“Come on, come on, don’t dawdle! Grab your suitcases and move it! We live here now—me and my wife with the kids,” Nikolai declared boldly.
“How do you mean, you? On what grounds? This house is mine! By law. The will names me as the heir, and you know that perfectly well,” Larisa said, trying to keep her voice calm.
“So what! I can challenge it in court easy as that, I just don’t feel like getting into it! You’re on your own, Larka, an old, lonely woman! What do you need a house like this for, all by yourself—think about it. Go live with your mother! And we’ve got a family, kids. So who should live here in all fairness? Obviously me and Lidka.”
Today Larisa was late coming home from the city. She’d bumped into her old friend Raya there, with whom she’d studied at medical college twenty years earlier.
The former classmates got to talking; Raisa invited her over, showed her how she lived, introduced her to the family. Larisa ended up staying so late at her friend’s that she nearly missed the last bus to Rassypnoye.
Truth be told, she wasn’t in much of a hurry to get home. In the big house she had inherited from her grandmother Marfa, no one was waiting for her. She had no family of her own despite her respectable age.
As it happened, at thirty-seven she was very much alone. No, Lara wasn’t an old maid. After a short marriage that lasted only a few months, Larisa had given up any thought of romance. She considered the marriage a mistake, and it took her a long, painful time to get over the betrayal by Vitaly, who traded her for some empty-headed city girl visiting the neighbors.
Another reason was simply that in their small settlement there was no one with whom to build a new relationship that might lead to a family. And a proper, well-brought-up woman like Larisa didn’t want any other kind of relationship.
Getting off the bus near the local grocery—huddled together with the administration building and the post office—she decided to buy herself something for dinner. She suddenly wanted to treat herself to something tasty. And although dusk was already slowly taking over the street—it got dark early in autumn—Larisa decided not to rush home.
The light, refreshing frost felt pleasant after the stuffy bus. The air, filled with the scents of the coming winter, made her a little giddy. She wanted to keep walking down the familiar street and breathe in that freshness.
At that moment Larisa was thinking that, in principle, she had no reason to complain about her fate. Yes, she had no husband; that’s how it turned out. But was she the only one? There were plenty of women in Rassypnoye living without men. And they managed just fine. They worked, raised their children, got by somehow without husbands.
The main thing was to have her health. And in that, God had not slighted Larochka. She had a profession, too—she worked as a feldsher at the local rural clinic. Which meant she always had a paycheck—steady, if small. And now she had a house as well. Her own place. Grandmother Marfa had willed it specifically to her, Larisa, her beloved granddaughter.
And recently a certain idea had come to her—a plan, really—which she was determined to carry out no matter what. Once the thought lodged in the mind of the lonely Larisa, it wouldn’t let her go.
“Yes, that’s exactly what I’ll do. And then I won’t be alone anymore. My empty life will finally have meaning,” Larisa assured herself that her decision was the right one.
Today she had gone to the city to start gathering the documents for adoption. Not long ago she had visited an orphanage, and she left there with a new dream warming her heart.
There were so many children in the world without anyone, and she lived alone. Young, healthy, with so much love she hadn’t had the chance to give. How could she, after everything she’d seen at the orphanage, go on living as before? No—Larisa would certainly take in a boy or a girl to raise.
Yes, she understood it was a serious step. Her mother had bristled at her decision, too.
“What have you come up with, Larochka? Why would you take someone else’s child? You can give birth yourself—you’re young enough; these days people plan children even after forty, and you’re only thirty-seven. Why are you disgracing me in front of people—this is a village, not a city. Don’t even think about it.”
“How am I disgracing you, Mama?” her daughter asked, surprised.
“She even asks! Look at Lidka, your younger sister—she’s done it all already: married for the second time and had three kids. But you act like you’re not of this world. What kind of person are you, Larisa! You couldn’t make it work with your husband…”
“Mama!”
“What, Mama?! What? So your Vitalik fooled around back then, cheated on you. Big deal! Almost all of them cheat. Nothing new! Why kick out such a good man over that? If the women in our village threw out their men every time for that, there wouldn’t be a married man left,” her mother lectured cynically.
“Mama, why bring that up? It’s in the past—just forget it,” Larisa answered sadly.
“If you hadn’t driven Vitalik away, you’d have been raising your own kids long ago. They’d be finishing school by now! Instead you’ve cooked up nonsense—taking one from an orphanage! In the worst case, you could have had a fling with someone. Genka Leontyev’s crazy about you, you know that, Lara. And your former classmate, Petya Khorokhorin, comes down from the capital now and then. I remember he fancied you back then. Why am I teaching you like a child? Show a little feminine cunning and you’ll have your own. No need to take someone else’s.”
“No, Mama. I don’t want that… It’s one thing if it’s for love, and quite another to do it like stray dogs, just to join bodies. Only to make a baby. That’s not for me,” Larisa reasoned.
“And taking someone else’s child—that’s right, that’s for you, is it? How do you even know who the parents were? What kind of heredity that child has,” her mother kept pressing.
“My mind is made up, and don’t try to talk me out of it,” Larisa said firmly.
When Grandmother Marfa passed away and it turned out she had left her big wooden house—built by her husband Fyodor—to Larisa, the whole family was quite surprised. To put it mildly, they were upset.
“Why her?” the younger sister, Lidiya, fumed. “Is she some kind of special case? I have three children, and Kolya and I are crammed into some dump, and with his mother to boot. And Lariska gets a whole house all to herself! Where’s the justice? Our granny had lost her marbles by the end, and this is the kind of nonsense she pulled!”
“You should have gone to see your grandma now and then,” Larisa’s mother scolded her younger daughter. “I warned you my mother-in-law had a difficult character—this is her payback. Larika turned out smarter than you; she stayed close to the old woman. As for the other grandkids, they hadn’t come to see the old woman in fifteen years, if not more. So Lariska ended up the favorite granddaughter.”
“Oh, listen to you! And when was I supposed to go visiting old grannies? I’ve got three little kids! You know how much fuss and work that is,” Lidiya wouldn’t calm down. “That old hag! I was right not to like her or visit. I couldn’t stand the old crone. Well, just wait till my Kolenka gets back from his shift—we’ll set things right! I promise you that, Mama.”
“Calm down. We don’t need trouble with the police on top of everything. It’s all legal—the house is Larisa’s, and you can’t go against the law,” Lidiya’s mother replied with annoyance.
But Larisa’s younger sister had no intention of putting up with what she called a blatant injustice. And now the conversations about how the grandmother’s house ought to belong to them were constant between the spouses.
“Lidusha, just say the word and I’ll toss your Lariska out of that house in a heartbeat,” Nikolai promised his wife confidently. “I’ll come back from my shift and we’ll politely ask her to vacate the place. If she doesn’t get ‘polite,’ we’ll put it to her another way. Meanwhile, get ready to move, darling.”
From then on, her husband kept hinting that soon they’d be living in Grandma’s big house, moving out of his mother’s cramped place.
Strolling unhurriedly through the evening streets toward home, Larisa looked with a soft sadness into the windows of familiar houses. She thought about how behind each one lived someone’s happiness. In the cozy warmth, children’s laughter rang out and spouses discussed problems and made plans. No one was waiting for her. No one—and that was very sad… But soon everything was going to change!
When Lara, deep in her thoughts, turned into the lane where her house stood, she actually stopped in surprise. Lights were on in all the windows, which was very strange.
“What do I do now? I should probably call the police, because I’m not expecting anyone as a guest. And what’s more, I didn’t give anyone a key to my house,” she thought in confusion.
Perhaps anticipating something like this from her relatives, Larisa had never given any of them a key.
Coming closer, she saw the silhouette of Lida with her youngest son in her arms flicker past one of the windows.
“It can’t be! Did they really go through with it?” Larisa couldn’t believe her eyes. “What a disgrace! What a horror!”
She sighed heavily, imagining the scandal that was about to erupt. Her sister hadn’t come with her family “to visit,” having first broken the lock. That’s not how you come to visit. Together with her brazen husband, they had invaded her lawful residence. And they’d done it with a single purpose—to stay and live in that house. They’d brought the children and most likely moved their belongings in while Larisa was in the city.
Knowing her younger sister’s combative temper and her second husband’s equally hot disposition, Larisa decided not to fly off the handle and not to throw herself into the fire. The best course was to call for help.
“Hello, Nadya, hi!” She dialed the number of a fellow villager she’d been friends with for many years. “Tell me, do you have the number of our new district officer? You had it somewhere? Oh, please check, I really need it right now. Yes, yes, for me! I’ll explain later—no time now. I’m waiting!”
She hung up and waited for a text with the phone number. Not long ago a district police officer had finally come to their village—everyone had been waiting. No one had wanted to take the post out there, and for a long time order in Rassypnoye was maintained on little more than a gentleman’s word.
The message pinged, and Larisa hopefully dialed the number Nadya had sent. But there was only silence in response. First long rings, then an automated voice saying the number wasn’t answering or out of range.
“Well, that’s that… I wanted to ask for help, but looks like I’ll have to do it all myself,” Larisa said sadly. “As always, really. Why am I even surprised.”
Nadya called.
“Hello, Larochka, what’s going on with you? Did you get through to Yevgeny Leonidovich?” she asked.
“Who’s that?” Larisa was surprised.
“Who? The district officer, of course! I just sent you his number. Did you reach him or not?”
“No, he’s not answering. He’s got bigger things than my problems. I’ll have to handle it myself,” Larisa replied, resigned.
“What happened, anyway? You still haven’t said. Lida stirring the pot again, huh?” curious Nadya kept on.
“If only! She and Nikolai have moved from words to action. They moved into my house while I was in the city today.”
“No way! Unbelievable, the nerve! How did they dare? That’s a criminal matter. They won’t get by with excuses like ‘it’s my granny’s house’—that won’t fly.”
“All right, Nadusha, I’m going to throw them out. I’ll have to do it myself. It’s cold standing out here, and who am I waiting for? No one’s coming to help,” Larisa said gloomily.
“Hang in there!” Nadya shouted briskly and hung up.
When Larisa walked into the house, now full of light and children’s voices, she was taken aback at first. Lidiya and her husband really had moved all their things in. Some were already unpacked; others still sat in bags and huge duffels by the front door.
“Oh, there you are already!” Lidiya blurted loudly when she saw her older sister, ready to defend her ground. “Just don’t start—please. Don’t. You know perfectly well this is the right thing. It’s fair.”
“Right? Fair?” Larisa echoed in disbelief. “That depends how you look at it. Why did you break the lock? I’m calling the police right now, and they’ll open a case on you. Do you even understand that?”
“What case?” the brother-in-law shouted, stepping out in front of the homeowner in a tank top, stretched-out sweatpants, and crushed house slippers—apparently already settling into the role of master of the house. “This is her granny’s house! And my wife is going to live here! She and her family.”
As if Larisa didn’t know their grandmother Marfa was a relative to them both, Nikolai made a point of gesturing at his wife.
“Grandma willed this house to me,” she answered quietly, looking at her angry sister rather than at her brother-in-law, who was gearing up for a confrontation with the owner.
“I don’t care. Get out! We live here now—me and my wife and kids,” Nikolai went on brazenly.
“This house is mine. By law. The will names me as the heir,” Larisa said more loudly, striving to keep her voice even.
“You’re alone! Lariska, you’re a lonely woman and not so young at that. You’ve got no family and never will. Go live with your mother! We’ve got a family, kids—so who, in good conscience, should live here? Obviously us!” the shameless brother-in-law pressed, trying to hurt her as much as possible. “Lida’s already packed your things. In that bag and that suitcase. Take them and shove off into the frost! Go on, go on!”
“I’m not going anywhere,” Larisa said, stepping back a little from the pushy man who was practically crowding her.
“Oh yes you are—like hell you aren’t!” Nikolai already raised his hand to strike the homeowner.
But at that moment something happened. Larisa didn’t immediately realize what exactly.
Behind her, the door flew open and an unfamiliar male voice shouted loudly:
“Cut the hooliganism, now! What do you think you’re doing?”
“Phew! Thank God, we made it!” Nadyezhda piped up, out of breath, bursting into the house after the district officer.
“What’s going on here?” the officer asked in an official tone. “This citizen”—he indicated Nadyezhda—“claims that there’s been an unlawful seizure of someone else’s dwelling here. Well? What do you have to say?”
“No, no, what are you talking about, officer!” Nikolai said in a completely different voice, his eyes darting with fear. “It’s just relatives gathered here. What seizure? There’s no seizure…”
“We’ll sort it out,” Yevgeny Leonidovich said calmly. “First, show me your passports and the documents for the house. And thank you, Nadyezhda, for the timely report.”
“Don’t mention it. I’m only standing up for what’s right. I know what they had in mind—leaving Larochka without a home. And that’s wrong. Illegal!” the woman said in a ringing voice, giving Lidiya and her husband a triumphant look.
After checking the documents, the officer ordered the brazen intruders to vacate Larisa’s house immediately. Lidiya threw a full-on tantrum. She screamed that it was unfair, that she would take it to court and the judge would award the house to her family, which had three children.
“You’re free to file—that’s your right. For now, pack your things and leave the other person’s house at once,” the officer ordered sternly.
“I’ll take it from you anyway! I’ll get justice, and you’ll pop out of here like a cork!” the younger sister wouldn’t let up, glaring at Larisa.
When at last Lidiya, her husband, and the children left, leaving the house to its lawful heir, Larisa breathed a sigh of relief.
“Thank you so much, officer! And you too, Nadusha. I never would’ve managed without you,” the exhausted homeowner said.
Yevgeny Leonidovich left, but her friend stayed to support Lara through the ordeal.
“What’s the kitty’s name?” four-year-old Sasha asked timidly, stepping into her new home behind Larisa for the first time.
“The cat? Dusya. What else would it be?” the happy woman replied readily, holding her daughter by her thin little hand. “Look, Sashenka—this is your home now. This is where we’ll live, just the two of us. Are you happy?”
“I am, Mama. Can I call her Snowflake? Look how white and fluffy she is!”
“You can, sweetheart. Of course you can. Let her be Snowflake. What do you say, Dusya—agreed?”
Larisa was no longer alone. She had noticed this quiet little girl the moment she came to choose a child at the orphanage. The girl looked so much like Larisa herself in childhood that at first Larisa could hardly believe it.
One day, a couple of weeks later, there was a knock at their door.
“Hello, Yevgeny Leonidovich! Come in,” Larisa said, a little flustered to see the district officer.
“I won’t keep you long. I was passing by and thought I’d check… Is everything all right? No one bothering you? Need any help?”
“No, no one’s bothering us. Thank you for your concern,” the hostess replied with a smile.
“Good. And how’s Sashenka? Getting used to things?” he went on kindly, looking at the girl. “Here—have a chocolate.”
“I’m doing great, mister!” the daughter chirped, grabbing the treat. “Mama, Snowflake and I all live here very well together.”
“I’m glad to hear it. If you ever need anything, call me. I’m always happy to help.”
It was clear the man was a little shy, which made him falter in conversation.
“Why’s that, I wonder?” Larisa thought, smiling timidly at the unexpected guest.
A week later, the officer brought his new acquaintances a big jar of fresh honey.
“Thought I’d treat you. Yesterday I got two jars from the apiary, and what do I need so much for? I can’t eat it all,” he said, handing the amber sweetness to a surprised Larisa.
Then they sat down for tea, and Yevgeny told her he’d been living alone for three years since his divorce.
It had been an ugly story, so he didn’t go into details. It was clear remembering it was painful and unpleasant. That’s why he agreed to take a posting out here in the back of beyond—trying to run from himself and his trouble.
“I see. So fate shorted you on family happiness too,” Larisa said softly.
Six months later, Yevgeny, whose heart had grown attached to the kind, beautiful Larisa and her little Sasha, came to ask for her hand.
She accepted without hesitation—and never once regretted it.
They even managed to have a little son, a baby brother for their older daughter. And they lived as a complete, happy family.
