It was a pity to look at the woman: she cried like a child. Blood was oozing from the broken knee, and the entire left side of the leg and shoulder was covered with abrasions. Andrei quickly sat down beside her and examined the wounds, took her to the shower, where he washed hastily, and then again took her to the medical center.

- What do you have? - asked the paramedic, whom Irina most often saw at Zhorik.

- Handle, please, abrasions. She fell now ... - explained Andrew with emotion in his voice.

The doctor looked at him mockingly at first, then Irina, but without saying anything, he took hydrogen peroxide from the hangar and a tape of bactericidal patches. After giving this all to the rider, he disappeared inside and no longer heard of St. Andrew’s “and thanks for that”

Irina quietly whined while the young man inserted the food into her gag, and then stretched it forward, slightly turning the scratched leg and shoulder inside. Andrei took up her wounds and soon heard the measured puff of a sleeping athlete. At that moment the door to the stall opened slightly and Damir appeared on the threshold.

He saw traces of the fall of Nine and darkened asked:

- What with her?

- Fell on a run. Not enough sleep, I guess. I do not know - I was not unfortunately.

- Not enough sleep? How do you know?

- The guys at the site say. Which monitor in the booth.

Damir squatted down and anxiously began to look at Irina sleeping with a gag in her mouth.

- Is it you - Andrew? Are you riding on it? - he asked.

- Yes. And you?

Damir silently stood up and, without answering the question, said.

- Her health is very important to us. So follow as it should. Otherwise, they will take it from you.

- Yes, I what? I say it at breakfast was with the rest. Do you think I care? I myself am also worried, - Andrew boiled and, putting his hand on the hip of the woman, began to stroke him slightly

- And more, boy. We do not allow unnecessary physical contact with athletes here, okay?

Andrei pulled up his arm, but immediately returned it to its place:

- First, I'm not a kid. And secondly, I provided her with medical care. Because the doctors you do not consider it necessary to do their work here. And thirdly, I don’t “ride on it”, but I work with it!

Damir broke out from the unexpectedly audacious tone of the rider, but he restrained himself and filtered through his teeth:

- Be careful ... Andrei ... People often get lost here

The guard came out, leaving the perplexed rider alone with the sleeping Nine.

After lunch, he spoke about a strange conversation to some of the jockeys, who advised him to tell one of the elders in the camp. And in the evening, when the athletes were taken to the power exercises, he did not stay in the gazebo with the rest of the jockeys, but went in search of Nurik. He quickly managed to find the right house and soon he was already talking about a strange conversation with the head coach of the island. He listened attentively to the jockey and, after some thought, asked:

- So he did not give his name, but he knew your name?

Andrei nodded.

- Describe it in more detail. Was the radio with him? Tattoos, beard, mustache?

- The radio was hanging on the belt is small. And so, an ordinary guy, a little older than me, I guess. Clean shaven, strong. Gray faded T-shirt. Hair almost naked. Yes, I do not remember more. Normal appearance.

- Well, by and large, he spoke correctly, but I don’t understand why he came to the stable before breakfast? ... With your arrival, no one but you are allowed to enter the stable. Okay, come on tomorrow morning come to me and go to the guards. There I will show you a photo - you will recognize ..

- I do not know...Nurik, excuse me, but I would not want to make noise out of it, and if I identify there, his friends will tell him everything.

- It is truth too. Then Come tomorrow night, I will enter the base and you will try to identify.

- Well thank you!

- Come on ...

The next day, after the evening arrival at the velomobiles, Andrei returned the woman to the stall, brought her a hot dinner, and he, straight, went to Nurik. He sat down at his laptop and began to show pictures of the current camp staff selected by age category. View took about twenty minutes, but did not bring any result. Andrei was firmly convinced that among the photos shown to him there is no one who came to see Irina.

Nurik pondered and said gloomily:

- There are a few more people. They work here ... so ... not quite legally, chtoli. As if some respected people asked for them. They are there at home. Here they were brought here to work. I don’t have their photos, but I know the posts where they mostly work. This is a local pier, power plant and construction at the hotel. Construction disappears - he is a builder and without a radio. And the power station and the pier can be checked. It's already dark, just as we can walk with you to the pier. Just do not meet anyone. You will stop a little earlier and look through binoculars with whom I will talk there.

Andrew looked at him in dismay, but nevertheless said firmly:

- Come on, I'm ready!

Nurik quickly gathered and they headed for the pier. The road, paved with smooth cobblestone, descended down and about two hundred meters away, when a booth with a lonely burning lantern already loomed ahead, Nurik stopped the young man with his hand, and he quickly went to the house. Andrei carefully watched him through his binoculars, and finally, when he approached the guard booth, Damir came out of it. From a surprise jockey almost dropped his binoculars. The picture shook in trembling hands and he, having moved to the nearest tree, urinated. He picked up his binoculars again and saw Nurik explaining something to a guy, continually pointing his hand somewhere along the pier. Finally, he turned around and began to return, and Damir returned to the booth.

- It's him! Similarly, he! - Andrew whispered excitedly, grabbing Nurik by the hand. - He was it! I remember now. He sat down like this, over Nine, and began to treat it as a business, as if it were his ...

“Yeah, him,” muttered Nurik. - You are not mistaken? Similarly, he? We will not go to the power station?

- No, That's for sure, I say. Even the t-shirt is the same.

- Ok, Andrew, go back to yourself and do not worry about anything. Further not your business ...

- Thank you bye!

Andrei returned to his place and could not sleep for a long time. It constantly seemed to him that someone was watching him. And even the fact that there were two more comrades in his triple room did not at all reassure him. So, all night long, turning from side to side and constantly jumping up and staring into a dark window, he only fell asleep in the morning. Within three hours his friends pushed him:

- Dron, you che, do not you hear the alarm?

- Yes, he is all night treason, hike. I didn’t sleep, did I even have Andryukh?

Andrew got up and moaned something, like "everything is fine, boys", began to wash in cold water. Something like coming to himself, he ran to the stable.

Nine waited for him, looking around anxiously and not understanding where her rider had gone. There was no one left in the stable and they ran to the doctors after the module, and from there to the landfill. Fifty meters remained until the starting line, when the program started and Irina, suddenly crying, rushed forward, and her fragile jockey went to get food.

Another week has passed. Before the qualifying round remained four days. From the very morning in the camp, the tension of the entire staff was felt, starting with simple security guards, now and then receiving orders on the radio and ending with the Master himself, who was rushing on his bike around the island. Towards noon, several time-keeping judges and a team of sports experts arrived at the camp, who immediately afterwards went to the training ground and each began their own business.In addition, a team of builders was transferred here from the construction site of the windmill, which began to build primitive stands for spectators in the area of ​​the starting race line. During the daytime stroller race, Irina ... Read more →