After laying her husband to rest, Anya made up her mind to tackle the clutter in the shed—a place her husband always kept off-limits. She let out a SHRIEK when she laid eyes on IT

I took my automatic rifle, taking the safety off. The elephant looked at me understandingly without asking questions. We need to go down to the river and then follow the river.

There is less snow there than on the bank. I whispered in the elephant’s ear, as if I was afraid that someone would hear me. You go first.

I’ll cover everybody out. I pulled back the heavy bolt, opened the door and froze. Opposite the hut, with its back to the river stood the blurred morning poem of the corners.

A black cash register, a figure in front with empty eye sockets. In a bonny fist clutched the handle of a knife with a bloody blade. A wave of animal fear swept through my entire body.

Instinctively, I raised my automatic rifle and with a short burst slashed at the creepy creature. To my amazement, I saw that the shots had no effect. The bullets had hit the target.

I saw it clearly, but the figure did not even sway. It continued to stand still and stare at us silently, as if I had fired blanks. Finally, the figure took a step back.

Its outlines gradually began to blur, and soon it disappeared, as if it had vanished into thin air. For some time, we stood like a halt, afraid to move. Why are we standing there? I hissed, coming to my senses.

Let’s go. We moved down the path with a quick step. When I left this strange place, I had to find a way down to the river.

I followed behind, looking carefully around. At some point, I began to think that we were not alone. Someone was following in our footsteps.

I’m not a great tracker, but I noticed the bushes trembling, crackling, twigs behind us. Sometimes, there was a blurred shadow among the trees. I had the impression that the pursuers were not particularly lurking.

We were already dying in the frozen swamps. When a terrible howl sounded ahead, we were deliberately pressed close to the swamp. Cutting off escape routes, we switched to running, trying to break through to the river.

I had already seen the cliff, when from somewhere on the side of the thorny shrubbery covered with snow, a gray shadow rushed at me. The sound, machine gun bursts, cut the silence. It did not reach me.

A huge wolf leaked away. It was unclear if it had hit or not. A shadow flashed again.

I fired without aiming. It squealed pitifully. At that moment, I saw something black and shaggy coming from my left.

I held my breath. I fired again. The beast buried its head in the snow.

There’s the cliff. And that’s when they came at me from behind. Yeah, I didn’t see that coming.

I could hear the beast’s stinking breath on the back of my neck. The wolf tried to grab me by the neck with its teeth, but it was prevented by a thick fur collar. It was impossible to use a machine gun in this situation.

I threw away the now useless weapon and tried to pull out my knife, frantically fumbling around my belt, but could not find the hilt. The teeth of the beast were inevitably approaching my neck, and that’s when I remembered the stiletto. Wrenched it from its sheath on my hip and stabbed it back with all my might, from the bottom to the top.

It hit us squarely between the ribs, and we collapsed to the ground. The wolf wheezed. His grip loosened, and I struggled to get out from under the carcass.

He was still twitching from mushrooms, clawing at the snow, but it was clear he didn’t have long to live. I feared another attack, so I did not hesitate to cut his throat. At that moment, an elephant ran up to me in a bush coat with a torn off sleeve, but since he was breathing heavily, it looked like he had gotten it too.

I picked up the automatic rifle and wiped it with my glove on the snow. A vague thought was going through my head, and then it came to me. Wolves.

They’re so smart. For an ordinary animal. And they were hunting us by the book.

There was a barely audible rustle. A new character appeared in the clearing. Stepping out of the shadows of the trees, the red corners of its eyes cleared at us.

A huge wolf stared intently. The white light of the rising sun was building on his pelt, and it seemed as if the fur was cast with silver. My finger rested on the trigger, but the wolf didn’t attack.

He stood for a while longer, and then turned leisurely and seemed to disappear into the taiga. We were still standing with the elephant, breathing heavily, trying to collect ourselves after the fight, as a ringing dog barking was heard from the river. Three surrounded nart, mated with dogs, were passing us along the frozen river towards Rasdolnoi.

I raised my automatic rifle and fired several times into the air. By evening, we were in Rasdolnoi. The next day, a hitchhiking timber truck delivered us with the elephant to the district center, from where we flew to the capital of the region in an old entou called by the people as a corncob.

Our native city met us with snowfall and cold wind. Despite the bad weather, everything around spoke about the imminent coming of the new year. Multicolored lights on artificial Christmas trees shone festively.

Temptingly, new lights of advertisements were burning. People hurried to buy gifts for their relatives and food for the New Year’s table. It is said that one should never leave the year unfinished.

My elephant and I knew this tradition well and decided to find a customer for our taiga odyssey. We pushed the automata back to Rasdolnoi. A local amateur bought them for a good price.

With this money, we were able to buy tickets home. Everything else, including the knives, we managed to spend in our luggage. There was even enough for a cab from the airport to our temporary haven.

I got there when it was already dark. The lot was snowed in, and there were no tracks to the house in sight. I ballooned over the door.

The key was in place. Soon the stove was humming merrily. I made myself whatever dinner I could from what I found in the refrigerator and sat down in the chair opposite the stove.

Kathy was gone. Judging by the fact that there weren’t any of her things in the room, she’d been gone quite a while. Probably right after we broke up, was I upset.

It was a little sad that nothing is permanent in my life. Sooner or later things leave me. So Kathy left too.

I poured some vodka and pulled out a classic pickle from the bathhouse. Well, be well. Suddenly I remembered my find in the abandoned ranch.

I took the trophy ring out of my jacket pocket and carefully placed it on my palm. Trying to determine its weight, it was clearly a man’s ring. In the old days, silver was always considered a masculine metal, unlike gold, a feminine metal.

I turned on the table lamp and scrutinized the ring. It was a solid ring. No special frills.

An equilateral cross in a circle, obviously without religious connotations. In the center of the cross is a convex circle, similar to the urban. Between the crossbars of the cross is poured in places by sections of time black and red enamel.

In general, it all looked very much like a shield. Most likely it was some symbol, the meaning of which I was not destined to understand. I moved the ring away from my eyes.

It looks beautiful. Will I ever find out how this ring ended up in the hut? Who made it and to whom it belonged? I don’t think it was the man whose remains we found. This ring doesn’t match his supposed appearance.

But who knows? Looks can be deceiving. I couldn’t take my eyes off the ring like I was mesmerized. And somewhere inside me, I suddenly began to feel fear.

I couldn’t figure out what was wrong. I couldn’t breathe. My heart was pounding under my throat.

Fear surfaced from its hidden depths and clanny paws enveloped and bound my whole body. I shook my head, trying to pull myself together. And suddenly, as if obeying an unknown force, I put a ring on the ring finger of my right hand.

Immediately it became hot. The heat on my hand went up to my shoulder and spread all over my body. Even more boredom at heart, I began to fall into a bottomless well.

And after a moment, everything disappeared. I was sound asleep. I woke up to a knock on the front door.

I looked at my watch. I turned my head. A strange man stood in the doorway and looked at me curiously.

Hello. Christopher. The man said hello politely.

Yes, it’s an unforgivable mistake. Not locking the door behind you. Intelligence, my ass.

Could have been a nighttime stabbing. Suddenly, I was relieved. They would have wanted to stab him.

I wondered if it was from the customer or someone else. I looked around the room. There was nothing suitable at hand.

If I threw myself at him with my bare hands, he’d shoot me in flight. The man seemed to read my mind, Christopher. You’re in no danger.

You don’t need to kill or maim me. The man smiled. John wants to talk to you.

He’s been here for a long time. Did your grandfather come? Yes, for about a week now. Come on.

Is he expecting you? The stranger continued to stand in the doorway, making no attempt to enter the room. At that moment, his cell phone began to cry in his pocket. The man put it to his ear and listened in silence for a few minutes, then handed it to me.

It’s for you, Christopher. I heard the familiar voice of my grandfather in the phone. Come right away.

We need to talk. Now you know everything. Grandfather looked at me carefully, and his gaze penetrated into my very soul.

He rose from his chair and poured me half a glass of bourbon. I think it’s about time. He set the glass in front of me.

I poured the whiskey into my mouth without even tasting it. What my grandfather had told me shook me to the core. I had never seen such filth and filth in my life.

My whole being protested against the truth, but not to trust the only person I had left close to me. I had no reason to. I’ve been surrounded by betrayal and lies for the last five years.

How stupid do you have to be to ignore the obvious for so long? And there were clues. They were always there, but I didn’t want to see them. Trying to hide in the world I invented, I remembered my wedding with a bride in a white dress with witnesses, all rank and file.

Betty’s surprise at my family’s visit. The joy of the lavish gifts. It’s too fake, too artificial.

Betty knew about the apartment and the car. She knew in advance and skillfully played up the joy and surprise. First lie.

Then it became a habit. My long and frequent business trips. Her love affair with Steven.

And then my father. The family mix. And she seemed to enjoy it.

A wife for everyone. Except for the baby. It was a mix-up.

An unplanned pregnancy. Could have been from her twin brother. No DNA test can tell.

Who’s the father? No. I got pregnant by my ex-father’s horny brood of a father. So the DNA test in court proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that the child was not mine.

And I was blindsided. I mean, it was clear it wasn’t Steven’s either. Who knew, you ask? Everyone but me.

And mom knew everything. Nothing was hidden from her. She knew and kept quiet.

She was afraid of her husband. Or she disliked her own son so much. How can you love one and hate the other so much? Betty, I can understand.

What am I? A pauper. An outcast. And Steven is the heir to a vast empire.

Rich and successful. There’s nothing to be gained by living with me. A shameful life of misery and misery.

On the other hand, my husband’s rich brother and father-in-law. That’s where a child comes in handy. Tie it to you tightly and enjoy life.

What about love? Come on. We’re grown-up girls. More money, more love.

I looked longingly at my grandfather. God, what am I still pouring it all in for? My companion showed no emotion. I nodded.

One glass wasn’t enough. I remembered Kathy. And there’s the lie.

The failed kidnapping and the beating. The fake love and the passionate breakup. And there I fell for it.

I believed it. Oh, right. The savior’s a romantic asshole.

She listened to me talking to the elephant and leaked everything. And they got confused. They made up a tale about a stolen daughter and lustful kidnappers.

The daughter was played by a fellow craftswoman. Yes, it was clearly visible at the camp. A mix is a mix in the Tega.

I didn’t notice anything. Batman. I remembered when Kathy was taken in an alley in Yalta.

Very natural. It was painful, but gentle. Yes, Kathy was genuinely in love, but not with me with money.

I wonder if he ever slept with her. Probably not. It wasn’t his style to get involved with a trivial war.

It was all set up from the start. Except for the evil Tega creature and the wolves out there in the Tega. I was supposed to disappear forever, without a trace.

No man, no problem. I remembered Camille’s attentive gaze at our meeting in the restaurant. And his face was vaguely familiar to me.

He’d missed the clue, too. And he was a scout, too. Thank God the elephant was real.

Otherwise, I’d hang myself. I sat there trying to figure out what to do with all this. I felt like I was burning out inside.

The door clicked and a young woman entered the office. She walked through the office and stopped behind my grandfather’s back. I looked questioningly into his eyes.

Decide for yourself. My grandfather seemed to read my mind. There’s a board meeting in half an hour.

I think your presence is necessary. The owner and CEO of the steel mill stood up. Camille will help you pick out a suitable suit.

Grandfather kissed his assistant’s hand, showing me more than just a working relationship. Are you going to put me on the board of directors? To be honest, I was a little puzzled. Instead of who? You have no idea.

Grandpa smiled for the first time in our conversation. It’s for me. Did you decide to push your favorite grandson into a cushy position? I answered cheekily.

That, too. But not only that. Your father and your brother have been stealing.

They opened fake accounts and transferred the company’s money there. Good thing we managed to block their access to the main cash funds. Grandpa looked at his assistant.

I stood up and headed for the door. The suit was picked up quickly. I put on a cream vivid shirt under my jacket and tied a dark blue tie.

I stopped in front of the mirror. A glamorous office clerk looked back at me. Only the unusual ring on my right hand gave my image some mysterious individuality.

In the hallway in front of the door leading to the small conference room, Stephen was excitedly circling. What do you want here? He hissed when he saw me. But I saw him in time.

A glimpse. The disappointment in his eyes. Well, of course.

It wasn’t like I’d perished in the tega. Unpleasant surprise. Camille ignored Stephen’s hiss and opened the door.

Come in, Christopher. Everyone was already assembled. No one knew me.

So many looked at me in surprise, confused by the table. Grandfather got up from his seat and took a few steps towards me. Gentlemen, let me introduce you to my grandson, Christopher.

Have a seat. Grandfather pointed me to a vacant seat at the large round table and sat down in the chairman’s chair again. I have a question.

I heard my former father’s voice. Why is there an outsider present at the board of directors? Indeed, the grandfather was not embarrassed. But we will correct this mistake now.

Standing behind grandfather’s chair, a young man put a blue folder and a pen on the table. This is a notarized document on the transfer of 51 percent of the shares of the concern to my grandson. The grandfather signed the document in front of him.

Gentlemen, he continued. I propose to introduce Mr. Christopher to the board of directors of the company. The members of the board raised their hands in unison.

One moment, gentlemen. My former father raised his voice. The number of members of the board is always constant and cannot change.

According to the rules contained in the charter of the company, we cannot introduce a new person at this time. Indeed, smiled my grandfather. I propose to remove Mr. Sebastian from the board.

I was sitting in a deep armchair behind a huge table on a leather sofa to the right of the table. It’s a little early for you to take over the reins of the company, isn’t it? And I’m still in my right mind. Grandpa laughed.

There was a knock at the door. Camille put a plate of fruit and a bottle of cognac on the coffee table. Camille, stay grandfather, looked at his assistant.

She smiled and sat down on the edge of the sofa. To be honest, I was a bit tense about the relationship between my grandfather and his assistant. Who is she, his mistress? That was the first thing that came to mind when looking at their relationship.

But isn’t she a little young for my grandfather? It was as if my grandfather read my mind. Camille is the daughter of an old friend of mine. He died tragically with his wife.

A quarter of a century ago, Camille was taken away to a boarding school. Grandfather stroked the young woman’s hand affectionately. I tracked her down, took her in and adopted her.

She’s been with me ever since. I was a little taken aback. Camille looked at me and blushed.

Young man, this is not silver. The old jeweler pursed his lips. It’s platinum.

I must tell you the ring is very old, but you understand me. See for yourself. Boris Izakovich handed me the lupa.

I trust you completely. I politely put the instrument on the table. Can you give me an approximate time of manufacture? Well, early 17th century.

That’s when rings like this were becoming fashionable. It was made by a good jeweler. Fine workmanship.

By the way, the enamel is English of the period. So your ring was made in Europe, England or Scotland, most likely. I’d like to know who it belonged to and how it ended up in eastern Siberia.

I asked and put the ring on my finger. Alas, I do not know that. The old jeweler spread his hands.

Well, are you ready? I looked at the elephant quite. When the car, the elephant finished shooing. At that moment, the cell phone rang.

The helicopter made a circle over its cold waters and began to descend to the rocky shore. The rotating blade swayed the tops of the spruce and pine trees growing along the shore. I was the first to jump on the ground.

Then I took my wife in my arms. She flatly refused to let me go alone. The elephant handed me backpacks and weapons, waved to the pilot and jumped out onto the rocky beach.

The helicopter hovered over the shore for a while, then went sharply upward and rushed along the river. Soon the sound of its engine faded around a corner and a motor slipped out of nowhere. It turned toward the shore and soon jabbed its nose into the coastal sand.

A man sitting in the stern jumped into the water and pulled the boat to shore. Good afternoon. How did you get here? He smiled welcomingly.

We shook hands and began to load the equipment. Well, let’s go. I hugged and kissed Camille.