Chapter fourteen. Conversation with a Badger

Meanwhile, Vasilisa, Sasha and Ignat were sitting in Vasilisa Petrovna's office, drinking delicious tea with cupcakes that Kuzma had kindly prepared, and waiting for Elvira Petrovna's arrival.
- What you are describing, - said the dean, - I have seen only once in my life, it is a very ancient magic and I would not believe in its existence if the story did not happen to me and my sister.
- With you?- Ira was surprised.
- Yes, - said the sorceress, - when we were young and walking in the forest, a giant attacked us, then we hugged each other out of fear, trying to protect each other, and there was a fusion of dark and light energy, which killed the one who attacked us... A very unpleasant sight, let me note ...
-We represent, - the children replied.
- By the way, - Vasilisa suddenly said, looking at Ignat, - why didn't we think to call you?
After all, you could have sent him away, right?
- Of course!- the forester said with pride.
- Here we are fools!!! Vasilisa said and began to cry, only now she felt fully that she could lose her brother and friends and die herself in the end.
"Well, well, don't cry," said Ignat, " you were very brave! And besides, you remembered about me, although it's a little late, of course.
"That's right," the girl sobbed, beginning to calm down.
Elvira Petrovna came in the door and, after greeting everyone, sat down in an armchair.
She was told the story firsthand, after which she finished her tea thoughtfully said:
-This spell, as my sister already said, protects people if they are very closely related, but have different charges of energy along the pole, and at the same time they are in mortal danger and each of them is ready to give his life for the other, which happens very rarely, so little is known about this type of magic. -It would be necessary to look at the relationship of the Ryabinin and Krutilnikov families-many old families have a strikingly close relationship, without suspecting it. The rest of the story fortunately ended well, but it will be necessary to tell Zinoida Tikhonovna to watch the students more closely in the campaigns. And you, Ignat, perhaps, deport the wild animals to the distant borders of the forest, so that the children do not encounter them.
"It will be done," Ignat reported.
-That's probably all.
- Tomorrow we will visit the children, and now we'd better get some sleep.
The meeting ended there.
The next morning, Kolya woke up with the first rays of the sun. He recalled the events of the previous day, and it seemed to him that he had dreamed all this, but at that moment he felt a ring on his finger and saw Arina, still sleeping peacefully on the next bed, and smiling at something in her sleep.
Barsik stretched on Kolya's chest and said:
- Good morning, master! Look how sunny it is today, I would not refuse to eat, I wonder what we will be fed for breakfast.
- Good morning, Badger, - Kolya replied, - yes, it's a good morning today ...
Here he looked at the leopard in shock:
- Barsik, do you know how to talk?
"Of course," he replied, " all animals can talk, but not every person understands them.
- Why didn't we talk earlier?
"You weren't a guardian before. Now you have many opportunities, but also many responsibilities.
Kolya could not lie still with such news, he had to share it with someone, at that moment Arina woke up from his fuss and smiled, then looked at Kolya and said :
- Good morning, little brother!
- Good morning, little sister, - he smiled in response, -
it seems to Arin that the amulets work and I have discovered one of their possibilities!
Arina's face expressed keen interest:
"Which one?"
-I know how to communicate with a Badger!
- Yes, and I'm with him, - confirmed the leopard.
Arina's face showed surprise:
-I can hear it too!
-It's very nice, you know, said the cat, licking his paw, I now have two new very interesting interlocutors on winter evenings, and you know, I really like to philosophize and discuss Confucius or Nietzsche, the bird and the Merry Man do not share my interests.
- That's right!- Arina said, - I think we can communicate not only with the Badger, but also with other animals, - what do you think, Kohl?
- I don't know, but we will check it at the first opportunity, we are now like Ignat.
- Ignat who is the forester?! Arina was surprised.
- Yes, he also knows how to talk to all animals, - said Kolya, - he is an old friend of our family!Listen to me, he was friends with my father in his youth, maybe he knows about artifacts, let's go to him and talk face to face, I'll introduce you, he is a very kind and brave wizard.
-I will be very happy to meet your friend Kohl, especially since he is a friend of my father, and even though I never knew him, I feel that he is a good person.
"So it is," the boy said with pride.
As soon as they got out of bed Lazar Solomonovich came out:
- I see you are quite healthy, - he said, - then he looked at the Badger and said, - everything will be fine, your master is alive and well, don't worry!
- Thank you for your treatment, master, - the cat replied, - I will be happy to run over to you one of these days for a few games of chess.
-I will be extremely grateful!
- I also play a little chess, - said Kolya, - we can play together.
Lazar Solomonovich looked at him carefully and smiled:
And I was an old stump who thought that only Ignat and I understood the speech of animals, but it turns out there are still nuggets in the castle who can do it, it's extremely interesting!
Two nuggets, "Arina said with a smile, but it's true I don't play chess, nevertheless I will be happy to keep you company ...
" Amazing!- the doctor said in a surprised, thoughtful voice, - one case still did not go anywhere, but two...immediately, very very strange, this is an extremely rare skill!
However, I am always glad to have guests, because they only go to me to treat sores, and so just to come to drink tea-everyone is so busy ...
-We will come, - the children promised and said goodbye and started to leave.
Several people met them on the stairs at once. Ira hanging on Kolya's neck said:
- I couldn't find a place for myself yesterday! I was always afraid that something would happen to you and you wouldn't recover!
-I'm fine! With Arina, too, " Kolya said.
Ira looked at Arina without much joy and said:
-We have to go to class.
Kolya waved to Arina who was talking to her brothers:
"I'll see you at breakfast."
She smiled and blew him a kiss, which infuriated Irka:
-You still start kissing in front of everyone!...Well, you saved her, and now immediately love-carrots began!!!
- Yes, calm down, - said Kolya, - we are just friends.
- Friends who exchange air kisses, - Ira noted skeptically.
-She's jealous with us, - said Barsik, following Kolya to the dining room, how do you tolerate her!? Kolya shrugged his shoulders.
- I hope there will be delicious meatballs for breakfast today, - said the cat dreamily sniffing, - because I have to restore my strength,- and he hummed some melody and started off after everyone.
When they entered the dining room a little late and sat down in their seats, several owls flew in and dropped the letters into the hands of those to whom they were intended. Kolya received a letter in which it was written in a sweeping handwriting:
- I will be glad to see you at my place in my free time, Ignat.
Kolya thought about it, it was necessary to somehow go to Ignat together with Arina, but so that Ira did not find out, he understood that otherwise he would not avoid quartering, and maybe even something worse, but how to tell his sister about his plans? And then he found a way out-a cat!
While Irina was chatting briskly with a neighbor, he called Barsik with a gesture and whispered in his ear:
- Please tell Arina that we need to go to Ignat after school, let her say that we were left after school, we will stay late with her and get out of there.
-It will be done, - the fluffy cupid purred and with an imposing gait went to Arina, climbing on her lap, he said everything that Kolya asked . Arina nodded in agreement.
- Look at what a witch!!! She even tamed your cat! Ira did not let up.
- Ir! Yes, I am a badger to the faculty, he is on excellent terms with everyone, because everyone strokes and feeds him, he will not miss his piece, you know.
"You decided to follow his example," Ira snorted.
If we are caught with Arina, even just in the same room, they will definitely tear off my head, and without using magic, thought Kolya.
It is necessary to make friends with them somehow, but how, this idea seemed to him as impossible as making friends with ice and fire.
Meanwhile, it was time to go to botany classes, which were held in greenhouses near the school.
A cheerful crowd of first-year students went there to look at rare plants that grew only there, because the surrounding climate did not allow them to be grown in the open ground.
The lesson was conducted by a pleasant, calm young woman, having got to her classes, the students felt peace and tranquility, as if they had discarded all their problems. It is not surprising that from the very first time everyone liked her and aroused trust. The children were handed pots and they began to transplant magic lilies, the flowers of which glowed and shimmered in different colors from turquoise to bright yellow.
- In the first seconds of the lesson, Nelya, without calculating her strength, dropped a huge pot on her foot, and only strong leather shoes saved her leg. We spent 15 minutes on the treatment of the leg, fortunately the botany teacher was just as great with a wand as with growing herbs.
At the end of the lesson, Kolya said that he would stay to talk to the teacher, and Ira and Sasha went to the library to prepare their homework on drugs.
Arina first left with them, but then she slipped away unnoticed and returned to Kolya:
"I'm ready," she smiled.
- Then go ahead.
And they, having imperceptibly left the greenhouses, set off to the edge of the forest.