Woman in Chains Ch. 04

"Yes. Just exactly," Wakeman said. "We must write now, because it is time."

"And 'he is waiting for you'; didn't she say that too?"

"Yes, yes..."

Podgolskiv looked at the two scientists and smiled.

"Did either of them mention the sonata?" Wakeman asked.

"The Starlight Sonata?" Somerfield seemed almost mesmerized at the thought.

"Yes, yes," Podgolskiv said, now both irritated and amused. "But that is not so important. Now we must jump ahead a few years. To Siberia. To the school, the music school. As I said, Lev was always the more talented of us, but I think only he knew that in the beginning. Everything was always so clear to him, came so easily to him. Our teachers adored him; soon all the musicians felt a special bond with him. There were many musicians in Siberia, but I don't suppose they teach that in school these days. Not any more. Artists tend to be somewhat radical in their worldview, and brilliant musicians by the score found themselves playing for the most unusual orchestras. Prison orchestras, by and large, but very good; as good as any in the world.

"One day two new students 'joined' our school, and I hope you will appreciate the full irony of the word I use. 'Joined' is hardly a term I would choose, but nothing else seems to fit. Two girls. Sisters. Twin sisters. Their parents were very radical, great troublemakers for the regime, but very famous. It was about the time of the trouble in Cuba, with the missiles and Kennedy.

'The girls were identical twins, unlike Lev and I. They were almost impossible to tell apart. They kept to themselves at first, but like everyone else both soon fell in love with my brother. It was Tina, Valentina Lenova, who first mentioned to him that he would one day write a great symphony. And here I trust you will bear with me a while longer, for she told him that she had dreamed long ago of meeting him, of working with him on this music...

"What music?" Lev asked her.

"The Starlight Sonata." Tina said. "It will be your masterpiece."

"Wait a minute, wait a minute!" Wakeman said, clearly exasperated. "Are you saying that this girl, this young girl, was the girl from Leonard -- uh -- Lev's dream?"

"Oh, yes. That should be obvious."

"Then how does Tomlinson fit into all this?" Somerfield asked, clearly shaken. "Is she old enough to be one of the girls?"

"No, no," the old man said. His eyes were really bothering him now, and he seemed very tired to Wakeman. "It is not possible that it is her, but..." Podgolskiv's voice trailed off.

"But what?" Wakeman said. "You acted like you recognized something in there tonight. Did you? What did you see?"

"It was her eyes, you see," Podgolskiv said. "Something in her eyes. I have seen it before. I recognized it..."

"Who, what? Valentina?"

"No, no. Not Tina."

"Then who?"

"Well, you see, that is the trouble. We knew the girls for a few years, and in time Lev and Tina became very close. Sara, her sister, well, in time she and I became close. But... I do not know what the truth here is. I can only tell you what I saw tonight. I saw in Mrs Tomlinson something I never expected to see again. I saw my Sara's eyes, and in her eyes I saw Tina's. Like the one's was reflected in the others. It was like they were reaching out for one another, trying to touch one another. All inside Mrs Tomlinson's eyes."

"You said there was no way that Tracy could be either one of these girls you knew," Wakeman said. "But isn't it possible that they immigrated? Maybe they came to America, maybe you didn't know..."

"No, Dr Wakeman, it is not possible."

"But how can you be so sure?"

"Perhaps because the authorities loved my brother so -- we escaped the same fate. I do not know. But the girls' parents did not grow quiet; they became anarchists, really. Quite violent. To teach all the musicians a lesson one day they took the girls mother and father and shot them in the head before all of us. Then they punched holes in the ice, the ice that covered the lake. They took the girls out there and dumped them in."

"Oh my God," Somerfield said.

"Perhaps he was there that day, Miss Somerfield, but I doubt it. You see, whoever was there that day had a vile sense of the ironic. Before the girls were drowned, you understand, their bodies were wrapped in chain."

Wakeman felt an icy hand grip his heart; he shivered, turned away.

Somerfield began to cry.

"So there you have it," Podgolskiv said. "Once upon a time we, my brother and I, we loved, and that love was taken away, ripped from our arms, and all we could do was watch as it disappeared beneath the water."

"But tonight? What..."

"Tonight, Dr Wakeman? Tonight? Why, isn't it obvious? Remember what I said about what is real, and what is the truth? Tonight they came back, Dr Wakeman. Tina and Sara have returned. Now you tell me what is real, and what is true, and then we will go have a nice laugh together."

*

So ends Part One of The Starlight Sonata

Part Two begins with "The Stones of Years"