Читать книгу She is Louise - Мария Денисовна Хруль - Страница 3

The kitchen smelled of freshly baked scones, but Louise hasn't woken up yet. She was barely twelve, but every night she dreamed that one day she would finally have wings and become a real butterfly. And Butterflies, as you know, can do the most incredible things: for example, even the youngest girl can turn an ordinary tree into a steppe cat.

Of course, Louise dreamed not only of magical abilities – more than anything else she wanted to see her parents and go to live in a big city, with ordinary people. Galya is very kind and caring, but a teenage girl really needs communication with her peers.

Louise opened her eyes, got out of bed and pulled back the curtains – the summer sun peeked into her bedroom. She went to the Forest School, which was attended by the children of the villagers who lived nearby. Now the long-awaited vacation was coming, which Louise was glad about. She did not like to communicate with her classmates, mainly because most of them avoided the girl, calling her strange. No one thought Galya was a witch or a fortune-teller – to be honest, she didn't know many people in the neighborhood at all. But Louise was often annoyed: her parents, of course, never appeared in the school, which caused bewilderment on the part of the few teachers, and rumors, as you know, disperse very quickly. But now it would be good to think of other things – sunshine, fragrant flowers and, of course, little butterflies.

Louise left her small room and went to the kitchen, where Galya was already spreading jam from marsh berries, which tasted very peculiar, on tortillas. Louise had long since gotten used to the unusual food – the old woman often made porridge from lingonberries and bits of earth, soup from wheat and mango, and stew from tree bark with a dash of hot pepper. The girl did not complain, for she had never tasted any other food. She had never heard of hamburgers with coke and fries being sold anywhere.

The girl went to the table and sat down on her stool. There were three in all in the kitchen. Louise often wondered who the third chair was for. "We are waiting for a stranger," Galina usually answered her pupil.

– Good morning, good soul," the old woman greeted Louise.

– Good morning, and good day to you," she replied.

– Louise! How many times have I told you! …

– What is up? " the girl didn't understand. She moved a jar of blueberry jam towards her.

– I asked you not to call me "you"! I'm your kin, I'm bringing you up. Am I not a grandmother to you, little girl? " sadly asked Galya, lowered her eyes into the plate and brushed away a tiny tear.

– No, not at all!" Louise immediately objected. She didn't want to offend her mother-nanny at all.

– When am I going to see mommy and daddy? " She asked.

– When you are eighteen, my dear, you know that. Until then, you live here.

– Well, six years is a long time. It's like an eternity.

– It's been decided for you. And let's not talk about it, " asked Galya.

– All right, Mother.

– That's it! That's another matter, " she rejoiced.

– I want to be a Butterfly.

– Everything will happen. Learn patience, child.

When you have breakfast, go to the Glade, the weather is so nice today! It'll do you good to be alone with nature.

– But it's so boring! I'd like to be friends with someone. Or fall in love.

– Louise! You're too young! And you know very well that boys can never become Butterflies.

– Fine," the girl replied simply and continued with her morning meal.

"What about my daddy? Didn't she marry my mom who was a Butterfly? Why are they allowed to be together but I'm not? It's not fair at all that I live apart from them!" out of frustration, Louise almost pushed a hole in the wooden floor with her foot.

– What's the matter with you? " Galya asked, looking at the girl's face.

– Nothing. I'm tired of being alone," she threw back.

– Go to the butterflies. Talk to them.

– I don't want to. I don't want anything. I'll go to the Glade. Alone.

– Mom, come on, stop it!" asked Niels, a sixteen-year-old boy. His family lived near the city's border with the Forests and Steppes, in a two-story cottage overlooking a small pasture where three cows and one lone sheep grazed every day. No one really knew who bred them – they probably lived on their own.

– That uniform looks good on you, though. Let me see.

– Come on, mother, I'm not a child anymore. I don't want to fight anyone. There's hardly anyone living in the Steppes, what's the point?

– You were born into a Mountain family, so don't try to run away from your destiny.

– All right, all right," Niels replied. His red and straight hair almost reached his shoulders, so the helmet was pressing a little on his head. In general, Niels was not very attractive (and he almost never socialized with girls, though he was influenced by his father, Henry Mountain, who did not recognize any modern realities), but he was smart enough to study for high grades. Now all schoolchildren are on vacation, but Niels and his companions had to take an exam at the end of summer. In half an hour classes would start, and he still hadn't gotten on the bus…

He threw off his armor and hastily put on jeans and a white shirt, threw his smartphone into his bag and slung it on his shoulder.

– See you this evening, Mom.

– Have a good day. Don't forget, you have Latin class at five today.

– I remember.

Niels knew that after school he would have to go to the knights of the village, but he still hadn't given up hope of getting a good degree.

Louise walked along the Glade, though she didn't expect to reach the border of the Forests and Steppes today and see the City. Sure, there were a few streets of private houses in that neighborhood, but the girl wasn't afraid of anything. Her wings hadn't appeared yet, so no one would be able to pick on her. Louise had long known that she lived in two worlds at once: the ordinary world of humans and the Forest School, and the magical world of Butterflies and those she would soon be able to meet there.

Louise sat down to rest on a rock in the middle of the golden ears – where she lived, the fields and meadows changed endlessly. It looked like a chessboard. Like it wasn't on this planet.

The girl straightened her hair and threw her head back – now she looked like a fairy princess. She's only twelve, with her whole life ahead of her. Louise looked at the houses and wondered who might live in them: shepherds, farmers or office workers? It would be nice to go to the City just once…

There wasn't a soul around. It was the same as always. Louise's soul longed for adventure and new discoveries, but her inner voice told her that it was better to keep a low profile and stay at home, under Galina's supervision. Galina… who was Galina, anyway? For as long as Louise could remember, her mother had never flown anywhere. Did she have wings? Or maybe they were in the distant past and now they're gone? Galya had always said that Louise's wings would be so huge that sometimes she wouldn't even be able to squeeze through a regular doorway. I wonder if other Butterflies have wings like that. There are insect butterflies, there are girl butterflies, and there are boy butterflies – just boys. How do they live without flying and toasting with wildflower jam? They must be unimaginably bored. By the way, Louise had never spoken to a boy before-she'd never seen one, not even at school. She's kind of weird, this Forest School.

When she got bored of sitting on the lonely rock, she simply climbed down to the ground and took off her wicker sandals (they were her favorite summer shoe, but in winter she and Galya preferred fur boots) to relax her heels. The spikes of wheat tickled them pleasantly. In the fall, local farmers would come here and mow all this wealth, and the soil would remain completely bare. It was a pity, for the cold weather would come, and there would be no shelter. "I've got a blanket, and the earth will do something about it," she thought, and then she lay down on her back and spread her arms as if she wanted to make a snow angel. This is how her summer days passed, each of which was exactly like the previous one. Secretly, the girl hoped that before the wings would appear behind her back, someone would come to her and take her with him – to another world. But for now she just fell asleep, listening to the quiet chorus of field butterflies that sang about blue dewdrops and a bright red heart. Whose was it, though? …

– Ha ha, look at him! That toothy Bobby forgot to wash his back again! " Roxy, one of the many students at City High School, laughed. Her friends giggled quietly, obviously in support, though they didn't want to let on that they had anything to do with it.

– Roxy, stop it! Why are you making fun of people? " stood up for the boy Niels, who had just come to the lockers to leave his backpack and change into sneakers.

– What's it to you? " she asked defiantly.

– I don't like it when someone gets hurt for no reason. What did he do to you? " the boy asked sternly.

– None of your business. Maybe I just don't like his existence.

Roxy turned to her friends, and the three of them walked off in a dignified manner toward the office, where math class was about to begin.

– Are you okay? " Niels turned to Bob, who was looking through the locker door at his back, which had a white "Kick Me" sign on it.

– I'm fine. But I'm sick of it. Okay, I'll go," Bobby said, and reluctantly went to class. The boy's belly was peeking out from under his black T-shirt, and the chalk on his back hadn't completely rubbed off. Looking rather ridiculous, he tried to ignore the caustic taunts. "It'll all go away when we're adults…"

"She's a girl, of course, and a teenager too," Niels reasoned, sitting in the second desk with his hand lazily resting on his head as Ms. Lipp explained how to draw a trigonometric circle. – But you can't behave so vile! If she were a boy, I'd challenge her to a duel…"

Meanwhile, Evie, Roxy's neighbor, did not take her eyes off the young man Niels for a moment.