She reappeared two days later.

I was really glad to see her, even though she had only a small backpack with her, which meant only a meager amount of food.

"Can you walk now?" She asked instead of greeting. For the past two days, I had only moved from my bed when I had to, and I had only gone as far as necessary.

"Depends for what reason."

She was dressed like the last time, only instead of a cap she had a headdress. Black. And maybe different clothes under the jacket, but I didn't see that.

"I killed a doe. I don't want to pull her up though, I would get dirty."

That was a good reason.

I carried the doe to the camp, and when I threw it off my shoulders, I was sweating like a horse and my legs were shaking.

I sniffed the animal first. It was healthy, I didn't feel any disease or parasites. With a knife she handed me, a practical victorinox, a forest model, I began to cut thin slices of muscle and slowly chew them.

"It's not raining anymore, but it's still foggy, you can start a fire," she pointed out.

I didn't want to explain to her that raw meat was what I needed most right now, so I just obediently set fire to the prepared pile of birch bark. Not long after, I put the first pieces of meat on the pan and stabbed the best pieces on the raw rods.

"I'd say you can't stay here any longer. It is too close to the hiking trails and the forecast promises good weather, in addition to the upcoming holidays. There will be a lot of tourists here."

This was the disadvantage of civilized countries in the middle of Europe. She handed me a map.

"I've marked a few places that are more deserted, mostly nature reserves, where people are not allowed."

"I'll move," I agreed. "But I won't stay in the woods, I'll find a hotel."

"You will take a risk. We still have no idea who is after you."

"Here we are in the hills, to get from one valley to another, you often have to travel many tens of kilometers," I explained. "You can cross the ridges only on few paths, and the roads are lousy at best."

That's how I remembered it from my youth.

"It's tucked here, and at the same time there will be no shortage of tourists," I showed on a map a small town in a valley near the river.

"If you think so," she said doubtfully. "I suppose you know it better here than I do."

Thirty years ago, she would have been right, today I wasn't so sure.

"Did they contact you?" I asked.

"By phone again," she nodded. "I told them I knew nothing. I was ordered to wait until they sent me home."

"Number?" I wanted to know.

I assumed it would be a cell phone.

She handed me a card with a printed nine-digit number.

"It's a recently vacated house, no one lives there now, but everything is paid till the end of the year. Until recently, the car service Kolonov and son was located there."

"They were people from my pack," I admitted.

"They said they didn't pay and ran away from the executor," she added.

"By asking questions, you take the risk of them becoming interested in you," I warned her.

"I know, I'm not stupid, not that much."

I didn't say anything about that. I have had enough of raw meat and I was looking forward to the first roast. She reached out, I returned the knife to her, and she cut the strip of raw meat for herself without thinking.

She was actually a vampire, I reminded myself. She liked animal blood, but she needed human blood from time to time.

After a moment, she wiped her lips carefully, cleaned the knife, and placed it on the stone in front of her.

"I'll wait for the roast too," she said.

In the misty dim light of the day, her hair took on the soft color of the flames.

"My name is Geoffrey Robertson," I introduced myself. "Or rather, it's my identity, which I'm used to."

"And what should I call you?"

She didn't smile at the question, even though I wanted her to.

"It is up to you. Geoffrey, Lieutenant Robertson," I shrugged. "Or maybe just lieutenant," I finished more abruptly than I had intended.

The meat on the rods already looked ready, I handed her the first and began to chew the liver on the second. I pulled it out of the flames just in time, the wood was dry and would soon burn.

"Agnieszka Katarzyna Broniowska," she introduced herself. "Call me Agnieszka," she smiled this time, as if to thin the wall I had built between us.

We ate in silence, I prepared more and more meat. When I finished, there was not much left of the doe and it was dark outside.

"Do you have a plan?" She asked.

"I have to find Evelyn. She was the one who asked me for help, it's quite possible that she ran away before it hit others. She was always careful."

"Is Evelyn one of you?"

I nodded.

"So you left forty years ago, and now she turns to you for help?"

There was more to the question.

"Probably no one else was left," I said obviously.

"And also, forty years ago, we knew each other very well," I added.

"I understand it better now," she nodded with an expression I didn't understand.

"Why are you so interested?" I asked.

"To know how things stand."

I let it be.

"And where do you think Evelyn is now?" She suggested after a moment. "Maybe I could help you find her."

At first I wanted to refuse, but then I changed my mind. Time is of the essence here and I will not be able to do anything but walk carefully for another week. In addition, I had to come up with a new cover, a new base. I also had to take care of the weapons which are hopefully on the way.

"Certainly not here," I replied. "Apart from being careful, she's very timid, a scaredy cat you might say. But she certainly didn't go far, I mean abroad. She will choose a big city in Ukraine. Kiev, Kharkiv, Odessa," I estimated.

She thought about it for a moment. I moved the last two pieces of meat closer to the receding flames.

"And what will she do in a city? Does she have financial resources? Will she have to work?”

Few of us were wealthy, we were not very good at making money, not like it interested us that much anyway.

"She will earn money. Somewhere in a nightclub. A pole dancer, a very expensive girl who can satisfy non-traditional tastes," I guessed.

Agnieszka raised an eyebrow in surprise.

"Remember, I know her well, I know what she's like, what she likes."

She nodded and thankfully didn't comment.

"But at her age? You said you left about forty years ago."

"And I look like sixty-five?" now it was my turn to raise an eyebrow. "Our lifespan can go beyond two hundred years, and we do not show any signs of aging until the very end. If she takes care of herself, she might even look younger and more attractive than you.”

She suddenly looked upset. Jesus, why?

"You should head back," I reminded her. "But it's already dark."

"Night is my element," she reminded me abruptly, and she rose gracefully from her cross-legged sitting position. Almost arrogantly so.

"How should I contact you?" I shouted at her back.

"I'll find you myself," she snapped.

For God's sake, she was really upset. A woman as a partner is always a problem.

 

* * *

 

Over the next day, I ate everything I had left. But I didn't have to leave because of the food - a badger came to sniff what was left of my meals, and I would have no problem killing him - but I heard human voices nearby. These forests were simply not deep enough for one to hide in for long periods of time.

I spent another dry night in my shelter, and in the morning I set out on a very painful journey. The mountains weren't high, someone might even call them hills, but in my condition I felt challenged. I didn't need anyone to see me, so I avoided people, which meant I had to cross the next valley only after dark, because like all the other valleys here, it too had a fairly busy road cut right across it. It was raining again, the bus stop would offer me a bit of comfort, but I didn't want to take any chances. If they were looking for me, and they certainly were, because I killed one of them and my body wasn't found, even a small mistake could lead them to me. I slept half a kilometer away behind small fields and a meadow at the edge of the forest. The next day another ridge followed and then a descent into the valley, where I wanted to find temporary accommodation. The valley rose all the way to the state border with Slovakia, according to the number of hotels and guesthouses on the map, there must have been a lot of tourists here, at least during the season, I hoped that I would fit in with them. I looked pretty miserable, but I had to risk it anyway. After two days of traveling, my head began to spin again and my legs were losing flexibility.

Fortunately, Agnieszka brought me my things, including documents. She was practically a professional considering how little time she had when visiting the hotel room. Normally I would be worried and suspicious, but she saved my life. If she had her secrets, they were of no concern to me.

"I got soaked and lost," I explained to the receptionist, who also seemed to be the owner, as I was writing my name in the guest book.

"Last time it rained was yesterday."

"I said I got lost," I reminded him, filling out the last box on the sheet in an orderly manner.

"Here?" He didn't look convinced.

I shrugged apologetically.

"I'm not local."

"You want the room for three days?" He asked.

"Yeah, I need to get myself together. I have a broken phone, is there anything I can do about it?”

"Kyivstar GSM has a branch here, two kilometers away, the city is long."

"Thanks," I nodded.

If I wasn't mistaken, I was in Simer. But I didn't want to ask.

"Can I have something to eat at your place?"

We get only few guests, so we do not cook. But there is also a restaurant and a few pubs. We are not at the end of the world. Although it may seem that way to you," he added with a hint of humor.

"Thanks. Also two kilometers away?”

"Yes."