The old man spoke again and Yorgi leaned, took both his hands and shook them warmly.
“He says he will tell his son to drive you to Ardahan free of charge and put you on the overnight bus to Ankara to make sure that you start the next leg of your long journey safely. They will do this free of charge because of our long-standing friendship and because he would not like to see any harm come to such a brave young woman. He says that if he were twenty years younger, he would ask you to become one of his wives, but there is no point now”.
She looked at the old man and smiled, but he could only guess what was being said, because he didn’t speak Russian.
“It’s about ninety minutes to Ardahan”, continued Yorgi “and the bus departs at six, so you should arrive just before noon tomorrow. He sugges
