buzzing bees, and on the open veranda the samovar smoked, enveloping the guests and hosts with the aroma of smoke and strong Indian tea. And in the evening, when the sunset sun gradually submerged the trees in the pink twilight, the manor, after a hearty dinner, sat down in a massive rocking chair to smoke a pipe and read a fresh newspaper, highlighting his bright kerosene lamp. For a second he even thought he smelled tobacco and apple-colored.

“There's something else there,” said Alice in a half-whisper. She stepped out onto the veranda, pointing to some wooden buildings in the courtyard, and painfully pricked her leg on a sharp fragment of slate, “Ay!

At the same instant, she felt strong arms suddenly seize her hips and back and threw up.

- Oh, what are you, Andrei! - She protested, wide-eyed in surprise, - Put me down, I myself can.

“Nothing, nothing,” the companion answered her gently, gladly pressing the woman to him, “It will be more reliable.” Immediately full of broken fragments.

Embarrassed, she lowered her gaze, yet Alisa threw her arms around the man’s neck, continuing to look for dilapidated buildings surrounded by green trees. The rain was still drizzling, but enlightenment was already visible from the side of the meadow: the wind was driving the remnants of the thunderstorm to the side. Crunching sodden shoes on a slate battle, Andrei, with a woman in his arms, carefully walked through the ruins of the veranda, and gently jumped into the thick grass of the garden, reaching right up to his knees.

“All right, Andrei, let me go,” Alice asked, “I will go further myself.”

“Yes, it’s not at all difficult for me,” He walked slowly across the grass, checking the strength of the ground beneath his feet, and most of all he didn’t want to let this woman go.

- What am I a princess to you or what? - Alice put her hands on Andrei’s shoulders, and there was nothing for him to do but to lower her to the ground, - Thank you, of course, Andryusha, for such touching care, but I’d better go by myself.

They silently walked through the wet grass to a small economic log house. Apparently, a strong oak door in it was also once bolted, but over time the old building led, and the door swayed and twisted, and literally tore it in half, turning off its hinges. Rough wooden plank beds and a table were visible through the holes. In the corner was a blackened frame with a dusty glass. Under it, on the dark shelf, there was a stub of a thick candle. Perhaps it was once an icon.

- Have you ever been here before? - asked Andrew, wondering how such a place has not yet attracted the attention of local residents. Alice somehow slurred shoulders, but did not answer.

- Look, there is a well! She suddenly raised her hand.

A small well was indeed arranged a few meters from the log house.

- Do! - shouted Andrew in its dark depth.

- Yy ... yy ... y - echoed from the moraine walls. If you take a closer look, you could see the reflections of the luminous sky reflected by the water below.

- Well here, right? - Alice sat on the well-frame and dreamily looked up, with her slender legs crossed, and shaking them.

“Yes,” said Andrei, secretly admiring the woman.

- Do you know what I would like most of all now?

- Probably dry ...

Alice thoughtfully watched the clouds pass by for a few seconds, and then she seemed to start and look at Andrew in surprise:

- What? - she looked at her soaked, stained dress and burst into loud laughter, - No, not at all! Although it does not hurt.

To Andrei's great surprise, the woman suddenly jumped off the ground, dismissed a thin strap, and, holding the dirty hem with her hands, pulled the dress up, hardly removing the wet cloth over her head. Shaking up the dress in the air, now most of all resembling a shapeless gray rag, she hung it on the well log.At the same time, remaining in one beige set of underwear, she continued to convey to Andrey her thoughts:

- In fact, more than anything, I would now like to return to those times when this whole manor was still breathing life. From the well one could drink icy water, pick up a ripe apple in the grass, and bite it off with a crunch so that the sweet juice ran along the chin. Get a bottle of cold kvass out of the cellar ... and better grape wine ... pour it into steaming mugs and, quenching your thirst, drop your head into thick grass with your head, and look at the floating clouds, - Alice spoke like a hungry person, and her eyes it glittered with excitement, as if she had really drained a mug of cold wine, - And then you must heat the bath! Hot, so that the spirit intercepted! Yes, with an oak besom! Jump out of the steam room in which the mother gave birth to fresh air, and directly into the barrel with well water! Wow! - Alice was silent for a while, continuing to peer into the sky. Her breasts excitedly heaved, and her eyelashes quivered slightly. Licking her lips, she continued:

- And when the sun sets over the horizon and the crickets sing, you can light the lamp and go up ... open the window to let the evening coolness into the house and fall on a soft feather bed covered with silk sheets ... pull you to yourself ... and...

As if a black shadow suddenly ran across the woman's face, instantly tearing off his dreamy expression, leaving her frowning eyebrows and quivering lips.

- Andrei, it's not you, I'm sorry! - in a harsh voice, she said, without even noticing it, switching to "you."

- Nothing, Alice, I understand! - unwittingly overjoyed her, nodded Andrew, - You are a romantic, and I love romantics very much. Himself so. And, you know, the first thought that visited me when we first entered here was similar to yours: “it would be nice to be here a hundred years ago.”

- Well, - Alice flashed her smile again and literally flashed, illuminated by the rays of the summer sun coming out from behind the clouds, - Well, summer has returned! It remains for us to dry out and run along our paths. By the way, it seems to me that from here to my country house it should be far from far.

The woman stretched sweetly, arching her chest towards the warm sunshine, while Andrei suddenly cracked cats in her soul. Only now he realized that the unshakable bliss in which he had been since he opened the gates of the forgotten estate hospitably could in fact be just a handful of sand, uncontrollably flowing through his fingers through his fingers. And soon he will have to continue to turn his pedals, running away from the past. And again there will be villages, forests, meadows and lakes. But it will not be her. And without it, all this seems to be unnecessary.

“By the way,” Alice interrupted his thoughts, “we threw bicycles on the road there.” And on it often local motorcyclists ride. Not always sober.

“Yes, I will run after them,” Andrei remembered. “You ... you are here while you are, and I am fast.”

- Will you get two bikes at once? My something heavy. Yes, and your ... yours, - she mocked Andrei, with a cheerful wink, - also with things.

- It turns out! I quickly!

Still under the influence of youthful excitement, Andrew jumped off the runway to the remains of the veranda and, running through the house, jumped out onto the alley leading to the meadow, where the grass nailed with rain, again slowly rose towards the sparkling sun. Trying to throw out a burning cocktail of feelings out of passion, rage and despair, Andrew escaped with all his strength, decisively cutting the air with his breast. Lumps of dirty earth, sticking to the soles of shoes, now and then flew off in different directions, soared high up, and with a rustling fell into the grass.

***

Back he was already walking at a slow pace, driving bicycles in his hands, feeling with each passing meter the approach of separation from a woman so unexpectedly loved. The former wife, Yana, appeared completely inappropriate in his thoughts. “You don’t love me at all,” she often lamented, reproaching him for not paying attention. And he always assured her otherwise, ... Read more →