Without tears, she knelt on the earthen floor at his head, began to read a prayer. Under which the old man stopped breathing. We came out of the hut.

- How we podgadali to time. - Said Andrew, began to write something in the folder. Vasily stood by the car, looking at the houses grazing in the distance of the cows.

“When was the last time you were here?” - I asked Andrei.

- In April, as in the forest, the path melted. Then there were four women and two girls.

- Consider for a month some kind of infection mowed them. Need to bury the body. Nick, you help the girls. Daria, where to get shovels?

- I will show. - Said Nastya, because Daria returned to the house to the dead.

Then Nastya led us to where their cemetery is located. The three of us begin to dig, and Nastya returns to the skete. It is hard to dig - at first the roots of the trees interfered, then small stones mixed with clay. Three hours later, we dug one grave. Nastya, who came, gives us water and says that they have already washed the bodies. Shook up in a shroud, waiting for us. Three bodies lie on the ground near the house.

Using the door leaf as a stretcher, we transfer the bodies one by one to the grave. Omit the remains of all in one pit. Girls pray for the last time. The hill above this grave is higher than the others.

- What to do with the cows? Chickens?

- Only on foot to drive to your farm. - This is the advice of Basil. - Chickens can be chopped here and chop in the freezer.

- Where are we four cows? We do not drink so much milk.

I generally muddle in rural affairs. And then the stomach purred. And, truth, already the third hour of the day.

Girls offer a snack than there is. And they have porridge on milk, black bread and honey brew instead of tea.

Stopped rumbling stomach, head began to work.

“I'll write the protocol now.” You will be witnesses ... This is the law, Pasch. Girls need documents. We are all under the heel of the apparatus of violence and protection.

- You're right. Consider not where the citizens of the country. Vasya, what do you say?

- What about marriage? None I pass. Andrew?

- I'll think about it ... But ninety percent sure that I will not agree. They should at least be trained to handle mixers so that the apartment is not flooded, with a gas stove, so as not to burn. And I have an area of ​​fifty square kilometers.

Everything. Now they are my burden. But I have helpers. Nick to teach them to love children, bite their throats, protecting the cubs. Vera will be his housekeeping teacher. Mom will love them as her daughters, erasing from their memory those creatures that appeal better to the cow than to them.

Well, my task is to lead them, to protect. And fulfill the role of a husband. The first is to leave them here tonight, decide tonight what to do with the cows and the bird.

- Daria, Nastya you are not afraid to stay here for the night?

- Without you? - Nastya’s eyes blinked quickly.

- Yes. I will come tomorrow morning, I will solve questions with cows and a bird.

- The Lord will save us for you, our husband. - Daria is calmer.

Andrew finally made a protocol for the discovery of the skete on his site. He wrote that Zakhary Savvins died in front of our eyes, commanding that Daria and Anastasia Savvins, born in 1996, be taken away from the skete of their daughters. What took them to shelter Tokarev Pavel Petrovich, a citizen of Ukraine, who applied for Russian citizenship. Constantly living there somewhere and there.

We signed a protocol with Vasily and Nika.

- Pashenka, I will stay with them. I'll talk heart to heart. We will think what to do next.

- You're clever, my favorite. Dasha and Nastya. Nick's over you main, do what she says ... Ta-a-ak, the mobile network is accessible from here, so call me if that.

- Pash, I love you.You are the nicest man on earth. And ... I think you can handle a few wives, hee.

Andrei hurried to hand over the protocol to the ROVD. Vasily took us to my farm. On the way, he again advised to chop chickens, for his consideration - this is a troublesome business of fussing with chickens.

Chop not for long, but to revive later, if I decide on something else, it is impossible. Need to consult with relatives. Faith will be furious. Definitely. But I feel confident that I can convince her not to be angry.

Now mom. Here with her, I'm not so sure of myself. I would like to postpone the conversation until their arrival, but it’s urgent to resolve the issue with animals and birds. I call. Out of zone...

And I have a concern - harvesting firewood for the winter. Gloves, an ax, a piece of rope under his armpit. Loyal whistled with himself. Choosing trunks under his own strength, began the analysis of the windbreak. The case moved quickly - putting the trunks with the butt-end in the direction of the house, tied a couple with a rope, leaving a long loop. He put it on over his shoulders and neck, like an ox pulling at home. Folding on the garden tilted from the weeds, he dragged four pairs of logs of twelve centimeters thick at the butt.

I did not think - rubbed my neck and shoulders with a rope. He took off his shirt and sat down on a bench to rest. Tired did not notice how he fell asleep. I was woken by the sound of the horn. Somehow straightening, he spun the body along the spine, made a couple of strokes with his hands, dispersing blood in triceps.

For several weeks of existence of the motel, roadside grass destroyed the wheels of cars. And what will happen after the rains? Drivers will be hard to leave transport. It is necessary at least to pour rubble. Where to get it? How much does it cost? And in general, do we need such expenses? After all, while we still have not even returned the percentage of money invested. With such thoughts, I am settling people, getting paid. Gradually, I calm down - because we have a treasure. It is likely that its value is such that the motel business will become a good way to launder money.

Dust from under the wheels of a stopped Zhiguli, returns my thoughts to rubble, and even better to asphalting a good parking lot. At least there, in the wasteland, at the hut, the last from my house.

Two out of the car. The young man opens the trunk, pulls out some kind of tool. I have already seen such a box when several years ago the Kiev-Cherkassy highway was being repaired. Well, for sure! Tripod. Theodolite is attached to it.

- Hello, lady, hello sir. Let me ask you about your actions?

- Hello Young man. - The girl is more sociable, speaks clearly, without the snobbery inherent in some "educated" people. - Your way will be repaired. We measure the drops to compare them with old footage. Are you a trucker? - The girl tilted her head slightly, as Verny does when she listens attentively.

- My name is Pavel. I am a co-owner of the motel.

- I respond to the name of Rimma. And this is my ...

- Spouse. - Finishes for her young man. - Anton. Pleased to meet you, Pavel. We do not have time today to reach the district center. They were detained in one place ... - Anton looked at his wife, with such a look that even a ten-year-old boy would have guessed the reason for the delay. - And for the next hill, too, lingered.

Rimma just smiled and straightened something on her stomach under the tight jacket of a road worker. Maybe she remembers whether she put on her panties after the last hesitation.

“And what company hired you?”

- CRYDOR. Finally, the money came from the state budget. In a couple of weeks ... maximum in a month, the road workers will reach you.

“I need you here.” - Muller's intonation: “And I will ask you to stay, Stirlitz!”, I voiced my interest in them. - I need to asphalt the parking lot. Can you introduce the chief foreman? Naturally not free.

- Not free to introduce or lay asphalt? - However, she caught me. - We will introduce you for free if you allow us to visit your toilet. Sorry, Pavel. - She blushed slightly. It is unlikely because of embarrassment for the fact that she wants to cope with natural need.

- Here is a bio-toilet. Or a village hedgehog in the yard of my house. I advise you to use the latter. Because there is a bath nearby.Already flooded for evening ablution. - Did not say directly ... Read more →