Masha, listen to me. Don’t cry, wait. Where I’m going, the pay is good. Look, things happened the way they did, but we can’t let it break us. I’ll earn money, and we’ll start over from scratch,» Vanya said, trying to calm her down.
Masha shook her head in despair.
«No, Vanya, no. I don’t want to. No amount of money is worth a life.»
«What life? What are you talking about? Times have changed; nobody fights with their bare hands. Don’t worry. Do you really think I’d go to certain death and leave you alone? No, you just have to hang in there for a bit, until I start earning. We have a roof over our heads. Luckily, the apartment is still here.»
Masha sighed.
«Vanya, we don’t need that business anymore. Let it go. restart just to lose everything again every week? And we had to sell everything…»
«Masha, I don’t see any other way to prove to myself that I’m worth something.»
He sighed again, knowing she understood him well, but that she disapproved completely.
Masha knew her husband wouldn’t settle down. What had happened was, of course, very painful. They had spent nearly ten years building their business; everything was going well, everything was working. And then, like children, they were tricked by scammers—foreign ones, at that. Now, they couldn’t even find a trail.
Two days later, Vanya left to serve under contract.
Masha felt as though half her heart was being ripped out. She jumped every time the phone rang, and when someone knocked at the door, it was pure panic.
A month passed, and the panic did not subside; on the contrary, it increased day by day. Masha was certain that something bad was going to happen; it had to happen.
One morning, someone rang the doorbell. She looked at the time, and her legs went weak. She dragged herself painfully to the door and opened it. When she saw a man in uniform, she understood immediately.
He didn’t even have time to say a word before Masha collapsed against the wall. She woke up in the hospital, not understanding where she was. Then, when she realized, she began to scream and cry.
It turned out she had been hovering between life and death for a week.
She was released a week later. She went straight to the cemetery. No cross, no photos, nothing. No compensation; they said an investigation was ongoing. Everything there was so confusing…
Masha went home. She wandered from corner to corner all day. Then she decided she couldn’t go on like this.
Regarding the apartment and its urgent sale, she didn’t make much. She immediately asked an agency to find her a small house far away from everything, away from people, away from civilization. They found a house 300 kilometers from her old home.
When the taxi stopped, Masha looked in horror at the old shack she had bought without even seeing it.
«This is where you plan to live?» The driver looked at her with astonishment.
«Yes, this is it. How much do I owe you?» Masha gathered her strength and looked at the driver.
He took the money and watched her leave.
«Completely crazy. They’re way too rich; they don’t even know what to do with their money anymore,» he muttered.
Masha paid no attention to his words. She stood before the old house and told herself she wouldn’t live here, but she would survive…
She lit a big fire and dragged out all the old junk she found in the house. Little by little, she cleaned up. While the fire burned, she began wiping things down with a rag.
«Good evening,» a voice called out.
Masha spun around abruptly. On the threshold stood an old woman, the very image of a fairytale grandmother.
«Did I scare you? Don’t worry, I live right next door. Well, I survive,» said the old lady, stepping out from around the corner. «And what are you doing here in our lost lands?»
Masha regained her composure.
«I decided to get closer to nature. There’s nothing keeping me in the city anymore. My husband passed away…»
«You came to heal your wounds?» The old lady nodded understandingly.
«You could say that. But come in, don’t stand at the door!» Masha invited the old woman inside.
She sat down after crossing the threshold.
«Well, it’s not a ruin anymore. I’m Klavdiya Nikolaevna.»
«I’m Masha.»
«So, Masha, are you alone? You didn’t call anyone to help you? Even though we aren’t young anymore, we can help,» Klavdiya Nikolaevna offered. «I’ll call my girls. We’ll get everything in order here.» The old lady rushed outside.
Masha shook her head. Who would have thought—she seemed so fast! Twenty minutes later, Klavdiya Nikolaevna returned accompanied by three other old ladies.
Listening to their discussions and memories of youth, Masha realized how hungry she was. When night fell, they sat down to drink tea. The old ladies had prepared all sorts of dishes.
«Don’t worry, Masha. Yes, we are a bit out of the way here. But everything is fine. No one bothers us anymore. Not the authorities, not our children. No one needs us. The mobile shop comes once a week. We just buy bread,» one of the old ladies explained.
«Then how do you live?»
«Well, we have chickens, rabbits. We grow vegetables and share them among ourselves.»
«And the store or the clinic, where are they?» Masha asked.
«Oh, that’s ten kilometers from here. Sometimes the children and grandchildren come to see us. Klavdiya’s grandson has invited her to leave several times, but she refuses, says she won’t leave us here,» replied another old lady.
Klavdiya smiled.
«My grandson is kind, but life hasn’t smiled on him. He’s been married twice, but nothing worked out.»
Masha imagined a vain young man.
«I know what you’re thinking. But you’ll see, he promised to come back in two weeks. He says he’s going to chop wood for us,» Klavdiya added.
The old ladies helped Masha with her garden. They hadn’t worked miracles, but they had done something.
Who would have thought she would one day be working in a garden? She never would have imagined it. But now, she found herself sitting there, planting seeds.
Every evening, the entire female population of the village, consisting of four old ladies and Masha, gathered at one of their homes for tea. Masha listened avidly to all sorts of stories.
«Do you remember the time we caught the bandits?» Klavdiya waved her arms.
«Oh, how could I forget! Those scoundrels were hiding in my attic. And I didn’t even know.»
Masha’s eyes went wide.
«Oh, tell me, please!»
«It was about fifteen years ago. Many people had left, but there were still quite a few houses. One morning, police officers arrived. Everyone came out of their houses, not understanding what was happening. It turns out bandits had stolen a lot of money and gold. And they were supposed to drive through our village, but they got lost on the way. So the police were looking for them.»
«What, police? It was the militsiya back then,» someone protested.
«Oh, it doesn’t matter. So, they searched the houses. That’s when they discovered the bandits were hiding in Nikolaevna’s attic. What a scare we had! They were shooting, but Klavdiya couldn’t get out of her house.»
«And did they catch them?»
«Yes, they caught them. But they found neither the money nor the car. After that, the last inhabitants left the village. They say it’s a godforsaken place,» said one of the old ladies.
«People used to come here in droves. Our spring is so pure and healing. There are so many legends about it, all told by our great-grandmothers,» added another old lady.
«Yes, it’s true. Women used to come here, unable to have a child. They would stay a few days near the spring, and afterwards, they would succeed,» said another.
Masha spent the night dreaming of bandits and pregnant women. In the morning, upon waking, she remembered what the old ladies had said about the strawberry clearing and decided to go there.
She thought she could navigate the forest well, but there were so many berries and the forest was so beautiful that she lost track of time and realized she no longer knew which way to go.
At first, she wasn’t afraid, but later, when it began to get dark, fear set in.
«No, I can’t die in this forest,» she whispered, realizing that after Vanya’s death, she wanted to live.
There really must have been something special about that spring. When an owl began to hoot, Masha started running. She felt like wolves were surrounding her. She ran, not knowing for how long, then stopped suddenly, finding herself in the middle of a clearing. In the moonlight, a car was there. How it had gotten there was incomprehensible, as bushes surrounded the spot. She then remembered the old ladies’ stories. Could this be the same car the bandits had abandoned?
Behind her, a branch snapped, and Masha jumped into the car, screaming. Whatever was inside didn’t matter; the important thing was that she would be safe. In the morning, she fell asleep, woken by sunlight hitting her face. She looked around: dust, cracked seats, and on the back seat, a bag full of banknotes…
Masha leaned forward and saw the old ladies around her.
«My dears, I am so happy to see you!» She burst into tears.
Klavdiya Nikolaevna said: «I already called my grandson; he’s coming.»
Everyone gathered in Masha’s house, and she told them of her adventures.
«We’re going to manage just fine here! But we won’t tell anyone where this money came from.»
«We’ll improve everything here; people will come for our spring,» they said.
«That’s a plan! Who suspects how pleasant this place is?»
Everyone turned toward the door. A young man stood there, smiling and looking at the others.
Klavdiya Nikolaevna jumped for joy: «Vanyushka, my grandson has arrived!»
Of course, the word «grandson» didn’t really fit this two-meter-tall man. Masha jumped when she heard the old lady call him Vanya. Ivan was quite different from what she had imagined. He was cheerful, simple, and seemed very intelligent. In two days, he had chopped the wood and done many things for the old ladies and Masha.
Meanwhile, Masha was trying to plan how to improve the place, what she needed to buy. And that was when Ivan surprised her with a question.
«Can I help you? I work on business plans,» he offered.
Three years passed.
«Maria Anatolyevna, we have a two-month waiting list, and people keep calling.»
Masha sighed: «I know, but we don’t have much room.»
Ivan stood up from the table: «Masha, maybe it’s time to think about expanding?»
She smiled at him: «Of course, we can think about it, but you’ll have to handle it alone.»
Ivan looked at her, surprised: «Why alone? Without you?»
«Without me, because I’ll be taking care of other things,» she replied.
Klavdiya Nikolaevna looked at Masha and suddenly said: «And I tell everyone: it’s not a legend, it’s true.»
Ivan looked at her, lost: «What are you talking about? I don’t understand anything.»
«Vanya, why do people come here? Because the spring is healing. And we live here,» she explained.
«So?» Ivan looked at her with astonishment.
«Masha, don’t delay,» Klavdiya added, winking at her.
«You mean…» began Ivan, looking at Masha.
Masha nodded. Ivan stood up slowly, looked at her in confusion, then he shouted and swept her into his arms!
In the evening, they stood on the porch of their new house, looking at the village. There were new houses; the number of inhabitants had increased. The village had changed a lot: lighting, new buildings, pathways. Not far away, one could see the sanatorium, the one with the long waiting list.
«So, Masha, we did well, didn’t we?» rejoiced Klavdiya.
«Both us, and those bandits who left the bag in the forest.»
«Let’s not remember that; let’s just live for today and now.»
«But there is something we must remember,» Ivan intervened. «Masha, I’ve been making inquiries for three years… Your husband was a hero. I know it was important to you. We need to go to the city to collect all the documents, and there is a medal for him, awarded posthumously.»
Masha remained silent for a moment, then she snuggled against her husband.
«Thank you. That was really important to me.»
Ivan gently stroked her head.
«What do you think, who will be born to us?»
«It doesn’t matter, the main thing is that they are healthy.»
Ivan sighed.
«We need to think about building a school.»
Masha burst out laughing.
«Why not a university straight away?»
They hugged each other and turned toward the village. They were going to do everything to make this place prosper, so that people there would become happier.
