After her husband’s funeral, the stepmother left her mute stepdaughter to die in the forest swamp… But a year later, a surprise awaited everyone…
Leshy whined next to them, nudging the man with his snout. When Mary had given up all hope of reviving Kevin, a hoarse sound erupted from her throat. «Bye-bye.»
And following the first miracle, a second one occurred. Kevin groaned and turned over, looking at the girl in astonishment. «Mary, is that you? Where did you come from?» He said with difficulty.
«Dad.» Sobbed Mary, looking at the blood-stained grass. Kevin tried to sit up, but couldn’t and winced.
«They got me, the bastards. Local poachers; they’ve been threatening for a while. Well, now I’ve caught a load of buckshot in both legs.»
Kevin tried to move his legs, but that didn’t work either. «Mary, I have a knife in my belt bag. Try to cut the trousers and bandage them.»
The girl composed herself, and her tears dried up on their own. Kevin helped her open the folding knife, and Mary got to work. The sturdy fabric was reluctant to yield, but she managed it.
She gasped when she saw what Kevin’s legs had turned into below the knees. She looked up at him with widened eyes, in which the man read that things were not looking good. «Don’t lose heart, daughter.»
«We’ve been through worse scrapes than this.» He encouraged either Mary or himself. The girl startled at such an address.
Kevin didn’t let her cry again. «Cut the fabric into long strips and bandage them as tightly as possible,» he asked. «I’ll try to crawl.»
«In these woods, not only the forest spirit roams, but other beasts as well. And two-legged ones are much more dangerous.» Following the wounded man’s advice, Mary bound his legs as tightly as she could, and the bleeding stopped, and both breathed a sigh of relief.
Rolling over onto his stomach with Mary’s help, Kevin attempted to crawl. It was slow, but it was working. When he got tired, they took breaks, and Mary wiped the sweat from his forehead.
The forest spirit licked Kevin’s pale face with its long tongue and whimpered. «We’ll make it; I know it,» whispered Kevin and kept crawling persistently. It seemed like several hours had passed, although Mary couldn’t tell exactly how long.
Time had lost all meaning, and then his strength gave out, and he lost consciousness. Mary jumped to her feet, running aimlessly around the clearing, and then a dam broke in her throat, and a cry echoed through the forest, «A-A-A-A.» She was screaming and praying for a miracle, and another miracle happened.
The forest was filled with the cracking of branches. A tall woman burst onto the clearing, rushed to Kevin, sat down beside him, and hastily opened a first-aid kit. Following her came a massive, gray-haired man in the same camouflage suit as Kevin.
«Brian, we need to get him to the house as soon as possible,» the woman ordered. Looking at Mary, she asked, «Run to the house; we need warm water, a lot of it.»
«Do you remember the way?» Right next to her, the forest spirit appeared, and Mary followed him, believing, as she noticed a giant picking up Kevin in his arms. Grandma Karen emerged from the forest cabin to meet her. How did she manage to get here? Mary wondered.
However, she saw an SUV behind the house. Can this strange old lady even drive? «Help us!» Grandma ordered, peering into the direction of the forest. They managed to boil water and prepare bandages and cotton when the door swung open and the enormous Brian, barely fitting through the doorway, carried the moaning Kevin into the house.
The woman followed him, and only now did Mary notice how beautiful she was. Simply a fairytale beauty. Kevin was placed on the table, and both women fussed around him.
«Let’s go; we won’t get in the way.» Brian’s large hand rested on the girl’s shoulder. Obeying him, she went out into the yard and only there let her tears flow.
She cried, uttering some incoherent syllables, and Brian silently stroked her back, saying, «Don’t worry about Kevin, honey; he’s been through worse scrapes. He saved my life twice, and not just mine. So, the opportunity has presented itself to settle scores.»
«We’ll catch and punish those bandits. You can be sure of that.» Mary gradually calmed down, and her slender shoulders twitched less.
Grandma Karen came out of the house, embraced the girl, and spoke affectionately. «You’re mistaken, Brian. It wasn’t us; she saved his life today.»
«I’ve been saying to Kevin for a while that he’d have a daughter, and it turned out to be true.» «Has he regained consciousness?» Brian asked. Mary felt like they were keeping something from her.
«Do you want to ask about Rebecca?» Grandma Karen chuckled. «She won’t leave his side. He’s still asleep, but they’ll talk eventually.»
«Kevin is stubborn.» Brian shook his head. «He can’t forgive Rebecca after all these years.»
«Foolish because,» Grandma Karen replied calmly. «His mother didn’t want to share her son with a bride. She told the girl that she had an abortion, and he believed her.»
«He didn’t come back home. He signed a contract. And she, poor thing, had a miscarriage at the time.»
«No fault of hers; I know for sure. And if he hadn’t signed, I wouldn’t have saved him.» Brian sighed…
