Between Shades of Gray

By early November, Elena’s good spirits have faltered. Lina worries about her, and at night thinks about Andrius, wishing he would find them. Another storm is coming, and Ivanov tells them they won’t be getting a bread ration because they won’t be working during the storm. Lina steals wood from the NKVD barracks, and during one of her pilfering trips, she sees her mother talking with Ivanov and Kretzsky. She sees Ivanov lean in close to her mother’s face and then motion with his hand to his temple as if firing a gun. He laughs and walks away while Elena and Kretzsky stand motionless, him with his hand on her shoulder. He says something to her and she collapses, Kretzsky trying to catch her. Lina runs screaming toward them, calling for her mother. She grabs Elena and they fall together. As she holds her mother, Kretzsky tells Lina that her father was shot in Krasnoyarsk Prison. He tries to help Elena but Lina screams at him to go away, that she hates him. His response is “Me, too” (294).

Lina tries to drag her mother back to the jurta through the strengthening snowstorm. She calls for help and Mrs. Rimas and Jonas appear to help Elena back to the hut. Jonas is terrified and wants to know what’s wrong.