Translator Elena Nesterenko

Illustrator Svetlana Yvgenievna Smirnova

© Irina Muravskaya, 2018

© Elena Nesterenko, translation, 2018

© Svetlana Yvgenievna Smirnova, illustrations, 2018

ISBN 978-5-4493-1441-3

Created with Ridero smart publishing system

TRAP

“Greetings, Trap!” Vengeance took a rapid glance on the room and the Trap, who was clearly bored; then quickly slipped inside, and slouched in the armchair, smiling.

“Well then?” Trap stared indifferently, rubbing her scraggy hands.

“What then? How are you keeping?” Vengeance’s eyes were shifty; she was trying to catch the mood.

“Things go south. I’m totally fed up with it. I speak wrong, I entrap wrong, I spook wrong… I am sickened of my clients. It’s high time to have some rest.” Trap heaved a sigh.

“Rest? Well, people definitely won’t be better off without you!”

“Yes, the will. I’ll let them rest on their own, while I’m slackening cares. Enjoying life, you know.” Trap yawned and wrapped herself in her old shawl. She looked offended.

“That’s all for nothing. It’s gonna be dull as ditch-water.”

“Might be dull for you. You’re having too much fun anyway, it’s me who has to do all the nasty job afterwards. They moan, they scream… My ears are not made of stone, you know. I have to actually scrape quite a number of people off the pavement… Jumping from the window is a weird trend, indeed.”

“Put some headphones on… Grief has presented you cool ones!”

“Yeah, right… It’s only her stinkaroo that they reproduce, totally tiresome. Her music made me lose a taste for good hunt, you know. That present is as good as a headache.”

“How can we get through without you?” Vengeance became nervous. “What if you vacation runs over time?”

“It’s none of your business. I’ll rest as long as it takes. Let Intrigues entertain you,” Trap flatly answered.

“It makes no sense without you,” Vengeance sounded unsure.

“Stop whining, or I’ll get angry and you’ll end up in the end of the queue – forever.”

“We’ll get you a new shawl. A pink of fashion!”

“I have my own fashion,” the Trap made a wry face and turned away.

“I know, I know… Witches knit for you.”

“Oh, you’ve reminded me of something. I need a new witch for the woods, do you have anyone in mind?

“No problems, we’ll look for her. I’ll go through your files, maybe someone will do.”

“Yes, do it,” the Trap yawned. “I’m so sleepy. Don’t bother me any longer. I’m telling you, I want to go back to good old traps in the woods, and to rest in silence. All these loans, bankruptcy, honey-traps… Boring.”

“All right, all right, rest then!” Vengeance pulled a face, tidied her magnificent hair and quietly disappeared outside.

 
                                         ***
 

“Tickets to Yaroslavl…” A ticket merchant, wearing suburban worn leather jacket, whose shag covered a large scar on his forehead, walked around the ticket desks, urging people to buy a bus ticket.

“Where are you going, girl?” He approached to Victoria.

“Get away from me, I’m in a queue to the ticket desk,” the girl answered as harshly as possible.

“And still…” The hawker smiled crookedly. “I know that you are heading to Saint Petersburg, and you are in a hurry… You need to pick up an urgent parcel, but it is far away… You are late…”

“I ask you, dude, back off. Don’t you add insult to injury,” Victoria snapped, and silently regretted that she had not bought the ticket via the Internet.

“Well, you are the boss,” the merchant turned around, and, spinning his keys on the finger, headed into the depth of the box office. “Tickets to Yaroslavl!” He continued to tout.

His voice almost blended into the rumble of voices and the noise of the station, but she could still hear it.

“Tickets to London, request stop in Saint Petersburg…” the hawker went on in an indifferent voice.

Victoria flinched and turned abruptly to look at the merchant, who slowly disappeared at the back of the station.

“Tickets to Yaroslavl…” She heard his monotonous voice.

“What’s wrong with me?” Victoria thought. “How come he knows… Holy smokes! What kind of joke is this?”

“Tickets to London…” She heard the merchant again.

“Wait, fellow!” She gave in, she stepped away from the ticket desk and walked briskly towards the merchant.

He turned around instantly, as if he had eyes in the back of his head, caught the girl’s confused look and smiled savagely.

“So, how do I get to London?” Victoria was slightly out of breath, as she was walking too fast. She hoped that she had not misheard. “Request stop in Saint Petersburg… You’re kidding me, right?”

“Am I?” The merchant looked concentrated. “I’m selling tickets. You need them, don’t you?”

“Let’s assume you’re right.” She pulled herself together, although her heart was sinking. “Be that as it may, how is it possible to go there by bus?”

“It’s not by bus, it’s by subway,” the merchant smiled.

“What?” Victoria took a step back.

“It’s possible, if you buy a ticket from me.”

“You are kidding me. Why?” The girl cracked up.

“Easy up, keep in mind the instructions to the ticket,” the merchant grinned. “Here, take the ticket.” He quickly gave the book to the girl. “Leave your phone number. Once you’re in the tube train, you’ll get an SMS with the page number. You open it and then you get off in Saint Petersburg. Then you enter the subway again, and get the second SMS. You open the necessary page and end up in London. Got it? I keep it all simple!”

Victoria froze.

“Hello there…” She heard the merchant. “So, do we take the ticket, or do we hold the line?”

“We definitely will. What’s the figure?”

“Well,” the merchant lowered his voice. “It’s not expensive.”

“And still.”

“You’ll need to become a witch… For a while.” The merchant murmured quietly in a soft-soapy voice.

“A witch?” Victoria smiled in confusion.

“Yes, a casual witch, you know… Just for a little while.”

She laughed.

“I appreciated the joke. Funny. Now let’s talk serious business: how much do I owe?”

“I’ve already told you,” the trader answered dryly.

“I’m a stone’s throw away from becoming a Doctor of biological sciences, alright? And you ask me to be a witch. I used to be cynical about fairy-tales even when I was a little girl.”

“But you did believe in the ticket,” the merchant didn’t give up “You are young and pretty, you can’t be a Doctor of sciences… Alright? It’s you who tells fairy tales.

Victoria blushed slightly. She had a difficult day, and she caught herself thinking that the whole conversation with the complete stranger is akin to the theater bizarre. She couldn’t figure out, what kept her from bringing this senselessness to the end, she was confused.

“You see, dude, I’m very tired, and I’m really late. I have no idea of how you can help me, but if your tickets are real, then – fine, I’ll be a witch for a while. If that’s what it takes. But I can’t do it for a long time, I have plenty to do, you know. So, who do we set up pranks against?” She sighed heavily. “Or what have you – the address of the theater… Although I repeat once more, I’m no actress, I’m a Doctor of sciences.

“Biological, right – a stone’s throw away…” The merchant smiled and suddenly his voice grew louder. “Deal! Now it’s your book, Victoria, thank you so much… And enjoy your trip.”

“Who do we set up pranks against?” Perplexedly staring at the small and bright soft-cover, asked Victoria once again.

“Your trip, Victoria, is what you should concentrate on. It’s very important for you, I know…” The merchant muttered, slightly bowing and taking half a step back. “You’ll receive a payment instruction later. Got to go now. Hurry up, please…”

She smiled faintly.

“Some kind of aberration.” She turned back to the ticket desk.

“Wrong! It’s the subway you need. Good luck.” The merchant whispered ingratiatingly, bowed once more, quickly turned and started moving.

“Wait!” Victoria suddenly recovered her consciousness. “I haven’t told you my name.”

The merchant put the pedal to the metal and disappeared in the crowd.

“What’s the matter with this day! What’s going on?” She kept looking around, staring at people, trying to ask someone for advice. She hoped that someone had heard the weird conversation. But no one would pay attention to her. She realized, that she’d gladly sit and have a rest. Victoria looked around and realized that there were no benches nearby. She caught the sight of the chair near the ticket terminals, but some corpulent lady placed herself over it, wiping sweat from her face with a blue handkerchief and straightening her bags with her legs.

Victoria turned and went to the ticket desk. She bought a train ticket to Saint Petersburg and looked at the book she was holding. Then she checked her watch. She had plenty of time before the train.

“Well, I’ll get down to the subway. At least I shall give it a try. Things do happen. You never know.” She said aloud wearily and headed to the exit. Thoroughly counterproductive, though…”

Victoria was a very educated and happy – in her own way – girl from a wealthy family. Having received an excellent education, she entirely devoted herself to science. To onlookers it appeared that she forgot about her smart appearance and did not take the compliments and attention from the stronger sex seriously.

Her laboratory and test tubes interested her the most.

Hut the sudden departure of her mother, who didn’t even explain the reasons, knocked her sideways.

“What kind of business trip? Why didn’t you tell me? Where? Why?” She kept thinking.

She never knew her father, so, after struggling with several months of abeyance, she couldn’t figure out how to move on.

Every household trifle would cause a lot of stress and effort. Vic realized, that she’s all by herself from now on, and she had to somehow cope with it and learn to live a simple everyday life. Once she got really embarrassed, when she didn’t immediately understand why the phone stopped working. She called to the service company, and found out that she needed to pay the bill. This was always done by her mother, who protected her and took enormous care of her…

Victoria was very surprised by the call from a notary from Moscow. With horror, he demanded to come and register real estate. He didn’t understand, why a trusted person, even a family lawyer, would want to use power of attorney to register the property in their own name, while the owners are both safe and sound. The power of attorney itself caused many doubts, too. He asked to answer him in person.

Victoria faced a real issue. She had to rush from London to Moscow, then to Saint Petersburg to take documents from the cell, and then get back to another notary, who happened to be in London. Otherwise, as a notary explained to her in a rough manner, she will live in her lab with her mother, since their apartments in different cities, will be transferred to their lawyer, and it’s up to her good will to grant them some shelter.

It took Victoria a week to stomach the idea. She looked through the Internet, and couldn’t understand what harm may be done by Angelina Sergeevna, a lawyer and the closest assistant of her mother’s business. Then she rushed to Moscow, following the notary’s request.

Time was running out, but having pulled herself together, Victoria made up a travel plan and set a goal to solve this problem.

Then, all of a sudden, this incomprehensible trader appeared, like some unidentified bacterium. With all the fatigue and absurdity of the situation, Victoria was motivated by mere curiosity, mixed with despair and unknown variables, present in her equation…

Victoria headed into the subway, went through the turnstile and silently stared at the trains that flashed exactly according to the schedule.

“Which way? Apparently, anyway. It’s nonsense. I’ll ride a station and come back. Freaks are everywhere. In Moscow, I did perfectly well, so I might check…” She decided.

“Damn your DNA, merchant, everything is simple, you say…” Victoria whispered, realizing that this was Saint Petersburg subway she was traveling in.

Shocked and amazed, she made it out of the car, then got out into the street, caught a taxi, and took the documents from the bank with her brain on autopilot. Then she found the nearest metro station and headed downstairs without hesitation.

“Who is the core of this transport company…” Victoria thought in horror, realizing that she was in the London tube already.

Forcing herself to pull together, she reached the second notary, and, having resolved all the family matters as planned, rushed home.

“I haven’t eaten anything for so long!” She suddenly thought. Her throat went dry. “I’m just very tired, these weird briefings. Everything is weird. I need to eat, and the brain will help me figure it out. In any case, it’s brilliant, but how does it work?”

Victoria happened along her favorite cafe nearby, sat down at the table in the corner, made an order and sighed.

“It’s OK, there have to be an explanation. I’ll sort it out, and I cease to do so, we’ll sort it out together with my Mom, when she comes back. Of course, I miss something, such movements can’t be explained scientifically. Although, maybe I’m wrong… What a delicious dinner it is! I deserved it!” Victoria slightly relaxed. “I’ve done so much today… Or messed up!” She uttered a cry, all in cold sweat. “Ticket pay instruction!”

The house was within reach. Counting her slow steps while walking under in the rain, Victoria was trying to understand what would happen next. Cold drops hit her face, as if they were trying to pull Vic together.

At home, she bathed, changed her clothes, putting on a warm sports suit, sat down in the corner of the couch and tried to concentrate, but the fatigue took toll.

“No, I can’t sleep. I need to understand what I’m to do next.” Victoria was nervous. “As a decent person, I shall pay for a ticket, and as a fool – for my stupidity… Mom, did I get into trouble? When will you come? Of course, I took part in incredible events today… From the scientific point of view… Life is so complicated, I understand it. You see, I’m a grown-up already.” Looking at Mom’s picture, Victoria cried hysterically, and buried herself in the pillow.

In the morning, she received a text message.

Victoria instantly woke up and took a book out of her bag with a trembling hand.

“This is how the instruction looks like, huh.” Victoria looked at the three figures on the screen. “Maybe I should write at a note to my Mom… Else she comes back, knowing not, where I’m at.

No, no. She’ll get really worried. I’ve done everything right, she’ll be happy, I’ll tell her everything later. I need to wash, I guess…” Her thoughts were interrupted by SMS.

“The figures are the same,” she thoughtfully looked at the phone’s screen, and quickly dialed them, not allowing herself to think long. She closed her eyes.

Ozone-saturated air, mixed with the smell of autumn foliage and thus, hit her hard. Victoria was afraid to open her eyes, having understood, that the soft home sofa had disappeared, and she was sitting on the grass…

“I’m probably in the park. And what’s wrong with that?” She thought quickly. “Probably, the prank will happen here…”

“Well, right, a prank,” she heard a husky female voice. “You open your eyes, it’s your station, ha-ha…”

Victoria quickly opened her eyes. Looking around, she found herself in a dense forest. And there was this woman, smiling, and looking at her.

“I’m not in the park, am I?” Asked Victoria softly. “Who are you?”

“I’m a fare collector,” the woman laughed. “Pay for the tickets, will you? Ha-ha-ha… I’m so amused, well done! A park!”

“Yes, of course… Thanks for the tickets,” Victoria whispered, nodding her head timidly. “How much do I owe?”

“Well, at least you are reasonable,” the woman smiled. “To cut it short, a trifle. You’ll be a witch while I’m on vacation.”

“What did you say?”

“Hearing problems? We’ll fix that.”

“No, I’ve heard you,” Victoria got herself together. “Witch means what? To fly on a broomstick?”