sudden riches.
But then didn’t the jeweller go and blurt out: ‘How much do you want for it?’
Pull the other one – for scrap iron?
But Samshitov’s voice was really shaking now.
‘It’s incredible,’ he said, rubbing the rod with a wet rag. ‘I’ve read about the thaler rod, of course, but I didn’t think any others had survived . . . And the hallmark of the Yauza Mint!’
Senka watched as the black rod turned white and shiny under the rag.
‘Huh?’
The jeweller looked as if he was figuring something out. ‘How would you like double the weight? Like the thaler, right?’
‘What?’
‘Triple, then,’ Samshitov corrected himself quickly. He put the rod on the balance. ‘There’s almost five pounds of silver here. Let’s say five on the dot.’ He clicked the beads on the abacus. ‘That’s a hundred and fifteen roubles and twenty kopecks. And I’ll give you triple weight, three hundred and forty-six roubles. Even three hundred and fifty. No, four hundred. An entire four hundred! Four hundred, eh? What do you say?’
Senka said: ‘What?’
‘I don’t keep that much money in the shop, I have to go to the bank.’ He ran out from behind the counter and gazed into Senka’s eyes. ‘You have to understand. A commodity like this requires a lot of work. Before you can find the right buyer. Numismatists are a special breed.’
‘What?’
‘Numismatists are collectors of units of currency – coins and notes,’ the jeweller explained, but that didn’t leave Senka any the wiser.
In his time, Senka had seen plenty of these numismatists, who loved nothing more than collecting money – his Uncle Zot for starters.
‘And how many of them are there, who want these rods?’ Senka asked, still suspecting a trick.
‘In Moscow, maybe twenty. In Petersburg, twice as many. If you send them abroad, there are lots of people wanting to buy them there too.’ The big-nosed jeweller flinched. ‘You said “rods”? You mean you’ve got more of them? And you’re willing to sell?’
‘At four hundred a time?’ Senka asked with a gulp. He remembered how many of those sticks there were underground in the vault.
‘Yes, yes. How many do you have?’
Senka said warily: ‘I could get hold of about five.’
‘Five thaler rods! When can you bring them to me?’
Now this was where he had to show a bit of dignity, not do himself down. Let on what a difficult business it was. Not something just anyone could manage. So he paused for a while then said grandly: ‘In about two hours, not before.’
‘Ninochka,’ the jeweller yelled to his wife. ‘Close the shop! I’m going to the bank!’
The exotic bird was delighted with all the shouting and started to squawk: ‘To the bank! To the bank! To the bank!’
Senka walked out of the shop to the sound of its screeching.
He had to lean his hand against the wall – he was really staggering.
How about that? Four hundred roubles for a rod! It was just like a dream.
Before he went back underground, Senka called round to Kho-khlovsky Lane. To see whether those two had done anything to offend Tashka, and in general –just to say thank you.
Thank God, they hadn’t touched her.
Tashka was sitting in the same place on the bed, combing her hair – she was going out working soon. She’d already tarted up her face: black eyebrows and eyelashes, red cheeks, glass earrings.
‘That slanty-eyed one sends his regards,’ Tashka said as she wound the hair at her temple onto a stick to make it curly. ‘And the dream-boat said he would look out for you.’
Senka didn’t like the sound of that at all. What did that mean –‘look out’ for him? Was he threatening him or what? Never mind, he’d never get his hands on Senka now, he’d never find him. Senka’s life was going to be different from now on.
‘I tell you what,’ he told Tashka. ‘You drop all this. You don’t need to keep walking the streets. I’ll take you away from Khitrovka, we’ll live together. You should just see how much money I’ve got now.’
At first Tashka was delighted, she even started whirling round the room. Then she stopped. ‘Can Mum come too?’
‘All right.’ Senka sighed and looked at the drunken woman – she still hadn’t slept it off. ‘Your mum can come too.’
‘No, she can’t leave this place. Let her die in peace. When she dies, you can take me away.’
He tried to talk her round but she just wouldn’t listen. Senka gave her all the crunch he’d got from the jeweller. Why be