Divergence

A woman was standing in the middle of the potholed road, waving her arms. The robot britzka picked up on the gesture and came to a halt.

Ivan said something in Russian, and the woman’s mouth closed in a hard line. She ducked her head up and down, her whole body bobbing like a duck on water.

“Oh, I’m sorry, don’t you speak English?”

“I do,” said Ivan curtly.

“What’s the matter?” asked Eva simultaneously. “Do you need help?”

The woman’s face lit up as she heard Eva’s voice.

“Are you English? You are, aren’t you? I can tell by your accent. And by your shoes!”

Both Ivan and Eva looked down at Eva’s feet, but the woman continued breathlessly, the bangles on her wrists jangling as she continued to wave her arms about.

“You’ve got to back up now! At least fifty meters! Quickly, now! This road will be covered in VNMs in about three minutes. Julian has been timing it. Hurry up! They’ll strip your funny little cart apart! There’ll be nothing left!”

Ivan pressed a couple of buttons on the dashboard and the britzka began to roll backwards slowly.

“Who is Julian?” he murmured to Eva.

Eva looked down at the plump woman, a sheen of sweat on her forehead as she tramped along the road after them.

“I don’t know who Julian is,” said Eva dismissively. “There’s a sort of person back in England who always talks as if you should know everyone they do.”

“We have them in Russia, too,” said Ivan, wrinkling his lip. “Although I would say that rather they assume that you should know their acquaintances. And if you don’t, they find you wanting for it.”

He spoke with such contempt that Eva giggled.

“Aren’t you scared?” asked Ivan.

“No, I’m not,” said Eva, and she was pleased to find that she wasn’t. She felt safe with Ivan; it made her feel like a teenager again. “Apprehensive maybe,” she added. “Hah! She’s probably seen a squirrel or something.”

Ivan laughed.

“What’s up?” called the woman, not happy to be left out of the joke, not happy that they weren’t taking her warning seriously. She spoke in stern tones. “Look, you should be okay just there. Do you mind if I come on board?”

She was already climbing up onto the bench beside them. Her hands and feet were dirty with the brick dust that had settled all around on the wrecked landscape.

“Julian and the rest are over there, close to the flower. I came over to the road to warn passersby. Somebody has to think of these things, and let’s face it, it’s not going to be Julian. He has a mind like a razor but he needs someone to sort out the important details, and let’s face it” —at this point she gave Eva a flash of smile—“that’s the sort of thing that you have to leave to a woman, isn’t it? I mean, those things can strip a vehicle apart in minutes. Ah, look! You can see the edge of it now. Over there.”

Eva glanced at Ivan, checking if he was upset that this woman in her tie-dyed dress was so obviously ignoring him. Eva was taking a considered dislike to her.

“Over there,” repeated the woman. “Oh, my name’s Fiona, by the way. And you are?”

Eva took the proffered hand, felt the grittiness of brick dust rubbing against her palm.

“Eva. And this is Ivan.”

“Hello, Ivan,” said Fiona, and promptly ignored him again. “Tell you what, maybe if you just backed up another ten meters. Just to be on the safe side. Ah, there you go! Look, Eva, there they are!”

Fiona gripped Eva’s arm and pointed.