Vasiliy walked around the car, checking the seals. The journey ahead was long, almost two days of travel. He felt energetic: he had slept while waiting for the loading. The weather was also favorable. It was not customary to rely on luck on the road, but he still hoped to return by the weekend to spend time with his daughter in the park.
«The car is packed,» noted his daughter Nina, as her father drove away from the house. The relationship between Vasiliy’s mother and her granddaughter left much to be desired. Nina, although not easy, was too young at ten years old to be left home alone for long weeks. Moreover, getting her daughter to school was a challenging task: the grandmother was overly protective, allowing her to idle in the mornings…
«Have a good trip,» the dispatcher wished him as she handed him the documents.
«Thank you,» he replied, walking away.
The large vehicle roared out of the gates, with thousands of kilometers ahead. On one hand, it was hard—long trips took a toll on him and his daughter, causing nervous distress, although he knew she was not alone, but with her grandmother.
After a family tragedy, Nina changed, became withdrawn, and almost stopped smiling. On the other hand, long trips brought good money, and the family needed it. Nina often got sick: a cold turned into asthma, and a lot of money went on medications. Then there were problems with her heart. Lately, her health had stabilized, but Vasiliy dared not rejoice.
After the disappearance of Olya, Nina even ended up in the hospital. Then, Vasiliy didn’t know what to do: whether to run to the police asking to intensify the search for his wife or to stay with his daughter. Instead of helping, his mother only caused him more stress.
«I told you Olya had changed. No wonder she ran off with a lover,» she suddenly declared.
«Mom, what are you talking about? Olya would never leave us,» Vasiliy dismissed her.
But his mother continued to spout nonsense:
«A woman, when the harness hits under the tail, has no time to think…»
«Mom, please stop! Nina shouldn’t hear such things.»
«She should be told everything right away,» she stubbornly continued.
After that, Vasiliy and his mother had a big argument and stopped talking. She even stopped asking about Nina. He had to bow and scrape because he needed to work, go on trips, and there was no one else to leave his daughter with. In the end, he decided to talk to his mother.
«I didn’t come here to argue. I need to leave, and there’s no one else to leave Nina with.»
A year had passed since Olya’s disappearance. The police only shrugged their shoulders, saying that sometimes people disappear and are never found.
Olya had left without even taking her passport, while Nina was at school and Vasiliy was in the garage. Lovers don’t leave like that. He could never understand what happened. Olya had changed shortly before her disappearance: she lost weight, started caring more about her appearance, and began having lengthy phone conversations… Several times he accidentally caught her during strange calls.
She immediately turned off the phone, saying she was talking to a friend. Although he never asked whom exactly. Memories surfaced of when Vasiliy’s mother was categorically against his marriage to Olga, claiming that her family was unhealthy and that the children would be weak. Olga was deeply hurt by such words, but never argued with her mother-in-law.
Vasiliy’s mother knew nothing about Olga’s family, only heard that they had died young and decided it was due to illness. Vasiliy had tried talking to his mother, but she never accepted Olga. Eventually, Olga herself asked him:
«Vasya, let it be. Don’t stir trouble unless it stirs us.»
They had lived together for over nine years, and over time, his mother seemed to calm down.
Vasiliy pressed the gas, with a hundred kilometers left to a parking lot where he planned to rest. The next day, he was greeted by the morning sun. He set out at dawn to have fewer cars on the road. Everything went smoothly, and he successfully passed through crowded places. The car drove cheerfully and without problems.
In the evening, when there was very little left to home, he decided to stop at a roadside store that Nina loved. She adored rural products, those stored in jars tied with ropes, like from old movies. His daughter didn’t always have a good appetite, but she ate such food with pleasure. The refrigerator in the car worked properly, so Vasiliy was not worried about the preservation of the purchased products.
A row of shelves with rosy grandmothers selling their goods caught his attention. He walked by, sniffing the various aromas. One of the grandmothers, with kind eyes and a neat headscarf, immediately attracted his attention. On her counter stood milk, cheese, pickled cucumbers, and fresh vegetables. And the apples seemed incredibly large.
«Apples? But it’s too early for them…» Vasiliy wondered.
«It’s a special early variety, but very tasty,» the grandmother replied.
Vasiliy smiled, bought everything on her counter, and, having paid, was about to leave when his gaze caught on a pendant around her neck. A common pendant, but…
It was Olya’s pendant. He knew it for sure because he had designed it himself and ordered it for their anniversary. The pendant had three letters engraved—O, V, and N—their initials.
A chill ran down his spine: sweat trickled down his back. He forced himself to calm down to avoid making a scene. Perhaps the grandmother had simply bought the pendant somewhere. But how could a rural resident have done that? Vasiliy headed to his car, his thoughts feverishly racing. He knew he needed to call the police earlier than the vendors scattered and the trails vanished.
Vasiliy decided to follow the woman after she finished trading to then talk to her at her home and find out the truth. The wait was short because the old lady had already sold out. After about ten minutes, she neatly packed her things, said goodbye to her market neighbors, and headed down a path. Vasiliy kept a small distance between himself and the elderly woman, making it appear that he wasn’t following her.
Soon he saw a village with several houses. The grandmother approached the porch of one of them, looked around, and entered, leaving the door ajar. This could mean that someone was in the house, but Vasiliy didn’t care. He had to find out where the pendant came from. As darkness fell on the street, a light came on in her house, and Vasiliy, like a shadow, sneaked up to the gate and entered.
Seeing him, the grandmother, who was handling products at the table, clutched her heart in fear:
«Lord, what do you need? Did you follow me all the way from the market?»
«Yes, I came exactly from there. I have a question,» he said, trying to remain calm.
The grandmother looked at him suspiciously:
«The milk is fresh, don’t worry.»
«No, it’s not about the milk. Where did you get the pendant you’re wearing?» Vasiliy asked.
The woman covered the pendant with her hand:
«A kind woman gave it to me as a gift.»
«Was her name Olya?»
Vasiliy blurted out, and the grandmother relaxed a bit:
«You’re not Vasya, by any chance?»
Vasiliy’s heart clenched, and he knelt down:
«Please, if you know where Olya is, tell me!»
The grandmother helped him up:
«What are you thinking? Come, sit down, let’s talk.»
Vasiliy struggled to sit on a chair, and the grandmother served him tea:
«Drink, calm down.»
He gulped it down, scalded himself, and almost cried out:
«Just tell me, don’t keep me waiting!»
The grandmother took a deep breath:
«I told her that this plan was doomed. You don’t need to torment yourself.»
Vasiliy dropped the cup, but the hostess didn’t mind:
«I found her a year ago. Beaten down by life, she didn’t know where to go. I asked her whom she was looking for, and she told me: ‘Death.’ I couldn’t leave her in such a state. I brought her here, fed her, clothed her. Then she confessed to me that her diagnosis was dire. Afraid of the future, but she didn’t tell you… Your mother-in-law advised her to leave so that her daughter wouldn’t see such a terrible disease and to prevent infection.»
«I can’t believe that my mother could have said that.» Vasiliy was shocked.
«And I thought, a sane person wouldn’t do that, but you have to figure it out for yourself. Olya is alive. I think not everything is so bad, but she needs treatment. And she didn’t want to be a burden to you.»
Vasiliy stood on trembling legs:
«Where is she now? I don’t know how she could think she would become a burden to us.»
The grandmother, holding a handkerchief in her hands, paused for a moment:
«You know, Vasiliy, if I hadn’t seen your suffering, I would never have spoken up…»
The grandmother led him to a tiny neighboring house. From the darkness, a frail voice called out:
«Who’s there?»
«It’s our own, Dusya, our own,» the grandmother answered and entered the room first, followed by Vasiliy. As soon as he entered, he saw Olya, who was half-lying on the couch—pale and thin, but alive.
He breathed out rather than spoke her name:
«Olya!»
She looked up at him in fright:
«Vasenka, why are you here?» she burst into tears.
Vasiliy rushed to her:
«How could you do this? How could you even think of doing this?»
The villagers, having never seen such a big truck, came out of their homes to watch. For them, a large truck on a narrow road was a real event. Vasiliy, sitting behind the wheel of the truck, was ready to drive a thousand extra kilometers just to make sure Olya was alright. Neighbors helped put her in the car because she had almost no strength left.
After Olya rested a bit and got some sleep in the cabin, she began to explain:
«As soon as I felt ill, I immediately understood what was wrong. I don’t know how, but I understood. I went to the doctors—they confirmed all my fears. Cancer. I didn’t tell you anything, decided to discuss it with your mother. The doctors said the treatment would take a long time, maybe even a year, or more. Your mother yelled at me, called me selfish, said that now you would have to quit your job, and perhaps we would lose important income because of me. I thought: why? The disease is incurable. It took a long time to decide, but when the doctor called and said I was wasting precious time, I thought—it’s time. Just went into the woods so they wouldn’t find me. And here, you see, the grandmothers didn’t let me disappear.»
Vasiliy unlocked the door with his key, first brought in the items, then helped Olya enter.
«Tomorrow morning, urgently to the hospital, but tonight is already night.»
Nina, hearing the noise, ran out of her room:
«Daddy, mommy!» she squealed and threw herself at Olya. They both cried, sitting on the floor.
Vasiliy’s mother appeared in the doorway, looked around, and grabbing her jacket from the coat rack, sharply said:
«Well, now sort it out without me,» and slammed the door.
Vasiliy sighed:
«Even better, we’ll manage without scandals. We’ll manage ourselves, right, girls? Everything will be fine.»
Two years later, the doctor announced:
«Congratulations, you have stable remission. Let it remain in the past, like a terrible dream.»
Olya nodded in agreement and agreed, how could she forget, when the dearest people—her husband and daughter—embraced her.
