The beginning of November was a warm and sunny day. Alexey was returning from school in high spirits. There is nothing to be sad about, finally, life was getting better. Today he received a five in literature and a four in German. But even this did not make him so happy, but the fact that, finally, the grandmother was discharged from the hospital, and she was at home. How happy he was to see her again at home and to know that he no longer had to spend the night alone in an empty flat.
But after this injury, she had not fully recovered yet, but Lyoshka hoped that everything would be fine. They just needed time. Now grandma walked with a wand, still feeling weak, and therefore he took over all the housework. He continued to cook them food from the meager set of products that he managed to get for a miracle received a pension. But this was not the point. Today, at last, he could go to the stable of the hippodrome to horses. All this time, Alyosha stood stoically and was not there, realizing that there were more important things and he needed to be able to endure and wait. And here at last – this day Grandma said that she would cope on her own, and he could go to his horses.
So he did. Coming after school and feeding his grandmother with lunch, Alyosha, quickly changing his clothes, rushed off to the train.
During his absence at the stable, barely anything had changed. The girls met him with joy. Fat Makha even squeezed him in her powerful embrace, but Petrovich was at first happy, and then turned pale while looking at him.
"Why didn't you get a haircut?"
And then Alexey remembered ... For all this time, he completely forgot about the haircut. And when he could remember about this ... and the money he had spent on medicine, and they just survived on the grandmother's meager pension, as now she could not earn money by cleaning at Isabella's.
"Petrovich, the car with hay came! It's necessary to unload," shouted Makha from the door of the stable.
"Can I help with unloading?" Lyosha wanted to be here so much, he missed horses desperately and probably would just have died if Petrovich had driven him out of some stupidity like his hair.
Petrovich hesitated, but then waved his hand. All the same, it was necessary to unload the car, and extra hands intercepting a bale of hay along the chain would not be superfluous. Well, and who would unload this hay, when there were only girls. And then – there was Nazar with his visits. But he did not come all this time, maybe they would be lucky and today...
***
A car with hay could not drive closer, and therefore hay, pressed into bales, was first thrown out of the vehicle body by girls who had gotten there. What was thrown out of the body, was put by two bales into a flimsy, still not completely collapsed cart, was taken inside the stables and put into a free loose box there. And that what didn't fit in the loose box, was necessary to transport and storage under a street canopy. The bales were eighteen to twenty kilos. The hay rope that tied them up was cutting hands, but was it really important? After all, Alyosha knew that it was hay, which was so hard to get. It was necessary to find it on sale, calling the collective farms, agreeing to be brought to their stable, to collect money from the rental to pay for such a machine, and hay is the main food of horses. And so he dragged these bales, hearing how the horses were neighing in the stalls, inhaling the smell of dried grass with nostrils and sniffing invitingly, attracting attention, as if asking a person to give them this delicious hay. Lyosha knew what happened when there was a stoppage with hay and then it was necessary to give the horses very little of this hay, stretching the scarce reserves for several days. And it had happened. But now they brought a lot of hay, and it meant the horses would eat their full. From the realization of all this, he did not feel sorry for himself and carried heavy bales all evening.
When the clock showed nine in the evening, Alexey realized that he needed to return home. He could not leave Grandma alone for long. However he wanted to be here today, he overcame himself and went to Petrovich to say that it was time for him to go home.
"And I've thought you will ride your Tokha." Petrovich confusedly looked at the guy standing in front of him. "I practically did not give it to anyone. Well, and to whom to give it ..., it will throw off somebody again."
"I cannot today ... I need to go home..."
"Will you come tomorrow?"
"Yes! I will come every day as before ... only I can't be up until late ... my grandmother is ill."
Petrovich sighed, shook his hand, and walked toward the bales of hay, which were not carried yet and were lying on the side of the entrance.
Alyosha was very sad because that day he did not ride a horse. Moreover, the coach left Toha to him. And not surprisingly, Badminton was harmful and often behaved very badly under the rider, who fell from it. But Lyokha was tenacious like a mite and always sat to the last. He even could not remember now, when he fell from a horse for the last time, it seems it was a long time ago.
Lyosha sighed again, but the grandmother was more important than his desire to ride on Toha, and so he quickly began to change clothes, taking off his well-worn stable clothes and wearing like civilized but similarly washed-out things that only didn't smell like horse sweat. This smell was usually strongly scared people around him sitting on the train when he did not have time to change and went home in the things that he was wearing on a stable.
He changed his clothes and thought that it was good in any case because he had got to unload hay today. After all, he trained free from Petrovich, or even, it was the usual agreement between such young boys and girls, seeking equestrian sport, but who had no money for it. And they for training and the ability to ride horses helped around the stable: they cleaned the stalls of manure, changed the bedding there, cleaned and saddled horses for rent, and then unsaddled them, and put them in order, and of course, they unloaded cars with hay, oats, bran, and sawdust. Well, they also did minor work on putting grease ammunition, cleaning the stable, and a lot of everything that was required to keep the entire facility clean. So, with a sense of accomplishment, Lyosha walked out of the stable and went along a poorly lit walkway towards the checkpoint.
Toward him, blinding headlights, several cars rode.
***
Before going to Petrovich, the whole brigade drove into the market to Armen, who listened to their wishes about the celebration of life, and literally, in five minutes the trunks of their cars were packed with bags and boxes of food and drink.
Reaching the hippodrome in high spirits, the mob saw a puny guy walking towards them, who on the run pulled a hat on his head.
"Hey, Nazar," the guy sitting in front turned to Nazar, who was already drinking a bottle of vodka from the throat, "this is the fag... well, who has to have a haircut. Maybe look at his hair?"
"Brake," Nazar said drunkenly, vaguely recalling who was being talked about at all.
But when he got out of the car and saw him in the headlights, his mind immediately sobered up. He clearly understood who was in front of him.
"Take off your hat," said Nazar coldly.
"What for?" he heard back and looked intently into the eyes of the boy standing in front of him. His voice and the way he responded showed there was no fear in him, although he was surrounded by all the mobsters who had got out of the cars.
"Hey, you, asshole," - the mob standing next to the guy stretched out his hand. "Got some balls? Take off your hat!"
The boy continued to stand and, without a shadow of fright, look into Nazar's eyes.
As the pause hung and Nazar was silent, the initiative was taken by another mob.
"Take off the cap," he pulled his hands to him and immediately was struck back, "bros, well, hold him!"
And here it began. Several guys rushed to Alexey. He felt a blow in the gut and a few more on the ribs. They twisted his hands very painfully and pulled off a knitted hat from his head.
In the headlights, Nazar could see the fair waves of his hair crumbling fascinatingly and flickering in the dark. He was silently standing and watching from the side of everything that was happening.
"You see, fag did not cut his hair."
Lyosha felt how he was roughly grabbed by the chin and raised his face.
"Exactly, the raver, ran up. Well, who will rape him?"
"Quiet," Nazar heard Yefim's voice, continuing to stay in a strange vacuum, "why didn't you have your hair cut? We gave you money from the common cash fund. You should have done what we said," - Yefim's voice sounded ominously hoarse, but calm at the same time.
"Fuck you," Alyosha twitched and immediately received several blows to the ribs, and then another in the face.
"Quiet!" Yefim's voice again sounded, "leave the kid," he went to Lyosha and lifted his chin, looking into his eyes. "Cut your hair. Do you understand me?" then he looked at the possies, - "let the guy go."
Mobsters immediately executed this command. Although Yefim did not raise his voice, he spoke with such a grave chill in words that no one dared to contradict him. And in general, they tried not to stay in Yefim's way. He was the eldest here, he was already thirty-two, and he had spent time in prison more than once, and he had killed without any regret, and that was what caused the respect and fear of the guys.
They released Alexey, he picked up his hat and limping, wiping the blood from his nose, went towards the exit from the hippodrome.
"Why are you frozen," Yefim said quietly, standing in front of Nazar and closing Alexey's retreating figure, "get into the car," - for some reason, he said even more quietly.
Silently, Nazar got into the car, feeling that he had never felt so crappy. Up to this point, everything in his life was clear and intelligible; he always knew when he was right and when he wasn't. He always knew what to do or not to do. He always knew in any situation how he should behave and never could reproach himself for cowardice, weak character, or fear.
So why now all the alcohol had evaporated in a matter of seconds, and he found himself in such a crystal bright space where he and this Alyosha were. And he, Nazar, did not know what to do. Yes, he did not know what to do, watching everything happening in front of him. Rather, he knew that everything his mobsters said and did with this hairy Lyosha was all right, but then why did he feel so crappy? As if he had betrayed someone as if he had been afraid, hidden, scared. Could he do that? It was he who had never hidden and boldly looked in the eyes of death there, in Afghanistan. And here all these five years he had never been frightened and had not violated his principles and rules. And now he had not broken them, then what had happened to him? Why was it so ugly inside, why did he still physically feel the pain from the blows of this flimsy body, when the guy was beaten by his chums, as if they beat him, and not this Alyosha. Why was he so ashamed of everything that had happened? Why was it so ugly...?
"Nazar, let's go,"Yefim was standing at the open door and waiting for him to get out of the car.
He climbed out of the backseat and bumped into Yefim's eyes, who stared at him. Nazar paused, and then he averted his eyes and quickly went inside the stable. He knew that today he needed to get drunk to unconsciousness. Only in this way, he could get away from what he was not able to explain to himself.
***
Lyosha walked quickly to the platform. Blood had ceased to go from the nose. The body ached in the places of beatings, but it did not matter. All this physical pain was nothing compared to the pain inside him, which filled his soul and made his heart contract and his eyes fill with tears. He saw Nazar, all this time he saw how he was just standing and looking and saying nothing. Alyosha knew that everyone obeyed Nazar and only his word was enough and everything would stop, but Nazar was silent and watching. And because of this understanding, it was painful, so painful that in the train he stood in the vestibule and turned away to the window, sobbing softly and choking with tears that he could not hold back. He did not know what happened to him, he did not know why he felt this inside and did not know what he wanted from Nazar. But only he knew that all this was wrong and Nazar had to intervene. But why? Lyosha again clenched his teeth to the pain, so no one could hear his convulsive sobs. For the first time in his life, something had happened that he did not understand, and he did not know how to live on...
He definitely decided for himself one thing that he wouldn't have a haircut to spite all of them. Not at any price, never!
***
Yefim had been sitting in a jeep for the third hour and was waiting for Natashka to appear. She was not at home - he was convinced by calling her at the apartment for a long time, and then heard a creak of the next door to be opened. And it was good luck since our neighbors are the best informers on their fellow creatures. A formidable body appeared in the doorway in a dressing-gown, which barely wrapped around these forms, and wickedly spoke.
"She is not at home, why are you ringing? She left with hers, with this businessman. Usually, she doesn't come home before 10 p.m., sometimes later."
"Does she come with the businessman?" asked Yefim, trying very hard to make the voice naive and kind.
"And with this one, and sometimes with her thug, but with him rarely, often with a businessman. And in general, she's told me –they love each other and will get married soon and fly away to America."
"Who will she marry?"
""A businessman of course, and who else. Who are you?" the female body stood menacingly in the doorway, completely filling it with itself.
"I'm her brother, second cousin. I worry about her, how she lives here alone..."
" Well, don't worry, she is a smart girl. Do you know how many of these businessmen she has brought to her place? In short, I'll be going now; I don't have time to shoot the breeze here with you."
An extensive female figure of indefinite, but far from a young age retreated deep into the apartment and slammed the door behind her.
Yefim wasn't surprised at all by the information he had heard, quickly went to his car, deciding to wait for the happy lovers.
The fact that Nazar's Natashka was a bit of a whore, he knew from the very beginning, only after seeing her. His life experience, the vigor in such matters, the pointed eye, and the fact that he was seven years older than Nazar, made themselves felt. He just didn't say that to Nazar, seeing his sincere feelings for this painted harlot. But when Nazar, in front of the whole gang, declared that he was marrying her, Yefim realized that it was his turn to intervene.
He did not blame Nazar for his naive look at his passion, and he was the same at his time of life. But then the life took the frills out of him and he knew how painful it was and he knew what Nazar had to go through if he connected his life with such a lass. That's why he decided that he did not want such an experience for his friend. Nazar didn't deserve all this and did not deserve such a nit as Natashka. And he did not want Nazar to harden his soul after going through pain and disappointment and become like him.
During these five years, they had become friends. At first, he perceived aggressively the arrival of a young and crazy Nazar in their brigade and then, seeing that he was not hiding behind the backs of the lads, like him a newcomer was always afraid of nothing at the shoot-outs and squabbles, he was in front of everyone, and Yefim was filled with respect for him, though kept away from this guy. And only after Nazar stood up for him when Oleg had substituted him after that Yefim changed his attitude towards Nazar.
Yefim remembered that day, when he was almost half-dead, he was unfastened from the battery and dragged into a small closet. Before locking the door, one of the mobs explained that Nazar had spoken a word for him and promised to find and return the money to Varlam. That's why Yefim was still alive.
What it meant "to say a word" to one of the gang members before the whole mob, Yefim knew, this meant that now either Nazar would find the money, or the two of them would be killed. Why did Nazar do that? Yefim knew. He was young, albeit reckless, but his soul had not yet become stubborn, he saw injustice and stood up for him. Yes, such actions are peculiar to youth, then it passes and only cold heartless planning remains. One that immediately arose in the mind of Yefim, who had long wanted to shift the power of the greedy Varlam in their gang, only he did not match this power to take, but Nazar - he was the leader, and this was his. And even then, lying in a small dusty closet, stinking of his own urine and feces, he knew that if they survived, he would stand next to Nazar and the two of them would break through to the power which both of them needed. That Nazar wanted power, Yefim saw it. Nazar was not a stupid fighter and especially a stooge. He was a born leader, this even Varlam sensed and now, probably, happily waiting to shoot Nazar and him, removing from the gang too clever guys.
***
How many days had lasted his imprisonment in the closet, Yefim did not remember. In the dark, everything merged into one stream of time, and then the door opened.
Yefim hardly distinguished Nazar. He saw that he did not even frown and did not disdain, he helped him stand up from the floor and, throwing his arm over his shoulder, led him to the car.
"Where should I take you?" Nazar asked him already in the car.
Yefim dictated the address, then hoarsely asked,
"Give me a smoke."
They silently smoked halfway. Yefim was the first to ask.
"Did you find him?"
"Yes. He had already made a passport to run abroad. But there the fire occurred in the summer community, in the house where he was waiting for this passport."
"This happens…"
"Yes, then the newspaper wrote, the wiring didn't stand, sparkled..."
Already in Yefim's flat, after he washed off in the bathroom after his imprisonment and began to look and smell like a human, they were sitting in the kitchen at dinner, which Nazar had prepared during that time and were talking.
On the table in the plates in front of them, there were dumplings, as the best things for a satisfying and quick snack, and there was also an open can of cucumbers and an opened bottle of vodka.
Then for the first time, Yefim himself spoke about the plan to remove Varlam and put Nazar instead. Nazar was silent for a long time, thinking about these words. That evening, he didn't give the answer. It was for this that Yefim respected him, he was careful, he would not blurt out too much. He would think a hundred times before speaking. But with all this, that wall of distrust between them collapsed. Now their friendship became that true, real, tested not by empty words, but by concrete deeds.
Yefim lived in a residential area Yasenevo in a separate two-room flat. After a heavy supper and drinking alcohol, it was naturally stupid to go somewhere, and Nazar stayed overnight with Yefim, especially since he lived alone and Nazar took a spare room. Then, later, he often came to Yefim to spend a few days, or just for the night, if they had a gangster gathering appointed early in the morning.
Without giving an answer that evening, the very fate of Nazar gave an answer for him, when in the next exchange of fire, Varlam was seriously wounded and he stepped back from the business, having gone to Israel for treatment, where he subsequently remained. But Varlam appointed his brother to his place, but that did not live long, having disappeared in an unknown direction, and then Nazar took their gang under himself.
Despite the fact that Yefim was wiser, older and more experienced than Nazar, he recognized his authority and began to obey him, becoming his deputy. Yefim saw that Nazar was the ideal leader for their lads: brave, fearless, who could spiel, jumping on the table or the hood of the car, so that the mobsters went to their dooms. He was a true leader, a ringleader, and Yefim was aware that he would never be like that. Not only that attracted him to Nazar. Behind all this recklessness, he saw intelligence and prudence, and the fact that Nazar was not simple, as it seemed, and the way he moved towards his goal. Yefim knew the direction - to power and money, and these goals were his own, and therefore he stood next to him knowing that the two of them were strong, that the lads were good, but these were the crowd, but two friends who were ready to die for each other would survive in this pack and achieve everything.
Therefore, Yefim was not indifferent to the fate of Nazar and even more to his personal life, which now could turn into a tragedy because of his inexperience and youth.
***
A Mercedes drove up to the entrance. A middle-aged man, about forty years old, got up from the driver's seat and, bypassing the car, opened the door. Natashka proudly climbed out of the car with a huge bouquet of white roses and slightly crouched, as she was a head taller than a short, balding businessman, kissed him on the lips, and then with a flickering pace of the village model of a rural catwalk headed towards the entrance. The businessman waited for the door to close behind her and, getting into the car, quickly drove away.
Yefim slowly came out of his jeep and headed for the entrance.
Hearing the bell, Natasha scrambled into a dressing gown on her perfect model body and, reaching the door, chirped:
"Andryusha, why are you so stubborn, we arranged with you for tomorrow..."
With these words, she opened the door and immediately received a hit in the face. Having flown away to the opposite wall of the corridor, everything went dark before her eyes and there was a pain pulsating in her nose, through that darkness Natasha saw Yefim entering her apartment.
He closed the door behind him, locking it, slowly walked to her, still sitting on the floor.
"Hello, Natasha. Sorry, that without an invitation, but I decided to drop in to congratulate you, you seem to get married Nazar. So, I am glad, as they say - harmony and love. So I wanted to congratulate you on this..."
Natasha listened with horror to this hoarse grave voice and felt that she was in a sad pickle. There was no thought at all in her head, much less a plan for how to be saved. And the fact that she needed to escape, she felt by every cell of her body. And then, being on the verge of despair, she decided to do something that always worked.
"Efimushka," she blew out, tearing herself off the wall and kneeling, and then also on her knees approached Yefim standing in front of her, "let's suck," she suggested without hesitation.
Yefim saw Natashka's face with running mascara, red and blue nose opposite the fly of his trousers and then her hands, which with professionally learned movements began to unbutton his fly.
He was sick. Not but that he did not like a blowjob. He also loved it, but now it was different. He saw a woman in front of him that his friend was ready to marry...
After suppressing nausea and feeling the taste of bile in the mouth, Yefim pushed Natasha away from him and, stepping back, tucked the dick back into the pants, buttoned his fly.
" Natash, you probably did not understand. I came to talk, and you want your mouth to be busy. It will not work. Well, tell me how you are making out with Nazar. When is the wedding?"
Natasha, arriving in shock at the fact that for the first time in her life a man, whose dick she was almost ready to take in her mouth, refused her services, so malevolently sizzled.
"There will be no wedding. Fuck he gave me up, this psycho. And what a life with him will be, he can only shoot and beat muzzles. And I want a smart husband."
"Like your bald papa?"
"Yes, that! What else do you want from me?! I do not like Nazar, I do not like!"
Natashka was already on the verge of hysterics, and she even was not afraid of Yefim in such a state.
"So tell it to Nazar," Yefim saw her hysterical state when fear grew into aggression.
"Did you come for this?"
"Yes."
Natasha paused, then straightened her dressing gown, which had opened wide, and proudly straightened up, replied.
"With pleasure. If that's all, and you don't want anything from me anymore, then leave."
Yefim looked at her with disgust, watching through the gown at full breasts, and the figure of a Barbie doll then turned away and left the apartment.
Going to the car, he wanted to wash his hands, although he understood that such a vile feeling after this conversation was impossible to wash off.
***
Petrovich was standing at the competitive obstacle and watching Alexey taking up his horse for the third time. He was pleased with today's training. Alyosha was doing well and in his heart, he was proud of his student, but he still maintained a stern expression on his face and a formidable voice.
"Do not forget to count," he shouted, seeing that Alexey directed his horse to the barrier, "sit in the saddle! Keep your carriage. Leg, more, more! Don't pull the rein."
Lyosha sped past Petrovich on horseback. Before the obstacle, the horse grouped, tucked its front legs, pushed, jumped forward and up. Although it was a serious height, about a meter thirty-five, the horse went clear without hitting obstacles and landed behind it.
"Well done!" Petrovich could not restrain himself, then he again gave his voice severity, began to give instructions. "Remove this obstacle from the parade ground, when you put Badminton in the loose box, but put another obstacle, a fence, there," he showed to the right of himself, - rental starts at five, they will jump. Saddle Fast for the rental by five.
Alexey walked around Petrovich sitting on a horse and listened to his orders. Tokha after such jumps stretched his neck to its full length and snorted contentedly, restoring his breath.
Petrovich glanced at the happy face of Alyosha.
"Why didn't you cut your hair?"
"Well, it's invisible, I'm wearing a cap," Lyosha shrugged vaguely, pointing to the cap on his head.
"Cut your hair ... really, Nazar rarely comes with his guys lately, but it's better not to anger him."
"Petrovich!" They turned to fat Mashka fleeing to them in an even thicker bologna jacket and Puffer boots with the inscription "Alaska". "The car with sawdust has arrived. The driver is waiting when you pay."
Petrovich immediately switched to the problems of the stable and went after Masha, who continued to chatter, as always about everything at once.
Although from that memorable moment when Lyosha was kicked by Nazar's mobsters, enough time had passed, he clearly remembered everything and waited all this time for them to arrive again. Of course, he understood that he was behaving foolishly, but he didn't get a haircut. And what was the point in this, it was already winter and he now constantly wore a cap, and at school, knowing his plight and illness of his grandmother, the teachers tried not to press him, they regretted him as much as they could. That's why Lyosha went with his hair, which had already grown much after the summer, hiding it under a cap and waiting for what would come of it.
Besides he had plenty to do not having time to think about sad things. Grandma no longer worked, and they lived exclusively on her retirement pension. However, she began to knit because of the appeared free time and even occasionally sold knitted things. It was at least a small increase in their meager budget. Lyosha studied and went to the stable.
Petrovich resumed training with him in his free time. Badminton recovered from the injury, and Lyoshka gradually put him into the work, increasing the tension with each passing day. Of course, at first, after that injury, Tokha stood for a long time and only walked, but despite the illness, the energy accumulated in him, and when the day came to saddle him, all the girls from the stable crowded around the side of the parade ground to see what would happen.
And Badminton met their hopes. As soon as Alyosha sat on him, Tosha, feeling the freedom, began to bounce up like a goat, then he bucked a couple of times and swiftly sped up on the parade ground, riding in circles and increasing speed.
All this Lyosha assumed to receive from Badminton, stagnant after the disease. He managed to sit in the saddle while the horse was bucking, and when, after biting its snaffle, it ran away with him along the parade ground, he did not even try to slow it down, knowing that it was useless. It was like trying to stop a locomotive. Tokha was a master to bite a snaffle so it didn't matter how much you pulled for the rein it didn't give any result; it seemed that it was tied to the fence. That's why Lyosha was sitting on a rushing Badminton and waiting for it to blow off steam.
Tokha had no guts to do it for a long time, and what was the interest to run in such a way? If the rider shouted, clung to the rein, pulled it or hung from the side of the saddle, slipping from it, that would be interesting, but here he was sitting, and it was riding him. So, having thought about what was happening, Tokha went into a trot, and then into a step. Lyosha felt a moment when it was time to take the initiative and, without letting the horse go, again raised him at a gallop, but now forcing him to ride according to his own will. Having established his authority over the unruly Tokha, he transited it into a step and, giving the rein, began to walk, knowing that it was enough for Badminton for today.
However, the next day it all happened again, but not so actively. Tokha bucked and even ran away, though not so fast, in three days Badminton was quite itself again. Although his cheerful temper could declare itself at any time, that's why Petrovich did not give this horse to others, knowing that these unfortunate riders would fall from it, only Alyosha could sit on it, and in general, he found a contact and mutual understanding with the horse.
Having fulfilled all the orders of the coach, Lyosha went to help the girls to throw sawdust. A car with sawdust usually unloaded them next to the shed. In the old days, a tractor came and shoved them deep into the shed so that they would not get wet from the snow and rain. But now these days were gone, there was no tractor, and also there was no extra money to pay for it. Therefore, twice a month, all the helpers in the stable took the shovels in their hands and threw this pile of sawdust from the street under the shed.
Such work did not frighten Alexey, he silently threw sawdust, hearing the incessant chatter of Nastya and Sonya and their constant pulling his leg. But he didn't take offense, kindly answered their jokes and threw dusty sawdust, crinkling his nose and sneezing from fine corrosive dust.
"Tomorrow the oats will come," said fat Makha, lighting a cigarette and looking at their work. "Lyokh, will you come tomorrow? How will we drag oats without you?"
"I will," Alexey affirmatively nodded his head knowing that thirty-five-pound bags of oats were not so easy to carry on a dilapidated wheelbarrow. Moreover, at first you had to throw these bags from the side of the gazelle, and then, after loading one bag at a wheelbarrow, take it to the oat store at the end of the stable and put it in the rack there. It was good that they usually brought oats no more than forty bags; it took three hours to work if the girls helped too. So he would have time to exercise Toha.
In addition to all this, he was in charge of two more horses. Gradually, private horses began to appear in their stable, the owners of which rarely came to them, but these horses demanded care and work every day. And then Petrovich entrusted it to someone from the helpers in the stable. He secured two new horses for Alexey. One bright red horse was called Ampere, probably he would have been in a serious sport before. He knew a lot under the saddle and knew how to perform elements of upper-level dressage and even many circus cues. But the horse health was extremely fragile, most likely, because of excessive sporting loads, and now he was often limping, with all four legs, and in general, his appearance left much to be desired. It was said that the owner of Ampere bought it out of pity since it threatened to be handed over for meat. Therefore, nobody rode Ampere. His owner came to his horse once a week, bringing him apples and carrots, and Lyosha's duties included regular hand-walking of Ampere or walking under the saddle. It was impossible to let Ampere just walk in the levade, there he forgot about his sick legs and began to rush, making this even worse for himself. For that reason, the owner was glad that Petrovich had a strong rider, who was not afraid to sit on an energetic horse and walk him thirty minutes a day, restraining the horse impulse and not letting it go at a trot and especially at a gallop.
A heap of jars with ointments and rubbing for legs and a bag of bandages with rags were attached to the horse, which had to be bandaged the legs of Ampere after working. Alyosha liked to mess with him. He felt sorry for this horse and forgave him all its not very good impulses under him in an attempt to unseat him. After all, he understood that Ampere did not do it out of evil; he just really wanted to run and did not understand why people did not allow him to do it.
The second horse Petrovich gave to Alexey was a mare named Vienna. It was a beautiful tall bay horse, and in the sun on its steep sides, you could see appearing markings. Vienna, as a true woman, was canny and with her kinks. Perhaps it was because of the unstable behavior that she was sold to private owners, two rich little girls who dreamt of becoming great equestrians. Their horse was really good at jumping, but there was one thing about it. Now she jumped, then she completely refused to go on the obstacle, showing aggression towards the rider who was sitting on it. Vienna could rise on its hind legs, move back, or, jumping up, knock from the saddle the rider sitting on it with the lower back. Once even Lyosha could not sit on it and impressively landed on the already frozen ground of the parade ground.
Petrovich saw how Alexey quickly rose and, despite the fact that he was limping a little, caught the horse running away from him and climbed into the saddle. That moment Petrovich decided that they would agree. So it happened. Little by little, Vienna gained respect for Lyosha and began to jump under him, but when her mistresses came to the show-jumping training to Petrovich, Vienna was as if substituted, she became again the same bitch. But her proprietresses loved their horse and persistently continued to train on it, although they rode two or three times a week, no more.
Alexey was happy that now he already had two jumping horses, and he could regularly practice on them under Petrovich's control.
Everything also arranged Petrovich, because the owners of the horses paid him for the work with two private horses, he paid Alyosha a little of them, and took the rest for the maintenance of the stable, well, a little for himself, it was necessary to live on something. That's how they lived.
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