Free (World of Valdira 01) The Way of the Clan by Dem Mikhaylov Page A

          Well, - Vlasilena made up her mind and stood up from the bench, - I’ll bring candles. It’s so frightening to talk about it in the darkness. Just a minute. Shall I bring some kvass? Would you drink another cup?
    -           With pleasure. I can’t even imagine how I’ll get without your cookery and kvass – you spoilt me, auntie.
    I was literally spouting flattery following a simple principle – too much butter makes the porridge better. Judging by a smile spread through Vlasilena’s face, seeds of flattery fell down on the fertile soil.
    Lit candles were brought in and put on a clay bowl turned on its head. Glancing at me over two shaking lights, Vlasilena kept silent for a while collecting her thoughts and at last started her story:
    -           It happened three years ago on a warm and nice day like today. The night was approaching and the first stars emerged in the sky. I was going to bed when heard some noise outside and started with fear cause it seemed to me that buglers could break into my house. I’m living all by myself, I have no hubby, you know, so I’m always trembling with any noise…
    -           I see, auntie, - I sympathized her.
    -           I took an axe from the anteroom – the axe that you’ve been swinging for two days without rest and sneaked out into the yard. And I was thinking all the time if I should scream like hell or wait a bit. I didn’t want to disgrace myself in front of people living next to me. If I had made such a noise in vain, the neighbors would have made fun of me. I hesitated at the door for a while looking around thanks god the Moon was lightening all around. Silence! As if no one had been making noise. I was about to decide that it had seemed to me as I was very tired, I had spent almost all day long in the garden in the full blaze of the sun. And it could seem to me. I almost relieved when I heard something like mutter from outside exactly from behind my oaklings. And some whisper… you know, like drunk alcanauts who are speaking something in their beard and trying to stand up from the ground. Have you seen it?
    -           Yeah, sometimes – I assured her, remembering my neighbor living under me who I often met in the entrance hall, he could hardly go upstairs to his door. I had to raise him and carry listening to his incoherent mutter and ‘enjoying’ disgusting fusel fumes from his mouth.
    -           They were muttering the same way. And my fear flew away at once – well, I think, Micklevan from the next street had too much beer again and while drunk came to me to say he’s in love with me… again… Vlasilena giggled but then became serious and continued. - I put the axe away and came to the gate. I wanted to tell off the wooer and send him home. But it wasn’t Micklevan! There were three steps left to the oaklings when I saw what was happening in the moonlight…
    -           What was happening? – I asked avidly, my fingers grasping the table top.
    -           The Moon is not the Sun so I couldn’t see everything clearly. I managed to identify two dark shapes of… men, I suppose. One of them was likely to be lying dead on the ground, the other was suspending over him and was digging in his clothes laid-back and muttering something angrily… something like ‘where is it? Where is it?’… At that moment the first suddenly moved, moaned scarily and waved his hand in front of him so widely… harsh frost crept from him, at that moment the oaklings died… the bark crunched, something started bursting with crack inside my trees, a kind of spasm twisted their branches. Next day when I crawled out of my house like a zombie, I saw them darkened without leaves.         
    -           And about those two?
    -           I was like frozen, I couldn’t make a step because of fear. I only noticed that the second stranger stopped in his tracks and