Child 44 Chapter 1 Summary

Soviet Union, Ukraine, Village of Chervoy, 25 January 1933

• Maria is a cat owner. That normally wouldn't be worth mentioning, but she happens to live in a village so poor that every other neighborhood feline has long since been devoured.
• Unfortunately, Maria is dying of hunger, and her cat will have to fend for itself. As she fades away, the cat springs out the front door...
• ...And rushes past a boy named Pavel. Pavel "couldn't believe his eyes" and dashes into his house to tell his mother, Oksana (1.1.3).
• Oksana rightfully flips her lid. She leads him to a frozen pond and sticks her hand into the water (like a boss), revealing several bones Pavel can use as bait. She has one request, however: Pavel must bring Andrei, his younger brother, along for the hunt.
• Andrei is eight years old and a bit of a dunce. That's mostly just because he needs glasses, though. When Pavel bursts into his brother's room, Andrei had just been thinking about how much he wanted to play cards with his older bro.
• The two brothers follow the cat's prints, with Pavel occasionally "bending down to examine the cat's tracks in the snow" (1.1.30). Andrei is so nervous that he starts chewing chunks of tree bark.
• Pavel spots the cat. The brothers each set one bone on the ground with a string attached—they'll each take one string and hide separately.
• Much to Andrei's dismay, the cat chooses his bone first. Andrei fails to catch the fast-footed feline, but the cat decides to take a shot at Pavel's trap next. Dude's hungry.
• Pavel snags the cat with ease. It's not over yet, though—the cat struggles, nearly breaking the string, as Pavel shouts to Andrei for help. Andrei leaps onto the cat, pinning it but not killing it.
• His hands free, Pavel leaps forward and "snapped the animal's neck" (1.1.63). Andrei is ecstatic to have played even a small part in the hunt.
• The brothers decide to hide the cat's body in firewood to avoid their scheming neighbors. There's not much around, however, so they separate for a moment.
• Pavel has just found the jackpot when he hears footsteps "getting faster, louder" (1.1.69). Uh oh. A man emerges from the trees, hitting Pavel in the head and knocking him out.
• Meanwhile, Andrei is freaking out—he can't find his brother. He finally gives up, returning home and telling Oksana that Pavel is missing.
• Oksana loses it. She shoves a wooden spoon down Andrei's throat and hits him before running into the streets, wailing.