Maid of Baikal: A Novel of the Russian Civil War

At Uralsk, the Ural Cossacks celebrated their victory for a full two days while the townspeople mourned their dead. Zhanna remained out of sight most of this time, claiming to recover from her wound. When Ned and Ivashov decided to pay her a visit to cheer her up, they found the Maid sitting cross-legged on her cot, dressed in British uniform trousers and a white peasant blouse unbuttoned around her bandaged neck and shoulder. Spread out before her were a collection of maps.

Zhanna rose to greet them but made no attempt to conceal the maps.

“Have you heard the news?” she asked them after greetings were exchanged.

“What news?” Ivashov replied, taking a seat on a folding stool. “Is our victory not news enough?”

“Certainly not!” the girl answered with a musical laugh. “The King of Heaven has promised many more of them, and Admiral Kolchak is impatient for our next. I received fresh orders from him this morning.”

“And what exactly does the Admiral have in mind?” Ned inquired.

“He has ordered our volunteer brigade to report immediately to General Dutov of the Orenburg Cossacks,” the Maid replied, pacing slowly from one end of the tent to another. “We are to drive the Bolsheviks from Orenburg as we did in Uralsk.”

“And your response?” Ivashov asked.

“I have accepted, and I intend to set out for Orenburg by week’s end,” she answered before regarding the two men with barely contained excitement. “But something will happen before we arrive that may require a change of plan. I am working on that now.”

Ned could not resist laughing at the irony of it. Here she was, fresh from victory and vindicated in the eyes of nearly all those who doubted her, yet the Maid was preparing to throw all her winnings on the table in a fresh gamble, perhaps one even more audacious than the last. “Fascinating!” Ivashov remarked with a hint of mockery in his voice. “And can you share with us any part of your plan?”

“Most certainly, staff captain, for the two of you are included in it!”

Again Ned laughed, but now the laughter had an uneasy ring, for each time Zhanna had required his help until now, she had found a way to secure it. Now Ned felt torn between his obligations at Beregovoy and the desire to remain at Zhanna’s side. Was it the warrior spirit in him, a taste for adventure, comradeship with the daring Cossacks and volunteers, or an apprehension that if he left Zhanna now, he might never see her again? Ned recalled General Tolstov’s remark that one of the Maid’s greatest gifts was her ”seeing eye,“ or ability to assess a man’s character, and he felt a thrill of pride that she wanted him to stay. And when his eyes met hers, he understood more than ever how even a single look from her could change the course of a man’s life.

“I will go with you as far as Orenburg, to be sure,” Ivashov answered tentatively.

“And I, as well,” Ned chimed in. “To go any further, I would require approval from my headquarters.”

But Zhanna looked off into the distance and did not seem to be listening.

“I suspect there is more to your plans than you are letting on, Zhanna Stepanovna,” the staff captain said with an amused twist to his lips. “So tell me this: on what grounds would you disregard a direct order from the Supreme Ruler, who sends you to Orenburg?”

“On the grounds that the King of Heaven commands otherwise!” Zhanna declared, her face suddenly on fire with an intense determination. “See here, my plan does not rob Admiral Kolchak of his due. He aims to capture Orenburg, sever the rail link between Sovdepia and the Turkestan Soviet, and disrupt the Red Army’s rear. I shall accomplish all three, but in reverse order, for it is of the utmost importance at this moment to prevent the Red Army from crossing the Belaya River to take Ufa and the Urals passes.”

“But how can you carry out such a plan without approval from Omsk?” Ivashov protested. “Does Tolstov know of your intentions? Or General Dutov at Orenburg?”

“I shall persuade General Tolstov to give me what I need, and he shall persuade Admiral Kolchak that it is all to the good, once I am on my way,” Zhanna answered. “And if he does not persuade, I daresay General Khanzin will endorse my actions soon enough, for I shall spare his Western Army a catastrophic defeat and, when I do, everyone will know it!”

“And what of General Dutov?” Ned answered. “How will his Cossacks take Orenburg without your volunteers and their armored cars?”

“He shall have the armored cars and their crews, and as much artillery as Tolstov is willing to spare,” the Maid replied. “The cars will go with us to the outskirts of Orenburg and proceed promptly to Dutov’s camp. From there, I will take with me some two or three thousand cavalry and half as many infantry and set out by night to the north.”

“And you are so intent upon this that you would go forth without your loyal knights, Captain du Pont and me?” Ivashov jested, pretending to take offense.