The first night in bunkhouse one was not an easy one.

Natalya lay curled in her bed, staring at the pool of light that seeped under the door. Night time as she understood it had never arrived. The days had certainly been shorter in Pikhtovka, but they were still relatively normal. Here, it never got darker than early twilight. She had no idea what time it was, or how close she was to having to wake up, but her eyes felt like they'd had sawdust thrust in them.

A loud, stuttered snort broke through the still, unwelcome and intrusive. Groaning, Natalya shoved the wispy pillow over her face.

Jolanta was the snorer. It wasn't the same, restful rhythm as Starikan's and it had kept Natalya wide awake for hours. The bed was lumpy and cold, not like her pile of furs in the hut. She missed the crackle of the fire, the smell of leftover stew that lingered in the pot, the rosy flush to her cheeks from the burning hearth.

Without the cheery banter of her bunkmates, this tiny little shack was barren of any comfort. Especially since they had all given her a wide birth after dinner. She shouldn't have spoken out against this Dmitri, she knew that. Kaleena really did seem at peace with whatever one sided affair they had. Still, there was something about it that left a searing ache in Natalya's chest. Perhaps any sort of rejection was too close to home.

Natalya ran her hand over her stubbled head. Her eyes screwed shut for a small moment, angry at herself for the sadness that swelled in her gut. Hopefully she wouldn't run into any mirrors; to see her new, disgusting appearance would surely push her right over that edge she was trying desperately to back away from.

Someone else stirred, an irritable mutter sparking Natalya back to reality. She sat up to see Kaleena stretching, lithe and supple as she extended her long limbs. Wearily, she caught Natalya staring.

'Morning,' she managed through a yawn. 'Sleep well?'

'Not really,' said Natalya in a throaty croak. 'Its bright, isn't it?'

Kaleena snorted. 'Just you wait until summer. The sun will stay up for two whole months.'

Grimacing, Natalya swung her legs out of bed, her feet feeling around for her shoes.

'Jolanta put them by the stove,' said Kaleena, retrieving Natalya's boots as she did her own. 'Your feet will get frostbite if you leave them out overnight. The damp always finds a way to get into them.'

Natalya glanced over at Jolanta who was still snoring away. She gave her a small smile in a silent moment of gratitude.

'Get yourself dressed,' sighed Kaleena as she grabbed a metal bucket. 'I'll show you where we get coal for the stove. You can collect it from now on.'

Acquiescing, Natalya scurried after Kaleena.

The morning was bright and frosty, Natalya's breath swirling in a white cloud. She pulled her coat around her, her hands shoved under her armpits to guard against the cold. Kaleena trudged on ahead, her steps squelching into the mucky ground as she led the way. Natalya caught up to her, making sure to match her strides, even though it took some effort in her overly large shoes.

Kaleena didn't seem as keen on making conversation today. Natalya was sure that was because of her own foul attitude yesterday. It seemed prudent to right the wrong, but it made her insides squirm all the same.

'Sorry for offending you last night,' Natalya said, her words gushing from her mouth before she thought better of it and stopped them.

Raising her eyebrows, Kaleena smiled at her. 'Thank you.' Then she huffed. 'It's all right though. You're new. I'm used to it.' They walked in silence for a little more, the squeak of the bucket handle as Kaleena swung it their only company. 'He really is good to me, you know. Dima I mean.'

Natalya cleared her throat. 'It's not my place to judge.'

'He's a good friend to have, Natalya. All of bunkhouse one do well on his graces, and that includes you.' Kaleena inspected her again. 'If you sweet talk him, I'm sure he'll find you a good husband.'

Teeth gritted, Natalya held back the vile quip she wanted to throw back at her. Kaleena was just trying to help, even if it was unwanted and bothersome.

Soon enough they came to a tiny, dilapidated shelter, coal stacked in large wooden crates underneath.

'We get first pick of the reserves every morning,' Kaleena explained, digging her bucket into the coal and filling it to the brim. 'The other bunkhouses will watch for one of us before they take theirs.'

Natalya just nodded. She really had lucked out in her bunkmates.

Kaleena handed her the bucket, then turned back the way they came. 'Come on, I need to get you back to Jolanta. You're her new runner.'

'Runner?' Natalya asked, lugging the bucket over her shoulder.

'Someone who takes messages from surface level down into the mines, or between the other foremen,' explained Kaleena. 'Jolanta is foreman to mine nine, and the only female one at that. She lost her runner two months ago and they haven't replaced him yet.' Kaleena scanned her. 'You carry that bucket easily.'

Grinning, Natalya stood a little straighter. 'Its lighter than the lumber I'm used to.'

'You were a labourer before now?'

'Of sorts.'

'But you're so-'

'Tiny?' Natalya cut in. 'Yes, I know.' Sighing, Natalya glanced up at the sky. Something was nagging at her from above, an unearthly presence pushing her, however unwillingly, towards this new friend. Starikan had never been one for subtlety. 'I'm actually a designer. Well, seamstress and designer. But I was exiled to Siberia before I came here.' This was bizarre, laying her truths bare like this. Small, futile truths they might be, but still; unusual. Yet something was spurring her to keep going. 'I worked with a carpenter, helping him with the lumber work.'

Spluttering out a small laugh, Kaleena seemed impressed. 'You really are full of surprises, aren't you?' There was a small silence. 'Thank you for sharing. That can't have been easy.'

Furrowing her brow, Natalya made to counter her.

'You know, I'm starting to wonder if tsvetochek is the right name for you. You're hardly a wilting bloom.'

Without responding, Natalya just smiled and continued on back to their bunkhouse. Maybe starikan was right. Kaleena seemed like someone she should stay close to, and not simply because of the perks her presence afforded.

The other women were stirring as they clambered back into the bunkhouse.

'Finally!' moaned Monja, her hair more of a mess than yesterday. 'Get the fire going would you, tsvetochek? Its fucking freezing in here.'

'You leave in half an hour,' cut in Sveta. 'Just get up you lazy prostitutka.'

'If I do that, my nipples will slice you from all the way over here,' grumbled Monja, obstinately falling back into her bed.

'Just stoke a small one,' sighed Kaleena. 'She's no good to anyone when she's grumpy.'

Nodding, Natalya set to her work, glancing round at the other women. They seemed to regard her in much the same way, as though to work out if Kaleena had let last night's indiscretion slide.

Something that Kaleena noticed. 'Natalya will bring the coal in from now on. She's from lumber stock. Far stronger than she looks.'

'About time someone else did it,' cut in Adella. 'My poor back can't take it anymore.'

'Happy to help,' said Natalya as she got the fire going.

'That's my girl,' mumbled Monja into her pillow, stretching nimbly like a cat as the heat washed over her.

Triumphant, Kaleena made her way over to Jolanta's bed. The big woman was the only one who was still sleeping, though her snoring was more of a purr now. Kicking the bed, Kaleena managed to draw a grunt from her fellow Pole. 'Come on Jolanta. Its already late.'

Jolanta returned something in Polish, her tone irritable and standoffish.

'You don't scare me. I'm not one of your miners.' Kaleena pushed her on the shoulder. 'Come on. You've got Natalya to take today. If you're late, it's her that could get in trouble.'

'Yeah and she's good enough at doing that for herself already,' called Sveta, though she shot Natalya a sly, teasing wink.

Groaning, Jolanta pushed up and sat groggily on the side of her bed. 'Happy, krasotka?'

'Perfectly,' smiled Kaleena, patting her cheek.

Natalya sat back on her bed, grateful that the relaxed rhythm these woman lived by had returned. She had assumed her troubled night had been solely down to the dramatic change in her life. Being ripped from her grove was just as torturous as having to leave her grandmother. Perhaps, in a way, more so. She'd had no hope in Moscow; she had in Yakov's forest. But now, settled into the jovial atmosphere her bunkmates created, she realised it wasn't simply change that had unsettled her.

It was loneliness.

Lucky then, that she was listening to starikan properly today. She looked to the ceiling now, beyond the rotting wood and into the heavens above. The message was understood; Stop being so stubborn.

'You'll listen to Jolanta, won't you?' said Kaleena, cutting through Natalya's chat with her celestial mentor. 'She's tough out there but fair.'

'Tough?' Natalya asked, looking to Jolanta. 'This sweet one?'

Cackling, Jolanta stood to her full height, stretching as she did so. 'I sweet to you lot. Out there, I crack skulls.'

'Now that's what I like to hear,' said Natalya. 'I promise I'll behave.'

Smiling, Kaleena fell to her knees and began to search under her bed. 'I have a spare hat for you, tsvetochek. You'll freeze if you don't have one.' She chucked it at Natalya then looked over her bed at the others. 'Anyone got a scarf? Gloves?'

'Teresa has gloves,' said Adella, turning to her fellow Czech and asking her in their native tongue. Sure enough, Teresa pulled a spare pair out of her pillow, smiling at a grateful Natalya as she threw them to her.

'I have scarf,' said Jolanta, taking Natalya by surprise as she wrapped it around her neck for her. 'There. Warm now, yes?'

'Yes,' replied Natalya, her words muffled into the fabric. 'Thank you. All of you.'

'You're welcome,' smiled Kaleena.

Pushing to her feet, Natalya cleared her throat. 'About last night-'

'Don't,' interrupted Sveta. 'You had a rough day. We understand.'

Nodding, Natalya finished getting ready. They were kind to spare her the indignity of a big apology. It really was time for her to watch her mouth. Dressed, she joined a fully clothed Jolanta by the door.

Out into the cold they went, Natalya's teeth gritted in determination to seize the day. It was just the two of them, hurrying through the bunkhouses. Barely anyone was there, every hut almost eerily quiet.

'Shit,' Jolanta cursed. 'They already left.'

'Will we get in trouble?' Natalya asked, eyeing the guards on the gate who had their guns at the ready.

'Not us,' Jolanta promised. 'They not find people to run mines so easily. And you with me. You safe. We just have to catch up.'

Passing the guards, Natalya kept her head down. Jolanta was probably right; they wouldn't kill her. But Natalya was new, and after the attitude yesterday, she couldn't trust that the guards wouldn't prey on her for pure sport. Yet no grabbing grasp came, and the two women passed easily through the outer gates and set off for the mines.

The road was slippery, compact ice making it treacherous to say the least. As if it didn't affect her, Jolanta kept a brutal pace, chatting happily to her new partner who struggled to keep up. Natalya was certainly impressed by the big woman. Nothing seemed to faze her. Instead, she nattered as though they were ordinary women off to their ordinary jobs in an ordinary city.

But instead of a city scape, mountains of coal, rock and debris stretched into the skyline ahead. Watch towers, machinery and smoke all peppered the horizon before her, a cacophony of shouting and grinding gears pulling her into their strange world of industry. Natalya's dalliances in this type of production were small, and nothing on this scale. Her year or so working in the papermill hadn't made much of a lasting impression and that seemed so meagre compared to this. The papermill was just loud and grating. The mines threatened to swallow her whole.

'Impressive, isn't it kwiatuszek?' said Jolanta, tugging Natalya from her thoughts.

'That's certainly one word for it,' said Natalya, rushing to keep pace to her friend's long strides. 'Did you work on mines before here then?'

'All my life,' said Jolanta. 'I fit in here.'

That made sense. They wouldn't hand a woman such an important job so easily otherwise.

'No need to be scared,' Jolanta assured her, squeezing her shoulder to the point of discomfort. 'I look out for you.'

Trying her best not to show her pain, Natalya smiled up at Jolanta. 'Thank you.'

They had caught up with the stragglers of the crowd ahead. Jolanta reached back and took Natalya's hand, cutting through the crowd. There was a change in her demeanour as they passed people. Her smile lines had hardened, her jaw jutting out in strict defiance of her status as a lowly zechka.

Kaleena was right. She was totally different out on the dig.

'Out of my way,' Jolanta barked as she barged through the sea of workers, constantly checking that Natalya was following her, even though she still had hold of her. She was clearly very good at putting on the façade of a scary, domineering task master, but still cared for her charge.

No one batted an eyelid as she made her way through. Not even the men.

As they reached the front of the crowd, Jolanta fully tucked her arm around Natalya, squeezing her shoulder as she continued forward. 'You stick to me, kwiatuszek. Don't get lost.'

Natalya gave a firm nod in response, her eyes fixed on the men ahead. There was a group of fifteen of them all talking to a guard with a clipboard. Like Jolanta, their clothes were particularly dirty, covered with coal dust and damp, grimy splashes from the ground.

The guard with the clipboard looked up. It was Andros, the one who had given her the lift. He seemed more at ease here amongst the miners; his comrades at the wall had clearly drained his energy. 'Silachka!' he called. 'Nice of you to finally show up.'

Strong woman... that definitely suited Jolanta.

'I still on time,' called Jolanta. 'They finally let you come back to us.'

Andros smirked at her, no malice in his grin. He was amused. 'Yeah, finally! Wall building was more than a little dull.' Then his gaze fell to Natalya. 'Ah, look who it is! The little terror.'

'You know my kwiatuszek?' said Jolanta.

'Flower?' laughed Andros. 'No, Jolanta, this one's a viper. Totally venomous.'

'You speak Polish?' Natalya asked, the words slipping from her mouth too quickly for her to catch.

This drew another cheery smile from Andros, even if the other men in the group were all surprised by her gall. 'Why is she up here Jolanta? She's new, she goes into the mines just like the others-'

'She's our new bunkmate,' Jolanta explained, standing a little straighter.

A small titter passed around the men.

'This little one made it into bunkhouse one?' asked one of the men. Natalya regarded him. He looked rough, and not in a charming, roguish way. His nose was broken in several places, and he had a white scar on his chin that stood bold against his weathered skin. Arms folded across his chest, his legs were wide in stance. That intimidation clearly worked on most people, but Natalya was unimpressed; anyone that readily on edge had an inferiority complex.

Jolanta matched his stance, except now she was slightly taller than him. 'You got problem, Volodya?'

Volodya didn't back down. 'No, just interested.' His 'interest' was clear as he peered at Natalya again.

Oh good. Already, she had a potential husband... or molester.

'Kaleena chose her. So back away,' said Jolanta. She clearly didn't like this man at all, which was totally understandable. He seemed arrogant... probably because his manhood didn't live up to expectations.

'If Kaleena chose her then she's welcome here,' cut across Andros, dispelling their argument. 'But it still doesn't explain why she's here with the foremen.'

'She's my new runner,' Jolanta said firmly.

'Says who?' asked Volodya, piping up again.

'Says Kaleena,' Jolanta bit back, her voice raised.

'Dmitri's bitch doesn't get to decide mining matters...'

'Hey,' Andros curt across, his tone sharp and authoritative. 'Enough. If Kaleena's picked her, she stays.' He looked Natalya over again. 'Probably just as well. Even the hardy struggle down there.'

'I survived pretty well in the taiga,' Natalya snapped, but then looked straight at the ground. She'd already broken her promise to Kaleena within the first few moments.

'The taiga?' asked Andros. 'Doing what?'

'Lumber and carpentry,' said Natalya, screwing her heel into the dirt in frustration. Why was it so hard for her to just keep her mouth shut?

'Impressive,' said Andros, stepping closer to her. 'So, you want to go in as a general labourer? Because there's a space in Volodya's team.'

Eyes skirting up, Natalya glanced at Volodya. He wet his lips before he grinned at her, showing his missing teeth.

'Jolanta needs a runner. I'll stick with her,' Natalya replied. It earned her a little squeeze from Jolanta.

'Smart,' said Andros, scrawling something on his clipboard. 'All right then, best get to it.' As the grumbling foremen went to leave, Andros approached Jolanta, pulling her aside. 'Kaleena hasn't stuck her neck out, has she?'

Jolanta shook her head. 'Grigori Demyanovich has taken an interest in kwiatuszek.'

Oh, so that was common knowledge amongst her bunkmates?

Andros' eyebrows dipped in sympathy. 'Hard luck,' he said to Natalya. 'Just don't do anything that gets others in trouble, all right?'

'I won't,' promised Natalya. She got the feeling she was going to have to continually make this promise for the foreseeable future.

Sighing, Andros left them alone, shouting instructions to one of the other foreman as he left.

'He's odd, isn't he?' said Natalya to Jolanta as she was led further into the worksite.

'He's nice,' Jolanta replied. 'Good friend to have. He's firm but fair, you know?'

'I do.'

'You want to get on his good side, then just be nice to krasotka. Then he'll be nice to you.'

'So, he likes her?'

Laughing Jolanta glanced at her. 'What man doesn't?' She sighed. 'But I think he has pure thoughts for her. And he is just a nice man.'

'Yes, he gave me a lift here from the outer wall.'

'See? Nice man.'

They had left the open space of the camp complex far behind and were now enclosed by a series of mine shafts, all in rows on either side of them. They were gaping, hungry mouths, all leading to soulless bellies beneath. Toboggans of coal lay strewn at every entrance, eagerly discarded after a hard days toil.

'Here we are. Number nine.' Jolanta ducked into the opening, grabbing two over coats. 'Put this on,' she instructed, chucking one to Natalya.

This jacket wasn't overwhelming like the rest of her uniform. Her fingertips where actually visible at the ends of the arms. 'How old was your last runner?'

'Skinny sixteen year old boy,' said Jolanta, her jacket secured before she got her own clipboard from the huge pocket and scribbled a few notes. 'Smaller people make better runners.'

'And what happened to him?'

Without giving a response, Jolanta reached back and took two kerosene lamps from the small alcove. A mining accident, no doubt. That wasn't something to dwell on. 'You keep this tied to jacket all the time.' Dutifully, she began fixing it to Natalya's shoulder, tying it on with a crude chord.

'Can't I just carry it?'

'Better to keep hands free, just in case.' Jolanta tied her own lamp to her jacket, then beckoned Natalya towards the black entrance. 'I go first. I show you to gallery. You have to get used to it quick, or I will have to replace you.'

'Understood,' Natalya confirmed, staring into the abyss with clenched fists. She was going to prove herself. She had done it before. She would do it again.

Jolanta looked back at her. 'Ready, kwiatuszek?'

'Ready.'

Together, they took the plunge.