Игорь Княгницкий
Rescue of Araklia
Chapter 1
– That country was under angel Eraqel`s protection. His beauty can`t be described in words. The flapping of his wings brought people fresh winds from the south, the light emitted by him gave warmth and joy of life, his breath brought new life.
– Grandma, grandma. Is it true that every person has a guardian angel?
– Of course honey.
– So, why have I never seen him?
– Alice, the angels are invisible. That`s why you haven`t seen him.
– Invisible… – the granddaughter thought about it – So they don't exist?
– It`s not like that. People can`t see everything, but it`s doesn`t mean, that it`s not there. You definitely have one – Alice's grandmother smiled, and after a short pause she continued – Okay, my child, go to sleep, it's late. You have to get up early tomorrow for school.
– Grandma, please – the granddaughter said sadly – Tell me more about Eraqel.
– I've told you that fairytale many times before. I think you would have memorized it by now.
– Yes, but I love angels so much – Alice smiled – And Eraqel in particular.
– Honey, you should sleep now. We'll continue from the same place tomorrow, okay?
– Okay. Good night.
– Have a good dreams, my sunshine.
Seven-year-old Alice lived in a small village forty minutes away from the city with her mother and grandmother. Alice's mother worked on a local farm, her grandmother did the housework and taking care beloved granddaughter. Alice just started elementary school. Alice`s father is missed. One day he went to work and disappeared. Alice only knew about her father from what grandmother was told and the pictures she showed.
– Alice! – Grandma called out for her.
– Grandma! – The girl exclaimed enthusiastically, when she saw the old woman as she passed through the gate of the school.
– How are you, my dear? How was school?
– Well… The teacher made us write letters. And we added and subtracted numbers.
– I see. But it would be more correct to say “we learned addition and subtraction”.
– Hmm… – Alice said, – All right.
– Do you want some yummy food? – Grandma asked with a smile.
– Of course! – The girl answered with lit up eyes, watching as the grandmother reach into the bag – Ice cream! You are the best grandmother in the world!
Alice threw her arms around her neck, hugged her, and kissed her. Grandmother smiled.
– And you are the best granddaughter. Well, do you want to walk for a while?
– Of course! – Alice answered with a smile, unwrapping the ice cream – It's so warm today! I don't wanna go home at all!
– Yes, honey. Such a warm May this year. It's just amazing.
The school was right next to their house. About ten-minutes walk. But there was another road leading to the school, which took more than half an hour. The road ran away from the residential buildings of their village, alternating with small forest edges. About halfway there was a small lake. On the one side of it was a gentle earthen shore. In the warm summer months it has many children and adults who came here to sunbathe and swim. The other side, vice versa, was steep. It was always possible to see the village fishermen, who came here in the hope of catching fresh fish for frying or fish soup.
The warm May breeze and the gentle rays of the sun were more than ever conducive to a walk. So the grandmother took her granddaughter by the county road across the lake.
– Do you want I`ll guess where we're going? – With a smile little Alice asked.
– Go ahead.
– We're going to the lake!
– That's right. We often came here to swim last summer.
– Yeah. Grandma, grandma, do you remember how Uncle Kolya caught such a huge fish?!! The girl exclaimed with admiration, spreading her arms as far apart as possible.
– Of course I remember. It was a Carp.
– Who?
– You already forgot – the grandmother smiled – That big fish that Uncle Kolya caught is called a Carp.
– Oh yes, exactly! Carp!
– That's right.
Shortly they came to the lake. Almost always when the weather was warm there were people here, so they were not surprised to see several families with children sitting comfortably on a picnic. Choosing a dry and clean plot of land near the water, the grandmother spread out a blanket, sat down and let her granddaughter play. Alice very quickly found a common language with another girl, who was a little bit younger than she.
– Lisa Petrovna, hello! – the woman said who sitting a little bit to the right – I didn`t recognize you, you will be rich! – she smiled.
– Oh, hello Natasha. What are you talking about? – Liza Petrovna smiled – I'm already rich. Here is my “wealth” running around, along with yours.
– Yeah. You're right. Children are happiness.
– Absolute truth – she smiled, keep watching her granddaughter play.
– Well, how are you, tell me? Is everything okay? How is your health? How is your daughter Masha?
–Thank God, we are good for now. Thank you for asking. Masha works a lot. The pension benefit is too small, you know that. And we don't have a breadwinner. So she has to. And I'm with Alice all the time.
– Yeah. I understand – the interlocutor answered slowly – How is the search for Dmitrii Sergeyevich going? Is it all over?
"Oh, honey. It`s “been over” for five years now. Emergency services searched for him half of the year. Every nook and cranny turned upside down. The entire village and the surrounding forests and the city. Of course it`s over. Six years have already passed.
– Yes, I understand… – Natasha answered sadly – However it's strange. He just disappeared, for no reason at all. Our places are quiet and peaceful. It is some kind of mysticism.
– Yes, Natasha. You picked the right word. Mysticism.
As time went on. Lisa spent all her time with her granddaughter, and only on weekends could she take a little break from her excessive attention, when her mother could be with her. After all, a seven-year-old child, constantly jumping, running and asking a million questions every day, took a lot of energy. Alice was a very energetic girl and even an adult would not be easy to follow her and give answers to all her questions. Life was calm and measured, and it seemed that nothing foreshadowed trouble, but suddenly, Alice's grandmother fell ill and died a week later. Granddaughter was very worried in those days. The girl just fell into a trance. The seven-year-old kid was like a zombie. Day by day, she just sat or lay down, staring at nothing. Only occasionally would she eat or drink anything. Three days after grandmother's death, when Alice`s mother was packing her up for a school, Alice threw a fit. She didn`t want anything or anyone. She flatly refused to go to school and just wanted to be left alone. Two weeks passed, until Alice partially recovered. She was very fond of her grandmother and could not come to terms the idea that she was no longer there. So much time spent together, so many interesting stories that she managed to tell her. And the most interesting, Alice's grandmother never held a book in her hands. She told all of those tales in one breath. Like all these colorful stories she once experienced herself. At least, that's what Alice thought.
11 years later.
Alice was lying on her soft bed, reading a fantasy novel. Her thick golden hair was “scattered” all over the bed and the rich blue eyes ran from the left to the right along the lines, trying to finish reading the most interesting things as quickly as possible. But soon, quite unexpectedly, her mother came into her room.
– Alice, what do you think?
– Regarding?
– Oh, come on! Tomorrow is your birthday, your coming of age. I think it should be celebrated in a special way!
– Hmmm. Honestly, I don't know – Alice drawled – I have not paid much thought to it.
– Let`s invite your friends and have a girls-party? We could invite Uncle Kolya, our neighbor. He plays guitar very well. I bet, it`s will be cool party! – Mother smiled.
– No, Mom. No need. I'll just stay with you and read a book.
– Oh baby, I don't understand you at all, – mother drawled in confusion – You should have fun, you should find a groom for yourself, but you are deep inside in your books… soaring in some clouds. I don`t mean to sound morbid, but after all, youth is once in a lifetime.
– Mom, it's fine. Why I should do something I don't like? Better to do something you really want.
– Well, as you say.
Alice asked her mother didn`t cook anything special or give her any gifts, but Alice`s mom could not leave the day of her daughter's eighteenth birthday without attention. So the next day, when Alice returned from the university, she was immediately invited to the table with treats.
– Oh, Mom, come on. I asked you…
– Honey, I don't want to hear anything. Eighteen years comes once in your life, so help yourself. I took a day off today for you.
Alice came home from the university hungry, so she ate the treats which her mom cooked up on both cheeks. Watching with what appetite the daughter ate the meat, baked under potatoes, at the same time throwing a salad of fresh vegetables into her mouth, Katya suddenly remembered the day when Alice turned six months old. That evening, Katya wanted to arrange a small celebration dinner and modestly celebrate this date together with her husband, who for some reason didn`t return from work for a very long time.
His schedule was always stable, a five-day work week, from eight to five, and he always was at home by six-thirty at the latest. But something went wrong today. When it was seven o'clock in the evening, Katya didn't give it much thought. “Well, maybe there was an accident somewhere on the road, and the bus got stuck in traffic” or “maybe he stopped at a couple of shops on the way back home”, she thought. But when it was eight o'clock and he still wasn't there, she immediately dialed his number. She heard the beeps, but he didn't pick up the phone. Katya started calling relatives and friends, but none of them knew where her husband might be.
Six months ago, after Alice was born, Dima has changed. Very often he was depressed. He became more taciturn. Constantly thinking about something, and getting more and more self-absorbed. And Katya, of course, saw it. She often tried to bring him into a frankness conversation, so that he would share with her what was eating him. But Dima always answered “everything is fine”. But Katya understood, that her husband “wasn`t all right” at all. Yes, the economic situation in the country left much to be desired, but Dima was a physicist who worked in a private laboratory, and they had enough money to live on. Yes, little Alice was often ill and cried. She woke up several times during the night, and Katya couldn`t calm her down for a long time. And Dima, of course, went to work completely without getting enough sleep. She knew it was hard for him, but she hoped he understands it was hard for her as well. Katya had to take care of the baby, and entire housework was completely on her shoulders.
Katya didn`t think all this things was critical for their new family. Everyone goes through it. But most of all, with regard to his current behavior, she was concerned about what Dima had once told her. Long before Alice was born, when they started dating, they had a conversation about children. Then Katya asked him: “Who would you like to have in the future, a boy or a girl?” Dima answered unequivocally: “The boy”. Then Katya asked: “What if it's a girl? Won't you love her”? “Of course I will – Dima replied, with not really sincerely smile – “but I hope you will birth me a son”. Katya pushed this thought away as best as she could. The thought that he didn`t love his daughter and might be he don`t need such a family at all, filled her with wild horror! She just didn't believe it. Dima was a very good person. He didn't drink or smoke. He was intelligent, polite, tactful, honest, fair, and made enough money with his own mind. But sometimes we don`t know those with whom, as it seems at the first view, we can live a long and happy life.
When it was ten minutes to nine, Katya thought, “If he doesn't show up at nine, I'll call the police”. But he didn't show up. And she was about to dial the emergency number, but her daughter suddenly woke up and confused her plans. Katya changed Alice's pampers, feed her, and put her back to bed. And when she picked up the phone again, she heard like the gate clank outside and a man's figure past the windows staggering walk. Katya was waiting for him at the front door and when he entered, she was shocked by what she saw. He was drunk! Carelessly “hanging” his jacket on a hanger, which a second later fell to the floor, he silently went into the living room, put a bag with several bottles of beer on the table, took out a glass and poured himself a full one. The beer that had been shaken up on the way immediately frothed, and part of the glass immediately was on the table.
– Dima, what's going on?! – Katya asked in complete bewilderment.
– I drink beer! What is not clear?! – He answered loudly.
– Keep your voice down, I just put Alice to bed. What do you mean, “I drink beer”? You don`t drink at all, do you?
– Well, now I'll drink.
Katya just stood in a stupor, not even knowing what to say to this. Dima was practically a non-drinker person. For five years, he drank, well, maybe two or three shots of vodka on some big holidays and Katya offered it to him herself.
– I have a wonderful life, – he chuckled – and it's getting even more wonderful! So why not have a drink?
– What kind of sarcasm is that? What happened? Can you explain?
– I don't want to explain anything. Leave me. I want to be alone – he said, sipping his beer.
– Oh no my dear! Go ahead and explain to me what a hell is going on? I have a six-month-old child in my arms that requires constant attention. Plus the garden and the housework are also on my shoulders. I don't need an alcoholic in the house.
– Oh, come on! Stop it please. You'd think I'd sit at home all days and spit at the ceiling!
– I didn`t say that. I just want to know, why did you suddenly decide to get drunk?
– Why, why… I told you I have a great life, so I decided to celebrate.
– What is the sarcasm again? What's the matter, Dima? What's wrong with our life? Everything was good, isn't it? You've got a good job, we've got loan in the bank and bought a house, we've had our baby we wanted.
– You wanted to… – he said in a low voice.
– Excuse me?
– Nothing. Go to sleep.
– I didn't catch it. What did you just said?
– I said I don't work in “Vega Technologies” anymore.
Katya perfectly well heard what Dima said, but the news that he had lost his job shocked her no less than what was he said earlier.
– No, that's not what you said. Repeat it! Don`t be like a woman, be a man!
– Like a woman!!?? – He screamed, jumped out from his chair – I'm sick of this damn life, you got it? I'm a scientist! Physicist! But I`m earning pennies! Besides, that scoundrel Albert! I want a car run over him somewhere! He just a spoiled son of a rich dad! He doesn't need the lab and our research. His father died a couple of days ago, and what do you think? He's selling the lab and dismisses all the scientists. Scumbag! Just like that, he manages of other people's destinies, without even imagining what consequences people may have.