Sapphire Skies by Belinda Alexandra Read Free Book Online Page B

watching, then she quickly scaled the safety fence and scurried across the site to an unoccupied caretaker’s van. She opened her bag and pulled out a can and spoon. Gently tapping on the can, she made soft ‘Tchi! Tchi! Tchi!’ sounds. As if she were a sorcerer summoning the spirits, cats appeared from everywhere — out of drains, from between crevices, from behind piles of rubbish. There were ginger cats, tortoiseshell cats, black cats, striped cats and even some Siamese and Russian Blue cats. They headed towards Lily, who scooped food from the cans she had brought onto paper plates. She took out a bottle of water and refreshed the tray that was hidden under the van.
    When the cat colony had finished eating, Lily picked up the plates and crushed them into a plastic bag she had brought. Oksana had instilled in her the importance of feeding the cats inconspicuously, so as not to attract the attention of any cat haters who might be tempted to poison them. When the building work commenced, the cats would have nowhere to go. Lily was helping Oksana and some other volunteers from Moscow Animals trap the creatures and have them desexed, then tame them and find them homes. But it was only Lily and Oksana who could take the felines into their already crowded apartments, so progress was slow: just a few cats at a time. Meanwhile, four volunteers, including Lily, were on a roster for feeding the wild ones.
    ‘Now, go! Shoo! Hide!’ Lily told the cats as she hoisted her canvas bag over her shoulder.
    She scaled the fence back onto the street and as she dropped to the ground she heard a voice behind her say, ‘You like animals … and you have a kind heart.’
    Lily spun around to find the old woman with the dog standing behind her. ‘And you are a foreigner?’ the woman continued. ‘But you speak Russian with such an elegant accent.’
    ‘My parents are Russian,’ Lily replied. She was about to add that she was from Australia, then questioned the wisdom of revealing anything about herself to a stranger. Her mother had once told her the story of how she had been drugged and robbed by a fortune teller when she’d lived in Shanghai.
    ‘You will take my dog?’ the woman asked. ‘You will take care of her? I knew the moment I saw you that I could trust you.’
    ‘You’ve been watching me?’ Lily asked.
    The woman nodded. ‘Every morning. I didn’t know you spoke Russian till this morning. I had to find someone who could make a sign for me.’
    ‘Didn’t you offer your dog to other people?’
    The woman cradled the dog’s head as lovingly as a mother would protect her child. ‘No, of course not. I am not going to give her to just anybody.’
    Her reply moved something in Lily. She looked at the dog; it stared back at her with a hopeful expression.
    Lily shook her head. ‘I haven’t got anywhere to keep a dog,’ she replied truthfully. ‘But here, I’ll give you these.’ She took out the cans of pet food that she hadn’t used. She could always buy more on the way home.
    The old lady stared into Lily’s eyes as if willing her to cooperate. Lily was overcome by the sadness she saw there. The streets were full of the unemployed and homeless. Only two years ago the banks had failed and the middle class had taken a dive too as their life savings were lost. Lily had heard stories of women who had been teachers and doctors resorting to prostitution to feed their families. The old system of ‘from each according to his ability, to each according to his need’ had crumbled. It was now every man for himself.
    She looked at the woman again and an image of her grandmother flashed into her mind once more. Alina had lived a hard life in the Soviet Union, but after Lily’s parents had rescued her, she’d spent the rest of her days in the bosom of an adoring family. Why was this woman all alone, asking kindnesses of strangers? Where was her family?
    ‘Please meet me at the Tverskaya underpass on Monday morning,’ Lily