’t know he got married. And I told her, — how could he not, he’s been married for many long years, and she, imagine what?! Says, he assured me he was a widower. Imagine that! No shame, no conscience!”
“Zin, you’re spouting nonsense,” Anna folded her arms, rising from the bench, “let me smell your breath!”
“What next,” Zinaida was offended, “you know I don’t.”
“I know, so it all sounds suspicious. I can’t believe a word of it.”
“Well, don’t believe it, ask her yourself. She says, she’s from the area where Ivan goes on his shifts. I showed her your house, but she didn’t dare come in, crying her eyes out, so I offered her to sit with the child in my yard, I ran to scout for you. What should I tell her?”
“Tell her to come, I won’t eat her. We’ll talk, we’ll think. Maybe it’s a mistake.”
“Oh, Nyurka, how naive you are. What mistake could there be if the kid looks like your Vanya,” she said and squinted, “And if it’s true, what will you do? Pull out her hair?”
“What nonsense,” said Anna loudly, then added more quietly, “First we need to figure it out, and then… If it turns out to be true, let Vanya deal with her himself, and I’ll accept any decision he makes.”
“What are you serious? And just let it all go like that?”
“Well, I’m definitely not going to fight, and I won’t cling to a husband if he chooses another. Go, Zina, tell her to come. The child is probably hungry, it must have been a long journey.”
“Well, Nyurka, you amaze me,” said Zina, shaking her head significantly and hurried to the gate.
Anna sat down on the bench under the window and thought. She and Ivan had lived soul to soul for many years. It took a long time for them to have children. Only ten years after the wedding, a child was born. They raised their only daughter, sent her to study in the city, and to avoid dorm life, bought her an apartment. Ivan worked in shifts, Anna managed the household, which was quite large. Many envied their family. Anna’s husband was hardworking, didn’t drink, and was a sociable man! No feast was complete without him. He could play the accordion and sing, although he did not drink alcohol. They were invited to weddings and anniversaries, welcome guests in every home. And Ivan gave her no reason for jealousy. What had happened now? Did Zina tell the truth? Anna wanted to dispel all these thoughts, but they buzzed in her head like pesky flies. Anna married Ivan right after school. He was three years her senior, but he came to her graduation. In the midst of the dance, after midnight, they ran away from the school, and when the graduates went to the river to greet the dawn, Anna and Vanya hid in the hayloft. Anna returned home not herself, and by noon, Ivan came to her house with matchmakers. They had a lavish wedding, the whole village celebrated, and everyone was sure that this couple would live together for a lifetime. They were so well-suited to each other. Anna herself had no doubts that they would be together in hardship and in joy, and they would never deceive each other. She always felt connected to Ivan. When he was on shift, or fishing, she always felt what was happening with him. Once he went to the river alone in winter, couldn’t live without fishing. Anna was cooking lunch when she felt in her heart that her husband urgently needed help. She took the pot off the stove, put on her half-coat, shoved her feet into valenki, and ran. And she was right. The ice around the hole cracked, and Ivan was waist-deep in water, barely holding onto the ice, unable to get out. If not for much longer, Ivan would have been gone. Anna fell onto the ice, crawled to her husband, reached out her hand, and somehow saved him. If he had been unfaithful, she would have felt it right away. No, there must be some mistake.
The creak of the gate pulled her out of her thoughts. Anna stood as if rooted to the spot. Zina was approaching, pushing a young stranger holding a little boy. Anna justly noted that the boy bore no resemblance to her husband, where did Zina even get that idea?
“Well, Nyurochka, meet this is Sve-e-eta,” winked the neighbor and turned to Svetlana, “and this is Anna Vitalievna, Ivan’s wife. As you see, alive and well, and may God grant her many more years to live!”
Svetlana stood with her head bowed low, her cheeks flushed deep red. The little one started to fuss. Svet cleared her throat to speak and said in a hoarse, nervous voice:
“Hello! I’m sorry, I didn’t know anything.”
Anna nodded silently and dryly said:
“Let’s go inside, the child must be hungry.”
Zinaida raised her eyebrows in surprise and gestured, as if to say, are you out of your mind, why invite them inside? She’d have just brought food outside, but Anna, also using gestures, made it clear that she would handle it herself.
Svetlana timidly followed the hostess and, stopping at the threshold, quietly said:
“Please forgive me, I really didn’t know that Vanya was married. But we’ll rest a bit and then go back.”
“Well no, until we resolve the issue with Ivan, you’re not going anywhere. I want to understand how it happened that he ‘buried’ his wife, yet here’s his son.”
“No,” Svet shook her head, “he didn’t abandon Nikitka, he didn’t know about him.”
“How is that possible?” Anna Vitalievna didn’t understand.
“I worked as a shop assistant, Ivan often stopped by, buying something for the whole crew for tea, cigarettes, sometimes beer. That’s how we met. Then he started coming to see me in the evenings, stayed the night. I only knew his first and last name, and the name of the village. So, when he disappeared without a word, I couldn’t even think to look for him. I just thought – he left, and that’s it. Even when I found out about the pregnancy, I didn’t regret anything. I was at an age where I wanted to have a child for myself. But now, when we fell on hard times. Our store closed, I was left without a job, even didn’t have money for firewood and coal, and it’s the most important thing in the north. I struggled for six months, thought about it, and decided that it was time for Vanya to know about his son. Maybe he could help at least. My former classmate – our local police officer, he found Vanya’s address for me and borrowed money for the trip.”
“Well, when Ivan comes back tomorrow, we’ll discuss it.”
Anna silently poured soup into bowls, which had by then warmed up on the stove, and pointed Svet to the bathroom.
“You can wash up there, and then sit down at the table.”
The woman nodded in agreement and, returning with her son from the bathroom, cautiously sat at the table, glancing at Anna, who silently stared out the window, not knowing how she would wait until the next evening. She made up the guests’ bed in Katy’s room, and herself spent the whole night in the kitchen by the window, reflecting and weighing everything she learned about her husband’s life outside the family. Of course, she didn’t want to believe that Ivan was capable of betrayal, but why would Svet lie?
When Ivan returned, Anna went to the gates, burning him with her searing gaze. It was a look of a wife he knew and he hurried to meet her.
“Annushka, what happened? You look like you’ve seen a ghost. Why are you looking at me as if I’m a stranger? Tell me, I see something’s not right.”
“Yes, you see! But why didn’t I see your deceit all these years?! I believed in you so blindly that now I feel disgusted.”
“What happened in two days?” Ivan looked at her anxiously.
“Your mistress came, with a son! Van, weren’t you ashamed to look me in the eyes when you came home from her?”
“What son?” Ivan smirked.
“That one, about whom you still don’t know, but here, come and meet her.”
“Some joke, huh, An’? I don’t understand anything.”
“You will understand now, when you meet with your Svet.”
“With what Svet?” Ivan was surprised, and Anna’s heart squeezed. Perhaps it was all a mistake after all.
Entering the house, Ivan hesitated and looked at Anna questioningly.
“Who is this?” he asked in a whisper, and Anna arched an eyebrow.
“Sveta! And your son with her!”
Svetlana also looked at Ivan as if seeing him for the first time, nodding timidly in greeting.
“Why don’t you even hug each other?” Anna said with irony, as the pause stretched on.
“Anya, what are you, really?! I don’t know this woman.”
Svetlana finally stirred.
“And this…”
“What, Svet, don’t you recognize Ivan? Has he changed so much in such a short time?”
“So this… This is not Ivan,” said Svetlana, and her cheeks turned crimson again.
“Then who is it, if not Ivan?” asked Anna, as joyful sparks of “a mistake has happened” flickered in the back of her mind.
“Well, I don’t know this man, this is not my Ivan, although, I saw him, perhaps, twice in the village store,” she said with some relief, hoping her Ivan would turn out to be free of marital ties.
“How did this happen?” Anna asked, speaking to no one in particular, as if into the void.
“I don’t know.” Svet shrugged, “maybe there’s another Ivan Nikishin in your village who works in shifts.”
“No, I’m the only one here,” said Ivan and added, “but who also works in shifts, we know well and, it seems, I’m starting to understand who tried to cover his sins with my name.”
“Who?” Anna asked and answered her own question, “Kolya?!”
“Kolya, Kolya!” nodded Ivan, “and I always wondered where he roamed at night, and yet he was silent as a partisan!”
“Kolya?” Svetlana asked, puzzled.
“Kolya,” confirmed Anna, “the husband of that same woman, Zina, who brought you and Nikita to me.”
Svet sat down on a chair and buried her face in her hands.
“What should I do now? Why did he do that?”
“It’s better to ask him,” said Ivan, “I’ll go get him, let him explain why he hid under a false name. Though, it’s clear why, knowing his Zinaida!”
But before Ivan could leave, there was a knock at the door, and without waiting for a response, Nikolay literally burst into the house. Svet stood up.
“Ivan? Or is it actually Nikolay?” she asked, “But in any case, now I see it’s you.”
“I swear to God,” Nikolay began, looking around at the door, “My old lady told me everything, and she might come running after me, so please don’t give me away. Svetlana, here, I’ll give you some money, go back, buy some firewood, there’s a lot here, it’ll last you a long time, and when I come back from the shift, I’ll come to you and your son and we’ll discuss everything. Just, Zinka doesn’t need to know everything, I beg you.”
“Kol, do you think that’s normal?” Anya raised her voice, “The whole village is laughing at us, and your Zinaida acts like a queen.”
“I promise, everyone will know everything, but not now, please. I know I’m a scoundrel, but you know Zinka. How could one not stray from her? When I realized that I couldn’t marry Svet, only maim her fate if I didn’t cut off all relations right from the start, I just decided to disappear from her life. But now that I know about the son, I promise to fix everything, just give me a little time.”
He handed Svet an envelope with money and asked her to leave the village by the next bus. He fled as quickly as he had come here.
“I apologize again for causing you so much trouble,” Svet spoke up, “when’s the next bus to the city?”
“In an hour,” Anna replied, “the last one. So you’ll still have time for dinner.”
“Thank you so much, Anna Vitalievna, for taking me in so kindly, thinking I was your husband’s mistress, your patience is enviable, I will definitely try to take an example from you.”
“I’m not used to simply, without figuring things out, cutting off from the shoulder. And even if it turned out to be true, could I change anything? No. Then why all this strife, nerves should be spared.”
“That’s true,” Svetlana agreed.
After dinner, Anna put some pies in a bag and gave them to Svet for the road. She and Ivan went to see her and Nikitka off to the bus, and when they returned home, Anna held her husband’s arm.
“Look at that!” Zina came out of her yard, “she helped his mistress leave, and holds his hand. Nyurka, you are blessed, no other way. And you, aren’t you ashamed?” she turned to Ivan, “not even a blink of an eye! No, men should be kept in hedgehog gloves! Otherwise, they get into all sorts of mischief.”
“Zinulya, judge not, lest you be judged,” Anna said calmly, and they turned into their alley.
“Vanya, I’ve wanted to say this for a long time, and now the occasion has arisen,” Anna cautiously started the conversation, “maybe it’s time for you to stop going on shifts. We bought the apartment for our daughter, we can live off our own farm, especially, it’s not so easy for me to cope with everything when you’re away.”
“I’ve thought about that more than once. I’ll go on one last shift, then I’ll quit.”
Having returned from his last shift, Ivan told that Kolya kept his word. He stayed with Svet and his son, and as it seemed to Ivan, Kolya looked happy, which he never was with Zina. Nikolay did not want to get caught by his hot-tempered wife, so he told her everything over the phone, and filed for divorce online, they had no children, and he left all the property to Zina. Having learned the whole truth about Svetlana, Zina stopped even greeting Anna, as if she were to blame. And about Svet, she spread rumors around the village that she was ugly and unkempt, and after all, how could Kolya have looked at her! She’ll run back from such a woman, it can’t be otherwise.
“Vanya, were there many women at your work?” Anna dared to ask for the first time.
“Why are you asking that?” Ivan looked at her with some offense, “are you really going to start being jealous of me after the neighbor’s incident? Drop it! I never noticed anyone else. Why? When I had everything I needed at home. And didn’t you see, when I returned, how I missed you?!”
Anna smiled. Once again, her heart felt light and peaceful. No, Vanya was not like that, she had nothing to worry about, her heart couldn’t be deceived, and it was sure – they were two halves of one big and pure love, which never ends.