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Show 121 the same as the hills that rose behind the steelworks. The trees covering the hills were grimed to the color of slate. Karl was startled by a sudden burst of music from the Russian Orthodox Church, which must have been filled with people. A torrent of rich voices rose in words Karl couldn't understand, building minor chords to such volume that he stood motionless to give full attention to the sound. As the church bell rang, the deepest bass voice he'd ever heard -- that had to be Yulyona's father, the cantor -- sang alone, and then the whole congregation responded in four-part harmony. The words swelled over and over so that Karl was able to repeat them: Hospodie pomiloi. Hospodie Pomiloi. The music impressed him so much that while it lasted, he forgot he was waiting for Yulyona. When the service ended, people streamed out of the church. Yulyona was one of the last to leave, coming out alone to walk down the hill. Karl stepped from the trees to follow her from a safe distance. He felt no guilt about stalking her secretly; he only wanted to learn where she lived so that he could walk along her street at night and perhaps catch a glimpse of her from time to time. He smiled, remembering how silly he'd thought Andy was to walk past Virginia Ward's house night after night. That was before Karl learned about love. Yulyona was wearing a toque hat of royal-blue velvet trimmed with black feathers. The jacket of her pale-blue suit reached to her hips, and the long skirt swayed enough as she walked that he could get a good look at her ankles, which were perfect, as he already knew. Karl wondered how she could afford such nice clothes on her teacher's salary. |