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PART I
CHAPTER 1. PETROVSKOYE VILLAGE
CHAPTER 2. NAZAR
CHAPTER 3. A MEETING
CHAPTER 4. AN INCIDENT ON THE MOUNTAIN
CHAPTER 5. THE FORTUNE-TELLER
CHAPTER 6. AN ANCIENT LEGEND
CHAPTER 7. A TRAP
CHAPTER 8. THE ESCAPE
CHAPTER 9. THE BATS
PART II
CHAPTER 10. LEDOKHOVSKY
CHAPTER 11. THE NIGHT INCIDENT
CHAPTER 12. DEFEAT OF THE GANG OF ROBBERS
CHAPTER 13. THE BAZAAR
CHAPTER 14. A MYSTERIOUS CAVE
PART III
CHAPTER 15. THE NEWS
CHAPTER 16. GRIEF
CHAPTER 17. CHRISTMAS EVE
CHAPTER 18. RETURN OF THE DETECTIVE
CHAPTER 19. ASSAULT
CHAPTER 20. AN UNEXPECTED TURN
CHAPTER 21. MATCHES
CHAPTER 22. FOOTPRINTS
CHAPTER 23. THE EPILOGUE
This terrible story happened at the end of the XIX century in the village of Petrovskoye, Stavropol province, in the south of the vast Russian Empire. This village was lost in a steppe area, surrounded by mountains and hills with streams and beams overgrown with dense forest. Mostly Cossacks, gypsies and other newcomers who arrived here long ago in search of refuge and a better life lived in Petrovskoye. More than a dozen years passed before the village grew: adobe huts covered with straw and dry reeds, with small windows and a necessarily carved porch appeared here and there, gradually forming long, though not very slender strings. Over time, they grew into wide streets, buried in the lush greenery of trees and shrubs that planted caring villagers around their huts There were no special attractions in Petrovskoye, except for a large white-stone church – the ringing of its bells was usually heard for many miles, and a colorful market, which everyone here called in the southern manner – the bazaar.
On weekdays, the local people were busy with something: some with hard peasant labor in the field, and some with no less light housework, looking after the children, whom there was a lot of in the local families, and caring for the farm. On Sundays and holidays, people put on their best clothes and in the morning went first to the church, and then to the bazaar.
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«A child is a child,» thought Galina, smiling slightly, trying to extinguish her anxiety and doubts.
«Mommy, can we go to the village to Nikolka with Varya today? Their father was supposed to arrive from Stavropol yesterday with a wagon train. He promised them goodies and gifts of all kinds from there to bring. Ulyana and I are very curious to look at them. And we will take Pelageyushka with us, let her also be friends with our friends,» Vasilisa turned to her mother.
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