Part 2. Family ties - Chapter I. Old grievances

Six months had passed since the unexpected journey to the Shadow Kingdom. Nea, like a stubborn teenager, did not forgive Costa. It is always easier to blame someone else than to try to understand the reasons for the actions of people close to us. That's what Costa's mother said, and he remembered it. It hurt so much that Nea didn't understand why he did it. It's the end of December, and Nea hasn't thawed out yet. She didn't respond to any of his SMS or calls, and declined social network friendships.

This morning, he and his parents will go to the village. This year, his family will celebrate the New year in the village of Genghis. But Costa was very worried, and the prophecy never left his mind, just like Nea. He remembered very well what the Well had said, and some of the phrases cut into his mind like arrows.

"Three times a friend will betray... You will be subjected to a terrible ordeal... Nothing is a foregone conclusion... If you follow one path, you will lose almost everything that you hold so dear... If you follow the second path, you will lose everything and you will perish... But there is also a third way, not to take sides and stay calm, you will not lose anything... What will you choose?!"

He often closed his eyes and imagined these three paths. What if he did as the Golden Well said? What if he changes his fate? He didn't want to lose the people he loved. He didn't want anything to happen to his family... And every day Costa became more and more inclined to choose the third way. Nothing to lose is very, very good. Of course, he would gain nothing, but that was another world. Nothing will be gained there. Life does not stand still, and he will find something good here.

Mama Costa came into the room:

"Costa, have you Packed yet?" Dad went to warm the car, we leave in 15 minutes.

"Shall we take the Niva?" Costa asked, putting the last of his belongings in his backpack.

"It's over, what else?" No foreign car will reach the village in winter. Hurry up, - with that, my mother left his room.

Costa gave up thinking about the Well and went to put on his ski suit, which was very warm. Usually, Costa was engaged in this biathlon. The suit will allow him to walk in the village as much as he wants and not get cold. Although he did not think that this year he would walk as before. He, having seen his best friend Jeremiah on the other side, was not eager to be friends with him. This winter vacation was going to be the worst of his life. With these painful thoughts, Costa got into the car with his parents, and the white "Niva" quickly jumped on the "snow asphalt", carrying its passengers deep into Siberia.

Costa spent the last couple of hours listening to a new band that he really liked – Rooney. As they sang, he fell asleep, looking out at the bleak, wintry landscape. He was dreaming. Costa walked through a dark, unfamiliar city. A street lamp was burning at the end of the dark street. He went to the lamp, and the closer he got, the more clearly he saw the silhouette. Someone was standing under the lamp. The boy came closer and closer, but the silhouette did not take on color. Costa couldn't make out the strange man's face. But then he noticed that the body of the man under the lamp was flat, as if it had been drawn. The boy came close to the dark shape, and realized with horror that the face of the flat man was not! Under the black hat, there was just a dark spot that hissed through an invisible nose and mouth. Costa looked at his hands and saw that his skin was fading and all the blood vessels were visible. Suddenly the song "Blueside" by Rooney started playing. At the words "Now do you see the red in me? It's a sign for the end", Costa looked at the shirt, where a red spot appeared in the area of the heart, which began to grow rapidly. He awoke with a start. His heart was pounding, his eyes were terrified,and his hands were shaking. The song "Blueside" continued to play in his headphones...

When Costa finally woke up, he noticed that dad had started to slow down, but they hadn't arrived yet.

"Dad, what is it?" Costa asked.

"There, the car broke down on the road. We can't pass by, or people will freeze."

Costa looked where his father was pointing and saw a black Acura CL foreign car. Poor car, stuck in deep snow and its wheels just interfered with the snow, and the car remained in the same place.

The boy's father-David Lambert, began to go around the stuck car. Costa looked into the car and saw the snow-white hair of two passengers and the curious face of a dog named Shorty, from which the boy's heart seemed to stumble beating a steady rhythm. He knew at once that it was Nea and her mother. David stopped in front of Acura, and Costa said to his father:

- Dad this is Nea and her mother - Oksana.

"Ah," said David, " Your new friend. Apparently she liked Genghis, since she went there in the winter."

Costa did not explain to his father that it was not love for the village that drew the girl there. His dad and mom got out of the car and went to the car that was stuck. David went to the car, the door of Akura opened and a woman of unearthly beauty got out of the car. David was even taken aback when he saw her. The woman's snow-white curly hair contrasted with her black sable fur coat. Tight blue jeans and black boots with heels did not hide the stunning figure of the beauty. And when David looked into Oksana's eyes, he literally drowned in their blue. It all showed on his face. Dazed, surprised, delighted... David seemed to have forgotten how to breathe. Costa saw the impression that Oksana had made on his father and grinned. He was also smitten by Nea's appearance, which was very similar to her mother. The problem is that not only Costa noticed these emotions, but also his mother. When the boy saw the murderous look of his mother, which she threw at her husband and Oksana Kupeena, he realized that this was the end. None of them would be friends. Costa covered his face with his hands to avoid seeing this fiasco, but he pulled himself together and, shaking his head, got out of the car to say Hello to Nea and her mother.

Hello!

"Oh, Hello, Costa! - Oksana was happy. – Neya and I decided to visit grandma Pava during the winter holidays. It's good to have you in the village, too.

"And I'm glad," Costa said with a warm smile and introduced his parents. – This is my mom and dad.

Costa's father stumbled as he moved towards Oksana, but kept his balance, gallantly kissed her hand and introduced himself:

- My name is David Lambert. Don't worry, our "Niva" will pull your baby out of the snow. We'll take you straight to the village. Believe me, Oksana, I am a specialist in this.

Costa noticed that his mother ostentatiously got into her car without introducing herself, and his father somehow fussed, made stupid jokes and constantly smiled. David very quickly took the stranded Acura in tow. When Costa and David got back in the car, it felt like the air was filled with electric discharges that came from his mother. However, the parents were silent for the rest of the way. Mom turned away and stared out the window, and dad occasionally shook his head and grinned. Costa hoped that they would forbid him to communicate with Nea, and then he would not feel guilty for not wanting to help her through the Veil on the other side. He had no desire to return to Avernas and put his family in danger. On the other hand, he was afraid that he would be forbidden to communicate with Nea, because he liked her very much, and he wanted to be friends with her. Fear was like poison in his heart. The fear and desire of his heart stirred his soul and gave him no peace. He really didn't know what to do, and it made him feel very unhappy and alone. When they dragged Neа and her mother to grandma Pavlina's house, Costa got out of the car and decided to talk to her friend. Nea stood off to the side and played with the dog, waiting for her mother. Her hair was piled up in a flower-shaped updo, with only a single curl hanging loosely over her shoulder. The girl was wearing a black down jacket with two stars on the sleeve and lacing at the bottom. Nea, like her mother, wore jeans and high lace-up boots. The girl put a fur-trimmed hat on her head and put her hands in her pockets.

- Nea, hi.

Nea crossed her arms over her chest and frowned, while the little man leaped at the boy with joy. She tried to ignore Costa, because he was the reason her grandfather had stayed in the Shadow Kingdom.

"Nea, don't be offended with me. I did what your grandfather asked. He wanted you to be safe."

"You had no right to decide that for me! You deliberately hid from me that my grandfather was there!"

"That's not true!"

"It's true! - Nea Insisted. - "You left your grandfather in danger."

"No, Nea," - Costa said calmly. – Your grandfather stayed there by choice! It's not my fault. Artgadern asked me to protect you, and I did."

"That's not my grandfather's name!" - the girl began to argue. - "His name is Gaar! And you had no right to decide for me where I needed to be! We could have saved him! I could have saved him!"

"Nea, you must understand, that you can't save someone who doesn't need it. Your grandfather went through the Veil himself. No one forced him. He's where he wants to be! - Costa blurted out, looking at the girl, then he turned and walked back to his parents.

His dad was saying goodbye to Nea's mom and he didn't look at all guilty, but his mom was grim as a cloud and sat in the car. David with a smile shook hands with Oksana and together with Costa also got into the car. The Lamberts drove on, and the Kupeens went into the house, where grandmother Pavlina had already heated the Russian oven, cooked round potatoes, sliced salted lard, got out ginger butter and sour cream, and for dessert baked pies with lingonberry jam.

Nea wearily entered the house and let Shorty in, she was upset by the quarrel with Costa, especially since she realized that he was right, but her stubbornness was fueled by longing for her grandfather. It wasn't Costa she resented, but her grandfather. But how do I explain it? How do I understand what you really feel?

The girl was distracted from her sad thoughts by her grandmother Pavlina, who hugged her And Oksana. The old woman had already begun to fuss and set the table. Her house was transformed for the Christmas holidays. On the stove hung green curtains with embroidery, the tablecloths were embroidered with bullfinches and Rowan, and the curtains on the Windows were beige with gold spangles. Colored rain hung from the kitchen ceiling, and glittering tinsel framed the doorjambs and windows. And in the hall stood... an Apple tree in a tub!

All Nea's sad thoughts were gone, and she stared and wondered. The Apple tree was festooned with icicles. The hall was also decorated with flower garlands. The garlands were made of pine branches that were intertwined with silver bell flowers.

- Grandmother Pavlina, how do they celebrate new year in Avernas? - Nea asked.

"Let's go to dinner and I'll tell you."

At the table, grandmother Pava about the traditions of her native country:

"It is now the month of Silver flowers in Avernas, so I have woven silver bell flowers into the garlands. I grew the silver bells from seeds I brought with me from Avernas. This is a flower from my world, so I only grow it at home, in pots, so that the neighbors do not see. You can't cut down trees in our realms, so we don't put up Christmas trees like we do here. We usually decorate an Apple tree that grows in every yard of our country. And although we do not have a real winter, the Apple tree still sheds its leaves and stands with bare branches for 3 months. Therefore, the Apple tree is a festive, Christmas tree. We have a tradition of making Christmas toys with our own hands, so we do not sell ready-made Christmas toys in Avernas. We usually carve a lot of snowflakes out of shiny materials. The Apple tree is decorated with snowflakes and colorful ribbons.

We decorate the house with garlands that we make ourselves: from paper or from branches of coniferous trees, as now in my hall. A festive table is served in the courtyard, next to the Apple tree. The main Christmas dish is Sleddinka pie.

"What kind of pie?" - Nea asked.

- Sleddinka pie. Sleddinka is this silver berry, very sweet, with a terrific spicy aroma. Here, in this world there is no taste, which can be compared berries sleddinka. Sleddinka kept pace exactly to the end of December. This berry is used to make pies, morsels, ice cream, and lollipops. Unfortunately, sleddinka grows only in the Midlands. I tried to grow it here, but it dies immediately after the sprouts germinate. Even at Christmas, adults make themselves a stunning intoxicating drink-spicy beer. This is a special kind of beer that is infused with herbs. This beer is almost not intoxicating, but has a rich taste.

Also in Avernas it is customary to give gifts for Christmas but the main rule is that the gift must be necessary and useful! On a birthday, you can give both Souvenirs and charms, but a Christmas gift must be useful. Therefore, a few days before the end of the year, all adults find out from each other what they need. Also, a Christmas gift is not accepted to give just like that, you need to come up with a riddle that is made to the person for whom this gift was intended.

For the New year, we all dress in plain clothes of bright colors. Women weave silver bell flowers in their braids, and men put this flower in the buttonholes of their clothes.

At the moment when the city clock begins to strike 12 o'clock at night, the new year's salute begins. Everyone is watching the fireworks and singing a new year's song. After the fireworks, the people begin to walk to each other's homes, to congratulate and give gifts with riddles. Celebrate usually before the first rays of the sun. When the sun rises, we stretch out our hands to it, scooping up the sunlight as if it were water, and as if we were washing ourselves with it. After that, everyone goes to bed. And the first day of the month of Blue flowers is always a day off."

Nea smiled, and imagined just such an unusual Christmas holiday. In the city, Nea and her mother and grandfather always put up a fir tree. But her grandfather taught her to make one special Christmas tree toy with her own hands every year. And their Christmas tree was almost not dressed up with purchased balloons. But she had never had to dress up an Apple tree.

"Nea, we will have supper now and go and dress up the Apple tree. I already have a lot of my own toys." grandmother Pava said cheerfully.

"And I also brought toys! One toy is turtledoves, which my grandfather and I cut out of wine corks, and the second toy I made myself a couple of days ago: a ball of glued foil and small tinsel. It looks just magical!" - and Nea ran to unpack the bags and look for Christmas decorations.

20 minutes later, Nea, Pavlina and Oksana were decorating a new year's Apple tree together. Oksana and Pavlina were particularly pleased. They laughed loudly, danced and clucked as they decorated the bare branches of the Apple tree. It was as if they were both back in their childhood. Even Nea noticed that they were completely different at that moment.

Nea hung the turtledoves in the most conspicuous place, and hung the new year's ball higher up so that the light of the electric lights fell on it. Soon the Apple tree was decorated with unusual toys, tied with colored ribbons and bows, a rainbow of ribbons and tinsel descended along the trunk, the tub was hidden by a cloud of cotton wool that imitated snow. The new year's Apple tree turned out just right. Grandma Pava and Oksana took up new year's costumes. Nea and Oksana brought ready-made dresses with them, while Nea did not see her dress. The girl just chose its color-carrot. Neya thought it would be difficult for her mother to find a dress that color. And Oksana just bought fabrics of the right color and sewed a dress for her daughter.

Nea returned to her room and literally fell on the bed, Shorty jumped after the hostess and lay down at her feet. She was so tired that she didn't even want to change for bed. As I was in jeans and a t-shirt, I fell asleep. In the next street, Costa also fell asleep without undressing, and he, too, felt lonely and tired.