Kitabı oku: «The Cup of Galfar. Alderosa's Daughter»

Yazı tipi:

Dedicated to my daughters – Ira and Katya

Translator Anna Gandy

ISBN 978-5-0051-0459-5

Created with Ridero smart publishing system

1. A CURIOUS PET

The sun was shining and sending its luminous rays through the cloudless blue spring sky. It was basking in this crystal-clear azure abyss and steadily gaining in power and brightness. The last remaining islands of snow were shrinking, growing dark, hiding out in the shadows of buildings and dark alleys. Streams of warm air were rising from the ground like shimmering clear pillars, and it was funny to watch the outlines of distant objects break and dance in the warm air.

The air was filled with the twitter of birds, pedestrians’ footsteps and voices, the hum of an airplane far up in the sky. All of these sounds were clear and loud, as if someone had suddenly pulled out an earplug.

And then there were, of course, the smells – the smells of melting snow, of moist earth coming awake, of budding leaves. This delicious aroma of spring was flooding the room through the open window.

Allie sighed and turned away from the window. She wasn’t feeling particularly happy. How could anyone be happy while sitting at home sick on such a glorious day? Catching a cold in the fall or winter is a totally different story. That’s when you can get as sick as you wish. But, catching a cold in the spring was ridiculously bad timing. Although, to be honest, Allie did get sick in the fall and winter too. She couldn’t boast of robust health. Her weakest spot was the ears – ear infections followed one after another in quick succession: right ear, left ear, and sometimes both ears together.

Right now Allie sat by the window with a warm compress on her right ear. There was an open book on the table in front of her, but she had a hard time focusing on the reading. There was too much going on in the world outside her window! She heard familiar voices. Allie’s third-grade classmates were walking to school. Allie watched them wistfully. Now they would turn the corner and immediately pull off their hats, stuff them in their backpacks and unbutton their coats. Allie longed to join them and skip-hop along the almost-dry pavement with her coat unbuttoned and her face bathed in the warm spring breeze.

Allie sighed again and buried herself in her book. Soon she heard the front door open. Mom was back from the market. She walked into the room unzipping her jacket, her eyes sparkling and her cheeks glowing.

“Allie, it’s so beautiful outside!”

“Yeah, I can see that,” Allie muttered. “Did you just play a game of hopscotch?”

“No, I just bought a fish! Totally by chance. Imagine, live fish at our little local market – unheard of!”

Allie got up and followed Mom into the kitchen. There it was, in the sink – a fat-looking fish about a foot and a half long, with large prickly fins and bulging red eyes.

“Look, there it is.” Mom was putting on the apron. “Got the last one in the tank. Jean was right behind me in line. You can’t imagine the ruckus she raised when she was told that they had run out. Unbelievable! She has probably sent them all fishing for more.”

Jean, a woman of undetermined age and nondescript appearance, lived in their apartment building and worked either as a building maintenance manager or a concierge (no one knew for sure). She was known for her cranky moods and mean temperament, which earned her the nickname Mean Jean with the neighborhood kids.

“Mom, what kind of fish is this?” Allie tried to pry its mouth open with her finger. “Is it a carp or a silver carp?”

“Doesn’t look like it.” Mom approached the sink with a knife in hand and gave the fish an appraising look. Then she shrugged.

“Well, could be a Chinese carp or some other kind of hybrid. Doesn’t matter really, a fish is a fish. As long as it’s not full of bones.”

At that moment Allie succeeded in pulling the fish’s lower jaw down, and suddenly they could see that its mouth was filled back to the gills with pretty large sharp teeth.

“Wow! Just like a shark!” Allie pulled back her hand.

Mom just shook her head in surprise and turned on the tap, filling the sink with water.

Lemonade walked noiselessly into the kitchen. He was a big fluffy cat with luxurious tiger-striped fur, lazy as can be and always on the lookout for a treat. He gave a big yawn and started his bathing routine, casting a questioning look around him every once in a while. He must have been asleep in the closet, as usual.

“Smelled the fish, huh?” Allie squatted down and gently pulled the cat’s ear.

The cat shook his head in indignation and moved aside. His whole look seemed to communicate that he was deeply offended by the suspicion.

Then Mom cried:

“Why, it is still alive! It’s moving its fins.”

Allie came closer. Indeed, the fish had come back to life in the water: its gills were rising and falling, its mouth was opening and closing mutely, and its round eyes seemed to stare at the people.

Mom tried to pick up the fish, but it wriggled out and fell back into the sink, splashing everyone around with a fountain of cold water. At that point Lemonade lost his patience, jumped onto the stool by the sink, and, standing on his hind legs, put his front paws on the edge of the sink. Just then the fish twisted itself again and jumped up out of the water, slapping the poor cat on the nose with its tail. The cat howled, rolled off the stool and sat down on the floor, snorting and licking his chops. His eyes were focused on the sink and were glowing a menacing green.

“No, I can’t do it.” Mom dropped the knife. “To skin it alive is just too much for me. We’ll have to wait for Dad. He’ll deal with it.”

Right then Allie had an idea. She could find some use for the fish, that is – some use for entertainment.

“Mom, can I let the fish swim in the bath tub in the meantime?” she asked hopefully.

“Well, I don’t think it can swim anymore.” Mom shrugged. “But never mind, you can try anyway. Just make sure you don’t get yourself wet in the cold water.”

In half an hour the tub was filled, and the fish was very carefully transferred there in a plastic bowl. To Allie’s great joy, the fish quickly came to its senses and started actively making itself at home, trying even to swim laps in such small quarters. From time to time the fish would freeze, stick out its huge head with bulging eyes, and, gently moving its fins, open and close its mouth mutely as if trying to say something.

“It’s time to have some fun,” Allie thought and, bringing a pencil, tied a thick string onto one end. It made a sturdy fishing pole. There was no worm to be found in the house, so a piece of candy had to make do as bait. Allie thought that the bait looked irresistible.

At last, the fun fishing commenced. Lemonade turned out to be its most active participant. He climbed onto the wooden rack laid across the bathtub and was watching with great interest the maneuvers of the live silver torpedo attempting to catch the bait. But every time the fish was about to get it, Allie jerked the fishing pole away, and the catch once again escaped the fish. Then the fun started all over again. This whole game reminded Allie of kittens chasing a toy on a string.

Sometimes the fish swam right under the rack. Every time Lemonade would stick his paw through the cracks and try to reach the fish with his claws, but it never worked. The fish would immediately go deeper, making sure to splash its tail on the water and soak the unfortunate fisher. The cat would snort in disdain and shake himself dry. Allie would laugh heartily. In a word, it was great fun.

But then Mom came in, and of course everyone got in trouble. Part of the bathtub water had somehow managed to transfer itself onto the floor and Allie’s dress. Allie and Lemonade were firmly told to leave the bathroom immediately.

“And you,” Mom told the fish, “Dad will deal with you tonight.”

Allie’s Dad was a test pilot. Allie was very proud of him because her Dad’s job was so rare and dangerous, a job for real men, as Dad would say. Many kids in her third grade class were jealous of Allie and treated her with involuntary respect, for it wasn’t every day that you met someone whose dad was a test pilot. Allie realized that she shared in her Dad’s fame, and, naturally, she enjoyed it. But she tried really hard not to get stuck up, which made her classmates look up to her even more.

Allie’s Dad loved his job because he loved vehicles and speed. Unlike what most people thought, he didn’t have to fly airplanes very often, so most of the time he had to study in minute detail the construction of the latest aircraft models and train on special flight simulators that imitated a real cockpit. Due to such short hours in the air he had to, in his own words, quench his thirst for speed by racing cars. That’s right, on top of being an ace pilot, he was a first-rate award-winning race car driver. That’s what everyone thought – his friends, coworkers, and, of course, Allie (Dad often brought her along to watch him race). Everyone thought that – except Mom, who said that Dad took part in that dangerous business with only one end in mind – to escape his household duties. However, when Allie saw her Mom’s glowing eyes when she greeted Dad at home after another racing victory, she would start to doubt the sincerity of Mom’s words. She finally decided that Mom was just saying that to help Dad keep his feet on the ground.

That night Dad had no training sessions at the race track, so he was home early – and immediately charged with a fish-cleaning assignment. He reluctantly dropped a handful of fresh newspapers in the chair and meekly made his way to the bathroom, led by Allie who was excited to share the news of the day. Lemonade was following them, rubbing against their legs and casting eager glances at Dad.

“Well, let’s see your shark.”

Dad’s words betrayed undisguised irony. But, once he saw the monstrous fish making lively laps around the bathtub, the irony gave way to surprise.

“Oh wow, quite a curious specimen.”

At that moment, Dad snapped his fingers and his eyes lit up with a familiar gleeful spark.

“Listen, kid, this gives me an awesome idea.”

Allie clapped happily, anticipating some new kind of fun. Dad must have come up with something clever, he was so good at that.

Dad’s idea was the following. Since the fish was feeling well and wasn’t about to pass away any time soon, quite the opposite, there was really no sense in killing it off right then when it would only feed three persons. They could easily wait a couple of weeks and feed it to grow big enough for a whole party of guests at a Grand Fish Feast. Dad immediately summoned the family council and proposed to vote on the suggestion. Allie showed her enthusiastic support – she loved having people over, and offered to be the Chief Fish Feeder. Mom withheld her vote, being doubtful about the success of the plan and expressing her concern that Dad had come up with it in order to dodge his chores again. Lemonade was the only one firmly against the idea. He somehow felt he wasn’t going to enjoy any fish that night, and he was protesting loudly. As a result, Dad’s idea was approved by a majority vote. Allie raced to the kitchen to grab a big slice of bread and took it to the bathroom to feed to the fish. The fish devoured the offering with great appetite.

“Well, looks like it’s going to work,” Dad said. He patted Allie on the cheek and went to read his papers.

That night another thing happened, quite insignificant at first sight. Allie realized its full significance only afterwards, when IT happened… But, let’s not jump ahead of the story.

About 8 o’clock in the evening, when it was already dark outside, their doorbell rang. It was Jean. The visit itself wasn’t that unusual because every once in a while she stopped by to get Dad’s help with replacing a lightbulb in the hallway. That was the reason for her visit now as well.

Dad grabbed a stool and a new lightbulb, and then stepped outside the door and stared at the softly glowing light fixture above.

“Jean, you got mixed up. Everything seems to be working fine.”

“What do you mean, working fine?” Mean Jean unabashedly charged an attack. “That there lightbulb, not replaced this whole month! Ready to go out any minute.”

Dad was about to open his mouth to protest, when the hallway went completely dark. He only humphed in surprise and went back to get a flashlight.

“Just as I said! Would’ve tripped all over yourselves in the dark and blamed Jean, as always.” Mean Jean gave Mom and Allie, who had come out into the hallway, a triumphant look.

“See here, Irene,” Jean turned to Mom, “that there fish today, at the market… Missed out on it… I bet it was good, eh?”

“Well, I haven’t cooked it yet, you see,” Mom nodded towards the bathroom. “It’s taking a bath in there.”

The bathroom door stood ajar, and you could hear the splashing of water inside. Jean popped her head in the bathroom and clucked her tongue, awestruck. Allie piped in then and proudly announced their grand fish-feeding plan. Mom smiled shyly:

“Oh, don’t listen to her. She and Dad, always up to something.”

“Eh, I say. Not bad.” Jean was feeling happier for some reason, and that concerned look on her face had gone away. “Nice plan. Well, then, here you go!”

She reached inside her vest pocket (she wore that vest all year round), searched for a minute, and finally fished out a grubby-looking piece of candy covered in crumbs.

“Will it eat that?” Allie doubtfully fumbled with the candy.

“Eh, but why not? That there, it’s good candy, tasted it meself. If the fish don’t eat it, you eat it yourself,” generously offered Mean Jean.

By that time Dad was done with the lightbulb and was replacing the fixture. Jean popped in to look at the fish once again and reluctantly said goodbye. Mom thanked her for the candy and promised to invite her over for fish. After that, the appeased concierge finally left. The fish swallowed the candy with great delight. You could hear the crunch clearly from under the water.

For the following three days Allie stayed home, although her earache was almost gone. But now it didn’t feel like imprisonment anymore. This new project enthralled Allie so much that she could spend hours in the bathroom playing with her new pet. The fish was so much fun and, Allie thought, so smart, that the girl decided to train it like a dolphin. However, unlike dolphins, the fish had an awful temper. It was clearly carnivorous, and its aggression occasionally baffled Allie. For instance, Allie attempted once to get her pet to swim through a plastic ring. As an encouragement, she was holding a piece of sausage in her hand. She got distracted just for one moment, and immediately the fish jumped out of the water and bit into the sausage. Allie shrieked and let go of the meat; the fish with its catch dropped in the water. Allie could feel its cold hard teeth on her fingers for a long time afterwards. Another half-inch or so and she would’ve experienced their sharpness.

Allie didn’t tell her parents about the incident, rightly thinking that Mom wouldn’t appreciate these developments and would most certainly put an end to the grand experiment. However, it proved impossible to cover up the fish’s malicious tendencies for long. It was all Lemonade’s fault.

During the three days he hung around the bathroom near Allie, jealously watching her and protesting with loud meows every time she removed him from the room because he was in Allie’s way. It was hard to say whether he was curious about what Allie was doing with the fish or the fish itself was of gastronomical interest to him.

One evening, the whole family had dinner in the living room. Unlike his usual manner, Lemonade, who would always be there for an occasion like that, was missing. Dad was mildly surprised. However, a few minutes later the mystery was solved. The dinner was almost over when there was a loud crash in the bathroom followed by a piercing cat wail. When Dad and Allie flew into the bathroom, they saw a heart-wrenching, albeit comical, scene.

One end of the wooden rack had slipped into the bathtub, so that the rack was standing straight up on its end, halfway submerged in water. The cat, soaked to the bones, eyes crazed, was desperately clawing at the rack trying to climb towards the top out of the water. But he was unable to do it, because his tail was firmly gripped between the iron jaws of the ferocious guard dog who pretended to be a fish. The water was bubbling up around them, splashing up to the ceiling. It was clear that the fish meant business, and had the help been even a little late, things could have gone rather sour for Lemonade.

When Dad finally freed the poor cat from his catch, the cat was so exhausted that he could only whimper pitifully and roll his eyes.

“Some fish hunter you are, aren’t you?” Dad wrapped a blanket around the cat and handed him to Allie.

“All right, that’s enough!” Mom appeared in the bathroom. “This whole thing has to stop today.” She gave Dad a look. He, in turn, looked at Allie and shrugged. Allie knew that no arguments would help, heaved a sigh and went to blow-dry the cat.

She did not go into the kitchen that night. Strangely enough, Allie had gotten attached to the fish over the last few days and was understandably upset now. She was sorry for the creature, sad and even a little mad at her parents. At the same time, she realized that an end like this had been inevitable, but she refused to watch it, not to mention taking any part in it.

Meanwhile, Dad cleaned and gutted the fish, and was released to go watch a soccer game on TV. Mom scooped up the fish’s innards and was about to put them in the trash can when she caught a glimpse of something shiny inside the fish’s large stomach. She cut it open with a knife, and a second later she was holding a transparent cylinder about half an inch thick and five inches long. When she washed it off, she noticed that it was made up of five shorter cylinders apparently glued together. The little cylinder on one end was clear, and the others were softly tinted green, yellow, blue and pink.

Mom raised her hand closer to the lamp. When the light hit the cylinder, it sparkled with a rainbow of dancing colors. Mom felt all of a sudden that she had seen something like that before. She tried to hold on to the elusive memory, but the next moment the feeling was gone. Mom smiled: this little thing, however useless, was quite pretty and would definitely comfort Allie.

Mom went into the living room and announced her wonderful find. Dad just nodded, keeping his eyes on the TV and most likely missing the meaning of what she had said. Allie kept pouting and pretended not to care, but the sparkle in her eyes made it clear to Mom that Allie was hooked and wouldn’t keep pouting for much longer. But she decided not to rush things and just left the cylinder on the coffee table and went back to the kitchen to cook the fish. Everything went just as she had expected, and five minutes later Allie, forgetting her sorrows, was playing with her new toy.

***

In the morning, fried fish was served for breakfast. Allie refused to eat, while Dad said:

“It’s up to you, kid, but I think you are being a baby. You see, every person faces a choice every once in a while, and it’s important to make sure that the choice we make is the right one. I, for one, believe that it is right that we should eat this fish, not that the fish should eat us.”

Saying that, Dad put another appetizingly crunchy-golden bite into his mouth. His voice was dead serious, only the laughing corners of his eyes gave away his mirth. Allie humphed, and Dad continued:

“Well, Lemonade at least felt its sharp teeth on his own skin. If we hadn’t made it there in time, who knows how it would’ve ended. And then, who would’ve been its next victim?”

Dad made a dramatic pause, and Allie burst into giggles.

Hearing his own name, Lemonade walked into the kitchen and stared lovingly at Dad.

“Ah, there you are, our dearest Lemonade! You are really and truly avenged. The enemy is vanquished, fried and… served up on a plate for you.”

With these words Dad put a plate in front of Lemonade with a big juicy piece of fried fish. To everyone’s surprise, Lemonade turned away from the plate and seemed to make a face, and continued to stare at Dad with his green eyes.

“Well, this looks like a conspiracy!” Dad shrugged. “All right, suit yourselves, I need to go to work.”

When he was almost out the door, Mom handed him a container with a few pieces of fish.

“Can you drop this off at Jean’s? We promised her some of the fish.”

“Yes, ma’am!” Dad gave Mom a mock salute, kissed her and Allie and left.

At that moment, Allie did not even imagine that this door that Dad had shut behind him would close her off from the familiar real life, a life not much different than any other ten-year-old girl’s, and would open a whole new world to her – a world that was vast, strange, and full of wonderful, mysterious and sometimes frightening things. It was a world that could open up to every person in one way or another. However, it was a rare person that would pick up on its subtle signals; in fact, most people, scared by the unknown, would hurry to cut the barely visible thread that was leading them into that world.

And now, the mysterious face of the Unknown was revealing itself to a little ten-year-old girl.