He was one of the last people to see and talk to Alexander. Andrew was also the son of Professor Goran, the same professor who was accused of illegal chemical experiments a couple of days after the coup... All the newspapers wrote about it... And Andri, then still looking for salvation on the streets, saw with his own eyes the announcement of "a reward for the capture of the son of the criminal, also a suspect in the concealment of important state information. At that time his hair almost stood up when he saw his own picture on the page of the daily newspaper. At first, he was scared of nausea and stuck in a remote corner of the old city garden, where he was hiding for the third night after leaving home. But when the first panic attack retreated, Andri realized that everything was not so bad. The photo in the newspaper looked at him near the son of the professor with long, brushed hair, chubby cheeks, and naive childish look.
This carefree child is a thing of the past... in a ruined apartment.
Over the past few days, Andri has become quite different.
There, in the old garden, he carefully examined himself. The clothes in the three days of his life in the open air were dirty but still too good for a street boy. Andrew found a glass bottle of the cheap port near a stone urn and, breaking it, began to ruthlessly spoil the shirt and everything else with a sharp jagged neck. And then, with the same diligence, he took his clothes and shoes to such an extent that now nobody would recognize the excellent work done to order by personal standards...
When the clothes were finished, Andrew sighed at the long strands of his hair. He also cut them off one by one in cold blood until he had something on his head that felt more like a nest. Hair became at least half as short.
Well... It wasn't the biggest price to pay for the chance to be unrecognized.
Andrew found a large fountain in the garden that hadn't worked for several days and tried to see himself in the water like a mirror. He was even more impressed by what he had seen that he had expected. From the fountain bowl, a real homeless guy was looking at Andrie - a puzzled, dulled and frowned upon. It was as if he hadn't been wandering around for a couple of days, but for the rest of his life.
Satisfied, Andri sat down on the stone edge of the fountain and thought hard about what to do next. Even if he was so stripped, he risked staying outdoors: the city was constantly being searched by all kinds of patrols made up of people with red bandages. He saw for himself how the Red Rags stopped passers-by, demanding to see their documents. And sometimes taking with him somewhere... No, he didn't want to fall into the hands of such guardians of order. And it turned out to be cold to sleep in the open-air... Andri had already started sneezing. He understood that he needed to find a more suitable shelter as soon as possible as a garden.
But first, he had to find out where his parents had been taken.
Andri sneaked into his house and found Peter the janitor. He was surprised to see the professor's son in such an inappropriate form, did not even admit it at first and tried to banish him with a broom. But then he realized who had wandered into his house in the late evening and willingly shared what he knew. The newspapers didn't write about it, but you can't hide it in a bag - anyway, people talked to each other about the fate that befell many famous people in Alexandburg. Almost all of them ended up in the fortress of St. Paul. And the Andri family, among others.
The next day, Andri walked for a long time around the fortress, until he realized that his desire to change something was not enough... If only I could find Alexander! The Emperor's son is probably already doing well, and he and his elder brother are somewhere gathering loyal people for a decisive battle with the impostor Volgin and his red gang.
But the trouble was that Andrew had no idea where his friend was or how to find his elder brother Valentine.
Confused, not knowing what to do and where to go, that day Andri forgot all about caution. Seeing nothing in front of him, he was shaving down one of the streets, not even thinking about where she was going. And he didn't even realize at once that he ran into one of the patrols...
And then everything was predictable and simple. Questions about where he came from, where he lived and where he came from. Andri mumbled back in a mumble, dying of fear, but the people with the red bandages did not try to beat him or admit to the street rag of Professor Goran's son. Having decided that Andri was an ordinary homeless man, the patrols did not think for long about taking him to the nearest shelter...
Continuation in the next part 37