A Simple Soul by Vadim Babenko

Author:Vadim Babenko [Babenko, Vadim]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: BookBaby
Published: 2013-05-20T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter 15

An unforeseen problem compelled Elizaveta to engage the strangers in conversation. As good as Tsarkov’s plan may have been, it was not ideal, just as the world itself is not perfect. It was precisely the imperfection of the world that Timofey bemoaned as he hung up the phone, as well as the fact you can never rely on others to do anything if you want it done right and on time.

On this occasion, the flaw was the two witnesses he had selected with the utmost care. The secrecy of the wedding necessitated that no people could be involved who might later become a source of rumors and gossip. Human beings in general are curious to a fault – Tsarkov had learned this well – and in this respect, the city of Sivoldaisk was no different than anywhere else. The witnesses, who were required by law to affix their signatures to the marriage certificate, would have to be sought on the sly. This he had accomplished all in good time, undertaking quite an operation to do so, and yet it had failed at the last moment.

The ones he was counting on suddenly and completely let him down, forcing him to scramble to find replacements – and that meant relying on chance. Ironically, the option he had prepared was suitable in every respect – it had paid off for Tsarkov to spend half a day in the hot sun, hanging out at the pier where tourists boarded Volga ships large and small. It was Saturday; the river terminal was working at full capacity as the crowds arrived and departed, leaving garbage and the stench of cheap beer in their wake. Timofey’s back was drenched in sweat and his head ached from the unaccustomed strain but he persisted, not wishing to give up. And so, around lunchtime, he made his choice. At the most lively stall, between the air rifle shooting gallery and the karaoke booth, Tsarkov met a couple from Volgograd, Yura and Shura – whom he instantly christened in his mind as The Soldier and the Fool, recalling something he had read by a great Russian poet in his youth. The Volgograders were just what he was looking for: out-of-towners who didn’t live too far away, unsophisticated and ready for adventure, but not too youthful and carefree. And, besides that, they were greedy, dim-witted, and easily swayed by the opinions of others. Such were in ample supply, but for some reason, these two struck his fancy right away – random chance, which later unpredictably worked against him.

Fidgety Shurochka’s pupils darted from side to side: she was interested in every bloke that crossed her path, though it was obvious to all how tenacious her grip was on her companion, a hulking man in immense canvas trousers taking great swigs from a beer bottle and showing no less contempt for his surroundings than Byron’s Childe Harold. Timofey surmised that both would be game for coarse flattery, so he told them with an ingenuous face that they appeared to be intelligent people “with dignity.

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