Cyril began to gradually get used to this ride. They pulled off the asphalt road to the unpaved road, and the driver had to slow down. Behind the bus, a dust cloud was formed that penetrated the cabin as soon as it became necessary to stop in order to disembark or let in passengers.

So they rode, winding between the villages. Cyril gradually approached the goal of his journey. Accustomed to such a driving style of the driver, he began to doze. Suddenly the bus slowed down. The guy nearly flew into the back of the person sitting in front of him. He was saved only by the fact that he was still holding the handle of the seat.

Cyril expected indignant shouts and abuse of passengers, but did not wait. Passengers took a sharp stop with humor, making fun of each other and the driver, who at that time was talking with his colleague. For a few minutes they discussed their problems, and they did it so loudly that passengers of two buses could hear their conversation.

They ended the conversation as suddenly as they began. The bus rushed off again, bringing Kirill closer to his cherished goal of travel. Passengers, among whom Kirill was, reached Zagorje without incident, except for the fact that, several times, according to Kirill, only by a miracle they did not end up in a ditch.

The bus stopped, the passengers slowly left it, going home. The driver, who came out to stretch his limbs, looked at his watch, grunted with satisfaction.

“We arrived one minute earlier,” the driver proudly stated.

Chapter 3

Oddly enough, no one met Cyril, although they should have. As time went. Stop is empty. Soon the guy was alone. It took 5 minutes beyond the appointed time, then 10, 15, 20 minutes, no one appeared. There was no point waiting. He decided to independently find the home of his relatives.

Having stopped several passers-by, he found a man who volunteered to help him, explaining how to find a house. In his speech, there were many local landmarks, so Cyril often interrupted him, demanding clearer explanations. The local was very surprised and shocked by this. Cyril explained that he is not local. The aborigine readily began to explain everything from the beginning, and in such expressions as if he had a young idiot in front of him. Having got rid of the talkative aboriginal, Kirill walked to the house of relatives, hoping that there were no namesakes in this village.

On the way to the house, Cyril faced two problems: cars and dogs.

Walking along the road to where he was sent by a local resident, Cyril discovered that cars tend to unexpectedly jump out of the bend. Having quickly left, the cars drove straight to the unsuspecting Kirill and when it seemed that a collision could not be avoided, the driver at the last moment with an incredible maneuver took the car to the side, passing by. It was unnerving. When the car left the corner for the first time, Cyril almost jumped into a roadside ditch. To make such an ill-considered step he was prevented by the things that he was carrying. Later, having become accustomed to such a manner of driving the local drivers, he stopped paying attention to them.

Another problem was local dogs. When Kirill was passing by someone at home, a chain dog suddenly jumped out of the booth, barking loudly, he tried to break the chain on which he was sitting. From the window, usually someone was peeking, escorting Kirill’s suspicious gaze, who was waving a friendly hand, showing his peaceful intentions. This made no impression whatsoever, so soon Cyril stopped paying attention to the dogs and their owners.

But it was impossible not to pay attention to stray dogs. They ran beside him, wagging their tail in a friendly way. The farther, the more dogs became. From time to time some of the most courageous dogs, creeping close, to inquire about the contents of Cyril's things. Not sharing his aspirations, Cyril drove the dog away, but after a minute another dog, having decided that Cyril would not notice anything, was again approaching him.

Adjusting from time to time the passers-by his way, the guy still got to the house of his relatives, accompanied by dogs that portrayed not the escort, not the convoy.

The house of relatives, painted in a pleasant light green color, was located on a small hill. A large blue veranda was connected to the hut through a corridor. A thin wisp of smoke rose from the chimney, indicating that the owners were at home.

Cyril left his followers on the street, despite the attempts of some of them to penetrate after him. Passing through the veranda and corridor, he walked to the front door, knocked, and then entered the dining room.

Entering the door, he saw three people sitting at the table. At the head of the table was an elderly man with a small belly and a cheerful look. It was the head of the family, who, despite his age, everyone called simply Stepan. Next to him sat his wife, Maria Ivanovna. She was shorter than her husband, plump, with a very kind face. Slightly away from them was a girl of about twelve, fair-haired, slim. She looked at Cyril with curiosity.

Kirill did not have time to consider anything more, there was a noise and, a woman of about fifty literally flew into the room, nearly knocking Cyril down. She excitedly waved some piece of paper.

“Hey, neighbors can dance,” the woman cried cheerfully, “Kirill is coming to you.”

Chapter 4

After the commotion caused by the appearance of the guests had settled, Cyril was quickly freed from the things he had brought, fed and watered. Stepan apologized to him for himself, his family and mail. They decided to postpone all the questions until the evening. Then Stepan and Maria Ivanovna went about their business, leaving the guest in the care of his daughter Sveta.

Cyril decided to get acquainted with the place where he will spend a whole month. Opposite the front door was a dining room, on the right - a kitchen. Behind the dining room there was a room separated by a curtain, to which Uncle Stepa’s bedroom and Aunt Mary’s room adjoined. There was no separate room for Cyril, he was placed in a room to the Light.

Not doing anything special, Kirill was taken until lunch. He unpacked and sorted out things. Stepan showed him his farm. He kept chickens, pigs, cows and rabbits. On the site were apple, plum, cherry, currant of different varieties. All possible plants grew in the garden: strawberries, dill, onions, peas, cucumbers, tomatoes, potatoes and many other things.

After a hearty and hearty lunch, Sveta called Kirill to the beach. The beach was located at the other end of the village, so along the way she could acquaint Kirill with the main sights of Zagorje. Cyril agreed and they, slowly, went to the beach.

The river divided the village into two almost equal parts. The inhabitants of one part were called northern zagortsy, and the other - southern zagortsy, in everyday life some were called northerners, and others respectively southerners. The beach was located on the territory of northerners, and a disco and cinema were located on the territory of southerners. These were the main places where the Zagorje youth mainly gathered. Northerners went to the cinema or to the disco to the southerners, and those in turn went to the northerners on the beach. Because of this, disagreements arose between them, often developing into a fight, however, wall-to-wall reached a mass slaughter very rarely. Sveta, naively believing that not knowing this is simply impossible, didn’t say anything about this local tradition.

The houses in the village were mostly one-story wooden, but there were also two-story buildings, there were very few stone houses.Along the way they came across familiar Sveta, who greeted or simply nodded their head or hand, greeting her.

- And what are you doing in St. Petersburg? - interrupted the somewhat prolonged silence of the Light.

- Yes, I don’t do anything special, - Cyril answered spontaneously ... Read more →