Chapter 23

The next day passed by quickly. Maija picked a whole basket of berries and mushrooms in the forest, while Sandra napped under a tree.
   "Midnight strolls make it hard to wake up in the morning," - Maija grinned as she sat down at the roots of the tree next to her friend.
   "Mmm," - replied Sandra, lifting one eyelid, - "we had a great time - although the water in the lake was a bit cold," - she sneezed, - "I just hope mom and dad didn"t hear anything - or even worse, Pete - he"s always teasing Will, but he would be picky about any other boy, too,"
   "Just like Martin," - Maija heard herself saying quietly. She looked at Sandra - her eyes were closed.
   Far away, three boys were proudly demonstrating the contains of their bags to each other. Soon, a whole battery of bottles was standing on the floor.
   "We"re going to have quite a party tonight," - said the oldest one contently, and the rest were looking at him as if he was a guru, - "we just have to hide all this stuff, just imagine, if someone finds it! We"ll be kicked out of the camp right away!"
   The dinner ended early that evening. Maija went out of the hut and saw Pete, who standed in the fresh-painted boat. The boat was swaying softly on the quiet waters of the lake.
   "I"ve just tested it," - he explained, - "had to make sure that there weren"t any leaks. Would you like to try it? Jump in!"
   At the middle of the lake Pete stopped the boat. The silence was almost complete - only the wind played with the leaves of the trees and the water in the lake was quietly splashing. Small waves made blurry spots of moonlight on the smooth surface of the water.
   "It"s lovely here, isn"t it," - said Pete.
   "W-what?" - Maija raised her eyes from the dark water. - "oh yes, it"s fantastic, papa has a summer hut too, but we never had the time to go there."
   "I love spending my summers here," - he added, - "after the craziness of the big city it"s so relaxing."
   "Our neighbourhood is pretty quiet," - said Maija and went silent again, since she had nothing more to say. Like a melody in the air, she still heard the same words.
   "In the green parks, listening silently, gentle winds carrying thy song"
   "It"s a long time since I don"t live with mom and dad," - explained Pete, - "when I became a DJ and began working at the club, I rented my own apartment. It"s right in the center and often I don"t feel very comfortable. This place makes me feel like I"m a young boy again. As far as I remember, I have spent here all of my summers."
   "It"s much more peaceful here than in the South," - said Maija, shaking her head, as if trying to wake up from a dream. - "the people are more - how would I say it - stable. And even the nature - down there at the South, there are bright colors all around. The skies are bright blue, the sea is turquoise, and the desert sand is sparkling yellow. The flowers are red, orange or bright violet. When you"re there, you feel like you"re surrounded by all the colors of the rainbow. Here, it"s like a picture of soft pastel colors."
   "You like it more here, I hope?" - asked Pete with a smile.
   "Papa is here, and-" - she stopped, - "yes, of course, living here is much better for me. I don"t miss the South at all. I didn"t even have any friends there, and here on the other hand - all of you are so nice to me."
   To her surprise, Pete shook his head and looked at her with a look that said - "what are you made of?"
   "What"s bothering you, Maija?" - he asked as gently as he could, - "You"re as old as my sister, but it doesn"t seem like that - you"re like a sad old lady, pale and quiet. When you smile, it seems that you"re going to burst into tears the next moment. You just said that we"re your friends. If there is anything I can do for you, don"t hesitate to tell me."
   "Nothing can be done for me," - Maija swallowed. At that moment she thought herself hopelessly, endlessly miserable. Sinking into the sore consolation of self-pity was the easiest thing to do. Pete put his hand on her sleeve.
   "Except death, everything in this world has a solution," - he said. - "People whom I thought to be my friends didn"t hesitate to betray me. A girl whom I wanted to marry last year turned out to be half-insane and everything was canceled at the last minute. I got fired and found work again. I lived through a car-accident and was repaired with fourty stitches. I consider myself lucky, because I"m alive, healthy and working. I don"t feel any kind of bitterness, although at first it was hard not to."
   Maija was listening to him, and it seemed to her that it was herself, and not Pete, who has gone through everything he described. At this moment, she pitied herself more than ever and warm tears burst out of her eyes.
   "You"re stronger than you think." - Pete looked at her with a piercing glance, - "if you were nearly as weak as you estimate, you would be dead or insane long ago. I don"t know what happened to you, but whatever that is, your life isn"t ruined. It"s not the end - just a beginning of a new stage."
   "I"m cold," - said Maija, sobbing. Pete took off his jacket and covered her trembling shoulders.
   "You poor thing, it seems like my speech made you feel even worse. You"re still so young - maybe I should just let you make your own mistakes."
   "Stop talking like you"re very old," - a faint smile could be seen through her tears. - "we better go back to the cottage, it"s getting late."
   "Yes, you need to sleep on it," - agreed Pete, - "things will seem brighter tomorrow. And then, if you feel like it, you can tell me what makes you so sad."
   For a change, Sandra decided to spend the entire night in her bed. When the girls were almost asleep, she suddenly opened her eyes and said with a sleepy voice:
   "I think he likes you."
   "Who?" - Maija raised an eyebrow.
   "Pete. I know him, it always stars with a ride in the boat."
   "Are you kidding me? We just talked. He gave me some "good advices", papa wouldn"t do it better."
   "He likes you," - Sandra repeated, before falling asleep. She was right. Pete was lying on his bed in the darkness, his hands at the back of his head and his eyes closed. He was thinking about the strange, tiny girl with a smile.
   Far away from there, about twenty boys and girls were sitting in one crowded room. Bottles of wine and cigarettes were passing from one hero of the day to another. It was extremely hot and almost impossible to breathe because of the sick cigarette smoke. Everyone did whatever they could to show that they"re having an extremely good time.
   "Hey, Costello," - a blonde girl with fat legs said rudely, - "where do you think you"re going? You"re not thinking to tell on us, are you?"
   "No, of course not," - Martin said quickly, - "I - I only wanted to get a gasp of fresh air."
   "Are you stupid or what?" - asked the older boy, annoyed. - "if we open the door or the windows, the trainers might notice something is going on!"
   "But I have a headache," - complained Martin. - "I"m not used to sitting in such a smoky room."
   "Here, take," - said the girl and pushed a half-empty bottle of red wine into his hands. - "the cure for headache or any other sickness." - she grinned, sounding like a Welsh pony, and her joke was received with clapping and cheering. Martin drank a gulp of the cheap wine and returned the bottle to the fat girl, who was sitting now with her arm firm around him.
   "Hey, Costello, you"re not as weak as I thought," - she said appreciatively, and handed him a small flask. - "here, that"s better stuff."
   Martin never drank vodka in his life before. It tasted awful at first, but the next moment everything felt blurry and happy. He was telling some nonsense to the Welsh pony, who was laughing to something of her own.
   "Maija," - he hiccoed.
   "Lisa," - she corrected him, grinning.
   He didn"t remember more. The next morning, he wake up with the worst headache he ever had.