Father Mavie

Chapter 419 Coal Mine, Valery (please subscribe!!!)
In late September, the Pechora coal mine in the Ural Mountains.

In the cold and sparse coniferous forest, a gray fluffy hare pricked up its ears vigilantly, stood upright with its feet upright, and held a blade of grass in its mouth. Its small red eyes reflected the shadow of a bush.

The air was silent, the gray hare suddenly turned around and ran wildly, the bushes rattled, two hounds sprang out from it, caught up with the hare like lightning, and bit off its neck.

The hounds did not eat the hare's carcass, but took the prey they caught, got into the bushes, and walked through the coniferous forest. After a while, they came to a huge coal mining area, their cheeks were blackened by carbon ash The workers, wearing tin hats and holding a piece of brass in their mouths, with a lighted candle at the end of the copper piece, went deep into the mine like this, carrying pieces of coal on the ground, and lived in the dark and narrow mine all year round. Working inside made their bodies hunched up.

Two hounds ran to the wooden house outside the mining area with hares in their mouths, and put the prey in front of a middle-aged man with gray hair and a pipe, and sat on the ground, panting with his tongue out.

"Caught prey again? It's amazing."

The pale, wrinkled middle-aged man took out two pieces of jerky and threw them to the hounds. He bent down to pick up the hare on the ground, his left arm sleeve was swaying in the wind, and there was nothing there.

The middle-aged man stared at the hare in his hand, and sucked on his pipe, his eyes full of worry.

His name is Valery Gorbachev. He has worked in the Pechora coal mine for 40 years. He is 50 years old this year. His father and grandfather are coal miners. Gorbachev means 'bend down "Humpback", Valery, whose family has been coal miners for three generations, has been nicknamed "Humpback" since childhood, which became their surname.

Valery means to be strong, his father hoped that he would become strong, able to carry more coal, and be appreciated by the mine owner, and it was indeed the case, since Valery was very strong since he was a child, he ate a lot and worked hard. The owner of the mine appreciates him very much, but a few years ago, a coal mine accident caused him to lose his left arm. Since then, Valery has stopped working in the mine.

Perhaps because of pity for him, or because of the "friendship" that his grandfather, father and son all worked in the mine, the owner of the mine did not drive him away, but instead arranged him a night watch job.

In order to resolve the loneliness and guard against wild beasts that may appear in the forest at any time, Valery raised two hounds, one named Kafka and the other named Kafka. Together they are Kafka, which means good luck. Wangcai', 'Laifu'.

The hounds caught the prey, as the owner, Valery should be happy, and he was really happy at first, but as the two hounds gradually developed from one prey a day to three, four or even more a day.
Valery couldn't be happier.

The range of activities of the hounds is limited, and more and more prey are caught, indicating that there are more living creatures around. The Pechora coal mine is located at the edge of the forest, and there are not many wild animals at all on weekdays. The current strange situation, only It can explain that some kind of 'change' has taken place in the depths of the forest.

This 'change' started after the earthquake two months ago.

Valery didn't know what happened in the forest, and he didn't dare to know, so he could only warn the off-duty coal miners not to stop by to pick wild fruits in the forest, but the workers said he was just worrying, and didn't listen at all.

Gollum.
Gollum.
A carriage drove up from a distance, and Valery recognized at a glance that it was the mine owner's carriage, and he quickly opened the bar. When the carriage passed by, a slightly chubby, gold-clad dog peeped out of the window. In the palm of the ring, a newspaper was handed over.

Valery quickly took the newspaper and watched the carriage go away. Ever since the Church of Truth defeated the Church of Wisdom, the owner of the mine will inspect the mine regularly. Every time he comes to inspect, the owner of the mine will bring a copy to Valery The latest newspaper, Valery has always been grateful, so when the priest of the church came to investigate what the mine owner had done.
He tried his best to speak good words, boasting that the owner of the mine was as warm as the sun in the sky.

However, there are still many workers complaining about the fact that the mine owner squeezed and exploited them. Since the mine owner is not an aristocrat, nor an old bureaucrat, when the land reform was vigorously carried out outside, the mine area was calm, or the flames had not yet burned here. .

In short, the owner of the mine seems to have heard some rumors and initially wanted to sell the mine, but no one took over, so he began to inspect the mine regularly, and formed an inspection team to test the structure of the mine. All were rebuilt and reinforced, and even the working hours of the workers were reduced to 8 hours, with one day off every week. The food has also improved, and you can often eat meat.

The workers were happy, the mine owner was also happy, and Valery should be happy too, but he just couldn't be happy, his heart was covered with a haze, and he was watching the forest all day, afraid that a big black bear would run out of it.

Fortunately, it is daytime now, and there is still some time before the sun goes down. The workers are all here, and they are not afraid of black bears.

Valery took the newspaper, sat on the stump used for chopping firewood in front of the wooden house, refilled the pipe with tobacco, and began to read the newspaper. When he was a child, he went to church Sunday schools for a few days, although the teachers who taught them were harsh and bitter. , Punish them physically for a little carelessness, but at least teach them something.

Thinking back now, Valery is still very grateful to that teacher. I can't remember the pain at that time, but I still haven't forgotten the knowledge I learned.

Good or bad who can tell?
The owner of the mine sent the latest issue of Pravda. Although Pravda is not the best-selling newspaper in the Romanov Kingdom, its sales volume is not as good as the "Daily Interesting News" invested and founded by the former King Paul I. However, Pravda is currently in the Romanov Kingdom. The most authoritative newspaper in the Kingdom, many things can be verified on it, and it will not listen to the wind and rain like other newspapers, and report some false news for the sake of sales.

"Huh?" Valery read the list of herbs and supernatural creatures in the newspaper, and frowned. Thinking of the increasing number of animals outside the forest these days, he suspected that some supernatural creatures might have awakened deep in the forest.

The newspaper also said that if traces of herbs and supernatural creatures are found, please report to the local church and monastery immediately. Valery took a puff of a cigarette and hesitated for a while.

He wanted to report the situation to the church in the city, but he was afraid that there would be no extraordinary creatures in the forest, which would cause people to make a wasteful trip.
Smoking cigarettes, the sun gradually set. When dusk came, the workers got out of the mine, put down the tools in their hands, and prepared to return to the workshop to rest.

The coal mines are outside the city, some distance away from the nearest city. Except for necessary situations, the workers rarely go to the city. They usually live in the mines. When necessary, they will take the passing carriages into the city.

Valery caught a worker who was planning to go to the city and told what he had discovered, hoping that the worker would help pass it on to the church.
"I know, I know, old Valery, you must be thinking too much. Winter is coming soon. The animals must be looking for food. It is normal for the number to increase!"

As the worker spoke, he left the coal mine field. Reporting the situation to the church was just a matter of effort, and it was not troublesome.

The night was getting darker. After dinner, except for a few workers who were still shoveling coal, the other workers were playing cards and drinking in the workshop. The Pechora coal mine is located at the northernmost end of the Ural Mountains, and has entered the extreme north. The soil layer, when you are lucky, you can still see the aurora.

In the wooden house at the gate of the mine, Valery drank the last sip of beet soup and ate the hard bread, wiped his mouth casually, picked up the shotgun leaning against the corner, checked the bullets, and after confirming that they were correct, he yelled .

"Kafka, go!"

The two hounds squatting in front of the stove raised their heads, skillfully picked up the kerosene lamp on the table, and followed Valery out of the wooden house. As a night watchman, Valery not only had to guard the gate, but also regularly patrolled the mine field, so as not to There are thieves stealing coal in the middle of the night.

Kaf followed Valery with a kerosene lamp in his mouth, while Kafka walked in front, like a loyal guard, guarding his master every step of the way. The cold wind rustled in the forest at night, and he couldn't see his fingers. Only Valery was like this. Workers who have worked in the mines all year round can adapt to the dark.

Walking on the edge of the mine, while checking the condition of the fence, Valery was careful not to let himself fall. His feet were the cliff of the mine, and if he slipped, he would surely die.

After looking around, the fence was intact and there was nothing wrong with the surroundings. Valery whistled and was about to return to the wooden house on the same road. Suddenly, Fuka, who was walking in the front, raised his head vigilantly and faced the darkness outside the fence. yelled.

(End of this chapter)