Dazzle The Complete Unabridged Trilogy (49 page)

'On the first count,' he intoned in a judicial monotone, his
glasses catching a reflection of light, rendering his expression
strangely blank, 'harbouring a
Nemska,
an enemy of the state
and a suspected spy, you are hereby fined ten thousand
roubles.'

'What!' Senda's mouth popped open.

He ignored her. 'On the second count, buying foodstuffs
from known racketeers and supporting the black market, you
hereby are fined twenty thousand roubles.'

Senda turned to stare at Polenka; her former servant's eyes
gleamed triumphantly.

'It was
she
who did the shopping,' Senda said tightly. 'Why
don't you ask around, and you will discover that these
trumped-up charges should be levelled against her. Not me.'

'And on whose orders did I shop, Mrs. High-and-Mighty?'
Polenka sniffed virtuously.

'Did I tell you where to shop?'

'With all the luxuries you needed, where did you think I
would come up with them? The greengrocer with bare
shelves? The flour mill which hadn't seen a dusting of grain for
the last six months?' Polenka's dark eyes flashed passionately.
'You should have seen the sugar they consumed here! Like it
was going out of style! The cakes! The pastries! The delicacies!
Caviar from—'

Senda turned to the leader of the group. 'You're all mad!' She gave a hollow bark of a laugh. 'Who in
hell
do you think
you are, marching in here and holding some sort of kangaroo
court?"

He drew himself up with self-importance. 'I am Comrade
Padorin, the elected leader of the neighbourhood coalition for
the revolutionary committee,' he said gravely. 'Now, if you
will remain silent for a moment, we will get this over with and
go about our business.'

'By all means,' Senda said, feeling suddenly weary. 'You
are so right. The sooner we get this travesty of justice over with, the better. I, for one, have better things to do with my
time.'

'I advise the accused to hold her tongue, unless she chooses to be charged with contempt,' Comrade Padorin said coldly. 'On the third count, promoting decadence in public theatres
and thereby propagating foreign imperialist propaganda, you
hereby are fined twenty thousand roubles.' He peered at
Senda over his shiny round glasses to see if she had anything
to say in her defence.

But she stared at him silently, and she could swear a look
of disappointment crossed his face.

'On the fourth count, profiting from the misery and
oppression of the people, you hereby are—'

'Oh, for God's sake, spare me the rest of this silly gibberish,'
Senda moaned, throwing her hands into the air in frustration.
'If it's money and valuables you've come to steal, then take
them and get out.'

'As I was saying before you so rudely interrupted me, the
fourth count, profiting from the misery and oppression of the
people, you hereby are fined twenty-five thousand roubles.'

Senda rolled her eyes.

'On the fifth count, consorting with the criminals who until
now have composed the so-called upper classes, you hereby
are fined forty thousand roubles.'

'I suppose,' Senda said dryly, 'that you really believe you
are carrying out justice?'

'By the power invested in me by our local council, yes.'

She took a deep breath. 'What are you,' she asked, a challenging smile flaring in her eyes, 'a law student who failed to
pass his bar examination?'

His face went purple with fury. 'You
cunt!'
he screamed.
His hand flashed as he slapped her again, but this time she
stood her ground; only her head whipped sideways. Even
while her ears were ringing, she turned slowly and smiled tauntingly at him, holding his gaze as she touched her face gingerly, her fingertips coming away sticky with blood. She
had scored a triumph, meagre though it was. Despite the pain, she felt better. Perhaps she had been right about him. She had
certainly hit a raw nerve.

'I do not take my position lightly,' he warned her icily,
trembling to contain his anger. 'I warn you, Comrade Bora,
you had best keep your tongue in check.'

'I am not
Comrade
Bora,' she said coldly. 'I am
Madame
Bora.'

'In Russia, all are now equal. There are no longer any class
distinctions.'

'Oh, really? Then what is your purpose here—simply to
terrorize me?'

He struggled to retain the composure which had deserted
him. 'Are you, Comrade Bora, willing to pay the total fine of
one hundred and five thousand roubles as levied against you
by the revolutionary committee?'

Senda had to laugh. 'As anyone can tell you who has five rifles pointed at him, I'm really in no position to argue.'

'A wise decision, I am sure.'

'However, I don't keep a fraction of that amount here. And,
as you very well know, the banks seem to have declared a
holiday.'

'She has jewels!' Polenka piped up craftily, her eyes glinting with greed. 'Such gorgeous jewels they make your heart ache!
You should see them!' She closed her eyes to envision them,
her thick peasant fingers involuntarily creeping to her throat.
'They rival even the
Nemska's.
Rubies the size of pigeon eggs.
Emeralds set in filigree—'

'That is quite enough, Comrade Petrova,' Padorin admonished Polenka sternly. 'There is no need to get carried away.'

Polenka's hand dropped and she smiled ingratiatingly. 'I
wasn't extolling their virtues, Comrade Padorin. On the contrary, I was merely doing my duty by informing you—'

'You low-down, thieving, conniving, snooping, trashy little
sneak!' Senda hissed at Polenka. 'So
that's
why you were so
anxious to work for me. Just to sniff out what valuables I might
have.'

'I'm not a thief.'

'Oh? Then where is the grocery money you absconded
with?'

'It has been put to good use,' Polenka said quickly, her face
reddening. 'It has fed hungry stomachs.'

'Yours, no doubt, while my daughter's was empty.'

Polenka glared at Senda. 'What does that spoiled child
know about hunger? She's had more than her share of the
good life.'

Senda turned to Dmitri. 'And my horse and carriage? I
haven't seen them for quite some days now. You wouldn't
happen to know where they've disappeared to, would you?'

Dmitri looked away, but Polenka exclaimed triumphantly: 'They have been requisitioned by the revolutionary commit
tee! Everything is now the property of the people!'

'You being the "people", I gather?'

'You bitch,' Polenka spat.

'Enough!' Padorin bellowed, silencing the argument. He
looked at Senda and lowered his voice. 'We will accept the jewels in lieu of the levied fines. Where are they?'

'If you want to steal them so badly, why don't you search for them? Maybe you'll discover they're in a bank vault.'

'They are not!' Polenka shouted. 'She keeps them hidden
in the secret bottom drawer of her dresser. I'll get them.' She
started for Senda's bedroom, but Padorin caught her by the
arm.

'Not so fast,' Padorin told her, nodding at one of his cronies.
'Yevgeni, check out the dresser.'

Polenka glowered as Yevgeni went to see about the jewels.

'What's the matter, Polenka?' Senda asked saccharinely.
'Don't they trust you? Perhaps they know you'd try to pocket
most of them?'

'Shut up!' Polenka snapped. She raised her hand to slap
Senda.

Senda, seeing what was coming, had no desire to suffer yet
another slap. She ducked, adroitly avoiding the blow, and
caught Polenka by the wrist. 'My, my, how brave we are,' she
murmured.

'I told you to shut your fucking mouth!' Polenka screamed,
struggling to writhe out of Senda's grasp.

Senda dug her fingers ever more firmly into Polenka's wrist.
'Your language leaves as much to be desired as your honesty.'

'Bitch!' Polenka spat into Senda's face. Senda, momentarily
nonplussed, loosened her grip and Polenka took advantage of
it, squirming out of her grasp. She thrashed out at Senda with
flailing arms.

Senda stepped backward to avoid the wildly swinging arms, but Polenka, her dark eyes burning, followed her step by stalk
ing step. On impulse, Senda feinted to the right, caught
Polenka unawares, and grasped her by the left arm. She
twisted it around the woman's back and yanked it upward.

Polenka howled with pain, arched her spine, and reached
backward with her right hand, grabbing a fistful of Senda's
hair.

Tears suddenly sprang up in Senda's vision. Her scalp
burned as if on fire. Gasping from the pain, she let Polenka's
arm drop and groped blindly for Polenka's hair, but the serving
girl wouldn't let her get close enough. Arm extended, Polenka
had her like a puppet by the hair, forcing her to move in
whatever direction she jerked.

'Look at Madame High-and-Mighty now!' Polenka crowed
smugly, tugging ever harder at the fistful of copper curls.
'Look at the rich bitch dance!' Suddenly she let out a scream
as Senda grabbed a fistful of her dark hair. 'Let me . . . go!'
Polenka screamed.

'Now who's the bitch?' Senda asked grimly, tightening her
lips.

Polenka stared with wild eyes. 'You are! I mean, I
...
I
mean . . .' Polenka suddenly went limp as Senda let her slip
to the floor. Then Polenka suddenly jumped back to her feet. One foot flashed out and the heavy boot tip caught Senda in
the shin.