Andri did not sleep well. All night long he dreams of shots, fights, attempts to escape from something terrible. He flinched and woke up, but woke up did not bring relief. Andrew knew that as soon as he fell asleep again in a restless dream, as bad visions will return.
In the morning, the house was unusually quiet. The joyous Lisa did not jump, her mother did not read aloud, and Vlad did not play the piano. The door to my fathers' office was ajar, but there was also silence. Looking carefully into the crackle, Andri made sure that the office was empty.
By breakfast from adults in the dining room was only Antony, who sighed about something, putting on plates deliciously smelling cottage cheese. Andri's appetite wasn't lost, so he quickly managed with his portion, realizing that Lisa and Vlad had a fight again. The sisters were sitting apart, moving away from each other, and did not drop a word for the whole breakfast. Lisa was also crying - her eyes turned red, her face looked very pale on the contrary. Andri didn't risk asking anything.
Yesterday Vlad was very happy when she saw her ring, but his father strictly told Andri not to do "such heroic deeds" anymore. He punished all family members to stick together and not to leave the house at all in the near future. The bruises on Andri's face did not seem to have noticed, unlike his mother, who had been asking for a long time what had happened when her son chased the thief. Andri told the truth, thus causing a great delight on the part of Lisa. Alas, no one except his younger sister did not consider a fight with a street boy worthy of anything. Even Vlad said that he shouldn't have gotten his hands dirty, but should have called the townspeople. They would have managed much faster and, you see, would have even helped the son of a famous professor to find his family. Andrew did not explain that at that moment he had no time to think about the townspeople. Vlad could hardly understand what it was like when you were in the throes of a chase...
Right after breakfast, Lisa came up to him. Sister grabbed Andri by the wrist and dragged him towards the empty living room. There, looking around and making sure that there was no one around, she stood on the tiptoe and whispered quickly in her brother's ear:
- Vladika spoke to her mother at night! We are leaving in just a couple of days! - My sister's hot breath burned Andri's temple. - And Dad stays! Stays here! We too must!
She stood back and looked into his eyes with stubborn despair.
Andri swallowed.
A couple of days... Father would never let Lisa stay. And in general, probably no one will be allowed to stay now.
What to do?
- Well, what do we do?! - Lisa was almost crying. In the corners of her eyes shone wet sparks.
Andrew was confused. Telling her sister the truth means losing her respect for life. Lying is like betraying a part of yourself.
- If we hide on the day of departure," he said out loud, "it won't help. Mom and Vlad will not leave without us. We will only let them down.
- Or maybe they will leave? - There was hope in Lisa's eyes. - If we run away at the last moment? We can make it look as if we are humble and obedient, and when everyone gets on the train...
- No," interrupted Sister Andri. - We cannot hope for a train. And what if my father sends all the crew? What if it's not too far away?
Lisa wrapped her arms around her head, looking for an exit.
- Andri, we need to find out where we are going and what we are driving first!
- It's reasonable," he nodded.
And it gave him time to think for himself, not to answer anything now.
- Listen... - Lisa whispered in a hurry," he said, "but what if we looked at Dad's paperwork? He must have written something...
Andrew nodded, but he got a little cold inside. Going through his father's office without asking is even worse than lying to his little sister.
But Lisa had already bitten the beehive.
- I'll distract Antony and that fool," she said angrily about her sister, "and you'll look in quickly. Dad wasn't home anyway, and Mom was lying in bed in the morning.
- Why not? - Andri was worried.
Lisa shook her shoulders.
- She doesn't feel well. She told me not to worry.
Continuation in the next part of 21.