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  “Excuse me,” Bill said. “I don't quite understand. Are you a nurse? A doctor? Where am I? What happened to my friends?”

  “Your friends?” she asked. “That would be the men and women in the cloth hut a short distance from where you collapsed? Seven of them?”

  “Yes!” Bill said eagerly. “Are they still there? Why didn't you rescue them, too?”

  Polina's voice was confused. “Why should I save them? You are the sacrifice. You were at the stone pillar. I saved you. They are the ones you gave your life for. Their lives are in your hands now. What would you have happen to them?”

  Something is very wrong, Bill thought. Either I am going crazy, or we are speaking the same language with entirely different meanings.

  Think, Carter.

  He had been dying of malnutrition and exposure, and had medical issues which modern science could not cure. He was now lying in a bed, warm and safe, with all his wounds healed.

  Reason said this was impossible.

  Reason could go fuck itself, Bill decided. Either I am still dying, and all this is a hallucination before I slip away entirely, or this is reality. Either way, I have to try to help my friends.

  “Let me make sure I have this right,” he said slowly. “The place you found me means that I am a sacrifice. Which means that you now have an obligation to aid those I choose. Is that correct?”

  Polina shrugged, displaying an appalling lack of concern for his companions. “Within limits. I cannot summon a boat to take them off dry land, or cause them to fly.”

  “They need food. Shelter. Warmth. A chance to survive until they can reach more of our kind.”

  Our kind? Why did I say that?

  Polina nodded. “Let me think.” After a moment she nodded and smiled, satisfied. “A very stupid bear has eaten a rotting seal carcass not far from where your friends are. He is going to collapse and die. I have made sure he does it within a few yards of your friends' tent.

  “They will also be astonished to find an abandoned stone hut only a few hundred yards away from where they camped. Doubtless they missed it in the snow and wind the night before. It has, amazingly enough, a large supply of driftwood stacked outside. The fire, food, and shelter should be enough to keep them safe until the men searching for them can find them.”

  Bill bowed his head in gratitude. Tears formed in his eyes and dripped down his cheeks. Normally not an emotional man, he found himself overcome by the thought that the people with whom he had shared the most terrible of journeys would survive, even though he might never see them again.

  “I am in your debt,” he said softly.

  “Yes, you are,” she agreed frankly. She patted his hand where it lay on the coverlet. “Luckily enough, you will spend the rest of your life paying it off.

  “Now, child, how would you like something to eat?” She sniffed the air disapprovingly. “Or maybe a bath first?”

  Bill agreed eagerly. He had not bathed or washed since the night before the crash. Sweat, grime, and the stink of gangrene had suffused every stitch of his clothing until his own smell nauseated him. Though his clothes had been removed, the foul smell wafting up from his skin was far from pleasant.

  He swung his legs out of the bed and stood up, staggering only a little. He tried to cover his nudity with his hands, and heard Polina sniff disparagingly.

  “Don't be silly, young one. You don't have anything down there that could possibly offend me.”

  He walked behind her as she led him down the hall, and was startled to find that she was much smaller than her strong personality would indicate. Bill was not a large man, but the top of Polina's head would barely reach his chin.

  Child's height, adult's will, he thought with amusement.

  The floor of the hall was tiled in colors of pink and pale blue, and was frigid against the bare skin of his feet. Somehow, though, neither the freezing tiles or the cold air of the hall made him cold. It was as if the temperature was a fact which had nothing to do with his body.

  Wouldn't even have to worry about “shrinkage”, if there was anyone around who could possibly appreciate it, he thought.

  She led him into a large room, which in contrast to the hall, was filled with warmth. Wisps of steam rose from a huge copper tub in the middle of the room, filled to within inches of the brim with water. Towels and soap lay nearby.

  “Clean yourself. When you are done, come and find me, and I will feed you. To find the kitchen, go past the room that you woke in, then take the right-hand turning.” She smiled, the expression surprisingly young on her seamed face.

  “Or simply follow your nose.”

  ~~~~~

  Bathing was an unimaginable luxury. After weeks where the sweat of hauling the makeshift sledge had mingled with the acrid smell of desperation and fear, the sinful pleasure of washing (In hot water! With soap!) seemed to be the height of decadence.

  He washed himself all over, rinsed, then did it again. He dunked his greasy hair repeatedly, and scrubbed it until his fingertips were raw and his scalp tingling. When he was done, he dried himself in a wonderfully warm and fluffy towel, then looked for his clothes.

  They were nowhere to be found, which did not surprise him in the least. If Polina had any sense at all, she would have had them burned. Instead, he found a heavy pair of dark trousers, which fastened at the waist with metal buttons rather than a zipper. A bright red shirt with bone buttons followed, overlaid by a vest embroidered with intricate patterns of green and blue. Thick wool stockings and a pair of light boots lined with fleece were set on one side, ready for his feet. He put them on and grinned. He had thought he would never walk without pain again.

  He took care of his hair with a wooden comb he found laying on a tray, then brushed his chin with his fingers, feeling the ragged growth of two weeks' worth of beard.

  This, he thought, will have to go. There was no sign of a safety razor anywhere in the room, but he did turn up an old straight razor, still sharp. Coating his face with the soft soap from the tub, he lathered his whiskers, then carefully shaved, scraping his face clean.

  When he was finished, he examined his face, startled to see a reflection that reminded him of how he had looked in college, before a sedentary lifestyle as a weatherman had put too many pounds around his waist. His hand dropped to his ribs, feeling the prominent bones, then the solid muscles in his abs. His chest and arm muscles were also much bigger than they had ever been, he found to his pleasant surprise.

  He snorted. You could make a mint off this. Want to lose weight and gain muscle definition, guys? Just survive a helicopter crash in the Russian Arctic, then haul a sledge made of a door mechanism fifty miles across a frozen sea. No problem. Supplies are limited, call now.

  He cut off his giggles before they could mount to full-fledged hysteria. He took one last look in the mirror, then went in search of something to eat.

  ~~~~~

  Mother Snegurochka was satisfied so far. A quick perusal of the kitchen had turned up some dried grain, which she was busily making into porridge. The icebox gave her bacon, which she was frying with potatoes from the pantry. There was even honey to sweeten the porridge.

  She glared at the kitchen. It hadn't given her honey for nearly thirty years, and it had been at least ten since she had tasted bacon.

  You know the rules. You are given food and clothing and resources that match the world's faith in you.

  She decided to forgive the house, knowing it was bound to the same laws which governed her. She smiled slightly, running her tongue inside her mouth, delighting to feel all of her teeth back where they belonged. They felt slightly straighter than they had been just a few moments ago, when she had checked on the young man in her care.

  He was a happy surprise so far, she thought. Too many of the sacrifices had been hulking brutes from the native tribes, rancid with the reindeer fat they wore to keep off the cold, angry with their fate and violent. Others were small children,
left out to die when starvation and plague stalked the land, terrified of their new home. And far too often than she cared for, the sacrifice would be an unwilling one, a terrified young woman, bound and bleeding. Or dead.

  She did the best she could for all of them, but not many survived for long here in the World Below. The children, torn away from all they knew, soon pined and died. The men, too often, went mad with hate, seeking to kill her or to take their pleasure on her unwillingly. None of the women had survived a season with her, their life force giving out against the opposing forces which bound Snegurochka here.

  Every so often, one came who was able to survive. Usually a young man, inclined to poetry and music, with a supple mind that could learn to live apart from all that he had known. Snegurochka sighed as she remembered the last such, a young shaman who had given his life for his people in the years before the tsars had united the quarreling peoples of Rus into one nation.

  She sighed at the memory of his touch, and one hand groped at her breast. She stopped and snarled, hating the thick dress, hating her sagging, useless udders even more, incapable of even the most rudimentary pleasure. She bit her lip, forcing back her fury.

  He is here, and his spirit is strong, to lay down his life for his friends, without even blood ties to bind him. If he can accept what is now before him, perhaps...

  Her thoughts were cut off as she heard the quick sound of bootsteps coming from the corridor. The sacrifice appeared, dressed in the clothes she had laid out for him.

  He looked well, she thought. He looked very well indeed, especially without the mat of beard covering half of his face. His hair was a dark brown, matching the color of his eyes, which were the color of fertile earth. His skin was clear, though somewhat red and chapped from cold, wind, and exposure. His steps were light and quick, and he moved with an athlete's grace, matching his broad shoulders and narrow hips. She smiled slightly as she took in the clean lines of his face. Too thin with hunger now, but the high cheekbones and firm chin were attractive enough.

  Not too tall, either, thank the High One, she thought. She had grown everlastingly weary of huge, bearded tribesmen who loomed over her as if she was a child. Too many had thought to dominate her with their strength in order to show their superiority to her.

  Convincing them that violence upon her person was a bad idea was tiresome. And often messy.

  She ladled porridge into a bowl and set it in front of him as he sat down. The platter of fried potatoes and bacon followed. She sat down across from him and filled her own plate as well, and for a short time they ate in companionable silence.

  “So,” the sacrifice said slowly, “I am not quite sure what is going on here. The last thing I clearly remember was sitting down by a tall stone, preparing to die. Then I woke up here, with my injuries magically healed. Who are you? What are you?”

  “It would help,” Snegurochka said, forking in a mouthful of potatoes, “if you told me your name, child.”

  The young man gaped, then laughed softly. Her breast grew warm as she took in the rueful humor of the sound.

  “OK then,” he said. “My name is William Carter. My friends call me Bill.”

  “And how did you come to this place, Bill?”

  He explained the circumstances which led him to try to kill himself. Polina's eyes narrowed angrily as he told the story.

  “Fools,” she said when he had wound down to the death of three of his comrades on the brutal trip to the islands, and why he had decided that he would be wiser to die in service to his friends than to try to carry on a hopeless struggle. “To try to come to these islands at this time of the year, flying through the air like birds.”

  Bill nodded. “I tried to convince our leader otherwise. But he was greedy and saw money slipping away.

  “Well,” he sighed. “He paid. It's just sad that so many others paid for his mistake as well. Mark, Bridget, Harold, Jaroslav...” he trailed off, then a wild hope flared in his heart. He looked at Polina. “You can't...”

  She shook her head sadly, knowing what he had been thinking. She leaned over and touched his hand gently.

  “I'm sorry, child. I have power here. Sometimes, even great power. But that power has never been mine. Mine, or any of my kin. The dark gate only opens in one direction.”

  “But seven lived,” Bill said. “That seems to be a pretty good return on my death.” He smiled crookedly.

  “But now, if you can tell me about you, about this place where we are...” he gestured at the kitchen, but seemed to take in the entirety of the World Below.

  Mother Snegurochka nodded. She gathered her thoughts. This had not happened often. Usually the sacrifices knew the tales, and had some expectation of what lay on the other side of the stone.

  “My name, as I told you, is Polina. I am sometimes called Mother or Grandmother Snegurochka.”

  Bill teased the meaning of the word apart in his rudimentary Russian.

  “Snow Maid?”

  She nodded. “I am a…a spirit of the place, I think you would say. And of the season. Of winter. I live here, in the World Below. I was created by the faith of those who live in the World Above. By men and women who believed in us and gave us characteristics to match their faith. So because men and women believed that the Snow Maid lived in a cold, beautiful house in a dark, snowy wood, so do I here in the World Below. But I also have power.

  “Sometimes, when times are terrible in the World Above, a sacrifice is needed. They wait at the stone and lay down their lives to save their friends or kin. I take their lives. But they do not die. They live with me here.”

  She sighed. “It has been a long time since a sacrifice was made. I suppose that is a good thing, but I grow lonely. The last time was over seventy years ago, when the invaders who bore the hooked cross ground my land under their filthy feet,” she said harshly.

  Hooked cross? Bill's quick mind cast up a memory. Hakenkreuz. That's what they called it.

  “The Nazis?”

  Polina nodded. “I brought winter down upon them and they died by the thousands.” Bill shuddered as he caught a hint of bloodthirsty glare, as merciless as a hunting wolf, in her gaze. “But that was long ago.

  “Few in the World Above believe in those such as I anymore. They give their faith to the Christ-child. A fisherman may use my name on a cold day, or a mother tell my tale to a child, but that is poor food for the spirit to live on. So I have aged. Aged terribly. My very existence depends on belief, and that belief is fading. Who knows how much longer I can survive?”

  Don't tell him everything, foolish old woman. You can't force faith.

  “But while you are here you will repay your debt. There are things a man can do that a woman alone cannot,” she smiled. Wicked wanton, she thought with an inward giggle. She eyed Bill carefully, trying to judge how he would react. Would it be anger? Would he try to convince her otherwise, and beat his soul and body bloody trying to make an impossible escape?

  He took a deep breath and closed his eyes as the enormity of his situation hit him. Opening them, he spread his hands in resignation. “If I had not sat where I did, my body would be dead, frozen, and buried in a snow drift, and I do not think any of us would have survived. My life is yours. I hope you don't get tired of it.

  “But what would happen if people stopped believing in you completely? Would you die?”

  “No,” she said steadily, “I would merely cease to exist. I wasn't born. I came into being full-grown, with powers to rival some of the smaller gods. Now I have little. Barely enough to save the lives of seven mortals.

  “When faith in me dies entirely, I believe I will wink out like a candle. What would happen to you? I have no idea. But don't look so terrified,” she said with a sympathetic smile. “I think that day is far in our future.”

  Bill nodded, then yawned. “I'm sorry,” he said, “But I'm getting sleepy again.”

  Polina nodded and rose. “Your body is still tired, and y
our spirit and mind also need time to recover. Rest, young one. I will find plenty for you to do in the morning.” She led him back down the hall to his room. She waited while he undressed, ignoring his blushes as he exposed his body to her eyes.

  “How do I turn off the lights?” he asked. “They don't seem to work like the ones I am used to.”

  “With a thought,” she said, and demonstrated. A moment of will, and the room was plunged into darkness. Another, and the light came back. “You try it. Wish the lights off.”

  She saw him frown as his mind accepted the difficult concept. Suddenly blackness fell, and then a soft gray light crept back in.

  “I don't want it to be too dark,” he explained. She bent and placed a chaste kiss on his cheek.

  “I understand, young one. We all have our small comforts.” She rose and left the room. Before the door closed softly behind her, a last whisper sounded from the hall.

  “Dream sweetly, Bill.”

  ~~~~~

  The next morning, Polina rose early. She washed her face, then stalked over to the wardrobe, fearing what she would find there. Opening the door, gray gown after gray robe after gray shawl met her horrified eyes, the same as had for days beyond count. But wait! What was that in the back?

  A mantle of midnight blue met her astonished gaze. She fell to her knees, grateful beyond words.

  Color. I am getting color back in my life. Oh, thank you. Thank you, Bill.

  Stripping off her night-clothes, she examined her body critically in the mirror, steel-framed glass reflecting her image, trying to see if any changes had been made while she slept.

  Her legs were still thick and dumpy, the blue traceries of broken veins clear under her pale skin. Her stomach still pouched out unattractively over the gray thatch of her pubis. But her breasts...were they just a tiny bit firmer, less saggy than they had been last night?

  The skin of her neck was still loose and covered with age-spots, but her teeth were now strong and straight, if a bit yellow. The ragged edge of her hair was now clipped neatly, and was the milky white of the cataract in her right eye just a little smaller today?