The Less You Know The Sounder You Sleep. Juliet Butler

to cut down branches, maybe it’s even the same one. Then a man comes at me with a needle as big as my arm.

      ‘Inject all round the root of the leg,’ says another voice I don’t recognize above all the noise. ‘Let’s get on with this. Gospodi! … these two were bad enough as babies …’ The needle goes in like a hot burning skewer and I try and get off the table then, pulling Masha with me, and hear Anokhin shouting:

      ‘Hold her down! Nurse – hold her down! God in Heaven, this is turning into a circus act!’

      I can’t stop shaking and as soon as the injections are done Masha pops up and starts punching me in the head.

      ‘You idiot! You stupid weakling, you coward!’ she screams, hitting and hitting me. The nurse lets go of me to push her down and I try to crawl off the table again, to get down under the operating table with Aunty Nadya.

      ‘This is absurd!’ shouts Anokhin. ‘Tie them both to the table and let’s just get on and saw this wretched limb off!’

      And then everything goes black.

      I wake up in bed and as soon as my eyes open Masha starts hitting me again.

      ‘Bitch! Spineless snake! They didn’t take it off because of you!’

      ‘Stop that this instant, Masha!’ shouts Aunty Nadya.

      Then everything goes black again.

      When I come to properly, Olessya’s sitting with Masha, holding her, to stop her hitting me, and Aunty Nadya’s telling me what happened.

      ‘You fainted. I could just feel your hand shaking and then it went all limp and wet. I thought you’d died.’

      ‘Wish she had. And left me in peace …’

      ‘Do be quiet, Masha …’ She turns back to me. ‘I could hear them all saying: “What’s happened? What’s wrong?” And Professor Popov shouting, “Dasha! Dashinka! Wake up!” So I couldn’t help it, I crawled out from under the table and saw your surgeon, Professor Dolyetsky, and Doctor Anokhin and Professor Popov walking out of the door to smoke. They were standing there, sucking away like their lives depended on it in the corridor. I could hear them talking. Professor Dolyetsky said it could only be a reaction you had to the novocaine and that it was strange because you’d had novocaine before, and I was thinking, What’s strange is that they don’t realize Dasha just fainted from sheer terror.’