"Ma'am, this is your share."
The man in a miner's cap and leather gloves spoke with a voice like heavenly music as he placed the bread, fragrant with wheat, into the paper bag in her arms.
"Th-thank you."
The man gave her a warm smile. "You're welcome. This is what you deserve."
Anna had to admit that he was the most handsome man she had ever seen. Even with his face smeared in soot, it could not conceal the dashing features between his brows.
She hurried away from the line and glanced at the spot by the wall where Luginichina had been lying, only to find that she was already gone. After asking passersby, she learned that Lady Natasha had revived her.
She could not help looking back at Lady Natasha, who was still handing out bread. Addressing the people around her in a gentle voice, she said, "We are a group that stands up for the poor. Anyone in need may come to us. We are here so that you will no longer be bullied."
"There really is a group like this."
Like a blade of grass receiving for the first time the faint rays of light filtering through the gaps in a towering tree's branches, Anna's heart felt warm. Even February's cold wind no longer seemed to cut so deeply into her bones.
But then she began to worry about these kind people. The Tsar's military police would never let them go.
"May the Holy Mother bless them."
She hugged the bag tightly against her chest and hurried home in quick, short steps.
The battered wooden door creaked beneath the wind.
Anna pushed it open and cried happily, "Mother, Martha, I got bread! More than three pounds, and a kind officer even gave me a stack of rubles.