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Trotsky got out of jail. The Bolsheviks won 51 percent of the vote in the Moscow city elections. Party membership reached 350,000.
Grigori had an intoxicating feeling that anything could happen, including total disaster. Every day the revolution might be defeated. That was what he dreaded, for then his child would grow up in a Russia that was no better. Grigori thought of the milestones of his own childhood: the hanging of his father, the death of his mother outside the Winter Palace, the priest who took little Lev's trousers down, the grinding work at the Putilov factory. He wanted a different life for his child.
"Lenin is calling for an armed uprising," he told Katerina as they walked to Magda's place. Lenin had been in hiding outside the city, but he had been sending a constant stream of furious letters urging the party to action.
"I think he's right," said Katerina. "Everyone is fed up with governments who speak about democracy but do nothing about the price of bread. "
As usual, Katerina said what most Petrograd workers were thinking.
Magda was expecting them and had made tea. "I'm sorry there's no sugar," she said. "I haven't been able to get sugar for weeks. "
"I can't wait to get this over with," said Katerina. "I'm so tired of carrying all this weight. "
Magda felt Katerina's belly and said she had about two weeks to go. Katerina said: "It was awful when Vladimir was born. I had no friends, and the midwife was a hard-faced Siberian bitch called Kseniya. "
"I know Kseniya," said Magda. "She's competent, but a bit stern. "
"I'll say. "
Konstantin was leaving for the Smolny Institute. Although the soviet was not in session every day, there were constant meetings of committees and ad hoc groups. Kerensky's provisional government was now so weak that the soviet gained authority by default. "I hear Lenin is back in town," Konstantin said to Grigori.
"Yes, he got back last night. "
"Where is he staying?"
"It's a secret. The police are still keen to arrest him. "
"What made him return?"
"We'll find out tomorrow. He's called a meeting of the Central Committee. "
Konstantin left to catch a streetcar to the city center. Grigori walked Katerina home. When he was about to leave for the barracks, she said: "I feel better, knowing Magda will be with me. "
"Good. " Grigori still felt that childbirth seemed more dangerous than an armed uprising.
"And you'll be there too," Katerina added.
"Not actually in the room," Grigori said nervously.
"No, of course not. But you'll be outside, pacing up and down, and that will make me feel safe. "
"Good. "
"You will be there, won't you?"
"Yes," he said. "Whatever happens, I'll be there. "
When he got to the barracks an hour later he found the place in turmoil. On the parade ground, officers were trying to get guns and ammunition loaded onto wagons, with little success: every battalion committee was either holding a meeting or preparing to hold one. "Kerensky has done it now!" said Isaak jubilantly. "He's trying to send us to the front. "
Grigori's heart sank. "Send who?"
"The entire Petrograd garrison! The orders have come down. We're to change places with soldiers at the front. "
"What's their reason?"
"They say it's because of the German advance. " The Germans had taken the islands in the Gulf of Riga and were heading toward Petrograd.
"Rubbish," said Grigori angrily. "It's an attempt to undermine the soviet. " And it was a clever attempt, he realized as he thought it through. If the troops in Petrograd were replaced by others coming back from the front, it would take days, perhaps weeks of organization to form new soldiers' committees and elect new dep
