whom Luce must have loved, then lost. None of them had known what was coming. All of them had been left behind to grieve.
Maybe there was a way to change that, to make it easier on the people who'd loved her. Maybe that was part of what Luce could do in her past lives.
The great boom of something exploding sounded across town. Close enough that the ground rocked under Luce's feet and her right eardrum felt like it was splitting. On the corner, air-raid sirens started going off.
Baba. Kristina took hold of her grandmother's arm. She was near tears. The Nazis--they're here, aren't they?
The Germans. Luce's first time stepping through time on her own and she'd landed smack in World War II. They're attacking Moscow? Her voice wobbled. Tonight?
We should have left town with the others, Kristina said bitterly. Now it is too late.
And abandoned your mother and your father and your grandfather, too? Baba shook her head. Left them alone in their graves?
Better we should join them in the cemetery? Kristina spat back. She reached for Luce, squeezing her arm. Did you know about the raid? You and your kulak friend? Is that why you didn't come to work this morning? You were with him, weren't you?
What did her sister think Luce could possibly have known? Who would she have been with?
Who but Daniel?
Of course. Luschka must be with him right now. And if her own family members were confusing that Luschka with Luce ...
Her chest constricted. How much time did she have left before she died? What if Luce could find Luschka before it happened?
"Luschka."
Her sister and grandmother were staring at her.
What's wrong with her tonight? Kristina asked.
"Lets go." Baba scowled. You think the Moscovitches are going to hold open their basement forever?
The long drone of a fighter plane's propellers sounded over them in the sky. Close enough that when Luce looked up, the dark swastika painted on the underside of its wings was clear. It sent a shiver through her. Then another boom rocked the city, and the air grew caustic with dark smoke. They'd hit something nearby. Two more massive explosions made the ground shudder beneath her feet.
It was chaos on the street. The crowd at the trenches was disappearing, everyone scattering up a dozen narrow streets. Some hustled down the stairs of the metro station on the corner to wait out the bombs underground; others disappeared into dark doorways.
A block away, Luce caught a glimpse of someone running: a girl, about her age, in a red hat and a long wool coat. She turned her head for just a second before she sprinted on. But it was long enough for Luce to know.
There she was.
Luschka.
She wrestled free of Baba's arm. I'm sorry. I have to go.
Luce took a deep breath and ran down the street, straight into the roiling smoke, toward the heaviest bombing.
Are you crazy? Kristina yelled. But they didn't follow her. They would have had to be crazy themselves.
Luce's feet were numb as she tried to run through the calf-high snow on the sidewalk. When she reached the corner where she'd seen her red-hatted past self dash by, she slowed. Then she sucked in her breath.
A building that took up half of the city block directly in front of her had caved in. White stone was streaked with black ash. A fire churned deep inside the crater in the building's side.
The explosion had spat out heaps of unrecognizable debris from inside the building. The snow was streaked with red. Luce recoiled until she realized that the red streaks were not blood but shreds of red silk. It must have been a tailor's shop. Several badly singed racks of clothes were scattered in the street. A mannequin lay on its side in a ditch. It was on fire. Luce had to cover her mouth with her grandmother's scarf to keep from choking on the fumes. Everywhere she stepped, shattered glass and stone cut into the snow.
She should turn back, find the grandmother and sister who would help her get to shelter, but she couldn't. She had to find Luschka. She'd never been so close to one of her past selves before. Luschka might be able to help her understand why Luce's own lifetime was different. Why Cam had shot a starshot into her reflection, thinking it was her, and told Daniel, It was a better end for her. A better end than what?
She slowly turned around, trying to spot the flash of the red