Maid of Baikal: A Novel of the Russian Civil War

“Zhanna Stepanovna,” he addressed her with a reproving stare, “don’t you see now why some suspect you of being mad for claiming to converse with saints and angels?”

“A person who sees angels and saints is no more mad than the majority of Christians who profess to believe in them,” Zhanna replied. “And it seems to me, Your Eminence, that high men of the Holy Church who refuse to investigate miracles and heavenly visions in such perilous times are no less superstitious than a sick peasant who refuses to see a physician.”

But Sylvester was too shrewd to rise to the bait.

“All right then, let us investigate,” the Archbishop went on, clasping his hands and leaning back in his chair with a thoughtful mien. “Tell us, Zhanna, what manner of victories do you promise if the Supreme Ruler accepts your counsel?” he demanded. “And if you will not offer signs or portents, what pledges will you make to justify being put at the head of troops?”

“As you wish,” Zhanna said softly after heaving a weary sigh. “I shall make four predictions and you shall bear witness to them. But I shall not describe my role in carrying them out, as this remains subject to God’s will.”

The audience grew silent.

“First,” she went on, “the Red Army will launch a counterattack toward Ufa once the April thaw stalls our spring offensive in deep mud. Before mid-summer, the Red counteroffensive will be halted at the Belaya River, but at great cost to our side.

“Second, not long after the battle on the Belaya, our forces will crush the Fifth Red Army by means of attacks from the south.

“Third, before summer’s end, Admiral Kolchak will be elected regent of a new all-Russian government at Samara, which shall form a unified military command with Generals Denikin and Yudenich.

“And fourth, the combined White Armies will liberate Moscow and Petrograd before the New Year.”

Though her message was delivered in a straightforward manner, its effect on the audience was electric. They rose with a tumultuous cheer. Ned spotted Yulia and Madame Timiryova several rows ahead of him, on their feet with tears streaming down their cheeks.

The Archbishop called the meeting back to order with a threat to eject the entire audience if they rose again. Thereafter, the inquiry proceeded without incident, and went on for another full day, with Zhanna dispelling one after another of the learned panel’s many doubts as to her divine inspiration. Ned joined Paladin for the opening session on the second day, as Ivashev was unavailable, and returned after lunch to hear more. At the end of the second day, the panel adjourned and the room emptied without further comment from the bench.

On the third morning, Archbishop Sylvester issued the panel’s surprise verdict: a unanimous decision clearing Zhanna for service to the Omsk government. To the crowd’s delight, the examiners had found no evil in her, only honesty and a sincere faith in God and His saints. The verdict stated that, considering the extreme danger faced by Siberia’s armies, the Supreme Ruler should give great weight to the Maid’s utterances and consider sending her to the front for service. To hinder her would risk vexing the Holy Spirit and rendering the Omsk Government unworthy of divine aid. The panel’s statement ended with a biblical quotation from the fifth chapter of Acts:

“As said Gamaliel in the Council of the Jews with regard to the Apostles, ‘For if this plan or this work is of men, it will come to nothing, but if it is of God, you cannot overthrow it lest you be found to fight against God.’”

Outside the chapel, the crowd of Zhanna’s followers that had grown day by day gathered on the cathedral steps and rejoiced when the verdict was pronounced. For them, the acquittal offered further proof that, as Jehovah once sent David to slay Goliath, now God had sent Zhanna to defeat the Red Army. Coming at a time when Siberians had little faith in their self-appointed rulers, and when many thought only of saving themselves, they felt their faith restored in a God whom they feared might have forsaken them.

As news of the verdict traveled around Omsk and the countryside beyond, it inspired many men who had formerly shirked military service to enlist in the White Army in hopes of fighting alongside the Maid. Night after night, the roar of patriotic songs filled the air, though often fueled by vodka. While awaiting further orders from Admiral Kolchak, Zhanna spoke twice daily, after attending divine services, to growing throngs of listeners outside the St. Nicholas Cathedral.

And an editorial in Omsk’s largest newspaper opined: “The Maid’s ability to hold her own against learned bishops and theologians has earned her a reputation as another St. Yekaterina come down to earth. With her reputation now reaching far and wide, more will surely answer her call.”

Chapter 10: Decadence