Of course, with joy! blurted out Marianne and smiled at Mignis.
Im hungry and cold here. Let me out in the first warm house. And even better in a hotel or in a tavern. Or wherever you want. Im not demanding at all said the mouse quickly, as if Marianne was trying to persuade.
He nodded, wondering where to put the mouse.
Shouldnt I put it in a backpack?
But Mignis was already climbing up Mariannes clothes with her tenacious paws. He pressed his head into the collar as it climbed onto his shoulder. Then Mignis went down to her breast pocket, opened the valve with her nose, and climbed inside. Marianne listened, expecting what would happen next. Inside the pocket, Mignis seemed to be digging with her paws or biting something. The fabric twitched. Then a small hole formed at the bottom, in which a mouse nose appeared for a second and then disappeared. Mignis can look outward through such a hole with only one eye, Marianne estimated when the mouse looked out of his pocket.
Dont forget the mitten, she squeaked and disappeared into her new hiding place.
A mitten lay in the middle of the room.
Stepping to the door, Marianne touched something with her foot. The object bounced off and rang across the floor. Viators Knife. The young man recognized him with disgust. But then he decided that the knife in the forest was a useful thing, and he picked it up. And from Viators belongings, Marianne took snowshoes with him.
Chapter 5. Pursuit
Marianne unlocked the door and looked out. The familiar gloomy landscape has not changed. No one is visible, and silence reigns. Marianne looked at the snow. There were footprints around the house. Someone approached the window. From the shape of the prints, one could say that this man had snowshoes on his feet. The snow was trampled down more under the window. Viator walked around the house and watched Marianne through the window before knocking on the door.
Marianne hurried away from the house with the dead man. The forest was left behind on the mountain, the snowy steppe stretched behind the house, conifers darkened on the horizon. This means that the forest was waiting for the traveler again.
Marianne stepped into the snow, glad to have the snowshoes on his feet, which he had taken from home. It became much easier to walk. He walked for several minutes on flat snow when he sensed that something was wrong. The shapes appeared on the left. There were about a dozen of them.
People were previously invisible in the shade of the trees on the slope. A little deeper in the forest, the red glow of the fire gleamed.
Marianne looked around at the people and continued walking forward. Short roll call, cautious exclamations. These people must have been on the alert. When Marianne appeared, they immediately got to their feet and surrounded him. In fur coats, massive build. They looked like robbers. They wore the same clothes as Viator.
The largest of the hunters blocked Mariannes path and shouted:
Are you in a hurry somewhere, boy?
The strangers voice was hoarse as if asleep, but it was harsh and harsh. The man glanced around Marianne defiantly.
Marianne went to the right.
But we dont think so. Big guy got over to the right and got even closer. He stared into the youths face. Marianne stopped.
Hey, Ulysses! Check how Cassius is doing. Something you cant see. Had he escaped with our little gold, eh? You look, and his trace is gone again? He is a weak coward. And everyone knows about it. I should have sent you, Ulysses, on reconnaissance.
The robbers looked at each other excitedly. The thought of stealing some gold seemed to seriously disturb them. The thinnest and the smallest ran quickly to the house.
Ulysses?
Marianne had a guess: most likely, this is still a very young guy. Perhaps his age.
Well, so whats wrong with you? the chief turned again to Marianne. Lets take off your clothes! Well turn out the pockets later and see if you are hiding anything of value there.
Undress? Had he heard wrong? It seemed these people didnt care what happened to Marianne. Or rather, on the contrary: they wanted him to freeze to death. Marianne did not move. The leader of the gang did not like it. He shouted angrily:
Something I look, you are in no hurry. Well have to spur you on.
And he threw the weighty gun off his shoulder. Several approving laughter rang out from his associates. Meanwhile, the circle of hunters was narrowing. The two bosses behind Marianne came very close. There were now less than ten steps between them. The young man took out Viators knife. It was stained with blood.
Noticing Mariannes gesture, the leader added:
I, frankly, do not care who you are and what your name is. I have nothing personal to you. But we have to live on something. And maybe we wont kill you. I dont want to get dirty with your blood.
The tone of voice with which this was said was still harsh. And even gloated. Marianne will definitely be killed. The leader is just fooling him.
I wont undress, said Marianne. Let me pass.
These words caused a friendly laughter Marianne saw nothing funny here. So they were laughing at the gesture of the leader, who threw up his hands, as if saying try or cant you see how many of us are here?
A streak of pearly light fell on the snow and on Mariannes face. He raised his eyes to the sky. The moon illuminated the world sleeping in the snow with mystical radiance.
Suddenly Marianne felt a powerful surge of strength and energy. He blissfully inhaled the frosty air, delighted in the sparks of countless small pieces of ice. Serenity and freedom burst into his lungs. How strange it was to feel like that now. It seemed like a forgotten, huge and warm feeling from his childhood. This feeling attracted and pushed Marianne into her unknown world. The world that was waiting for him right now. The doors were open
Its the moon! suddenly thought Marianne. She is the source of his inspiration and inspiration for life!
Shes so close and warm now, almost like the sun. She touches the very heart with her love scent. Its soft light transforms the forest and hills into a crystal paradise.
Muscles throughout Mariannes body tensed and then groaned in languor, wanting to release boundless energy. The young man even grew above the ground, became taller. At least he felt like the tallest and strongest being on Earth.
Then the silhouettes in fur robes came into view again. He did not hear them, but he felt them. For a moment, Marianne forgot about their existence. They dropped out of his field of vision, out of his thoughts, and now they again loomed around. The light of the moon clearly illuminated both the snow and people.
The leader of the gang fired a shot in the air, and then aimed the muzzle of the gun at Marianne. A loud bang, like thunder, scattered around the area.
Take off your clothes! He shouted, choking on saliva and shouting curses at Marianne. I will not repeat again!
Marianne, inspired by the moon, was not afraid of either the shot or the threats. His meeting with the robbers was no longer worried.
I can easily run away from them!
Marianne wanted not just to break out of the encirclement and run away, but to fight. Not to kill, no, but to punish the offenders. To teach a lesson. And he chose the main one as his goal. Maybe he really didnt want anything bad and was trying to delay the death of the victim? Or perhaps his teeth spoke. Distracting attention while his buddies stab from behind.