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– Come on, you wooden one! – shouted the black cat. – Are we going to wait here for you for a year?!
Khatynka rose up on her manipulators, turned there half a turn and just as carefully and slowly sank down. We stood aside and only now did I understand the true size of this building. It was huge, three hangars high and five locomotives wide. While we were standing far away, it seemed to us no more than an ordinary house.
There were no windows on this side, just one door and a large hangar gate. The gates opened and the old woman invited me to enter there
– Here we are at home, – she showed the way. – We have here decoctions, roots, and machine oils infused with fir cones. – And the stove is miraculous.
– Why a stove? – I was surprised. In the middle of the hut, which was the size of a hangar, there was a huge stove, into which the entire locomotive fit and there was still room left. The oven was already heated up and even glowing with heat.
– How could it be otherwise? – the old woman made a surprised face.
– This is to steam your bones. – added the light cat.
– This is to remove the locomotive damage from you. – the dark cat purred.
– So that all the bruises become softer and healing decoctions can straighten them out.
– So that the healing fire will separate the rust from your body, and then we can weld the metal onto you with oil extracts.
And their words sounded so sweet, the stove was so inviting. Well, just like the swamp when I was making my way through the forest. And I was already moving towards the stove, into the warm and pleasant heat, when suddenly the comparison with the obsession in the forest became comparable to what was happening now. This comparison brought me to my senses, something pulled me back and the spell immediately subsided. The warm heat of the stove turned into scorching heat, and I even began to feel how the metal was gradually giving in and was about to begin to melt.
– Hey, hangar, listen to me! – I shouted. – Bake the carcasses quickly. Climb onto the manipulators and get out of here, towards the nearest railway tracks.
And what would you think?! He listened to me. How could it have been otherwise?! One mechanism will understand the other perfectly. He will understand, listen and figure out what is good for the other and what is not.
The hut swayed, the stove doors slammed shut and the ardor and heat began to subside behind them, the old woman and the cats rolled under the wall from the rocking. They rolled around and immediately stopped being kind and polite. They screamed, waved their arms and paws, and the cats squealed. Meanwhile, the hut swayed from side to side as it walked.
The trees clung to her manipulator legs with their paws, stretched their branches-hooks towards the doors, deceived in their expectations, the evil beast and other forest evil spirits jumped below, trying to reach the doors.
And this lasted for half an hour…
– What then? – one of the listeners could not stand it.
– And then the hut on manipulators walked through the entire forest, walked through a couple of swamps, and came out to a branch that led straight here. Here I thanked the Khatyn woman and invited her to leave the forest, but she said that the military had left her here in case of war, disguised her as a dilapidated building, and she must continue to serve faithfully, therefore she could not leave her combat post. I then promised to drop by from time to time – it turns out the military left her a whole warehouse of lubricants – and barely dragging my wheels, I accidentally wandered here – to the depot.
– Wow! – someone was surprised. “Isn’t this where the abandoned railway tracks along the forest arc into the swamps? What happened?”
– I guess that’s it, – Chu-Chukhin nodded. – I’m even sure it’s there. But it’s better not to go there – the places there are really bad. But I saw that old woman quite recently at the market in Poltava.
– And what is she?
– Yes, I sold spoons. Spoons, pots, pans. Everything is metal. Brand new, shiny, very recently made. I later asked people at the market whether she often trades here?! They say – all the time. All these spoons and frying pans are her thing. Counterfeits, of course, look like Chinese ones, but they sell well.
– Was she the one who wanted to melt you down into spoons?! – suddenly someone understood.
– And don’t doubt it. I thought about it a lot later. This happens – she stands by a disastrous swamp, full of magnetic magic, stops the drugged locomotives right at the swamp, takes her to her lair and there she melts and pours spoons in the furnace. So, it turns out, I miraculously dodged,” Chu-Chukhin nodded. – And now I avoid those places. – Well, maybe just drop by from time to time to a disguised hangar under a hut, but that’s all there is to it. I don’t recommend it to you either.
002. How the little locomotive Chu-Chukhin saved Kolobchuk
– Hello, Kolobchuk! – the Chu-Chukhin locomotive trumpeted as Kolobchuk ran past.
Kolobchuk was very busy with something and therefore only nodded to the engine, continuing to explain something to Maslenka the cat as he walked. Maslenka did not agree, constantly purred with displeasure, sometimes even hissed, but some numbers in the papers that Kolobchuk carried in an unfolded form and constantly pointed at them made Maslenka fall silent.
Kolobchuk wore a rumpled white cap with a dark visor, was engaged in office work and accounting at the depot, was constantly frowning and did not let anyone down. At the same time, Kolobchuk remained a classic kolobok – a ball of dough, but very important and solid, which is why he no longer rolled along the road as before, but only bounced up and forward.
– Oh, and Maslyonka will get it today! – someone said.
– What happened then? – asked Chu-Chukhin.
– Yes, Yesterday Maslenka inserted some spare part into our faucet incorrectly. It was twisted and the tap broke.
– Happenes. Business?! – one of the newcomers was surprised that he had not yet fully understood the rules at the depot.
This is the case here, – they explained to him. – This breakdown is unplanned and therefore the expenses are also above the plan, and Kolobchuk really doesn’t like these above-plan expenses! Everything must work for him as written in the plan and break down strictly according to the technical conditions and scheduled repair schedules. That’s why he’s now going to give the bungler Maslenka a problem. Oh he’ll ask!! – the old locomotive Literny shook his head sadly, having worked all his life in government transportation and now, in his old age, he decided to live for his own pleasure in this depot.
– And where did he come from here? – the Newbie did not let up. – Is it really impossible to do without him?
– Well, we somehow managed before, – Chu-Chukhin entered the conversation again. – Only with the advent of Kolobchuk did we have more order. Again, it works better with the telegraph than the Oil Can. And he distributes outfits in a timely manner. So now we have a better situation with spare parts, and with everything else. And I’ll tell you how he came here. I brought him to us! – Chu-Chukhin smiled, remembering how it happened.
– I remember something like that, – old Literny frowned. “Back then you arrived covered in dust and soot, and half of the front end was dented!” – he finally remembered.
– So it was. – Chu-Chukhin agreed.
– But I don’t even remember what else was there. Remind me. – suggested old man Literny.
– Yes, tell me, tell me. – the locomotives moved closer. Riding behind the hangar during the morning or evening rest was a favorite pastime of the depot residents.
– There’s nothing to tell here,” Chu-Chukhin began. – In general, everything was like that.
I was traveling loaded then. If my memory serves me right, I was carrying either pipes or fittings. In a word, something metal for the neighboring metal warehouse. The load was heavy and uncomfortable. I constantly fidgeted in the carriages and every time I had to make extra efforts at turns so as not to tip over.
And the day turned out to be the most beautiful. There is not a single cloud in the sky, the sun is cheerful, warming your sides, the breeze is light and favorable. The railway tracks are clear, not a single oncoming traffic and not a single delay at the stops. Only the load is heavy, but otherwise it’s a pleasure to ride.
I had already left the main road and turned onto our western branch, and there, after three kilometers, I had to turn west again, unload at the base, and return to our branch again.
And somewhere, in this gap, I noticed Kolobchuk. More precisely, not quite his. First the stationmaster’s house appeared. The same houses that used to be numerous on the roads and where the railway workers lived, who watched the switches, monitored the track and other railway communications. For example, behind telegraph poles.
Now there are very few of these houses left, they have been replaced with something else, but we were lucky, we still have a few of them left. And in one of them live an old man and an old woman. They have a granddaughter who comes to them for the summer, a cat Vredina and a dog Bobanka.
I met Kolobchuk at the very height of the story, so I will retell the first part of it from his words.
And so, as described in the cookbook on cooking Kolobchuk, one day the grandfather and grandmother decided to eat. But, as usual, they immediately had nothing. The grandfather recommended that the grandmother place the floor, shake the bags, scrape the bottom of the barrel, and look into the cellar. Yes, he recommended doing all this so threateningly that they immediately found flour, salt, sugar, and something else that is put into the dough in such cases.
They kneaded the dough and made a bun. They preheated the oven and placed it there to bake. Yes, they covered it with a flap. And themselves, and the grandfather, and the grandmother, and the granddaughter, and the cat and dog, sat down on the bench and began to wait. Some time passed, the grandmother even began to doze, when from the other side, from the side of the stove, there was a knock on the damper. They knocked so loudly that after the third time the door jumped to the side, and out of the heat a baked, smiling Kolobchuk jumped out into the light.
– Yeah! – he shouted. – I know what you want to do with me! You want to eat me! Only I’m against it. – he blurted out, and while everyone was confused and didn’t understand what to do, he jumped onto the floor, rolled to a chair, jumped onto the chair, from there onto the table, then onto the windows, and then jumped out through the window and out into the street.
So Kolobchuk jumped out into the street and rolled. But it was not there. Suddenly, out of nowhere, the Hare, Wolf, Bear and Fox immediately ran out to meet him. As soon as they saw smoke coming from the chimney and smelled the smell of fresh bread, they immediately realized that koloboks were being cooked and, judging by the cookbook about koloboks, they would definitely keep them away from the old people. That’s why they didn’t wait for him on the path until he ran around them all, deceiving them and laughing, but decided to come to the house themselves and play ahead, so to speak.
Kolobchuk was even confused and therefore lost precious time, because his grandfather and grandmother, their granddaughter Alenka, the cat Vredina and the dog Bobanka were already running out of the house into the street.
– Hold him! – the granny screamed. And her cry became a command for Kolobchuk. He came out of his stupor and, as quickly as he could, pulled away from them along the railway tracks, escaping from pursuit.
– And here I appear, – Chu-Chukhin finally moved on to his part of the story. – As you remember, I was traveling laden then, transporting metal to a metal depot and enjoying the weather, nature and the opportunity to travel. This is where I noticed Kolobchuk. He tried his best to break away from his pursuers, but they, raising clouds of dust, rushed after him. Kolobchuk caught up with me, and I quickly asked:
– What’s happened?
– They wanted to eat… – he explained, breathing heavily.
– Jump in! – I commanded, slowing down next to him.
Kolobchuk jumped in and immediately hid in my cabin, and I began to accelerate as best I could. The pursuers did not immediately understand what had happened and even ran past me, still raising clouds of dust. And when we figured out what was what, Kolobchuk and I were already rolling at full speed and Kolobchuk sang his song to them, how he left his grandmother and left his grandfather…
– And then you brought him here and he became a clerk and accountant here. – Thinking that the story was over, the new engine said.
– And then I brought him here and he became a clerk and accountant here, – Chu-Chukhin agreed. – But that’s later. This is not the whole story yet, and I would say that it is just beginning.
– Yes? – the locomotive was surprised. “Then I won’t interrupt.”
– Kolobchuk and I were glad that we broke away from our pursuers so easily. He introduced himself, I also said that my name was Chu-Chukhin. He told me his story, I told him that I live in an interesting place – in an abandoned depot, and now I am fulfilling an order, transporting cargo to a metal depot. After that I can drop him off with us. He was happy and thanked. And after this conversation we arrived at the metal depot itself.
We spent at least three hours at the base. While all the documents were completed, then the crane was occupied, then they unloaded it, everything was weighed, recorded, and only after that they were put into special stackers – where rolled metal products are stored.
I was nervous – I really don’t like all this red tape, but apparently I couldn’t do without it. As for me, there is nothing better than a tailwind and rails running into the distance, but Kolobchuk really liked it all. He carefully followed everything that was happening, from time to time he even entered into an argument with the receiver, and one day he even jumped to the ground and there he proved and showed something.
Three hours passed, or maybe even four, we were finally unloaded, the cargo transportation order was closed, and we were free to go about our business. Kolobchuk took some documents, said that this was important, and we went.
As I already said, we deviated from the route and now returned to it, drove half a kilometer and reached the path that leads across the western bridge to our depot. We were in no hurry, I even wanted to go for a ride, but Kolobchuk protested, saying that we needed to come to the depot and report. True, there was no one to report to – we lived on our own, but Kolobchuk insisted, and I succumbed to his persuasion.
The bridge, as you know, has long been abandoned, the paint from the truss-fences has long peeled off, and it presents the spectacle of an old rusty giant, still full of strength, but long ago lost its youthful prowess. We approached this bridge, and then an unpleasant surprise awaited us. We stopped…
At the opposite end of the bridge, right on the tracks, lay a huge boulder. So huge that if I tried to do something with it on the fly, I would definitely fly off the rails and roll into the river. The bridge fences made it impossible to get around this boulder from the side. I was taken aback. And first of all, because the Fox, Wolf, and Hare stood near the boulder, and behind us, behind Kolobchuk and me, the Bear and granddaughter Alenka were moving the shooter. So, if I had decided to give up, I would have ended up in a dead end, and I certainly wouldn’t have gotten out of it.
– Give us Kolobchuk! – Granny shouted from somewhere under the bridge.
– Give it back! – shouted the Hare. – He’s ours!
And then I understood everything. While we were unloading at the metal depot, they slowly, sitting on a handcar – there it is, standing at a dead end – made it to the bridge. Somehow they dumped a huge boulder on the way and hid, waiting for us to arrive and, without understanding anything, fall into a trap on the bridge.
– I won’t give you up. – I quietly said to Kolobchuk, who was standing on the ladder and leaning on one of the pegs of the fence.
– You are in vain! – it was clear that Kolobchuk was up to something. He was already a cunning man even then. – We’re locked here. You might still be able to move the boulder, but this takes time and you need to act carefully. And while you do this, they will definitely get in here and all your efforts will be in vain. Therefore, I’d better give up, and you’re here… – and Kolobchuk shouted with all his might. – I give up! I give up!!! – and jumped onto the bridge.
Piteously, limping as only koloboks can limp, rolling from side to side, he rolled towards the stone, rolled up to the Fox herself, and when she bent down to grab him, he immediately jumped up, landed on the bent back of the fox, jumped over her and again, like It’s happened before, he rushed at full speed along the railway tracks.
Naturally, everyone forgot about me, leaving me standing locked in the middle of the bridge. There is a stone in front, translated arrows behind, bridge trusses to the right and left… And then I remembered what Kolobchuk told me, they say, it is possible to move the stone, but it just takes time and you need to be careful. Over time, I seem to be feeling better now, and I don’t need to be careful at all. Therefore, I slowly drove up to the boulder, rested my nose against it and gradually began to move it. The boulder did not immediately move, but I still managed to move it to the side, from where it had a direct path into the river, but then I lost my vigilance – I still wanted to help Kolobchuk – and pressed too hard and sharply on the stone. The stone flew along the slope into the river, but I crumpled badly, as if I had hit a rock while running.
But the job was done, I rushed forward. For the first half a kilometer I saw nothing, and only then, somewhere in the distance, I saw small moving dots and the dust that was raised by them. I picked up the pace and within a minute I caught up with the grandmother, then I passed the grandfather, the granddaughter, the cat and the dog were running together, and the dog seemed to think that this was a game and was constantly getting in the way of Alenka’s granddaughter’s feet. Surprisingly, the last of the animals to run was the Hare. He was not tired, he was just so cowardly that he was afraid to get ahead, fearing even Kolobchuk.
The Wolf and the Bear ran shoulder to shoulder and in front, fifty meters away, Kolobok was running and the Fox was practically following him.
I overtook them all, slowed down near Kolobchuk, and without hesitation he jumped onto my ladder, ran around the bMaslenka, and jumped into the cabin from the other side. Naturally, I immediately closed the cabin, because before I had time to accelerate, the Fox, who was pursuing Kolobchuk, immediately jumped up the steps onto the ramp and rushed in and then chased Kolobchuk.
– How are you there? – I asked him, picking up speed. Meanwhile, the fox tried to break into the cabin, but the rest of the pursuers were already far behind.
– It’s normal, – Kolobchuk answered, breathing intermittently. – I barely escaped.
– Well, then hold on, there’s one last thing left and after that we’ll definitely go to the depot.
Kolobchuk didn’t answer anything, trying to hide more comfortably in a corner, and I kept gaining momentum. He turned near the Dead Forest and rushed towards the Swampy Swamps and the Swamp of Old Steam Locomotives. The fox growled all the time and tried to open the cabin with its paws, clanged its teeth and every minute threatened me with the most terrible punishments. But I didn’t stop and didn’t give up Kolobchuk. He didn’t stop until the very turn near the Swamp of Dead Locomotives, and only then did he brake on all wheels at once. I was dragged about fifty meters, and I almost flew into the forest, but what I wanted happened – the evil Fox could not resist and, when braking, was thrown out by inertia in the direction of travel. She soared above the fir trees, screamed in surprise and disappeared somewhere in the direction of the swamps, flying over the entire forest.
– And Kolobchuk and I safely reached our depot, where he immediately began to restore order, conduct office work and accounting. – Chu-Chukhin finished the story. – And now I’ve taken on the repair service.
– What happened to Fox? – the same Newbie asked. – What with her?
– Yes, everything is fine with her, – Chu-Chukhin waved him off. “She flew over the forest and landed in a swamp. She raised such a cry that even Baba Yaga in her hut heard it. She pulled the Fox out of the swamp and now the Fox lives with her, together in the swamp they create magnetic and mechanical magic. They cook decoctions and fly in mortars under the moon. But they don’t bother us anymore. We taught them a lesson.
003. The story of the Ghost Engine and how Baba Yaga wanted to get to Chu-Chukhin
After Chu-Chukhin slipped away from Baba Yaga, her affairs went very badly. Not a single new engine came into her network. She, however, tried to get metal from the swamp, melt it down and make spoons, but even here she was plagued by failures.
Firstly, the metal was heavy, dirty, all corroded and covered with a rusty coating. The fox seemed to be helping her, but more and more her paw turned out to be sick, or she had a runny nose when she had to climb into the water, or even unknown illnesses occurred, which went away on their own after half an hour. In a word, she was a useless assistant.
And, secondly, even if they managed to catch something and melt it down, the spoons turned out to be all defective, with impurities, with rust, sometimes they even broke and it became more and more difficult to sell them.
That day Baba Yaga returned from the city in a very bad mood. Not only did she not manage to sell anything of what she brought to the market in Poltava, but former buyers came to her and returned everything that she had sold the previous time. Spoons bent, broke, their chipped edges with signs of rust threatened the health of customers.
Baba Yaga heard such things from Poltava customers that she was ready to scatter the entire forest in her path out of anger, and if she had gotten her hands on Chu-Chukhin, then he would have been in trouble.
– How did you go?! – the Fox emerged from behind the warm stove.
– What did you bring? – the stupid cat Peach immediately came running. Little Blackie immediately realized that this was the case, that it was better for him to sit somewhere far away, and quietly slipped out the window.
Baba Yaga cursed very strongly, and when she calmed down a little, the cunning Fox immediately sat down on the bench.
– Eh, our affairs are not honey! – she sighed. “And it seems to me that they need to be corrected.”
– It’s clear to Peach that our affairs are bad! – the old woman snapped. – But how can I fix them?
– Don’t get excited, don’t get excited, – Fox reassured her. – Here a completely different approach is needed. You need to understand the reasons…
– What is there to understand about them?! – Baba Yaga exploded again. Although it has calmed down a little, the inner fire has not completely died out. “It all started with Chu-Chukhin,” she explained. “After he managed to escape, they just sprinkled salt on the road to us for the locomotives.” None of them are coming. No one gives in to persuasion. And the magic of the swamp, it begins to seem to me that it used to pull steam locomotives into itself, began to weaken. The magic of mechanical locomotives does not entice you to climb up to the chimney in swampy places.
– So maybe the solution lies on the surface? – the Fox winked at Baba Yaga.
– How is that?
– It all began with Chu-Chukhin and everything must end with Chu-Chukhin. And if his escape somehow affected the swamp itself, then the swamp should return everything to its place.
