When they reached their street, Martin slipped a piece of paper into Maija"s hand and crossed the street quickly. Maija and Vlad went into the opposite direction. When Vlad closed the entrance door behind them, Maija faked a huge yawn.
"Are you tired, dear?" - He asked, giving her a worried look. - "I actually have been thinking that you aren"t getting enough sleep lately."
"I"m fine, Papa," - she said. - "Just a little bit tired, that"s all. I"ll rest for a little while in my room and I"m sure I"ll soon be fresh as a lemon."
"I just hope you didn"t catch any viruses there in the damp cold cellar." - he continued with an angry undertone in his voice. - "What a system, really. If you want to find a better school, dear, we can do it in the next couple of weeks already."
"No-no, I"m perfectly fine, really." - Maija said quickly. - "I"ll go up to my room, Papa."
Maija locked her room"s door, sat on the bed and quickly unrolled the tiny piece of paper. It was a note which said:
"If you can, meet me after sunset at the usual place. I hope you"ll be there. M.C."
She smiled and put the note carefully in the middle of a dusty, heavy book. Her sight fell on the telephone, but she guessed that even if everyone else were released from the prison too, it was highly unlikely that Sandra would go straight home. The sky was still quite bright. There weren"t any clouds that day, and the weak, pale sun gave a soft light. She sat on her bed and waited. Sneaking out unnoticed wasn"t supposed to be so difficult - and even if Vlad noticed her, she could always say that she was only heading for a short stroll or something of that sort. She just hoped her father wouldn"t ask her anything about Tommy.
She was lying on her stomach, supporting her head with her elbows. The sun looked very far away and sad. To Maija"s happiness, it was sinking quickly. She felt something shivering inside of her stomach - maybe it was supposed to feel like that? Maija rolled on her back and smiled. She tried to occupy herself with something, but she couldn"t do her homework or even simply read a book. All she could do was look at the watch and at the sky that was getting darker and darker. Finally, the first star appeared - it was time to go.
Quietly, very quietly, in a way she has never walked before, she went downstairs. All the nerves of her body seemed to be alert. If someone would stand behind her back at that moment, she would feel it. But the area seemed to be clear. Papa is probably still working in his room, she thought.
Finally, she stood by the entrance door. Now she was facing the most difficult task - to open the door quietly, without making noises. She put her hand on the handle carefully and slowly started pulling it on herself. The door was half open already, when she heard a voice right by her ear:
"Mai? What are you doing, dear?"
That was Vlad. His voice wasn"t exactly angry or surprised - to be exact, he seemed almost scared. Something was very strange about him - Maija has never seen her father make his heavy steps so quiet - he was just as quiet as her, even though his weight was about four times as big. Surprisingly, it looked as if he wanted to do exactly the same thing she was about to do - sneak out of the house.
"I was only going for a walk, Papa," - she squeaked, amazed at how unconvincing she sounded. To her relief, Vlad didn"t ask any questions.
"Umh - for a walk - yes," - he repeated her words and she saw his forehead blushing. - "good idea, dear, it would be good for you. Just be careful, will you?"
"Of course, Papa." - she said in a little bit more secure tone. - "If Tommy comes and asks for me, please tell him that I"m asleep." - she added.
"But you see, dear," - he paused. - "I was about to go out as well. I - I got a very important call from the institute, something urgent, you see - an urgent project, that is."
Maija could swear she didn"t hear the phone ring during that afternoon, but she didn"t say a word. She said goodbye to her father and went out. She started walking in the direction of the park without looking back. Now she was almost sure something strange was going on, but the thought of Martin waiting for her made her feet walk faster. The air was wonderfully fresh. The park seemed to be a dark, unknown forest. It was easy to think that each and every one of the trees would have said something to her if they could speak.
Martin was waiting for her under the big oak tree. He stood with his back turned to her, his hands in his pockets, staring at the sky.
"I"m here," - she said happily, and he turned around with a smile and took her hand. He stole a quick kiss from her lips, that were warm and soft.
"Did you sneak out or did you tell your father you"re going to meet Sandra?" - Martin asked with a wink.
"Actually, neither." - said Maija. - "Papa is very strange lately. I told him I was going for a walk and he - he bought it, he was in such a hurry. I just wonder where he was about to go."
Martin took off his coat and put it on the big stone by the roots of the oak tree. For a while, they sat quietly, holding hands and looking at the sleepy neighbourhood and the rare solemn stars which could be seen sparkling at the small patches of sky that weren"t covered by clouds.
"You know," - he said, his voice strangely hesitating. - "I was going to ask you something - "
"Yes?" - Maija looked at him, trying to read the signs of his expression and not knowing what to expect. - "You sound serious - is there anything wrong?"
"No, not really," - he said quickly and then paused, - "I just - I just have been wondering, what has Tommy been whispering to you when your father and me came into the detention room?"
"Oh, that - nothing really, he just reminded me that I promised to go to his concert this Friday." - said Maija, slightly blushing as she noticed the awkward expression that appearead on Martin"s face. - "He invited everyone really," - she added hastily.
"That"s strange, in that case he invited everyone but me."
"I"m sure he meant to invite you," - said Maija.
"I don"t like rock music anyway." - he replied grumpily.
"You silly," - Maija smiled, putting her hand on his sleeve, - "would you like to come with me?"
"That would be lovely," - his face shone. - "Friday night, you said?"
It was quite cold and they went home early. Vlad was in the kitchen, cooking something delicious. Maija cuddled up on the sofa. The windows were covered with frost.
"I think it will snow soon," - said Vlad, as he entered the room with two big cups of tea in his hands.
"Yes," - Maija replied, smiling like a tiny kitty at the sight of a bowl full of milk. - "is everything fine at work, Papa?"
"What?" - he looked at her, immensly surprised. - "Ah, yes - work - it went fine, we arranged everything. Thanks for asking, dear."
Later that evening, Maija spoke on the phone with Sandra. After Maija heard all about how Will and her friend had such a good time when the detention was over, she told Sandra about Tommy, Martin and the rock concert.
"What?" - Sanni gasped. - "Oh, I can already imagine this very nice reunion - you, Martin and Tommy. This is a time bomb, you know."
"I know it won"t work out too well for everyone, but I had no choice," - Maija explained. - "if I went alone, it would look even worse."
"Yes," - Sandra agreed thoughtfully. - "if you go, Will and I will go too - it would be a show too spectacular as to miss it."
Maija felt a strong urge to throw a pillow at her friend.