Before Dimitri could answer, Boris had excused himself to the lavatory and after a few moments, when he exited, he noticed that his uncle was not at their table. He spotted him at the cash register paying the little Polish waitress for their drinks. As he approached, Dimitri said, "It's getting late Boris and I can't drink anymore tea" he chuckled. "Would you mind giving me a lift home?" Boris agreed unhesitatingly and they both walked out into the chill. Boris swung the car around and headed west to the main road that went south out of the village. "It will take a while uncle, to get some heat out of this old can" laughed Boris. "Oh, I'm fine" Dimitri smiled. The light was green at the corner and Boris turned south and headed across the river. The Katyushka was the greatest river in the state. An ice shelf had formed for quite some distance off from both banks but in the center there was still open, flowing water. Off to the east a few hundred meters was an iron and concrete trestle, at that moment carrying a train loaded with coal headed south towards Balakovo. "When we get across the river Boris, just turn left and pull off the road before the crossing." Dimitri directed. Boris turned left and eased the car over to the side of the road a short distance before the crossing. There were no warning lights or barriers at this crossing. It was a little used road and because of its location the trains that crossed here would normally not be traveling fast. They sat there with the engine running, warm air beginning to blow from the vents. The coal cars made a rhythmic th-thump, th-thump, th-thump as they crossed in front of them; there were periodic squealing sounds from the steel as the cars flexed in the cold. Finally the last car passed, trailing a wisp of snow as it swayed down the tracks....cl-clack, cl-clack cl-clack. "Over there is where your father was killed Boris...on the opposite side just a few steps from where the bridge and the bank meet. " murmured Dimitri. "It was early evening of that day when the Constable had called to tell me more about what had happened. He told me that they had interviewed the engineer of the train that struck Ivan. The engineer said that they had been making a run to Etgar that morning. The engine and a few cars that they were pulling had been scheduled for some maintenance at the repair facility there. Without much of a load, he said that as they neared the end of the trestle, their speed was approaching 67 kph. He said, although there wasn't much light at that hour, he thought that he had glimpsed a figure silhouetted against the snow at the side of the crossing. He said that it gave him concern...that this had happened to him once before, years ago, on a run he had made going west, to Columbass. His premonition proved true. The figure stepped onto the tracks just as they sped over the crossing. He said if he had not seen it, that he never would have realized what had happened. He said the unit he was on that morning weighed roughly 211,000 kg. At that size, if it hadn't been seen, there wouldn't have been cause for anyone to suspect that something had been hit. He immediately radioed in what had happened. It was almost a half km before the train came to a complete stop. By the time that they had trudged back through the snow, the emergency vehicles were already there. The paramedics were hovering around Ivan's body while he and his brakeman answered a few questions that were asked by an officer who had arrived, but it seemed quite obvious to everyone what had happened. Their information was taken down and they were let on their way. " Dimiti opened the door and walked across the tracks and stood near where the bank dropped off precipitously to the river. Boris had followed him and they both stood silently, gazing down at the ice along the shoreline. After some time Dimitri turned towards Boris and said, "This was not a pleasant story to have to tell you Boris. I always knew, since you were a child that this day would come. I hope that you can forgive me, but to answer your original question, I had to tell you what had happened so many years ago. This issue with the "Unity Department"...there is nothing to worry about...absolutely nothing. Let me explain"

...to be continued...