Hi Everyone!
I'm ready with chapter 9, so here I come:
Chapter 9
The stable had a great oak door with a big, rusty iron handle. Anyone looking at it could have told that the building hadn't been used for its original purpose for about a decade. But maybe that was what made its atmosphere so magnificent. As Nata sneaked through the half-open doorway, her cheeks turned red by the warmth coming from the inside. She combed a naughty lock of hair away from her face with three fingers, then with nothing clinging into her vision anymore, she peeked around herself.
To her disappointment, there were no horses neighing inside, the whole area was empty. In a corner lay a big mass of hay, on the other side, there was a shelf with strange tools she had never ever seen before. She walked to them and examined each one curiously, but she couldn't tell what they were good for. Then, her eyes were tempted away by the source of the heat waves that melted the ice off her boots. Right at the left-side main wall took place an old-style fireplace. Small flames were licking the dry pieces of wood inside. Spellbound by the dancing tongues of fire, she sat on a hay-hill.
She heard the chilly, snowy wind blowing outside. She could imagine the pleasant drafts turning into a blizzard without any warning, with snowflakes swooshing up and down, left and right in chaos...
The same way the new feeling appeared out of the blue in her brain. Was it remorse? Shame? She didn't know, but from the moment the fresh air helped her to see clearly, her eyes started to burn.
Are you an idiot? Caressing him?! Her inner self kept scolding her. Remember what he said? And what he did? That womanizing asshole doesn't even deserve your attention, so stop this outrageous behaviour, young lady!
Winking a teardrop away, her lips curled up to a pale smile. Whenever she did something that her sense of justice was protesting against, her old nanny's picture loomed into her vision with her big and said-to-be expensive coat Nata had once decorated with a 'beautiful' painting of flowers, hearts and smiling faces. She was about 5 that time and to put it mildly, the elder lady didn't really appreciate the evoking Janus inside of her - Nata had never heard anyone shouting so high-tonedly before. It was that funny voice her imagination created. Even the "young lady" part was unmistakable.
Turning serious again, she sighed and buried her face in her warm hands, peering at the fireplace.
This can't go on this way. I shouldn't get close to him... I shouldn't...
...Huh?
She felt a cold something being pushed to her. At first, she thought that she had hit her head to an ornament on the wall, but then it started smelling her.
She turned her head to its direction to check what it was to meet the round-shaped, black nose of Spencer, the bear.
"Um... hi!" Nataliya greeted the animal as it licked her face. Immediately, she understood why the building was heated and what purpose the tools were there for. It was Little Spencer's 'cave'. And she was sitting right where the bear usually rested.
"Eh... sorry, it seems I just conquered your place." She stood up slowly. As she moved, Spencer - nearly gamboling from happiness - rushed away, or to be more precise, tried to rush with his great paws, returning with a deep iron bowl in his mouth.
"Are you hungry?" Nata asked worriedly. Being closed together with a starving bear meant no fun after all...
Spencer tossed her side a bit roughly and pressed his head to her fingers.
"You want to lead me somewhere, don't you?" Nataliya stuttered and as an answer, Spencer snuggled to her hand. Then, he took her to a cupboard and stopped in front of it.
"Ok, let's see!" She opened it, surprised at the hidden freezer inside. Before she could have examined it better, Spencer dropped the bowl and wanted to climb into the small fridge, which nearly made Nata fall, and finally, took out a meat-cube.
"Ew..." The woman watched as the bear carried his food away to a corner and ate it happily, licking the corner of his wide mouth.
Sharp teeth... Nata thought as an eyetooth of the bear shimmered in the dark for a second. However, to her own surprise, she wasn't afraid anymore. He's like a dog... In XXXXL size. She smiled to herself. Spencer distracted all her attention from her problems, which made her grateful.
"Thanks!" She murmured to him. "You know, it's good that you're here... even though you can't comprehend a word I am saying."
Spencer tilted his head, not getting what the lovely, but strange human was talking about, then he went up to the her, claiming a caress.
Nata crouched and patted him under his ears. When her legs got weak from the position, she sat down, leaning half to the wall, half to the animal.
"But really? What should I do? I mean... I... he... his moves are so unforeseeable. Once he is 'rudest person No.1', but in another situation, he is risking his own life to save me... Ugh!"
"And you know what's the worst?" Nata smiled sadly. "That he makes me behave unpredictably too. And it's dangerous for me, for my mission... for everyone."
The bear yawned, making her giggle. "All right, all right, I won't bore you to death."
And anyway, I've already made up what to do. She added in thought, smirking. Last time, on the train, I got shocked, but it won't happen anymore. Years of training... I'll use what I've learnt there. And I have a feeling that Mr. Spasky won't be a fan of it.
Spencer looked at her with wide eyes. Although he was just an animal, Nataliya was sure that he had a sense to notice when someone was upset, because he lay his head on her lap softly - which, she thought, could be translated as a comforting gesture in bear-language - forming a warm and fluffy 'blanket' on her.
She fell silent. Staying there, caressing his fur, she could hear the wind whistle outside again.
Pleasant tiredness filled her body. Slowly, the gap between her eyelids started to shrink.
-.-.-
"Hey, Sloth, it's time to get up!" Alek Spasky yelled angrily in front of Nata's door. It had been about the third time that morning that he tried to wake her up - unsuccessfully. "We're going to town and if you don't come out of your room, we'll leave you here!"
Silence.
"Come on, I'm not joking!"
Silence.
"I'll use a spear!"
Silence.
"I don't even know why I am bothering myself with this..."
Silence.
"If you don't answer, I'll go in!"
Silence.
"Ok, now!" Alek moved the handle and noticed to his own surprise that the room wasn't even locked.
"Wake up!" He shouted stepping in, but found the place empty. "Sloth, where are you?"
Then, he saw a flash under the window, making him chuckle.
-.-.-
"Hmph..." Half consciously Nata removed the thing that stuck to her face. "What's this?"
Her eyes narrowed, focusing on the piece of hay between her fingers. "What was this doing on... Oh no!"
"Oh, me... idiot!" Realizing that she had fallen asleep in the stable, she jumped up, getting rid of the hay in her hair and on her clothes on the way. "What's the time? Vasil told us to be ready at 9 and I haven't even... NO, NO, NO!"
Breathing hard, Nataliya sprinted out of the stable, getting faster as she saw the car parking at the entrance of the house. She sneaked in, satisfied that no one had seen her, then ran up the stairs into her room and...
"What the hell are you doing here?!" She growled as she bumped into Alek looking out of her window. Hearing her, the man turned to the woman's direction.
"Nice running-time for a sloth." He smirked, stopping the timer of the watch he'd found on her desk. "Let's see... 3 minutes from the stable to here... It's about 20 metres... If we add the fact that it was you and generously divide the time by 2, then..."
"Wha-?" Nata gasped, then her cheeks turned red. She went for Alek to take her gadget back. "It's not funny! Give it back!"
"Hey, hey, how mad someone has just became!" The man laughed evilly, holding his arm to the sky, so that she couldn't reach it. "Wow, I've never thought you were that small-"
He paused as Nata calmly hit a nerve-point on his arm, making the muscle of his hands open his fingers and drop the device, right into her palm that was waiting patiently for its arrival under his.
"Thank you, Sir!" She showed him her most glamourous smile. Alek was only looking at her, gaping like a fish.
Then, the lumberjack entered the room.
"The taxi is ready!" He said jokingly. "A wonderful day awaits us!"
"Oh, it does for sure!" Nata smirked at Alek, following the cheerfully whistling Vasil guiding them to the car.
So, yeah, this part was rather about the inner thinking thingy and not the acts, but I tried hard *sweats* to make in more enjoyable, so I hope none of you had fallen asleep while reading.
So, after all, please share your opinion either if you did or didn't, because this is the best way I can improve. (What's more, if it made someone have a nap, then I can patent it as a cure against insomnia and become a millionaire -hell yeah! :D)
Anyway, as a little hint, I can say that in the next chapters, the old action will return and um... you'll see, I'll try to update as frequently as I can. ;)