Stavl Zosimov
Marusya Kizhakina. the heroine of the Second World War

Chapter One

A cloudless sky and gradually descending.

Summer of 1927, Altai Territory

Summer horizon of the Altai forest-steppe. The camera moves slowly down. On the ground there is a small lake, which remained after the flood of the local river, under the name of Alei.

On the bank of this lake, three small boys, Yashka(5), Alyoshka(4) and Andreyka(3) are sitting on their haunches and staring intently into the depths of the murky reservoir, waiting for someone.

One of them, the youngest named Andreyka(3), slaps the surface of the water lightly with his palm. The aMarusya Kizhakinage depth of the lakes is no higher than a child's neck, or 70 centimeters.

Suddenly, a girl, their blood sister, named MARUSYA KIZHAKINA(6), stands out of the water in a white wet sundress to her feet, an apron and a scarf that covers all her hair, tied at the ends around her neck in the form of a scarf.

She comes ashore all wet and wears bast shoes on her feet. Splashes spread out on the sides. Barefoot boys jump back and sit on their children's asses. MARUSYA KIZHAKINA

(solemnly)

I've found it!

MARIA KIZHAKINA takes her hand out of the water and shows everyone that she's holding a mushroom that looks like a toadstool. The oldest boy named Yashka is surprised.

YASHKA

What have you found, Nanny?

MARIA KIZHAKINA is nervous.

MARUSYA KIZHAKINA

(mimicking)

Like what, Podozernik!

The second boy, named Alyoshka, gets up and reaches out to the girl's hand with his own hand to touch it.

ALYOSHKA

(with sarcasm)

Is that a mushroom?

MARIA KIZHAKINA throws her hand with the mushroom up and prevents Alyoshka from touching it.

MARUSYA KIZHAKINA

(warning sternly)

Yes! Don't stretch your arms, or you'll stretch your legs. Well, Alyoshka, you're a troublemaker.

ЯШКА

(ехидно смеясь)

Да не ври, Няня, таких не быват!

MARUSYA KIZHAKINA

А я, Яшка, говорю быват.

И тут Андрейка встает.

АНДРЕЙКА

(Крича)

Не ври, Няня! Я видат, как ты его по дороге сорват, когда сюды пишли.

MARUSYA KIZHAKINA

(злясь)

Предатель ты Андрейка. Иуда.

MARIA KIZHAKINA тут же другой кистью показывает прям в лицо Андрейке фигу и трясёт большим пальцем. А гриб кладет сырым в рот и усердно пережёвывает.

MARIA KIZHAKINA (продолжая)

(жуя)

Во, чаво получишь от меня больше, а не сахору!!

Андрейка начинает громко рыдать и кричать на всю лесостепь. MARIA KIZHAKINA поворачивается к Яшке и Алешке.

MARIA KIZHAKINA (продолжая)

(строго)

А вы чаво уставились? Берите палки и мутите заводь.

The porch of Marusya Kizhakina's house, and on the porch stands a pregnant woman in a headscarf, the mother of Marusya Kizhakina(24), named Anfisa. She is in tears, holding a one-year-old child named Kolka(1) in her arms, and chewing on the edge of her headscarf. Next to him is a strong-built man, TATYA (FATHER) MARIA KIZHAKINA MARUSYA KIZHAKINAMARUSYA KIZHAKINA(30), named Akim, holding his son Seryozhka(2) in his arms. He looks sad and clenches his fists until his joints crack.

The boys: Yashka, Alyoshka, and Andreyka quickly grab their sticks and run into the lake. They scuff their bare feet on the bottom and stir up the mud. The water quickly becomes cloudy. Small pike fish, about ten centimeters long, appear on the surface.

They slap the fish on the back with their sticks, and the stunned fish flip over. MARIA KIZHAKINA follows them with a bag and collects the stunned fish.

Children: MARUSYA KIZHAKINA, Yashka, Alyoshka, Andreyka collect all the prey on this lake, run to the next lake and do the same.

Suddenly, for the first time, the whistle of a passing steam train is heard in the distance beyond the forest. The children flinch and turn in the direction of the whistle.

YASHKA

(frightened)

What was that, sister?

ALYOSHKA

(more confidently)

Yes, it's the Wood Demon mocking in the swamps.

MARUSYA KIZHAKINA

(sternly)

Don't talk nonsense, Emelya, it's not your week. In that direction, there's never been a swamp.

ALESHKA

(offended)

What is it then?

MARUSYA KIZHAKINA

I don't know, let's go and see, though.

The children immediately run off into the forest.

We can see the Kizhakin family's yard from the street. The gates are wide open, and a horse-drawn cart is standing in the opening.

The cart is filled with bags of vegetables and grain. Two people are carrying bags from the barn to the cart, while a thin, lame man in a Budyonovka hat, the village elder named Feofan, is standing and supervising the loading process.

MARIA KIZHAKINA with a bag of pike on her back, Yashka, Alyoshka, and Andreyka with sticks, run through the forest.

MARUSYA KIZHAKINA, Yashka, Alyoshka, and Andreyka run out onto a clearing with rails. They don't know what rails are, so they don't pay much attention. In the distance, behind a bend, they see the black smoke of a steam train. The children freeze in fear and curiosity.

A black steam train with a large red star on its boiler appears around the corner and gives a loud whistle. The children wince and cover their ears. The whistle stops.

Yashka, panicked by what he sees, breaks away and runs away first.

YASHKA

(in a panic)

Bajim, Nanya, brothers, this is the Wood Demon on the damn caterpillar

skokat!!

And the children immediately break away from the place and run after Yashka back into the forest. The steam train passes quickly by and disappears around the bend on the other side of the track of the railway line. The fading whistle is heard.

Chapter two

From the street in the open gate there is a crowd of onlookers from the local residents and whisper something.

Feofan stands by the cart, pleased.

FEOFAN

(with sarcasm)

Well, Kizhakin's fists?! We've finally de-kulakized you.

He laughs and turns to the men.

FEOFAN (continuing)

Come on, boys, let's wrap it up and go to the office. Drive the cattle to the office yard.

The second man begins to drive the confiscated cattle out of the yard: two cows, a bull, ten sheep, five goats, and two pigs, towards the office.

Marusya Kizhakina's father is barely able to hold back his tears.

TATYA (FATHER) MARUSYA KIZHAKINA

What are you Herods doing? I have a family, children, six of them. How am I going to feed them?

Feofan jumps onto the cart.

FEOFAN

That's not my concern, Akim. You're the one who's making a mess, you're the one who's going to have to deal with it. If you can't provide for them, we'll take them to an orphanage. And there's a famine in Moscow, and a drought in the Volga region. Factory workers need to be fed.

MARIA KIZHAKINA runs into the yard in bast shoes and barefoot Yashka, Alyosha and Andreika in a panic. They don't pay attention to the loaded cart, they run to their parents. They run up and hug them by the hips.

THE CABMAN

Moreover, Stalin himself is there.

THEOPHANES

Touch it, Ignat. To the office. There's nothing to talk about with all the punks.

And the cart leaves the yard.

The father looks at the frightened children.

FATHER-IN-LAW MARUSYA KIZHAKINA

(with a lump in his throat)

What happened, kids? Who's going to scare you so much?

MARUSYA KIZHAKINA

(scared)

There's a forest out there, a Goblin riding a damn caterpillar!

MOTHER OF MARUSYA KIZHAKINA

(reassuring and smiling)

So is it a steam locomotive?!

FATHER-IN-LAW MARUSYA KIZHAKINA

(to the wife)

And where do they come from?

(to the children)

This, children, is Nikoka, not a caterpillar. It's a steam locomotive. The current technology is new.

MARUSYA KIZHAKINA

(surprised)

Vona how?! I want to become a locomotive driver. And I will be.

TATYA (FATHER) MARUSYA KIZHAKINA

(smiling with his wife)

Not a coachman, but a machinist. And if you want, you will be. And now, children, run and collect the red root. Winter is coming. And these Herods have taken away all our supplies.

MOTHER

Yes, they also collect various roots, as I taught you…

Summer of 1937

We see the facade of the station building of Shipunovo.

We see the platform and how passengers walk on it, some get on the cars.

On the way is a passenger train. At the entrance to the car is a cart, harnessed. On it sits TATYA (FATHER) MARIA KIZHAKINA (46) and next to it is MARUSYA KIZHAKINA(16) years. They say goodbye.

TATYA (FATHER) MARUSYA KIZHAKINA

(holding back tears)

You write to us as soon as you arrive, daughter, at the place of organization at the Zvanka railway workshop, the School of Factory Apprenticeship. Wow, you don't show it right away!

MARUSYA KIZHAKINA

(smiling and reassuring)

Have you learned it? Maybe just FZU – 1, and don't worry, Tatyenka. I'll manage. And as soon as I arrive, I'll telegraph you. I'll study, I'll come, I'll get married, and I'll give you a lot of grandchildren. That's my goal in life. And I'll be working at the station.

CONDUCTOR

Well, that's it, get on the train, daughter, it's moving.

MARIA KIZHAKINA kisses her father and jumps on the train. The train starts moving. MARIA KIZHAKINA waves her hand from the door. The door closes.

MARIA KIZHAKINA looks out the door window as the cart is moving away. The train is gaining speed.

We can see the Kizhakin family's yard from the street. The gates are wide open, and a cart loaded with confiscated food items is driving out of the yard onto the street. The same driver is sitting on the cart, holding the reins, and the village headman, Feofan, is sitting next to him.

Akim Kizhakin's cart, the father of Marusya Kizhakina, who he was escorting to school today, pulls up in front of them. The father looks at them in surprise and fury.

FEOPHAN

(sarcastically)

While you were escorting your daughter, we've dispossessed you again. We'll dispossess you a couple more times, and you'll be sent to Siberia for hard labor.

THE DRIVER

(laughing)

Dried crackers, Akim Kizhaikin.

Father Marusya Kizhakina's cart enters its own yard and the crowd of onlookers disperse.

We see the facade of the Railway School No. 1 in the city of Volkhov, Leningrad Region.

Chapter three

June 23, 1941

In the corridor, next to the classroom where the annual exam is taking place, there are students, boys and two girls, Dusya and Frosya. From the door comes a sad MARUSYA KIZHAKINA(20) and approaches them.

DUSYA

(Seriously)

Well, what did they put?

MARIA KIZHAKINA looks at the girls with sadness and suddenly bursts into laughter and jumps on the spot.

MARUSYA KIZHAKINA

(Rejoicing)

Great!

MARIA KIZHAKINA and Dusya rejoice. Frosya looks at them with strict surprise.

FROSYA

What are you girls, it is not decent to laugh so much when the war started yesterday.

The girls become serious.

MARUSYA KIZHAKINA, Dusya and Frosya are in line with trays. A teacher approaches them.

TEACHER

(seriously and despondently)

Tomorrow you will come to the school in the morning with your belongings.

FROSYA

(sternly)

What's going on, Ivan Petrovich?

TEACHER

An order has been issued to send all the students of our school to evacuate children and residents from the city of Leningrad.

MARUSYA KIZHAKINA

(lazily)

What, aren't there enough boys?

TEACHER

All the guys are being drafted into the army, and the girls and pensioners are staying on the steam trains. The pensioners are the train drivers, of course, and the girls will be the assistant drivers.

DUSYA

(after a short thought)

I agree, what time should I arrive at the school for the evacuation tomorrow?

We can see the surroundings of the forest-steppe and the railway that runs through it from a bird's-eye view. A steam locomotive with 12 carriages is speeding along the track at full speed. A close-up of a Messerschmidt flying over the camera is followed by a rapid descent towards the locomotive. Other enemy aircraft appear on both sides of the camera from behind.

An old engineer is at the wheel, and a young girl is throwing coal into the furnace with a shovel. The girl takes occasional breaks and looks out the window.

A squadron of German fascist aircraft attacks the train from the south-western side. And he begins to attack the train with machine-gun fire and bombing. The train stops and gives a long whistle.

The doors open and adult teachers and medical workers jump out of the warm carriages.

An air-raid and machine-gun stray shelling of passengers fleeing into the forest.

We see how from inside the cabin, the assistant driver MARIA KIZHAKINA and the driver grandfather Kondrat jump out in turn on the sidelines.

GEDA KONDRATA

(indignantly)

These damned, what they do. This is children?! Nothing is sacred.

MARUSYA KIZHAKINA

Grandfather Kondrat, we have to leave, I'll jump off and give you a hand.

GRANDFATHER KONDRATA

Yes, daughter, yes. Oh, what they're doing.

We see from the outside how MARIA KIZHAKINA jumps off first and helps the old Engineer Grandfather Kondrat get off the train. crawl under the train.

MARUSYA KIZHAKINA

Give me your hand, Uncle Kondrat.

DED KONDRAT

Wait, doshka, I'm not young.

Grandfather Kondrat struggles down, gets on his knees, gets on all fours, and crawls under the locomotive. MARIA KIZHAKINA pushes him.

GRANDFATHER KONDРАТ (continuing)

Eh, old age is not a joy. You should have been the first to climb, I'm already old.

MARUSYA KIZHAKINA

Uncle Kondrat, climb quickly, it's scary.

As soon as MARIA KIZHAKINA gets on all fours, a stray bullet from above pierces her shoulder and instantly presses her chest against the rubble.

MARUSYA KIZHAKINA

(frightened)

Oh!

GRANDFATHER KONDRAT(off-screen)

Daughter, come here.

Grandfather Kondrat grabs her by the wrist and pulls her towards him. MARIA KIZHAKINA is in shock, bleeding profusely, taking deep breaths, and crawling under the train.

MARIA KIZHAKINA lies down between the tracks, next to the driver, Grandfather Kondrat. From the nervous shock, the frightened MARIA KIZHAKINA bites her nails on her left hand.

MARUSYA KIZHAKINA

(through the pain)

Grandfather Kondrat, what kind of people are they, they see that the little ones are still shooting.

GRANDFATHER KONDRAT

This is war, Marusya Kizhakinaenka and there is no mercy.

Continues bombing and machine gun stray shelling of passengers fleeing into the forest.

We see two running teenagers towards the forest. Suddenly in front of them there is a bomb explosion. From the exploded shells fly pieces of the bodies of these children. In the background fall dead from machine gun bursts girl and a medical worker. On the ground lie seriously wounded passengers and screaming in pain. The bombardment stops, and the planes fly away. Silence.

Chapter Four

Grandfather Kondrat looks out, looks around, and crawls out from under the locomotive.

GRANDFATHER KONDRATA

I think that's all. Daughter, give me your hand.

MARIA KIZHAKINA gives him her hand. Grandfather Kondrat takes it and pulls her to him. MARIA KIZHAKINA is bleeding and crawling out from under the locomotive.

DED KONDRAT (continuing)

Get in first and give two beeps for landing, before the planes come back.

MARUSYA KIZHAKINA

(through pain)

Will they come back?

MARIA KIZHAKINA struggles to get into the cockpit. Ded Kondrat pushes her in the back and climbs in after her.

DED KONDRAT

As soon as they replenish their ammunition, they will return.

MARIA KIZHAKINA gives two hoots with her healthy hand to signal the train to stop, and a crowd of survivors runs out of the forest and quickly boards the train. Grandfather Kondrat quickly wraps Marusya Kizhakina's shoulder with a handkerchief.

GRANDFATHER KONDRAT

You should press the wound, it seems to be bleeding.

Grandfather Kondrat releases the brakes, and the train slowly begins to move. MARUSYA KIZHAKINA, through the pain, with tears in her eyes, gets up, takes a shovel, and starts throwing coal into the furnace.

DED KONDRAT (continuing)

(sympathetically)

Does it hurt?

MARUSYA KIZHAKINA

(through the pain)

It hurts, but I'm strong and resilient. I can handle it.

Passengers who haven't boarded the slow-moving train jump into the cars. The train is gaining speed. The teachers are giving them a hand from the cars. Others are just throwing the children into the car.

TEACHER

(frightened)

Hurry up, hurry up, children. The train won't stop.

MARIA KIZHAKINA and Grandfather Kondrat see a boy and a girl who don't have time to jump onto the last car's step and continue running. MARIA KIZHAKINA and the driver look at them.

MARUSYA KIZHAKINA

(in tears)

Grandfather Kondrat, two of them are behind, let's slow down! They'll get lost.

GRANDFATHER KONDRAT

(in tears)

MARUSYA KIZHAKINA, I'm damned, but we can't risk the lives of all the children for the sake of the two who are behind. The Nazi planes are about to return, and they'll refill their tanks and ammunition.

MARUSYA KIZHAKINA

(sobbing)

But they're going to die, aren't they? And it's almost time. Uncle Kondrat. I'm begging you.

DED KONDRAT

(crying)

It's an order, daughter. I'm cursed. I can't.

The children are running as hard as they can, crying, screaming, and trying to grab the handrail of the last car, but to no avail. The train gradually accelerates, and they start to fall behind.

In the end, the children disappear from view around the corner. From the nervous shock, MARIA KIZHAKINA bites the nails on the finger of her left hand.

GEDDEK KONDRAT

(in tears)

Calm down MARUSYA KIZHAKINA, please. We have hundreds of the same, unhappy children. This is war, doshka.

As soon as he says it, he gets a jitters. He grabs his heart and bends on his driver's seat.

MARUSYA KIZHAKINA

What's with you, grandfather Kondrat, heart?

Grandfather Kondrat is choking. MARIA KIZHAKINA in a panic takes out the first-aid kit and looks for a medicine for the heart, but grandfather Kondrat through the pain shows her to continue throwing coal. MARIA KIZHAKINA takes a shovel and throws, through the pain, into the furnace.

We see the facade of the Shipunovo railway station.

June 1941.

We see the platform where the train is stationed, which is going to the front with the recruits. Everyone is saying goodbye and crying. An accordion is playing somewhere.

Marusya Kizhakina's father-in-law's cart is standing on the platform, and her Father and mother are sitting on it. They escort Yashka and Alyosha to the front.

Mother is crying, FATHER-IN-LAW (FATHER) MARIA KIZHAKINA Maria Kizhakina is fighting.

TYATYA (FATHER) MARUSYA KIZHAKINA

(proudly)

Well, sons, Yashka, Alyoshka, do not shame your relatives. Serve with honor and beat the enemy to death.

YASHKA

Yes, tyatya, so it will be.

MOTHER MARUSYA KIZHAKINA

(in tears)

And Taba, Yashka, may not be taken to the front at all. Would you have done better?! I would have graduated from my academy and then gone to the front.

YASHKA

That's how the war will end, but I still want to fight. All my peers are already at the front, and I'm like a girl, resting at home. I don't like this mommy.

TATYA (FATHER) MARUSYA KIZHAKINA

Well, let's stop grieving, Anfisushka. Alyoshka and Marusya are on the front lines, and Yashka is at home. No, it's right, son, the war will end, and then you'll be able to study.

ALYOSHKA

And Morusya, what did she write about the evacuation? Maybe we'll get there? What should I tell her if we see her?

MOTHER OF MARUSYA KIZHAKINA

(in tears)

Let him get home as soon as possible. And you take care of me, my beloved.

YASHKA

May they shed tears for you, Mother. Zhavy vyarnems, you'll see, won't you, Alyosha?

ALYOSHA

That's right, brother. You shouldn't have drilled us in our intelligence and endurance.

COMMISSIONER

(shouts)

New recruits, get on the train!

All the men immediately start climbing into their cars and the train gives a whistle.

YASHKA

That's it, mother, father. It's time for us.

The train begins to move slowly. Alyoshka and Yashka catch up with their car, jump in, grab the handrail and wave to their parents.

Chapter Five

A steam locomotive with passengers who were shot at by children approaches the station platform and ambulances and social workers immediately arrive. Employees. The doors of the wagons open and begin to remove the injured children from the wagons. The survivors jump off and are identified by buses.

MARIA KIZHAKINA stands at the open window of the locomotive cabin and looks through it.

MARUSYA KIZHAKINA

Dokhtar! Doctor! Come here, here is grandfather Kondratu not good!

The doctor man climbs into the cabin of the locomotive and checks the pulse of grandfather Kondratu.

DOCTOR

He died.

Opens the first-aid kit, iodine, takes out bandages and begins to stop the blood Marusya Kizhakina. MARIA KIZHAKINA looks at grandfather and cries.

DOCTOR (continuing)

Come on, I'll bandage you up, and you need to go to the hospital right away. You've lost a lot of blood.

MARUSYA KIZHAKINA

No, doctor. I can't. There's still some kids in Leningrad. I need to go there.

DOCTOR

You might lose consciousness right now.

Suddenly, an air raid by fascist planes begins, which begin to bomb and conduct heavy machine-gun fire. A bomb falls on a bus and explodes it. A Doctor jumps out of the cabin of the locomotive and helps Maria Kizhakina get down. They run for cover. A bomb explodes nearby and a male doctor is thrown at Marusya Kizhakina. She lies under him and sees that the doctor is dead. MARIA KIZHAKINA starts screaming hysterically. Two orderlies run up and pull her out from under the doctor's corpse. The first orderly checks her pulse.

FIRST ORDERLY

She has a pulse, but it's weak.

SECOND ORDERLY

She's wounded in the shoulder.

FIRST ORDERLY

I see it. We need to get her to the hospital for surgery as soon as possible. We might have time.

The orderlies grab her by the legs and arms and run towards the ambulance.

MARIA KIZHAKINA is sitting on her bed watching the deceased patient being taken away. A Commissar in a white coat and a doctor approach her.

COMMISSAR

Are you Maria Kizhakina?

MARUSYA KIZHAKINA

(shaking her head vertically)

Yeah.

COMMISSIONER

The Soviet leadership expresses its great gratitude to you for helping to evacuate children from the besieged City of Lenin.

The Commissioner presents Maria Kizhakina with a diploma from the Volkhostroyevsky Railway School.

COMMISSIONER (continuing)

And we congratulate you on your successful exams and practical training.

MARUSYA KIZHAKINA

(shaking her head vertically)

Yeah.

COMMISSIONER

You will be paid a bonus, and you can go home.

MARIA KIZHAKINA takes a cracker out of her pocket, bites into it with a crunch, and chews.

MARUSYA KIZHAKINA

(chewing)

I don't want to go home. I can evacuate a couple more times.

DOCTOR

You have an appetite, which is a good sign, so you are recovering.

The train arrives at the station and stops on the platform. MARIA KIZHAKINA gets off the train, takes a deep breath, and looks around.

MARUSYA KIZHAKINA

Well, I'm home.

TATYA (FATHER) MARIA KIZHAKINA (off-screen)

(Shouts)

Morusya!

MARIA KIZHAKINA turns around and sees her father on a horse-drawn cart, standing near the platform. MARIA KIZHAKINA quickly walks towards him. They embrace, and MARIA KIZHAKINA puts down her suitcase and grabs her father's shoulder. Her father helps her get on the cart.

TATYA (FATHER) MARUSYA KIZHAKINA(continuing)

It hurts, let me help you. How did you get here, my dear?

(to the horse) But, my dear, let's go.

The cart трогается с места.

MARUSYA KIZHAKINA

(joyful)

With a breeze, Tatyenka. How did you know that I was traveling in this train?

TATYA (FATHER) MARUSYA KIZHAKINA

So you sent a telegram. It's not hard to guess. I've been staying at my brother's house for two nights. They're in mourning. They received a death notice, and my aunt, Aunt Klava, was taken to the hospital yesterday in serious condition. The doctors say there's little chance of recovery. Pneumonia on both sides. We'll go get your cousins. They'll stay with us until my mother recovers. Oh, how sorry I am for Anuphria.

MARUSYA KIZHAKINA

And you and Mother taperech have twelve of us and six of them?! Wow, eighteen souls! Plus, you and your mother. Dad, how are your mother, brothers, and sisters?

FATHER (FATHER) MARUSYA KIZHAKINA

But how?! They are still alive, Yashka and Alyosha have been sent to the front. Andreika is on the way, you're waiting for a summons.

MARUSYA KIZHAKINA

Dad, you shouldn't call taba. Are you the only breadwinner?!

FATHER (FATHER) MARUSYA KIZHAKINA

Does the fool know them? Vona, doschka, the Fascist is coming soon, so they'll call you.

MARUSYA KIZHAKINA

MON tabé sing.

FATHER (FATHER) MARUSYA KIZHAKINA

Don't talk nonsense, daughter, it's not a woman's business to fight.

MARUSYA KIZHAKINA

So who are you going to feed the crowd WHEN I take you away?

FATHER (FATHER) MARUSYA KIZHAKINA

We'll figure it out. But I forbid Taba to even think about it.

MARUSYA KIZHAKINA

Well, Dad?!

FATHER (FATHER) MARUSYA KIZHAKINA

(strictly)

So, Veruska, come on, hush, who's the goat?! Look at you, tyadian-alyan, the front is bumping. A babysitter is better for me. This is the Babysitter.

***

The facade of the yard and the hut of Marusya Kizhakina's parents. A cart with Marusya Kizhakina's father, Marusya Kizhakina, and six of her cousins, as well as their belongings, выезжает from the alley and approaches the gate. Kolka(16) and Seryozhka(15) open the gate from the inside of the yard, and they enter the yard.

KOLKA

(joyfully)

Daddy, Daddy and Nanny are coming!

SEREGI

(in a loud voice)

Nanny has arrived, Nanny!

MARUSYA KIZHAKINA

Have you missed the coins?

Ninka(14), Frosya(13), Nyurka(12), Grishka(10), Sashka(8), Valka(6), Alyonka(5), Volodka(3), and Andreyka(17) run out of the house. They all run towards Marusya Kizhakina. MARIA KIZHAKINA jumps off the cart, and everyone surrounds her. The cousins also get off the cart and greet the family. MARUSYA KIZHAKINA'S MOTHER comes out onto the porch with tears of joy in her eyes. MARIA KIZHAKINA walks towards her. She approaches and hugs her tightly.

MARIA KIZHAKINA (continuing)

(joyfully)

Hello, mother!

MATER MARUSYA KIZHAKINA

(gently)

Hello, daughter, how was your trip?

MARUSYA KIZHAKINA

(joyfully)

It was fine. I missed you a lot.

MARIA KIZHAKINA moves her sore shoulder.

MATER MARUSYA KIZHAKINA

(surprised)

What's wrong with your hand?

MARUSYA KIZHAKINA

I worked it with a shovel while throwing coal.

ANDREIKA

Did you kill many Nazis?

MARUSYA KIZHAKINA

What Nazis, you fool, I evacuated the children from Leningrad on a damned caterpillar.

ANDREIKA

Do they shoot at you?

MARUSYA KIZHAKINA

That's a scary word.

MARUSYA KIZHAKINA'S MOTHER

All right, enough of standing on the porch, come inside. And you, Andreyka, take Kolka and Serozhka and go to the barn to help, it's time, the cattle aren't fed, and clean the stables.

ANDREYKA

Yes, Mother. Kolka, Serozhka, did you hear what your mother said?

KOLKA

Yes.

THE EARRING

Let's go, Mother.

Everyone else enters the house in droves. The last one comes in is Marusya Kizhakina's father. Andreika, Kolka and Serezha get on the cart and drive towards the barn.

October 1941

MARIA KIZHAKINA enters the house, undresses and sits down at the table.

MARUSYA KIZHAKINA

All, all of them went to school. The whole class went. My classmate Natasha Stepanova became a teacher. She says that if it weren't for the Kyazhakinskaya gang, the school would have been closed and all the students would have been sent to a district boarding school.

MARUSYA KIZHAKINA'S MOTHER

Have some breakfast, dear, you must be hungry!

MARUSYA KIZHAKINA

Yes, I am, but what about you?

TATYA (FATHER) MARUSYA KIZHAKINA

And we've already had a bite to eat.

MARUSYA KIZHAKINA

No, that won't do. Sit down, too, because it's not customary for me to eat alone. You probably haven't had breakfast either. You're all saving money. Sit down and have some tea. I'll pour you some tea.

Aunt Maria Kizhakina and her mother sit down at the table. MARIA KIZHAKINA gets up from the table and takes care of her parents.

TATYA (FATHER) MARUSYA KIZHAKINA

Look, mother, what a caretaker you've become in your old age.

MOTHER MARUSYA KIZHAKINA

When I was young, we didn't have a school at all. I still can't read. And I can't write, either, I sign my name with a cross, just like your father.

TATYA (FATHER) MARUSYA KIZHAKINA

Don't lie, mother, I'm putting a circle and a dot in it.

MARUSYA KIZHAKINA

Didn't there used to be rural schools under the tsar?

MOTHER MARUSYA KIZHAKINA

Nope. Koki schools, everyone worked for the master day after day. And he said that some people were meant to study, and some were meant to work in the barn. That's what God had commanded. Ento, when the Kommunyaki came, they immediately put a school and a teacher from the district brought, they say, they say, literacy is all nuzhna and even in the sheds.

TYATYA (FATHER) MARUSYA KIZHAKINA

Oh, thank you, daughter, what will we do when you get married?

MARUSYA KIZHAKINA

It's too early, let the war end. All the men of the road were taken to the front anyway. And disabled people like the lame Theophanes are no good to me. Tell me, how did you learn your knowledge?

TATYA (FATHER) MARUSYA KIZHAKINA

You're a piece of wood, let the war end.

The front door opens and the lame village headman Feofan enters.

MARUSYA KIZHAKINA

Speak of the devil and he appears. What do you want?

FEOFAN

(impertinently)

Hello everyone! Oh?! and Morusenka is here.

FATHER-IN-LAW MARUSYA KIZHAKINA

(strictly)

Does Taba need a faq again?

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