Chapter 25 Summary

The Reid Dacha is little more than a shack in the woods, but no one in the family, including Nellie, has been willing to part with it. The forest it was in had been cut occasionally, but never cleared, so the dacha is closely surrounded by trees. There is no way to reach it directly. The railroad stops at a nearby village, but from there the quickest way is on foot through the woods. The luggage went a roundabout way by horse and cart. There are other dachas in the forest, but at night there is not a light or a sound from any neighboring dachas. There is only the sound of the birch trees.

On the third night they are there, Dolly wakes in the night with the slight noise of a door opening. She puts on her boots and a coat...