Natalya slammed the door loudly.
From the morning, she had a premonition that the day would not go well. Her 19-year-old daughter, Lusya, recently brought home a kitten named Musya, who managed to create a mess right on the bathroom mat. It was hard for Natalya to scold her daughter for this, as Lusya was trying to be caring and was doing everything right.
Musya usually behaved well, and her litter box was always timely cleaned and set out to dry. However, today’s incident angered Natalya.
Lusya was studying Chinese in her room. When her mother called, Lusya poked her head out from behind the door, removing her headphones:
“Mom, please clean it up!” she whined. “You know it makes me sick. Please, just this last time!”
“I’m in a hurry, I’m late for work!” Natalya responded.
“Mom, you know I don’t have any time either, the session is just around the corner!” Lusya exclaimed, her eyes widening.
Natalya sighed, and her daughter, hugging her, added:
“Mommy, you’re the most beautiful and beloved! Please, just this last time.”
Natalya smiled with difficulty:
“You’re such a flatterer, Luska. Alright, but this is the last time.”
“And mom, you know what…” the daughter hesitated. “Tomorrow Igor wanted to…”
“Again Igor?” Natalya snapped. “Stop planning to marry, finish your studies first! Get a job, stand on your own two feet. I don’t want to hear about Igor anymore!”
“But mom, he wanted to tomorrow…”
“That’s it, quiet!”
Lusya rolled her eyes and sulked. Putting her headphones back on, she demonstratively swished her tail and disappeared into her room.
Natalya rushed out of the house and hurried to the bus stop. If she missed the minibus, she would have to endure reprimands from the foreman of the train. Nikolay was a decent man, but he always found time to scold Natalya. Colleagues joked that he was in love with her, to which she always replied:
“You’re making it up! He can’t stand me, and it’s obvious.”
Natalya couldn’t understand why Nikolay judged her so harshly and tried to avoid him whenever possible. She made the minibus and even managed to sit by the window. But as she was getting off, she tripped over the curb and fell so hard that she saw stars. Approaching the train car, she limped, hoping no one would notice her. Her pantyhose were torn in several places, her skirt was dirty, and one sleeve of her blouse was ripped.
Then a familiar voice called out:
“Good morning, Natalya. What happened to you? Coming from a party early in the morning?”
It was Nikolay Sergeyevich. Natalya felt a surge of indignation inside.
When will this end! Her husband had left when Lusya was three. Since then, there was no personal life. Now her daughter was nineteen, and she was thinking about marriage.
Natalya wasn’t happy at work. Before, there were at least some moments of rest, but since Nikolay Sergeyevich appeared, nothing brought joy. Moreover, she had bruised her knee and torn her expensive pantyhose.
And, like the cherry on top—she saw among the passengers the terrible grandpa, as she and her friends called him. He traveled to a neighboring city once a month and always looked grim, never speaking to anyone. His facial expression reminded her of an evil wizard, and his gaze gave her goosebumps.
Other passengers usually avoided this grandpa, often asking to be moved to another compartment if he was nearby. Natalya had felt from the morning: since the day had started off badly, this “hermit” would definitely be in her car.
She crossed her arms and glared at Nikolay Sergeyevich.
“And you, Nikolay Sergeyevich, apparently have nothing better to do than to make up all sorts of nonsense. If you don’t have a personal life, don’t interfere in others’. Let me say this: it’s none of your business where I came from and why. I do my job, and I’m in uniform, as you see. So, my appearance outside of work shouldn’t concern you.”
Natalya saw the foreman’s jaw drop. This even amused her, but she didn’t show it. She turned and headed to the train car, trying not to limp too much.
“She’ll probably fire me,” she thought. “Well, let her. There’s little work here anyway, and there aren’t enough trains. I’ll go to the factory; at least I’ll be home more often.”
By the time the trip started, Natalya had calmed down. Her irritation subsided. The passengers weren’t to blame for her troubles. She was about to check the train cars when she noticed the “hermit” standing by her compartment.
“Hello,” said Natalya, but the man just silently extended his ticket and walked past without a word.
“Well, as always,” she thought and sighed. For a moment, she closed her eyes to calm down and mentally counted to ten. There were few people in the car, so she could check everyone’s tickets right away.
The train started moving. Natalya habitually walked through the car, making sure everything was in order. Ticketless passengers, as often happens, could sneak through from neighboring cars. She looked into each compartment, asking passengers if everything was alright.
Reaching the “hermit’s” compartment, Natalya cracked the door open.
“Everything alright? Do you need anything? Maybe some tea?”
To her surprise, the man looked up at her. His eyes were clear and intelligent, not at all like she had imagined.
“Yes, if you could, some tea,” he replied quietly.
Natalya nearly dropped the tray, hearing his voice. This man, always silent and sullen, suddenly spoke.
“Alright, I’ll bring it in about ten minutes,” she responded, closing the door.
As she placed the tea in front of the man, she heard an unexpected “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome,” she replied, closed the door behind her, and paused in the corridor for a moment.
“What’s with him? — she thought. — He suddenly spoke like a normal person!” She shrugged and continued on.
Reaching the end of the car, Natalya noticed a strange bag in the corner of one of the empty compartments.
“What if it’s something dangerous? That’s all I need,” she thought.
She approached and cautiously nudged the bag with her foot. Suddenly, a thin voice came from it:
“Please, don’t kick me out. I just want to get as far away as possible.”
Natalya gasped. The bag stirred, and, looking closer, she realized that it was not a bag at all, but a very pregnant young woman. The stranger immediately burst into tears.
“Please, don’t kick me out. I have nowhere else to go. I ran away from my fiancé and his mother. They wanted to kick me out and take my baby, but I won’t give my child to anyone!”
Natalya knew she had to act quickly.
“Alright, calm down. Come with me. I’ll give you some tea, and you can tell me everything calmly.”
The girl stopped crying, but her eyes were still full of fear. Natalya thought she was very young, younger than her daughter Lusya. Kira, as the stranger was called, eagerly ate a sandwich and washed it down with tea.
“A typical story,” she said a bit later. “I fell in love, he seemed to also, but his mother was against it. And then the pregnancy… They didn’t like that the blood would be ‘not right.’ Only they didn’t tell me about it. I’m an orphan. I have an apartment from the state, all legally. They quickly re-registered it in their name, supposedly to buy a new one. Then I heard that after giving birth they want to strip me of my rights to the child, declare me mentally ill. For them, it would be easy—his mother is influential. They would keep the baby and throw me out on the street. At best.”
Natalya poured her more tea and frowned, thinking about what to do.
“I’m not lazy, if you thought that,” added Kira, looking up at Natalya. “I can do anything: cook, clean. I just need somewhere to settle down, and then I’ll manage. I won’t give my child to anyone.”
“Alright, just calm down. You shouldn’t be so nervous. Where were you planning to go, alone and without money?”
Kira shrugged.
“I don’t know yet. The main thing is to get away from them.”
Natalya sighed.
“Well, what am I going to do with you… Alright, I’ll settle you with one passenger for now. He’s strange, but don’t be afraid of him. He’s always like that.”
Kira grabbed Natalya’s hands.
“Thank you so much!”
Natalya led her to the compartment where the terrible hermit sat.
“This is your neighbor,” she said, nodding at the girl.
The man glanced at her, frowned upon seeing her belly, but remained silent and turned to the window. Natalya returned to her own compartment, sat down heavily in the chair, and exhaled:
“What a day. What a trip! I wish I was back already.”
She looked at the clock. It was already late, and soon everyone in the car would be asleep. Today, at least, there were no drunks—that was lucky. There was a soft knock at the door.
“Yes?” she responded.
Nikolay Sergeyevich stood in the doorway.
“May I come in?”
Natalya tensed inside. Did he find out about Kira, the ticketless passenger? Now he would definitely fire her.
“Natalya…” he began.
“Antonovna,” she prompted him.
“Natalya Antonovna, I came to apologize. I was wrong to say those things to you. I behaved badly. Instead of helping, I started accusing you.”
Natalya, surprised, struggled to find words:
“Well… alright, apology accepted. I should have explained everything calmly, but I yelled at you…”
Nikolay raised his eyebrows.
“Did you get hurt?”
“Yes, a bit,” she replied with a smile. “Knee, elbow… It’ll heal.”
He unexpectedly laughed.
“You really told me off then! It put my brain back in place.”
She joined his laughter and suddenly suggested:
“Want some coffee? I have some delicious instant coffee.”
They sat, talking like true friends. Nikolay no longer tried to act like a boss and turned out to be an interesting conversationalist. Natalya unexpectedly caught herself thinking that she found him attractive. This realization flustered her so much that she suddenly blushed and turned away. Nikolay only managed to glance at her, but a loud knock at the door interrupted them.
“Sort it out there!” a passenger’s annoyed voice exclaimed. “It’s impossible to sleep because of some noise!”
Natalya suddenly turned pale. She intuitively knew exactly which compartment the passenger was talking about. She ran there, where Kira and the strange stranger were located. A puzzled Nikolay rushed after her. Meeting them in the aisle was the terrible grandpa.
“What have you done to her?” Natalya was alarmed.
The grandpa looked down at her condescendingly:
“The passenger has gone into labor. Is there a doctor on the train?”
Natalya hurried on, her thoughts jumbled. In the compartment, Kira was restlessly pacing.
“Please help!” she barely held back tears. “Something seems wrong.”
Natalya turned to Nikolay:
“Well, boss? It’s been two weeks since we had a doctor!”
“And the nearest station?”
“We’ll stop in three and a half hours at the first village, but there might not be a doctor there either,” Nikolay guiltily looked down.
As they pondered what to do, the terrible grandpa approached Kira.
“Quiet-quiet, don’t worry,” he said softly. “The baby might get scared if you panic. Breathe more evenly.”
He lightly touched her belly, put his ear to it, then turned to them:
“Labor has already started. The baby is positioned incorrectly, a lot can happen in three hours. We need to help.”
Natalya’s eyes widened, and Nikolay nodded:
“Let’s do it.”
Natalya wanted to scream, not understanding how they could trust a completely unknown person, but decided to follow his instructions. She ran for boiled water, towels. Nikolay stood in the aisle, calming passengers who poured out of their compartments to find out what the commotion was about.
After more than three hours, closer to dawn, as they approached the station, a healthy strong boy was born. The terrible grandpa stood up and handed Natalya the bundle:
“Let the mother rest.”
Hearing the baby’s cry, people in the aisle applauded, and one woman joyfully exclaimed:
“Roman Romanovich Savitsky! It’s you! You saved me along with my son twenty years ago!”
The grandpa bowed and quickly left the compartment to wash his hands.
“I wasn’t mistaken, it’s him… When his daughter died during childbirth, he disappeared from the city,” the woman whispered.
An ambulance came to the station for Kira and the baby. The hermit also prepared to leave.
“And where are you headed?” Natalya asked in surprise.
“I’m going with Kira to the maternity hospital,” he said with a smile, looking at her. “She looks so much like my daughter. I have a big house, a school nearby in the town, I’ll look after them. I’ll find Kira a good man to marry if she wants. I realized today that helping people is still more important than suffering from my own grief.”
He left, and Natalya watched him for a long time, sobbing with tears, unable to understand why all this had moved her so much.
After that trip, she returned completely drained.
And at home, a surprise awaited her—Lusya’s fiancé Igor had come to meet her. Natalya glanced at the set table, the excited Lusya.
Igor also looked at Natalya anxiously.
“Do you study or work?” she asked sternly.
“I work and study. I work in an auto service, understand cars, my father taught me. I study remotely as an engineer.”
“And do you earn well?” Natalya inquired.
“At least as much as your salary, mom,” Lusya answered. “He rents an apartment near the factory.”
Natalya raised an eyebrow in surprise and asked tiredly:
“And do you love Lusya? She has quite the character.”
“Of course, I love her. How could you not adore her?”
The young man beamed, looking at Lusya, and Natalya thought that young people had wind in their heads. They run away from home, not finding understanding, and give birth on trains. She smiled and said:
“Well then. If you want to get married—get married.”
Lusya squealed with joy and hugged her, while the cat Musya got scared and climbed onto the curtain. The fiancé also smiled happily and tried to hug everyone.
At her daughter’s wedding, Natalya was not alone. Beside her, tenderly holding her hand, stood Nikolay Sergeyevich, who now often visited their home. Lusya joked that she was leaving her mom in reliable and serious hands.