Vera is riding her new bicycle in the school yard, when she discovers there's no one there to help her brake to stop herself.

"Russia seized Lesley Blanch when she was still a child. A mysterious traveler--swathed in Siberian furs, bearing Fabergé eggs and icons as gifts along with Russian fairy tales and fairy tales of Russia--came to visit her parents and left her starry-eyed. Years later the same man returned to sweep her off her feet. Her love affair with the Traveller, as she calls him, transformed her life and fueled an abiding fascination with Russia and Russian...