“No, nothing. But I knew you and Stepan would be doing all you could, and that comforted me.”

Maria tried to respond, but fresh tears came. She leaned her cheek against his so their tears mingled. “I missed you so much. I never stopped missing you,” she whispered.

“Me too,” he replied. “The only thing that kept me alive was picturing the day I would see you again. And now it’s here, it’s more magical than I could ever have imagined.”

* * *

It was too cold to sit outside for long, so they walked slowly back to the palace. Ludmilla came rushing over to introduce herself and flung her arms around Peter in tearful greeting.

“Why is everyone crying?” Anna asked.

“Because we’re happy,” Ludmilla told her.

“That’s silly,” Anna said with a frown, and the adults laughed.

They set off back to the flat together.

“You’re limping. What happened?” Peter asked Maria, gripping her arm.

Stepan answered for her. “When Mama broke her leg during the siege, she set it herself using a table leg.”

“You did what?”

She shrugged. “What else could I do? Anyway, it worked.”

She didn’t want to talk of that. She kept thinking of questions she wanted to ask Peter, things she wanted to tell him.

“I suppose Irina told you she is getting married soon,” she said.

“I look forward to being at the wedding,” he replied, smiling at his daughter.

Maria continued. “Did you see Yelena this morning? She works in a clothes shop; she’s crazy about fashion. And Mikhail is a carpenter.”

“No one has mentioned Katya, and Irina was vague when I asked,” Peter said. “Where does she live now?”

The group fell silent. Maria hesitated before replying. “She went missing after I sent her and Mikhail across the Ice Road during the war,” she told him. “I have been searching for years. I’m sure she will find us. It’s only a matter of time.”

Peter turned to Stepan, and Maria saw a look pass between them that she chose to ignore.

“After all,” she continued, “you found us, so it proves miracles do happen.” She squeezed his hand hard, willing him not to ask any more.

“Tell Papa how you helped all those people whose family members had been arrested by the NKVD,” Stepan said, pride in his tone.

“It was nothing.” She addressed Peter. “I got to know an officer who was friendlier than most and he helped me track down prisoners who had disappeared in the system, so I could tell their families. He was the one who told me you were buried in Preobrazhenskoe.” She shook her head. “I suppose that’s what it says in the records.”