Читать книгу Chronicles of the Coast, or Solveig’s Song. Realistic fantasy - Larisa Sugatova - Страница 6

I jumped over mossy rocks in a shallow spot of a fast but shallow river. To get to the village, I had to cross it. It is not wide, you can jump over large stones without even getting your feet wet, someone had laid them out one by one, like a bridge. I felt just like some kind of caveman in the wilderness.

I crossed to the other bank, found a barely visible path that ran a little away from the shore, but almost along the river, then it turned abruptly to the left.

What was this, what was this strange settlement? The huts, some low, squat. Somewhere there was a faint smoke, as if stove was burning. There is no electricity here, that is why they heat stoves in summer, probably, to cook food. I didn’t see any poles with wires anywhere. Gee, how is that possible in the late twentieth century?

In the village, I talked to the women at the well. None of them had heard anything about a plant on the shore. This left me puzzled, rather shocked. Soon I was all agitated, and panic gripped me. Why was I being looked at like a Neanderthal at the mention of the word «telephone»? Did I grow horns?

A few women sitting on a bench outside one of the houses told me that I was confused about something. Two men came up, and they confirmed the women’s words. I had already stopped asking, I just sank down on the bench, my ears were filled with cotton, people were opening their mouths, saying something, and I was sitting there looking at them. There was only one thing in my head: «No! It can’t be! This can’t be.»

I wandered back. At least my grandmother wouldn’t have prying eyes watching me, because I had aroused so much interest with my questions. I had always been embarrassed by the attention of strangers, and in this situation especially. They wouldn’t understand, they’re fine, I’m the one who got here in the middle of nowhere, and I’m the one who has to get out of it.

«Why me? Why did this happen to me? It’s not fair!»

Fear gripped me. «I’m going to stay here forever! My life is over.»

I returned to the hut on the bend of the river. Grandma Lisa welcomed me with open arms. To my words about not knowing how to get home now, she smiled and said:

– Now I won’t be lonely on long winter evenings.

What? Long winter evenings? No! I need to get back by that time, not just to the fishermen’s village, but to get on a motor ship, that is, to sail away from the island, and then to fly on a plane as well. And I could only sail away before the beginning of the stormy season. It was even scary to imagine that I meet the New Year here, although to be in a snow-covered forest with tall cedars and spruces was at least interesting, but better not here and not now. I didn’t say anything about my world not being here, I just said that I drove from afar, then I walked, and that’s how it was.

And I stayed at Grandma Lisa’s house. With her we talked about current problems and affairs, she knew a lot about everyday life and taught me. I learned how to make the same delicious drink from herbs as she did from St. John’s wort, oregano, thyme and various berries. My grandmother had picked herbs herself before I came along, and we collected some of them together.

I was not alone, we talked a lot. She did most of the talking, and I hadn’t quite gotten the hang of it yet, often trying to remember every minute of the last two days, to understand what had happened.

The old woman told me about this strange island. Several centuries ago, all the inhabitants were united under one ruler, but the neighboring villages were still at war with each other. Then the people elected a head in each village and made a peace treaty between the villages of the Calshires and the Tarians. She is a Tarian, her village is behind the river where I went. The Kalshirs live a couple of days’ journey from here, that’s if you walk. Now every village has a chief who runs the settlement. In general, Grandma Lisa turned out to be a very kind and pleasant woman.

Not far from where we lived, I found a large lake with clean, clear water. I liked to sit for a long time on the shore, dangling my feet into the cool water, and watch the sunset. Sometimes I bathed, and it helped to distract me from unnecessary sad thoughts.

One nice August day I was sitting on an old fallen tree by the water, and I felt that someone was near me. There was no fear, as if there should be. I turned around.

Behind me, five meters away, was a young man of about eighteen, with dark hair, gray eyes, and a kind smile. Well-built. Above average height, with fine features and a dimpled chin. He looked shyly and smiled shyly. I smiled back and asked:

– What’s your name?

– Ty,» he answered.

– Where are you from, Ty?

– Across the river is my village, called Tinia. I came to see my grandmother, and when I visit her, I like to come here.

– So you’re Grandma Lisa’s grandson?

We talked for a while, then just sat next to each other, occasionally exchanging words, we were silent and looked at the lake water for a long time, no words were needed.

The white lilies growing in the lake, we call them water lilies, are so beautiful and delicate. I love these beautiful delicate flowers, their smell of freshness and purity is so beautiful. When I see them, I immediately think of my childhood, as a five-year-old girl sitting on a pier on the old river Chumysh and first time in my life admired these flowers, we then went with my parents to visit friends.

– I haven’t seen you here before,» he smiled, and his gray eyes lit up.

– Yes. I’ve been here recently. I’ve been staying at Grandma Lisa’s for a few days. I can’t find my way back. I came from the other side, – I waved my hand in the direction, – no matter how many times I go there, there’s nothing there, not even a phone in your village, – I was still hoping for something and didn’t fully accept in my soul what happened, – So I live at my grandmother’s for now. Maybe they’ll find me soon, I’m not that far away.

– Who’s going to find you? – Ty looked at me, waiting for an answer.

– There are many of us. We came from the mainland, I said.

– From the mainland… How far is that?

– We sailed on a boat for two days. No one here seems to know about it. Everybody’s surprised at what I say and they all look at me with pity,» I shrugged awkwardly.

– It’s just that you’re from far away. Our people don’t know much about things that aren’t related to the island,» Ty tried to reassure me.

I was surprised, but I said out loud:

– A ship like that, something like that. You don’t have them?

– We have ships, but we don’t call them that weird. Our fishermen go out to sea in them. Then there are boats, they don’t sail very far, they mostly fish and crab in the coastal waters. And we don’t have telephones, I don’t know what they are.

– It’s a thing, you can talk to it from a long distance.

I liked talking to him, he was so kind and understanding. I was glad that I had a friend with whom I could talk about something important and not so important, because, being almost isolated, I was bitter and lonely. The future seemed hazy and distant, and Ty understood me, my pain, the fact that I couldn’t go back to mine.

It turned out that Ty often came here to visit his grandmother, bringing her groceries. He and his father live in the village, but his grandmother prefers the edge of the forest.

Ty and I talked about everything. Like how nice it would be to visit other countries. He didn’t know about Australia or Antarctica, but I didn’t know anything about this island, which strangely kept me going. When I told him that people were different in my country, Ty wasn’t surprised. We had already realized that we were not at all alike, and at the same time we had a lot in common.

– We have different people living in our country. That’s called nationality. And then there are other countries. Some are friendly, some are not.

– I’m not surprised. There are others on the island besides us. We want to live in peace with everyone. But the Calshires from the neighboring village want our village to belong to them, too.

As I understand it, there are many other islands near this island, and not all of them are inhabited, there are rock islands. On some of them there are a lot of bears, there people walk around with rattles in their pockets to scare the animals away in case of emergency. There are a lot of volcanoes, hot springs with multicolored stones, there are some where the water is very hot and you can boil bird’s eggs. In those springs where the water is a pleasant temperature, you can swim, and then it is so great to stand under the cool jets of the waterfall.

Tai told me that there is a town to the east, but it is far away. It’s a day’s walk from here and another half day’s journey. I wanted to go there, and Ty promised that we’d go together soon, since it’s dangerous to walk alone in the desert, and he goes there sometimes, mostly to buy something for his grandmother.

His grandmother lives in seclusion. She has no friends, because that’s how life works out. She settled in her time in a forest, when her husband perished in the taiga, left and did not return. She took her grief hard. She loved him very much. She and her daughter lived together, and then somehow her daughter grew up, married a good guy and began to live in the village. When Tai was due to be born, she visited her mother. She gave birth before her due date and died in childbirth. The cabin in the woods was where it all happened.

Grandmother lived alone from that time, Tai went to her several times a week, brought food, and sometimes Tai’s father came to visit. He is the head of the village now, he has a lot of things to do. My grandmother was glad to communicate with people, but not much, she got tired quickly.

– She took me in to live with her,» I said thoughtfully.

– Yes. I went to see her today. She said she didn’t live alone now.