Overwhelmed by what she had learned last night, Nushka without much hesitation headed for the habitat of her relatives. She had a fever. It was dark inside the great cavity made of vines and plant roots, and the space was illuminated by a small fire in the middle.
- What is that rag you’re wearing? – a stern female voice rang out slowly from the darkness – and why you’re so dazed?
The owner of the voice emerged from the darkness. It was a strange creature with caricatured signs of aging in a woman’s body – long, pendulous breasts and wrinkled, pale skin. Thin gray hairs covered her whole body.
- Mamuna, I had to get dressed because I went to Baba Yaga
Ignoring the expression of anger on her mother’s face, Nushka slowly approached the place where one of her sisters was dancing with a lured man. He was sweating all over, panting as if he was about to die, and yet there was a mindless smile on his face and his eyes seemed to be obscured by mist. The boginka was holding his hands and laughing happily.
When he got closer to Nuszka in a dance leap, she grabbed him firmly by the shoulders, tearing him out of the boginka’s embrace, and slapped him in the face. The man came to his senses and his smile slowly turned into an expression of utter surprise.
- Run – she whispered to him
With the last of his strength, the man ran out of the cavity, and the speechless relatives of Nushka stared at her.
- Well well well – the old woman’s voice took on a poisonous tone – share with us what you learned from her.
