Down Among the Fishes by Natalka Babina

Author:Natalka Babina [Babina, Natalka]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-1-78267-078-0
Publisher: Glagoslav Publications Ltd

ON STAKEOUT

Tolik had more or less appointed himself leader in all matters related to the treasure hunt. He took control of everything, and dished out orders right, left and centre. The only problem was that you need to have a good head on your shoulders if you’re going to be a leader. And I was beginning to wonder if Tolik’s head was fully in order.

No, don’t get me wrong. At first I was quite comfortable when I was on stakeout duty. I chose a spot in our yard where I had a good view of Lyonikha’s place. I brought out a rocking chair to sit on — fortunately it was in the shade — and began the job of keeping a close watch on my neighbour’s comings and goings. After some time, however, her constant moving about, doing this and that, going here and there, aroused rebellious thoughts in me about the purpose of all this time-wasting and about the state of Tolik’s mental health. After all, it was his idea. Put yourself in my position. How long would you last if you had a day like this one? I had only just sat down, when Lyonikha ran off in the direction of the oval lake; I suspected that she was going to see to her cow, but what if she were to run off to the cemetery once she’d tied the cow up again? So I hurried after her, hiding behind the bushes. When she returned, she spent a bit of time in the house, but I had hardly had time to get my breath back when she set off again, this time on her bike. So — what else was I supposed to do? — I had to follow her again, this time to the dachas. I didn’t have a bike, so it was just as well that she rode slowly… Then off we went again to the cow, and after that to the allotment (fortunately for me, our allotments are next to each other, so I was able to use the chance to do some weeding in the rows of carrots). When Yarashykha called on Lyonikha to let her know that they were earthing up the potatoes with a tractor down by the river (thanks to Lyonikha’s deafness I could hear perfectly well what was going on), and they went off, I was unable to limp after them. I consoled myself with the thought that they would come back together; someone like Lyonikha would not head for the cemetery while Yarashykha was around. I was correct in my assumption, but then I had to tag after the object of my surveillance once more when she went to the station, and hang around while she tried to sell her apples there. Don’t forget that in the midst of all this I still had to feed the animals, including the pig, and rake over the mountains of earth that the wretched animal had dug up, and you’ll have some

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