Read Online One Crow Alone by S. D. Crockett - Free Book Online

here, you foolish girl.”
    â€œYou came to take my money?”
    A smile cracked across Ivan’s face in the shadowy doorway. He reached out and pulled Magda toward him. His hands were strong.
    Maybe he is going to steal the money —
    But Ivan Rublev leaned close and tried to kiss her.
    â€œGet off!” Magda pushed him away.
    He held her at arm’s length, laughing.
    Magda kicked at him.
    â€œHey, little horse thief. Have mercy!”
    Magda snorted. Her face flushed. Still tight in his grip.
    â€œDon’t call me that again! Let me go!”
    â€œListen. I’ve found a way for us to get to England. Maybe.”
    â€œEngland?” Magda stopped kicking at him and he let her go.
    â€œYes. That’s where you want to go, isn’t it? Find your mother?”
    â€œHow?”
    â€œThere are people. We pay them. They find a way.”
    â€œBut half of the money is Bogdan Stopko’s.”
    â€œYou’re going to give half of the money to that square-headed oaf?”
    â€œIt was his pony. I promised him.”
    â€œHis pony! He left it to starve. If you hadn’t taken it, he would never have thought about it again.”
    â€œBut I promised him.”
    Ivan grabbed her shoulder. “Listen.” She tried to pull away. “Do you really think Stopko will even give you half? Hmm?”
    â€œI—I—”
    â€œThe first night he will buy a woman—”
    â€œHow can you say such things?”
    â€œâ€”The first night he will buy a woman and a bottle of vodka—and in the morning they will all be gone. The woman, the vodka, and the money.”
    â€œBut isn’t it better to do what’s right?”
    â€œFine. Take your money. Give it to Stopko. And then you can start praying. You’ll need your prayers then!”
    Magda looked at her feet. She thought of Babula safe in her grave. Of her mother.
    â€œBut why do you want to go to England, Ivan? What is there for you?”
    â€œA job. I will get paid. Either you come with me or you don’t. Your choice.”
    â€œAnd the money?” She clasped at her pocket.
    â€œYou still think I’ll steal it? I told you before. I gave you my word in the forest.”
    â€œBut you took half my food.”
    â€œOnly half, Magda. Remember that.”
    The bundled zloty were burning a hole against her breast. Was this the right thing?
    A police van trundled into sight at the end of the street. Ivan pulled her back into the shadows, his arm warm around her chest.
    She thought about Stopko, happy to leave her in Nova Huta. Of his pony, left in the barn. Of its blood on the snow. And the dog. Stopko hadn’t even asked about his dog.
    The crow was not really a crow, Magda —Babula tapping a finger on the side of her nose— but only the girl could see a light behind those beady eyes.
    â€œYes, Ivan,” Magda said, turning her head against him and looking up. “I will go to England with you.”

 
    10
    There was a small pile of handguns on a low table. Three dark-haired men slouched on a sofa. One of them played with his mobile phone. The other two sat bored, fiddling with the large gold rings on their fingers, shoeless feet stretched out on the patterned carpet. In the corner a music video played silently on a television. Girls gyrated on the screen. The room was thick with cigarette smoke. Coming up through the floor was the boom boom of music from a club downstairs.
    Comfortably filling a heavy armchair was a fat man with dark stubble on his cheeks, a large belly stretching the seams of his immaculate suit.
    The man stood up, smiling, opened his arms. “ Parev, Ivan! Kak ti? ” He had a big voice, and his confident smile flashed a row of gold fillings.
    Sitting on the arm of the chair, a thin blond girl picked at her fingernails. The fat man waved at her. “Tanya—” She got up with a blank face and left the room. “Ivan. So. What