Ирина Муравская – Trap. Fantastic fiction (страница 4)
But she still closed the book.
Victoria tried to open the third chest once more, and then she sat on it, legs tucked, leaning against the wall.
“Shall I try with a knife? It seems to have no lid, where am I to use it…” She thought.
Suddenly, she felt an unobtrusive chill. Victoria sharply recoiled from the logs on the wall and began to scrutinize them carefully.
“Usual logs they are… But something’s not right…” Stroking the logs with her hand, Victoria could not feel the joint. “The glass! The glass is a mirror! A disguised one!”
Carefully feeling the mirror with her hand, she could estimate its size, but there was no reflection.
“How do I open the chest? The woman said: ‘Look in the mirror,’ well, I do look in one, but this mirror does not want to reflect anything… May be, I should clean it?” Victoria rushed to the stream to get water.
“Genius lies in simplicity…” Victoria whispered, slowly washing the mirror with water. She already saw herself in reflection and whispered to the mirror.
“How come did you hide in the logs? It’s just incredible! You absorbed the environment…”
The mirror was made of thick glass, like windows. It gradually became clean and studied Victoria carefully, while she smoothed her hair and looked into the eyes of her reflection.
“I’ll bring more fresh water,” she winked at the mirror and got off the chest. She reached the door, and slowly turned back. “Eyes are not playing tricks on me!”
A slightly open lid appeared on the top of the chest. Victoria slowly put the barrel on the floor.
“Bingo!” Victoria smiled, barely restraining her curiosity. She brought some clean water and washed the mirror to the shining state.
In the third chest, she found a long, ancient dress of black color. Victoria took it out and examined carefully. The two parts of it were completely different from each other.
The big collar was also black, but it was made of a different, gently and airy fabric with elegant embroidery on it. A thick net of animal skin, mixed with wool, covered all the dress down to the hem.
“Kinda queerish,” thought Victoria, ‘the net seems superfluous to me.”
Looking at the mirror for a second, she froze in shock. She looked at her mirror reflection, wearing the dress… But the dress was lying on the chest!
“If you ask me, I’d say it suits you well…” A husky voice behind Victoria helped her wake up.
“Well, yes…” Victoria answered quietly. “The net seems superfluous to me.”
This net hides you from any animal or human being. So, it’s superfluous,” the woman grinned. “You put it on and go into the woods. I need to sharpen the paling in my pit. And, by the way. I need a new shawl. You are to knit it for me. This one is old.”
Victoria looked at the woman in amazement. Her old ragged shawl was tied around her waist. She asked timidly:
“What about the wool? Besides, I know nothing about knitting…”
“Well, you do now. The wool is your concern.”
“I never asked what your name was,” Victoria said more boldly.
“I’m Trap, call me this…” the woman laughed and sat down at the table.
“Well done with these fried hares. I like you. Get dressed while I eat,” she added.
“Maybe it’s better to climb in the pit, wearing a sport suit?” Victoria asked busily.
“Put on a dress! A fat lot of use you are, wearing this sport suit. You can’t even lift up a wild boar,” Trap said, grimacing.
“Surely, I can’t. It’s a ,” Victoria smiled, taking Trap’s words for a joke.
“This is not a joke!” Trap suddenly became angry, putting the hare leg aside. “Take a look at yourself, you’ll be blown off with the wind in moment. You can’t lift or carry anything. And the dress will give you strength enough to do what’s required. Is this clear, point-head?”
“Excellent!” Victoria was surprised. “I felt that I’m pretty weak…”
“Well, now you do not have to worry. You may easily take out a bear. Okay, get dressed and let me finish, I’m no chatter-box. You could have read everything yourself, the books are for you.”
“The books…” Victoria stepped aside and rubbed her aching arm, pecked by a bird.
“So, here’s an ax, careful, it’s sharp, and a rope. There’s a boar in the pit. Bring it here, and then fix the paling and sharpen it with an ax. The second pit is near the lake. There’s a fallen tree, you’ll see it right away. Don’t fall in there. I removed the branches, but you need to watch your step anyway.” Trap instructed Victoria. “I’ll be back by night, I still have a lot to do.”
Victoria crouched, peering into the pit.
“Trap, I can see a boar, but there’s also a man there! Look!”
“We don’t need him. Put him in a corner.”
“What do you mean? Should I bury him?” Victoria looked at Trap in perplexity.
“Well, OK, bury him, good Samaritan. There’s a shovel in the attic, I guess. He spoils my pit! It’s not his grave.” Trap snapped, and disappeared among the trees without uttering another word.
Victoria sat beside the pit in confusion for a long time, occasionally throwing dry grass-blades into it. She sadly examined the spoiled manicure, while biting the tips of her dirty hair pulled up in a tail.
“My life has sure changed dramatically in the last few days, to an incredible degree, and it’s me who brought it upon myself… I’ll wash my head, I can heat up a pot of water… But how am I supposed to bury the corpse? A-a-a!” Victoria began to cry and covered her face with her hands.
A light wave of warm air blew into her face. Victoria slowly opened her eyes, afraid to make another move. The huge collar of the dress was iridescent. The flowers on the embroidery changed color from black to light green, then to purple… She felt calm and appeasement. Her hair went loose, and she felt someone slowly comb her hair…
“What is this?” Whispered Victoria, examining the collar with iridescent flowers. “Are you calming me down?”
With a slightly perceptible wind, the collar rose and soaked the tears on her face.
“It’s too much. Do you want me to go crazy?”
The color waves on the collar slowed down slightly, the flowers became blue.
“I agree,” Victoria said softly. “I do not know much, maybe I should read your library. But thank you, I really feel better now. Fear is gone, as well as the desperation. Thank you…”
And she gently stroked the collar, adjusting the dress.
“Okay, let’s assume that I’m a brave girl,” Victoria said aloud, and, tied the rope to a tree, and threw the other end into the pit.
She climbed down carefully, and then quickly tied the wild boar with a rope, trying not to look at the human. She got out in a clap. It was easy to pull the boar out of the pit. Vic was no longer surprised about her new power.
The boar had obviously fallen into the pit recently. It was covered with fresh blood. Its hair was still warm.
“It’s not enough for a shawl,” sighed Victoria. “But I guess I have to start with something, otherwise I’ll be here forever.” Having untied the rope from the tree, she dragged the boar into the hut.
She quickly found the shovel in the attic. She also noticed a spindle with a spinning wheel, carefully covered with a dusty cloth.
Victoria didn’t feel like going back to the pit, but she had to.
The man was lying awkwardly crouched, his hands clasped. Victoria was shaking all over. Trying not to panic, she tightly tied him with a rope and instantly climbed out of the pit.
“I need to dig a grave for him,” she said to herself, “I can’t look at him. And then I’ll get him out and quickly put in the grave… That I can do, ‘she reassured herself.
The easiest part of the day was to sharpen the paling in the pits; first in the one she had freed, then in the second, which was located near the lake, easy to find. It was already dark, and Victoria walked slowly to the hut. She almost didn’t feel tired, the dress helped her a lot, giving her strength and power, but she was lonesome, and couldn’t cope with it. For the first time in her life she had to bury a man, even though he was a stranger…
The collar managed to cheer her up a little. Flowers shimmered and brightly lit the way, like a lantern.
Victoria returned later than Trap. Approaching the hut, she noticed Trap in the clearing. She made a large broiling rack and was frying a boar.
“It will be ready soon,” she winked at Victoria. “You’re doing fine today, eat, and go to bed.”
“Thank you,” Victoria smiled sadly and sat down beside Trap. “I am to go to the village,” Victoria said quietly.
“What for?” Trap turned to her.
“Wool. Maybe I’ll find it there.”
“Well, yes, they have goats there, that’s true. Go, you can bring one home, it would be nice to have milk. Head north, you won’t get lost, the dress will help you.” Trap approved.
The boar turned out delicious. Trap and Victoria were sitting in the clearing for a long time, listening to the chirping of birds.