in the forest. His car remained on a distant glade 25 kilometers to the east ... however, now it was unimportant. Now you need to navigate, find the desired island, build a boat and not roll over in it.

The boat was inflatable. He blew her five times and blew her on the rowing canal, but then there was no such fatigue. His legs refused to press on the pump, and he sat down, driving away the mosquitoes that ate him, despite all the repellents. Then he got up and inflated the boat.

While he sailed to the desired island, looking at the smartphone with GPS, the sun managed to roll over the pines. Moist air rang mosquitoes.

“I will spend the night on the island. So even better. Less beasts, he thought. On the way, he managed to curse his venture a hundred times and call himself a fool - but now it was too late. The third island, to which he swam, was thus.

It was already dark - I had to turn on the flashlight. Komarie rushed to him, and it seemed that an invisible Bulgarian was next to her. Leaving the flashlight away, Ilya Stepanych blew away the boat (as required by the safety rules), packed it into a hard case, folded it against a boulder, loaded it and went to look for that place.

It was near. There stood two rocks, the only ones on the island. Sukhorukov realized that this was the right place, without even looking at his smartphone. He did not worry: tiredness knocked out all feelings. He just did not know what would be there. Probably nothing will happen, he thought. At least today. I will set up the tent and spend the night, and the morning is wiser.

Between the rocks was something like a bench, roughly hewn horizontally. This is quite interesting, thought Sukhorukov. Altar? The sacred site of the ancient Finns?

Going to the bench, he did what was natural in his case: he sat down on it. And I realized that he would get out of here very soon.

He took off his backpack. The lantern flashed the gnarled paws of the firs and the living mercury of a mosquito dancing in the white ray. Then for some reason Sukhorukov took a talisman from his backpack. For some reason he thought that he needed to be gotten here, and why he didn’t know himself.

He sat with a talisman and turned it in his hands. Just sitting and turning. There was a mosquito whining around, water was squishing, a gentle wind was humming in the pines - thousands of sounds of silence, if you listen to it. There were no more sounds.

And at some point he simply felt that he was not alone.

***

There was no fear, it was just that feeling. It made him turn in one direction, in the other direction, shaking a lantern.

And then he saw her.

She sat on the same bench. Ancient as a stone. In clothes, as from a museum. And she looked in front of her, not seeing him or the lantern.

There was no fear. Sukhorukov, it turns out, had long known that there would be something like that, and he was ready. He did not even try to understand where this old woman came from, knowing that this could not be, and simply did not need to delve into it.

“Hello,” he said, just in case. It sounded funny, but it was not a joke.

“And hello,” a voice answered, creaky, like the branches of pines. - I waited for you.

- Indeed? - asked Sukhorukov like a fool.

- The talisman will not deceive, will lead to me. That's what was created.

They were silent. Sukhorukov felt that he was freezing, but not from the cold, but from the icy current coming from the old woman.

“I know why I came,” she said.

Sukhorukov himself did not know why he came, and again he was silent.

- So, she disappeared instead of you?

That he did not expect.

- How do you know? He shouted.

“My destiny is to know,” the old woman creaked. - Before you, she was here. Gray as I am. Sat where you sit.

- What?

- Cried for killing you.That's why turned gray in a moment. What am I? The talisman is a talisman. That's what he made.

- How is it - "I was killed"? - Ilya Stepanych thoughtfully repeated.

- So. Everyone thinks that he lives in the first and only circle. And there are more circles than stars in the sky. When you were killed by these robbers who confused you with their accomplice, she came to me. How she got the talisman - I do not know, and this is not my sadness. And I returned it, as expected, a year ago.

- A year ago? - repeated amazed Ilya Stepanych.

- That is a deal. I warned her that it was difficult to get away from destiny, but she did cope. Not gone from the fate, therefore ... Who killed her? Rogues? Instead of you, if you are sitting here?

“Yes,” whispered Sukhorukov.

“Why didn't you take you to the ends of the earth, not bury you from them?”

“Shoronila,” he said, barely wielding his voice. “But they found me there too.”

- Looking for you?

- Probably, not. By chance...

The old woman nodded.

- It is difficult to leave fate. And it will be difficult for you. Great heroes succeeded in this ... well, and my job is to give what the talisman promised.

- Will you return me a year earlier?

- Are you there already.

- How?

- So. Goodbye. I wish you not to return here.

- Who you are?

- The place where your sweetheart was born, you know, but you do not know me. People forget everything ...

The old woman is gone.

He had not yet seen this, had not shone a flashlight into it, but he knew that it was not there.

After shining and making sure, he sat for a while on the bench. The air gradually thawed from the stone cold emanating from the old woman.

Then he said loudly to nowhere - “Thank you!” - he got up on his knees just in case. A branch squeaked in response, dropping a couple of cones.

“Or maybe it's nonsense? From tiredness and grief? ”He thought. - “Now I will sing, I will break the tent, and in the morning it will be seen ...”

Somehow, having built a night for himself (he did this in St. Petersburg a hundred times, but now everything went awry), Sukhorukov climbed into his sleeping bag and turned off.

***

Birds woke him up.

While he got out of the bag (it took, probably, an entire hour), they got so excited that they wanted to cover their ears.

A misty lake morning floated above the island.

“So what?” Thought Sukhorukov. - “It's nonsense or not, but it's time to go back.” What time is it there? ”

He took out a smartphone. 6.10. Damn early ... but it's good.

And suddenly something pricked him. Something on the screen.

He looked there again - and stared for a minute or two, until he realized:

June 5, 2015.

Under any circumstances, he would have thought that the date had gone astray (something was pressed, it is not enough) - but now ...

Frozen Sukhorukov walked to the water. At this stone, he left the boat ...

There was no boat.

In the chest sank with ice. Someone stole it. Just brazenly stole his boat at night while he slept. Confused, Sukhorukov returned to his sleeping bag ...

There was no bag.

A second was back, and now was not. And there was no backpack. And food. And all.

He sat in the wet grass.

"Either I’ve lost my mind, or ... Or I’m really in the past, and all things from the future are real until ... as long as I see or touch them."

He considered his position. To the coast - seven meters, or even a kilometer. He swims, in principle, not bad, only water is ice ... And he will not ship clothes and a smartphone to that beach. He will go out there naked, and mosquitoes will eat him, and he will wander through this damned forest, not knowing the road ... And he will not have a car either. Because in 2015 there was no car on any glade.

But if he does, he will have Ilka. Live. He already has it, only far. And she still does not know.

Stop.

He even closed his eyes to think this idea through.

If Ilka was here, then she did it all. She could do it all. She swam across the lake, got out of the forest, returned to Peter, found him there ...

If she was able to do all this for his sake, then he can. For her.

Only two things are needed. The first is to study the map thoroughly while it is available.

The second ...

Undressing, Sukhorukov took out a talisman and firmly tied him to the body with a belt from his backpack. He took nothing more - there was no point.

Going to the water, he put his thumb in there. Shit.

She could, he reminded himself. And carefully, in small steps he entered the water.