The wind, like a celestial shepherd, drove the dark clouds across the sky, and the air was sharply scented with rain.
In the courtyard, on an unremarkable bench by the flowerbed, a young girl sat with her eyes closed, quietly crying.
It seemed that the approaching rain didn’t frighten her at all, and she was so immersed in her own suffering that she noticed nothing around her.
The first heavy raindrops had already fallen on the asphalt, signaling that a downpour would start in a minute or two.
Residents from the surrounding apartment buildings hurried home to avoid being caught off guard by the bad weather.
No one paid any attention to the crying, lonely girl, except for the janitor, Klavdiya Nikitichna, who couldn’t just walk by.
«Hey, dear… Why are you crying? The rain’s about to start, and you’re sitting under the open sky… Did something happen?» she asked, touching the stranger’s sleeve.
«Something happened, auntie…» the girl said through tears, looking timidly at the janitor.
«Well, tears won’t help your sorrow… Especially now with the rain starting… Come with me to the storage room, and you can tell me everything there,» said Klavdiya Nikitichna, leading the tearful girl to the basement where she had a small room set up for storing equipment.
Once inside, the janitor first put the kettle on the electric stove and seated her guest in an old chair in the corner.
At that moment, a real downpour with thunder and lightning slashing through the sky erupted outside.
Meanwhile, the change of scenery benefited the girl, who stopped crying and looked gratefully at Klavdiya Nikitichna.
«Well, dear… Tell me, what happened and who hurt you?» the woman asked, pouring her guest a cup of hot tea.
With a heavy sigh, the girl sniffled and began her story.
As it turned out, the stranger was named Dasha and she had come from a remote, godforsaken taiga village.
Darya was an orphan who had recently buried her grandfather, the only family she had.
Seeking a better life, she had moved to the city, where she got a job as a warehouse worker at a grocery base.
After working the required month, she eagerly awaited her salary, but as it turned out, her cunning employers cheated the provincial orphan, blaming her for a huge shortfall.
Thus, the unscrupulous businessmen intended to use the unpaid debts to make the unfortunate girl work for them for free.
Having barely escaped this trap, Dasha left without knowing what to do next.
Klavdiya Nikitichna, without saying a word, patiently listened to the guest, only occasionally shaking her head in dismay at human malice.
Then, after coughing, she said:
«Oh dear, such things happen… But don’t worry, maybe I can be of some help…
My daughter works at an agency… They’re hiring staff for hotels and homes of wealthy people… It’s all honest and above board… If you want to work, everything else will fall into place.
So, shall I put in a good word for you?»
Dasha’s eyes lit up when she heard such a good proposal for herself:
«Of course, Aunt Klav! I have plenty of desire… Especially since one must live for something!»
«Well, that’s settled then. You’ll stay with me tonight, and tomorrow you’ll go for an interview. In your situation, this is a favorable option, Dashenka,» Klavdiya Nikitichna responded, encouragingly smiling at the guest.
That day, they chatted until late evening, feeling a growing mutual sympathy for each other.
Aunt Klava, as promised, called her daughter and outlined the situation.
The next morning, Dasha was already given the address of the house where she would soon work as a maid.
The house was located in an elite cottage area, where one building was more beautiful than the other.
At first, Dasha felt like she had entered a fairy-tale city where kings and queens lived in beautiful castles.
But when she found the address she needed, she was simply stunned by everything she saw.
The mansion of her future employers was so large that it stood out even against the palaces of other wealthy citizens of the settlement.
The owners of the house, Adelina Vasilyevna and her son German Viktorovich, received Dasha warmly.
Their demands were quite reasonable, so both the employee and the employers were generally satisfied with each other.
But especially, Dasha caught the fancy of German, who from the first day of acquaintance began to show her all sorts of attentions, literally undressing her with his eyes.
Darya did not understand the young master’s gaze, because at that moment, preparations for a wedding were underway in the house, and, judging by Adelina Vasilyevna’s opinion, the bride came from a very wealthy and influential family.
«Why would you need me… An orphan, a pauper…» Dasha thought, embarrassed by German’s lecherous glances.
The girl did not know that her master’s passion were girls, whose hearts he broke with imagination-shocking regularity.
Adelina Vasilyevna turned a blind eye to her son’s antics, believing that a young man needed interaction with the opposite sex to gain experience.
In relation to German, Dasha behaved pointedly coldly and politely, trying not to stand out and not attract attention to herself.
But unfortunately, her looks did not give the young master peace and one evening, having despaired, he decided to go to extremes.
Dasha had just finished up around the house and was about to go to sleep in the servant’s cottage.
But German, who ambushed the maid in the kitchen, grabbed her by the hand and literally dragged her behind him into one of the many guest rooms.
The young rogue was drunk and could no longer restrain his desires.
«German Viktorovich, what are you doing? What do you want from me? I’m going to scream now…» Dasha timidly objected.
«Scream all you want… You’ll scream, and tomorrow you’ll be out on the street. And I’ll write such a review to the agency that they won’t even take you as a cleaner in a barracks,» German said, unabashedly.
No matter how hard Dasha tried to resist the impudent master, she still failed. She liked her job and German turned out to be very persuasive. The girl cried, begged on her knees, but the rich son did not back down until he got his way.
«Why, German Viktorovich? Aren’t you getting married?» Dasha asked through tears, after it all happened.
«Of course, I’m not getting married… What a thought… So what? Keep working and keep quiet. And I’ll throw you a bonus,» the major replied, catching his breath.
Dasha felt so disgusted that she wanted to quit and leave wherever her eyes looked.
«But where will I go? Who needs me, an orphan without a penny in my pocket? And I can’t let down Klavdiya Nikitichna’s daughter… After all, she vouched for me when they took me without work experience and recommendations,» Dasha thought, crying and smearing bitter tears on her face.
Deciding that the encounter with German would be a one-time thing, the girl stayed and endured the offense.
It’s worth saying that after everything that happened, the master behaved as if nothing had happened, assessingly glancing at the maid.
They say that time heals, and Dasha had no other choice, so she chose to forget about the incident, erasing the unpleasant episode from her memory.
Soon, thinking about the events of that fateful night became irrelevant, as the Wedding Day approached and even the always unflappable German experienced inner anxiety about it.
The wedding ceremony and subsequent three-day celebrations were held with particular splendor and were even covered by reporters from many local newspapers.
After German’s wedding, Dasha sighed with relief, deciding that now everything was over and the master would no longer bother her.
Partly, this turned out to be true. German, pretending to be a loving husband in front of his influential wife, did not even look her way.
But Dasha didn’t get to rejoice about this for long.
One morning, she experienced mild nausea and discomfort, which, continuing for several days, accompanied her.
Trying to dispel anxious thoughts, Dasha took a pregnancy test, the results of which shocked her so much that she lost her ability to speak for a moment.
«My God… I’m pregnant.. What now? …What a disgrace… What will people think? Got pregnant by a rich man for money… what a maid,» Dasha thought, crying and burying her face in the pillow.
Not knowing what to do next, Dasha told everything to German, whose guilt for what happened was undeniable.
«Well, you really give news, especially after the wedding… You want to ruin my life?
Okay, don’t cry, silly. Good thing you came to me right away. I’ll call a doctor I know and sign you up for an abortion,» German said, recovering from the initial shock.
«It’s a sin, German Viktorovich… How can you do this?» Dasha tried to object, but the major, brushing her off, didn’t even want to listen to anything else.
When the master left, the girl covered her face with her hands and loudly sobbed, mentally complaining to herself about her unjust life.
But as much as Darya wanted to keep the baby, on the appointed day, she was already standing in front of the clinic door, where, after some time, her pregnancy was supposed to be terminated.
The girl tried twice to overcome embarrassment and fear and step inside the medical facility, but each time, something held her back.
The third time, she turned around and, with her head bowed, walked away.
Raised by her grandfather in Christian traditions, Dasha could not commit such an atrocity and deprive her unborn child of life.
Remembering the promise given to the master, the girl took the phone out of her purse and called the wealthy major.
«German Viktorovich, I’m sorry… Do what you want, I couldn’t,» Dasha sobbed…
«Yeah, well, she couldn’t… You women, only know how to spread your legs… But when it comes to paying, you all hide in the bushes… Fine, wait, I’ll come,» German said irritably and hung up.
Dasha waited for him, sitting on a bench near the clinic.
German arrived about twenty minutes later and handed her the keys to a rental apartment and a bag of groceries.
«Here, take this… You’re no longer a maid. Your belly will soon be noticeable, and everything will become clear. Live in the apartment and don’t show your face outside. You’ll give birth, and then we’ll figure it out…»
Dasha, blushing to the roots of her hair, timidly took the keys and groceries.
«Well, that’s right… Don’t look for me, I’ll find you,» the major said in farewell and, getting into the car, drove off in an unknown direction.
Dasha felt disgusting and sick, but there was no other way out. The girl, who grew up without parents, couldn’t even imagine depriving a child of life.
So she preferred disgrace and future condemnation to sin.
«It’s okay… I’ll give birth, and then… I’ll go back to my remote village and raise my son or daughter,» Dasha thought, trying to find justification for herself.
Time passed, and throughout the entire pregnancy term, German, as promised, visited the former maid, bringing groceries and everything necessary.
Of course, his visits seemed like a petty handout to Dasha, with which the major tried to atone for his guilt.
Frequent absences of the son aroused suspicions in Adelina Vasilyevna, who decided to ask him about everything directly.
Of course, the woman expected to hear anything but this.
«German, are you an idiot, brainless? Christina’s father will destroy you… Understand, we are fleas against him… There, such money and connections are involved that we don’t even stand close…
So, while there’s still time, deal with the girl…
You messed up, now learn to clean up after yourself…
Next time, you’ll think a hundred times before jumping on the first maid you come across,» Adelina Vasilyevna said angrily, and slamming the door, went to her office.
Meanwhile, German, holding his head in his hands, began to agonizingly think about what to do next.
«Fine, let her give birth… And then we’ll see. Anyway, she’s now under observation in the maternity hospital,» German thought, pleased with such a sound decision.
The major thought the situation was under control and when, a couple of days later, a happy Dasha called him to announce the birth of twins, he already knew what he needed to do.
The babies were born healthy, strong little ones, and to Dasha’s joy, they didn’t keep her in the maternity hospital for long, sending her home after a week.
The young mother’s happiness knew no bounds when she moved into the rental apartment, holding Nastenka and Kiryusha in her arms.
Of course, she didn’t see any particular joy in German’s eyes, but during the pregnancy, Dasha had become so accustomed to his sorrowful expression that she preferred not to pay any attention to it.
But, as it turned out, Dasha was deeply mistaken, underestimating German’s cunning.
One evening, he arrived happy, holding a cake. Pretending to be a caring father, he put Kiryusha and Nastenka to bed and then sat down in the kitchen to have tea with Dasha.
But the girl hadn’t even drunk half a cup when she suddenly experienced severe weakness and dizziness.
Losing consciousness, she noticed how German hid some tiny vial in his pocket.
Dasha woke up a few hours later in an unfamiliar place. Her head hurt terribly, and her vision was doubling.
Gathering her thoughts, the girl realized that she was being transported, tied up in the back seat of an unfamiliar car.
«Where am I going? Where am I?» she asked in a weak voice.
«Quiet, you damned wretch… Look, she’s come to… Don’t fidget, we’ll arrive soon,» someone growled at her from the front passenger seat of the car.
Hearing this, Dasha fell back into oblivion and woke up in a hut that looked very much like a forester’s or ranger’s dwelling.
Dasha realized this by the simple camping gear and the multitude of various herbs drying above the stove.
The atmosphere in her late grandfather Trofim Petrovich’s watchman’s hut was almost exactly like this one, only larger in size.
Dasha’s hands were tied with rope, and her mouth was sealed with adhesive tape.
Listening to the conversation behind the wall, Darya could barely make out snippets of phrases:
«Pity her… Maybe we won’t drown her?» one of her kidnappers rumbled.
«But we were paid, Fed… She gave birth to twins for some rich guy and they decided to get rid of her,» his partner replied in a vile falsetto.
Shocked by such news, Dasha looked around, trying to find a way out of the situation.
Suddenly, her gaze landed on a window, through which a forest thicket was visible.
Realizing that this was her only chance to escape, Dasha carefully turned the latch and flung open the window.
Most likely, her kidnappers hadn’t anticipated such a scenario, thinking that a city girl wouldn’t know how to open the ingenious bolts in rural homes.
But Dasha grew up in a village and had been taught all the forest wisdoms by her grandfather Trofim since childhood.
Therefore, when the kidnappers entered the hut, deciding to finally drown her, the brave girl was already long gone.
Dasha ran, pushing through thickets of juniper and wolfberry.
Of course, moving with her hands tied was more difficult, but she hadn’t run even a kilometer when she stumbled upon a young bearded man with a dog on a forest path…
Startled, Dasha shrieked and pressed her back against the trunk of a tree.
«Don’t be afraid… Trezor won’t bite… It’s a hunting breed, not a fighting one,» the man said quietly, adjusting his cap with a cracked brim.
«Please help me… There are bandits… They kidnapped me and wanted to kill me… It’s all because of my poor little children,» Dasha pleaded, stretching her bound hands towards the man in protective clothing.
The stranger, who turned out to be a local ranger, quickly freed the runaway from her bonds, and then, without saying much, took a walkie-talkie out of his pocket and contacted the local police officer.
Describing the situation, he gave approximate coordinates of the criminals’ location.
To Dasha’s surprise, the local law enforcement acted quickly, and soon a search helicopter was circling over the forest.
«Let’s go to the watchman’s hut… I’ll make you some tea… You’re not yourself at all… My sister just came to visit…
I wasn’t going to go on patrol today, but Trezor insisted… Probably felt we’d meet you,» the ranger said with a smile, patting the dog on the back.
Feeling sympathy for this big and strong guy, Dasha willingly followed him.
In the ranger’s hut, it was bright and cozy.
«Oh, Andryusha… Who is this with you? Is she your bride?» a girl standing on the threshold asked. At first glance, her urban upbringing and the audacity of a megacity resident were evident.
«No, she’s just a girl… well… She’s in trouble… And I helped… Just pour some tea first… and then you can start with your questions,» the boy replied, embarrassed.
Over a cup of fragrant lime tea, calming down, Dasha told her story from beginning to end, exactly as it happened, without omissions or understatement.
All this time, the ranger’s sister, Polina, listened attentively to the girl’s story, occasionally making some notes with a pencil in a small notebook.
Responding to the unspoken question in Dasha’s eyes, Polina smiled and took a journalist’s ID from her pocket.
«I came here to my brother in the wilderness… To cover the issue of poaching and corruption in local areas… But your story will be much more important, so rest assured… I won’t leave this case unaddressed, and everyone will learn about it,» the journalist said confidently.
«No, what a scoundrel this rich guy turned out to be… Decided to get rid of the mother of his own children… I would carry them on my hands, and he, you see, came up with this…» Andrey said angrily, having taken a liking to Dasha deep down.
Soon, the local police officer called the ranger via walkie-talkie and reported that the kidnappers had been detained and were giving full confessions.
«Well, soon it’ll be this major’s turn… And if it doesn’t reach him, then Polinka with her article will help… She’s known in all publishing houses… and for such a hot story, they’ll go to any lengths,» Andrey said, trying to reassure the agitated Dasha.
It should be said that the young ranger was right.
Polina’s article was published two days later and caused a real sensation not only among the public but also among the highest echelons of power and law enforcement.
Thanks to the testimonies of the detained kidnappers and Dasha’s story, German was taken into custody.
Because of the wide publicity, the investigation proceeded at a rapid pace, and soon, the rich major was given a guilty verdict, which required him to spend several years in a colony.
Darya took Kiryusha and Nastenka from the rental apartment, rejoicing that German had not managed to harm the children.
Adelina Vasilyevna, burning with shame, offered the former maid her help, but Darya refused.
The girl decided to leave the city, which had been so unkind to her, and settle in the village, together with the ranger Andrey.
The guy had a difficult past and already had experience with tragic relationships when his wife and daughter died in a car accident.
Therefore, learning about the misfortune that befell Dasha and her children, Andrey gladly welcomed them into his home, inherited from his parents.
Of course, initially, Andrey and Darya lived under one roof as friends… But over time, as often happens in life, friendly relations evolved into something more, instilling love and feelings in their hearts.
Sister Polina, who had a knack for understanding people, approved of her brother’s choice and joyfully plays with her nephews, of whom she now had two.
With a mysterious smile, Dasha and Andrey hinted that this was not the limit and they were thinking about a third child, which would undoubtedly add its own portion of happiness to their strong family life.
