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Спасти Кощея

Крихели Ангелина

– Are you upset? – the girl asked sympathetically, and sat down in the second armchair without any invitation. But before she could sit down, the helpful little broom swept the dust and cobwebs away. This made the armchair lighter, brighter and more beautiful.

That’s it, Koschei thought. They don’t even please me that way. Why, actually? After all, they know everything, unlike passing-through knights ...

He didn’t hurry to answer Hope. The girl shrugged her shoulders, got up from the chair, and began pacing the room, trying to take her mind off where she was and how to get back home. She was looking at various things: books, vases, teapots and cups... Brushes?!

Koschei noticed her astonishment and realized before it was too late. No one was supposed to know that once he’d been so fond of drawing and was so talented that he could become an outstanding artist. If only he didn’t quit drawing. He bounced out of chair, switched out the brushes of her hands and threw them into the furthest corner.

But the curiosity had already settled in the little girl’s heart. And now it became even more interesting for her to find out what else was hiding in the strange abandoned forest house, where this old man lived. She went round the rooms one after another with growing courage, looking behind all doors until she opened that one of them, the furthest. The room appeared to be completely filled with beautiful paintings floor-to-ceiling. However, even there the skilful little spiders had spi

– Oh deear! – Hope drawled with admiration, picking up one of the canvases and looking at it with rapture. An incredibly beautiful women was looking at her from the picture with her green eyes, framed by golden eyelashes. And there was so much warmth and light in her gaze, that Hope was lost in admiration, having forgotten where she was. Besides, she wondered how did the artist manage to achieve such an effect? Just how deeply one needs to feel the human soul to reflect with impeccable technique not only the facial features, but also the i

– Didn’t your parents teach you that it’s bad to take other people’s things?! – yelled Koschei behind her back. He snatched a picture from the girl's hands and threw it aside. But Hope had time to notice the wrench he looked at the canvas with. A wonderful portrait landed on a bunch of others. The edge of the pastoral picture emerged from the bottom, where one could easily recognize the forest near the house.

Not allowing her to see other pictures, he snapped his fingers, and the next moment they appeared in front of a locked door of the room. Hope frowned, refusing to understand why to hide such beautiful paintings. She felt how much these works and images in the pictures meant to him. So why is he hiding them and from whom? Now she didn’t care about the other rooms or stuff that was hidden from view on the second floor, where a wide staircase led.

– It is you who draws so well, isn’t it? – the girl asked. And then she began to remember that she found herself in this forest, when she was drawing a different, unremarkable forest; and when, in anger, she touched the canvas with her foot. So, maybe, and the way out can be found in one of the paintings? Well, then she has to get into this room again by all means. Or beg the old man to draw such a forest. Indeed, he's a wizard and can help her. Or at least let her take one of his wonderful canvases, so she could try to draw that forest on her own.

Chapter 4

Gorynych put his head in the doorway, though he could hardly fit. It seemed that if he moved a little more, the house would fall apart from the press of this big amiable guy, who stroke terror into the hearts at first sight only. The girl even casted a fearful glance at the ceiling, almost sure to see the cracks. But it was fine. Gorynych shifted, moving away from the door a little, and said shyly with his deep voice:

– Uh huh, that’s Koschei who draws…

– Koschei?! – Hope exclaimed, immediately remembering reading about him in fairy-tales.

– Ha! – Koschei made a shout of triumph, and an ominous smile spread across his face. – Finally you’re scared! And all this time I was wondering, why aren’t you scared? I thought you were brave! And you’re an ordinary coward who simply didn’t know whose house she was in!

But this doesn’t change anything, Hope thought. If he wanted to hurt her somehow, he’d certainly do so. But he didn’t do anything like that. Moreover, he wasn’t as greedy as described in fairy-tales, caring only about his gold. Rather on the contrary. The plates whispered to her with trust that every day he made the brew for Gorynych himself. And, although he was constantly grumbling, he still cared about his friend. And he was such a great artist! How could such a wizard be evil?

However, Hope backed away slowly to the door by instinct. It would be fu

She felt her back bumping into something. There was nowhere to hide. The girl exclaimed «oh» and turned frozen with horror, afraid to move. But it seemed that Koschei was no more interested in her. He kept on moving towards her. Hope looked around unwittingly and saw that the object she had bumped into was nothing but a mirror.