Among the Shrouded Read Online Free PDF

would help to take care of the rest.
    She thought of this day and how to use her gift now to help pay for her sisters’ college tuition as she climbed the four flights of stairs to her family’s apartment. After weeks of brainstorming, she still didn’t have a feasible idea and as she opened the front door, her mood, which was as grey as the snow laden sky, did not improve.
    Her mother was already home from the bakery, a sure sign it had been a slow day for sales.  Both of her sisters, Natalya and Tetyana, were seated at the small kitchen table engrossed in their studies.  The only positive sign was that her father wasn’t there.  She hoped he was seeing patients at the clinic.  Patients who could pay him in hryvnia instead of bartered goods.
    “Hello , Katerina,” said her mother who was sitting in the living room folding laundry as she walked through the door.  “How was your class?”
    “It was good.  We began studying embryonic development.  It was fascinating.  Cell division is a magical thing,” she said.  “And what about you, Mama?  Why are you home so early?”
    “Ah, we sold out of the few pastries we had early this morning, but there were no supplies to bake more.  I sent Yuri to purchase flour and sugar from the wholesale market, but I don’t know how much he will be able to buy.  We will just do the best we can tomorrow.”
    “M ama,” she began, sitting beside her mother on the threadbare cushion of the sofa, “I don’t know if doing the best we can is going to cut it anymore.”
    “What are you talking about, child?” her mother responded.
    She lowered her voice to a whisper, “I’m talking about my sisters.  I know their stipend was awarded.  And I know it won’t be enough.”
    “ We will manage.  We always have,” her mother said stoically as she smoothed the collar of the shirt she was folding.
    “No, Mama, we won’t.  We’ve always managed to have food on the table and clothes on our backs , which is a lot more than some.  But now, three schoolings to pay for?  No.  It’s impossible.  We will starve.”
    “Yekaterina!  You disrespect your father and you disrespect me.  Who is putting these thoughts in your head?”
    “No one, Mama.  But I’m not a child anymore.  I see what is happening.  And I am old enough to help.”
    “You have a job.”
    “I do, but I can get another.”
    “You will not have time for your studies if you get another job.”
    “Then I will give up my studies.”
    “No,” her mother said flatly.
    “Just for a while,” she explained.  “Just until the girls are done.  Then I will go back.”
    “No.  It will be too late for you then.  Just like it was too late for me.  You will never go back.”
    “Then I will become a baker like you.”
    “You are not a baker!” her mother said, raising her voice.  “You are a doctor, like Papa.”
    “I’m not a doctor yet and maybe I never will be.  But that’s okay.  I want the girls to have a chance.”
    “We will find a way.  No more talk of second jobs.  Go sit with your sisters and do your work so when your father arrives he will see you are grateful.  We will not speak a word of this to him, do you understand?”
    “Yes , Mama,” she replied.
    She kept her word and remained silent about her intentions at dinner.  And when her father reported to the family that he had been approached by the chief of staff at the Isida Hospital about a position – a position that would be salaried, she knew her gift was working once again to provide for her family.
    “What did you tell them?” Natalya asked as she dipped her bread crust into her stew.
    “I told them I would have to think about it.”
    “What!” she exclaimed.  “What is there to think about?  With a guaranteed salary, there might be a way!”
    “A way for what?” her father replied.  Her mother gave her an angry stare across the table which caused her to hesitate.
    “Nothing.  Nevermind.  That’s