G. Kuttner - “Cauldron of Trouble” (fantastic story)

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            G. Kuttner, "Cauldron of Trouble"
            -------------------------------------
                  (fantasy story)   
 


   We called Lemuel the hunchback because he has three legs. When
Lemuel grew up (just during the war between the north and south), he began to push
an extra leg inside your pants so no one can see it and waste your tongue
didn't scratch.  It's clear that he looked the best
there is a camel one, but Lemuel is not a fan of forcing things. It's good that
his arms and legs bend not only at the elbows and knees, but also
in two more joints, otherwise the tucked leg would forever be cramped by cramps
horns
   We haven't seen Lemuel for about sixty years. All Hogbens live in
Kentucky, but he is in the southern part of the mountains, and we are in the northern. And, it is necessary
I think there would have been no trouble if Lemuel hadn't been like that
careless.  At one time we already thought - the porridge is not brewing
as a joke.  We Hogbens have had our share of grief before.
after we moved to Piperville: people used to peep-
they follow us and eavesdrop, trying to find out why this is happening
districtthe dogs start barking. It's gotten to that point - it's completely impossible.
began to fly.  In the end, grandpa decided that it was time to go
fishing rods, move south to Lemuel.
   I hate traveling. The last time we sailed to
America, it turned me inside out. Flying is even better. But
Grandfather rules the family.
   He forced us to hire a truck to transport our belongings.
The hardest part was squeezing the baby in; he weighs a hundred kilos
forty, no more, but the tank is too healthy. But with grandpa
no hassle: they just tied him up in some old sackcloth and stuffed him
under the seat. I had to do all the work. Daddy got pumped
maize vodka and was completely stunned. Know he walked on his hands and the dog-
Nu bawled “the whole world is upside down.”
   My uncle didn’t want to go at all. He hid under the manger in the stable and
He said that he would sleep for about ten years. There we left him.
   - They are always jumping! - Uncle kept complaining. - And what do they need for a month?
you can't sit?  Five hundred years will not pass before they again - bang!
Shameless tramps, birds of passage! Well, go ahead, good riddance
horns!
   Well, we left.
   Lemuel, nicknamed the hunchback, is our relative. right in front
Since we settled in Kentucky, they say there was a hurray
gan.  Everyone had to roll up their sleeves and build a house, only Lemuel -
not at all. Horror is so useless. So he flew south. Everyone
a year or a year later he wakes up briefly and wethen we hear
his thoughts, but the rest of the time he is a log-log.
   We decided to live with him.
   No sooner said than done.
   We see Lemuel lives in an abandoned water mill in the mountains
near the city of Piperville. The mill is dilapidated, to be honest
keeps his word. Lemuel is sitting on the porch. Once upon a time he sat down in a chair
Well, but the chair under him had long since fallen apart. And he didn’t even think
wake up and fix it. We didn't wake up Lemuel. They dragged in the small
walked into the house, and grandpa and daddy started bringing in bottles of maize.
Little by little we settled down. At first it was not so convenient. Lemuel,
an unlucky soul, he doesn’t keep supplies in the house. He will wake up exactly
enough to hypnotize some raccoon in the forest, and,
you see, he’s already jumping, dumbfounded, ready to become dinner.
Lemuel eats raccoons because they have dexterous paws, right?
like hands.  Let them scratch me if this quitter Lem is hypnotized
does not force raccoons to light a fire and roast themselves. Until now
I don’t understand how he freshens them? There are people who are too lazy to do their own
simple, simple things.
   When he is thirsty, he sends rain on his head and
opens his mouth. It's a shame, that's all.
   True, none of us paid attention to Lemuel. Mommy
I was knocked off my feet by the chores around the house. Daddy, of course, ran away
with a jug of maize, and all the work fell on me. She was
a little.  The main problem is that you need electricity. Tounder-
keep the baby’s life in a tank, the current is leaving a hole, and the de-
Dulya eats electricity like a pig eats slop. If Lemuel had dried-
hurt the water in the dam, we wouldn't have any worries at all, but this
Lemuel!  He calmly let the stream dry. Now on track
a pathetic trickle flowed.
   Mommy helped me make one thing in the chicken coop, and
after that we had more than enough electricity.
   The troubles began when one fine day,
along the forest path, a bony little man stomped towards us and seemed to
I was stunned when I saw my mother doing laundry in the yard. I also went out
yard for curiosity's sake.
   “It was a great day,” said Mom. - Would you like a drink?
Gostenek?
   He said he didn't mind, I brought a full bucket,
the short man drank the maize, took a convulsive breath and said,
no, thank you, he doesn’t want to anymore, neither now, nor later, never in
life.  Said there are a lot of cheaper ways to get laid
your throat.
   -Have you arrived recently? - He asked.
   Mommy said that yes, recently, Lemuel is our relative. Co-
the little mouth looked at Lemuel - he was still sitting on the porch, closing
eyes - and said:
   - Do you think he's alive?
   “Of course,” Mom answered. - Full of life, as they say.
   “We thought he’d been dead for a long time,” said the short man. Therefore
they never levied a poll tax on him. I believe you
better for yourselfpay if you already moved here. How many of you are there?
here?
   “About six,” Mom answered.
   - Are they all adults?
   - Yes, here we have daddy, Sonk, baby...
   - How many years?
   - The baby is already four hundred years old, right, mommy? - I would stick my head in -
I was wrong, but mom slapped me on the head and told me to keep quiet. Co-
the little mouth pointed his finger at me and said that they were asking about me -
wat. Damn, I couldn't answer him. I lost count even under Krom-
Vele.  It ended up that the short guy decided to collect taxes from everyone,
except the baby.
   “Money doesn’t buy happiness,” he said, writing something in his book.
burn.  - The main thing is that in our city we must vote according to all the rules -
lam.  You can't argue with the electoral machine. In Piperville the boss
only one, and his name is Eli Gendi. It's twenty dollars.
   Mommy told me to get some money, and I went in search. At grandpa's
there was one single coin, which he said was
firstly, a denarius, and secondly, a talisman: grandpa added that
I whistled this coin from some Julius somewhere in Gaul. Daddy
I was drunk as hell. The kid had three dollars lying around. I searched
Lemuel's pockets, but only got two oriole eggs there.
   When I returned to my mother, she scratched the back of her head, but I
reassured:
   - We'll do it by morning, Mommy. You'll accept the gold, won't you, Mister?
   Mommy slapped me across the face.  Shorty looked somehow
strange and said that he would accept gold,why not. Then he
went through the forest and met a raccoon on the path, which was carrying an armful of prawns.
tev for kindling, - apparently, Lemuel was hungry. Shorty
increased his pace.
   I started looking for scrap metal to turn into gold.
lotto
   The next day we were put in prison.
   Of course, we knew everything in advance, but we couldn’t tell
bark.  We have one line: don’t turn up your nose and don’t attract
unnecessary attention. Grandpa punished us the same thing this time too.
We all went up to the attic (all except the baby and Lemuel, who
will never itch), and I stared into the corner, at the cobwebs, to
don't look at grandpa. The sight of him gives me chills.
   “Well, they, stinking lackeys, shouldn’t get dirty,” said the grandfather.
la.  - It’s better to go to prison, it’s safe there. The days of the Inquisition forever
passed.
   - Is it possible to hide that thing in the chicken coop?
   Mommy knocked me so that I wouldn’t interfere when the elders were talking.
vayut.
   “It won’t help,” she said. - This morning they came from
Piperville's spies saw her.
   -Have you dug a cellar under the house? - Grandpa asked. - That's fine-
but... Hide me and the baby there. - He again strayed into the old-fashioned
speech.  “It’s truly a shame to live for so many years and suddenly...
to fall into disgrace, to disgrace yourself in front of vile boobies. It would be appropriate
cut their throats. No, Sonk, it’s me for the red one
word. We will not attractattention. We already find
dem exit.
   I found a way out myself. We were all dragged out (except for my grandfather from a young age)
shom, by that time they were already sitting in the cellar). They took me to Piper-
villas and put him in jail. Lemuel will never wake up. I had to
pull his legs.
   As for daddy, he didn't sober up. He has his own signature but-
measures  He will drink maize, and then, as I understand it, the alcohol will
gives it to his blood and turns into sugar or something else.
Magic, nothing less.  Dad tried to explain to me, but before
It was hard for me. Alcohol goes into the stomach: how can it
fall from there into the blood and turn into sugar? Just stupidity. A
if not, then it’s witchcraft. But I’m getting to something else: daddy increases
says that he taught his friends, who are called enzymes (not
otherwise known as foreigners, judging by the surname), convert sugar into reverse
but into alcohol and therefore knows how to stay drunk as long as he likes
whatever.  But he still prefers fresh maize if
It will just turn up.  I can't stand witchcraft tricks, I hate
It's scary for them.
   They took me into a room where there were quite a few people, and ordered me
sit on a chair.  They started asking questions. I played dumb.
Said I didn't know anything.
   - This can’t be! - Someone said. - Not them themselves
built... Uncouth mountaineers! But, undoubtedly, they smoke
they have a uranium boiler!
   What nonsense.
   I'm everythingpretended to be a fool. A little later they took me to a ca-
measure.  It was infested with bedbugs. I released something like rays from my eyes
and killed all the bugs - surprisingly for the smelly little man with
light red sideburns, who slept on the top bunk: I didn’t even care
noticed how he woke up, and when he noticed, it was already too late.
   - In my lifetime, I’ve been in so many wonderful prisons,
- said the smelly little man, blinking often, - what
I’ve never seen any extraordinary cellmates, but never
I have never yet met a person in whom I suspected the devil. I
Armbrester, Ferret Armbrester, was imprisoned for vagrancy. And you in
What are they reproaching, friend?  The fact that he bought souls at inflated prices
us?
   I replied that I was glad to meet you. It was impossible not to admire
his speech. Just how passionate he was.
   “Mr. Armbrester,” I said, “I have no idea why.”
I'm sitting.  We were brought here out of the blue - daddy, mommy and
Lemuela. Lemuel, however, is still sleeping, and Daddy is drunk.
   “I also want to get drunk,” said Mr. Armb.
rester. -Then it wouldn’t surprise me that you hung in the air between
floor and ceiling.
   I was embarrassed. It’s unlikely that anyone wants to be caught doing something like this.
what matters. This happened to me out of absent-mindedness, but I felt...
I felt like a total idiot. I had to apologize.
   “Nothing,” said Mr. Armbrester, rolling over onto his stomach.
andscratching his sideburns. - I've been waiting for this for a long time. I lived my life in general and
overall fun. And this way to go crazy is no worse than any other -
th. So why did you say you were arrested?
   “They said that we have a uranium boiler,” I answered. Spo-
Rome, we don't have that. Cast iron, I know it’s there, there’s water in it myself
boiled. But I never put uranium on fire.
   “If I had bet, I would have remembered it,” he responded. - Most likely,
There is some kind of political machination here. There are elections in a week. on them
the reform party is going to speak, and old man Gandy wants
crush her before she takes the first step.
   “Well, it’s time to go home,” I said.
   -Where do you live?
   I explained it to him, and he thought about it.
   - Interesting.  On the river, then? That is, on the stream? On Bears
what?
   “It’s not even a stream,” I clarified.
   Mr. Armbrester laughed.
   - Gendy called it the River of the Great Bear, before
Gendi built a dam near you. There is no water in that stream anymore
half a century, but about ten years ago old man Gandy received an appropriation
Only God knows how much. The dam was built only by
thanks to the fact that the stream was called a river.
   - Why did he need this? - I asked.
   - Do you know how much easy money you can get out of a building?
dams?  But you can’t argue against Gandy, in my opinion. If a person
own newspaper, he dictates the terms. Wow! Someone's here
coming.
   A man came in with keys andtook Mr. Armbrester away. Later
After a few more hours, someone else came and released me. Took away
into another room, very brightly lit. Mr. Armbres was there
ter, there was mommy and daddy and Lemuel and some other hefty kids -
the one with revolvers. There was also a skinny, dry guy with a bald skull.
and snake eyes.  Everyone danced to his tune and called him names
Mr Gandy.
   “The boy is an ordinary village bumpkin,” said Mr.
ter Armbrester when I entered. - If he ended up in some kind of trouble -
thorium, then by chance.
   They hit him in the neck and told him to shut up. It closed. Mister Gandy
sat on the sidelines and nodded with a rather mean look. He had
evil eye
   “Listen, boy,” he told me. -Who are you protecting-
are you talking?  Who made the uranium boiler in your barn? Tell the truth
or you'll be in trouble.
   I just looked at him, so much so that someone hit me
on top of the head. Nonsense. A blow to the Hogben's skull won't kill him. Pom-
Nu, our enemies Adams grabbed me and let's hit me on the head,
until they were exhausted - they didn’t even make a peep when I threw them
into the tank.
   Mr. Armbrester spoke.
   “That’s it, Mr. Gandy,” he said. - I understand it will be
It will be a big sensation if you find out who made the uranium boiler, but
after all, you will be re-elected anyway. Or maybe it's not at all
uranium boiler.
   “I know who made it,” said Mr. Gandy. -Scientists
Negatives.  Or fugitive Nazi war criminals. And I intend them
find!
   “Wow,” said Mr. Armbrester. - I understand your idea. Such
the sensation will excite the whole country, won't it? You will be able to set
his candidacy for governor, or for the senate, or...
in general, dictate any conditions.
   - What did this boy tell you? - asked Mr. Gandy. But
Mr. Armbrester assured him that I had said no such thing.
   Then they began to beat Lemuel.
   This activity is tedious. No one can wake Lemuel,
if he was already exhausted and he decided to take a nap, and so exhausted
I've never seen anyone. After some time he was considered dead
in the end.  Yes, he really is as good as a dead man: he is so lazy,
that he doesn’t even breathe if he’s fast asleep.
   Daddy worked wonders with his enzyme buddies, he was
drunker than drunk. They tried to whip him, but it kind of tickled him...
ki.  Every time they lowered a piece of hose onto him, Dad was stupid
chuckled. I felt ashamed.
   No one tried to whip Mommy. When someone knocked
ran close enough to her to hit, he immediately turned white
like a sheet and backed away, covered in sweat, trembling violently. One
our friend the producer once said that mommy knows how to perform
generate a directed beam of infrasound waves. The producer lied.
She just makes a sound that no one can hear and sends it
wherever he wants.Oh, these words are so jarring to me! But the matter is simple,
it's like beating a squirrel. I can do that myself.
   Mr. Gandy ordered us to be brought back, he said,
He'll talk to us again. So Lemuel was dragged out, and we went our separate ways.
cameras themselves. Mr. Armbrester still has a lump on his head.
a larva the size of a chicken egg. He lay down on the bed with a groan, and I sat
in the corner, looking at his head and seeming to shoot light from
eyes, but no one could see this light. In fact, ta-
what a world.. Eh, there’s not enough education. In general, it doesn't help
worse than a lotion. A little later, a bump on Mr. Armbres's head
The tera disappeared and he stopped moaning.
   “You’re in trouble, Sonk,” he said (by then I
told him my name). - Gandy has big plans now. And he
completely mesmerized the people of Piperville. But he needs
more to hypnotize an entire state or even the entire country. He wants
become a national figure. Suitable news in gas-
tah can arrange it. By the way, she guarantees him re-election
earlier that week, although he does not need guarantees. All
the town is in his pocket. Do you really have a uranium boiler?
   I just looked at him.
   “Gandy seems confident,” he continued. - Sent nes-
how many physicists, and they said that this is clearly uranium-235 with graphite
vy moderators.  Sonk, I heard their conversation. For your own
benefitsstop sheltering others. They will use the drug of truth on you
- sodium pentathol or scopolamine.
   “You need to sleep,” I said, because I heard in my head
Grandpa's call to the brain. I closed my eyes and began to listen. It was
It’s not easy: Dad kept interjecting.
   “Have a drink,” dad suggested cheerfully, only without
words, you understand.
   “May you die, you branded louse,” Grandpa said completely
not so much fun. - Get your clumsy brain out of here. Sonk!
   “Yes, grandpa,” I said mentally.
   We need to make a plan...
   Daddy repeated:
   - Have a drink, Sonk.
   “Shut up, daddy,” I replied. - Have at least a little respect -
tion to elders. I'm talking about grandpa. And anyway, how can I miss
a glass? You are far away, in another cell.
   “I have a personal pipeline,” said dad. - I can do it
you... What is it called... Transfusion. Teleportation, that's it
what. I'm just short-circuiting the space between your blood
nasal system and mine, and then I pump alcohol from my
veins in yours. Look, it's done like this.
   He showed me how - it was like he painted a picture in my brain.
Really easy. That is, easy for Hogben.
   I went crazy.
   “Daddy,” I say, “you’re a rotten stump, don’t force your
loving son to lose more respect for you than nature requires
in. I know you haven’t read books in a long time. You just choose the length
new words insomeone's brain.
   “Let me have a drink,” Dad wouldn’t let up, and suddenly he started screaming.
I heard my grandfather chuckle.
   - Stealing wisdom from people's minds, huh? - Grandpa said. - This is
I can do it too. Now I am instantly in my circulatory system -
conducted a culture of the migraine pathogen and teleported it to you in
brain, pot-bellied wretch! There is no plague on the monster! Listen to me, Sonk.
In the near future, your insignificant parent will not be a hindrance to us.
   “Yes, grandpa,” I say. -Are you in shape?
   - Yes.
   - And the baby?
   - Same.  But you must act. It's your job, Sonk. All
the trouble is... I keep forgetting the word... In that uranium cauldron.
   “So it’s still him,” I said.
   - Who would have thought that even one soul in the world could recognize him?
what?  My ancestor taught me how to make such cauldrons; they are su-
existed even in his time. Truly thanks to them we Hogbens
became mutants. Lord, it is your will, now I myself must be robbed
borrow someone else's brain to clarify. In the city where you are
Look, Sonk, there are people who know the words I need... That’s it...
godi.
   He rummaged through the brains of several people. Then he continued:
   - During the life of my ancestor, people learned to split the atom.
Appeared... Hm... Secondary radiation. She influenced
genes and chromosomes of some men and women... We have Hogbenov,
dominant mutation. That's why we are mutants.
   - Roger Bacon said the same thingexactly? - I remembered.
   - So.  But he was friendly and remained silent. If only in those days
people found out about our power, we would have been burned at the stake. Even
It's not safe to open today.  In the end... You know
what will happen in the end, Sonk.
   “Yes, grandpa,” I confirmed, because in fact
knew.
   - This is where the catch comes in. Apparently people have split again
atom.  That is why they recognized the uranium boiler. It must be destroyed
live; it should not be seen by people. But we need energy.
Not much, but still. The easiest way to get it is from a uranium boiler,
but now it cannot be used. Sonk, here's what to do
so that the baby and I have enough energy.
   He explained to me what needed to be done.
   Then I went ahead and did it.
   As soon as I squint my eyes, I begin to see interesting car-
teens.  Take the bars on the windows. It splits into tiny ones
pieces, and all the pieces are running back and forth like crazy. I heard
these are atoms. How cheerful they are - they fuss as if they are in a hurry
for Sunday's sermon.  Of course, they are easy to juggle,
like balls. If you look at them closely, you will release something...
some of the eyes - they will crowd together, and this is ridiculous to the point of impossibility.  By
the first time I made a mistake and accidentally turned the iron bars into gold
Lots. I probably missed an atom. But after that I learned and
turned the rods into nothing. Climbed out, and thenback
turned them into iron. First I made sure that Mr. Armb-
The rester is sleeping. In general, it's a breeze.
   We were placed on the seventh floor of a large building - half
city hall, half prison. It was at night, no one could notice me
till. I flew away. Once an owl darted past me - I thought I
I can’t see in the dark, but I spat at it. I got it, by the way.
   I dealt with the uranium cauldron. There were a lot of guards around him
with lanterns, but I hung in the sky, where the sentries could not reach,
and got down to business. To begin with, I heated up the boiler so that the pieces that
which Mr. Armbrester called graphite retarders, turning
faded into nothingness, disappeared. After this it was possible to safely
to take... Uranium-235, so what? That's what I did, I turned it into
lead  At the most fragile. So fragile that it was blown away by the wind.
Soon there was nothing left.
   Then I flew up the stream. There was a pathetic stream of water in it.
ka, and grandpa explained that much more was needed. I flew to the ver-
mountain tires, but I didn’t find anything suitable there either. And grandpa
talked to me. He said the baby was crying. It was necessary, right, first
You need to find a source of energy, and only then destroy the uranium cauldron.
   There is only one thing left - to send rain.
   You can send rain in different ways, but I decided to just freeze
cloud. I had to go down to the ground and quickly make an appa-
ratik, and then fly high up where there are clouds; killed timeok, but pretty soon a storm broke out and the rain poured down. But
the water did not flow down the stream. I searched and searched and found a place
where the bottom of the stream fell out. Apparently, under the riverbed there were underground
new caves.  I quickly caulked the holes. Is it any wonder
that there has been no water in the stream for so many years, about which we can talk
seriously? I've got it all sorted out.
   But grandpa needed a constant source, so let me turn
I rummaged around until I found large springs. I opened them. To that-
For a long time the rain was pouring down like buckets. I stopped by to see grandpa.
   The sentries went home - presumably, their baby is finished
I got upset when I started crying. According to grandpa, they all shut up
They scratched their ears with their fingers and ran away screaming. I, as ordered
grandpa, inspected and repaired the water wheel here and there. Repair there
was small.  A hundred years ago, things were made conscientiously, and even wood
managed to become stained. I admired the wheel, but it kept spinning
faster - after all, the water in the stream was rising... Why am I in the stream! He
became a river.
   But grandpa said, if only I could see the Appian Way when
it was laid.
   I arranged for him and the baby with all the comforts, then flew to
back to Piperville. Dawn was approaching, and I didn’t want to be
tagged. On the way back he spat at the pigeon.
   There was a commotion at the mayor's office. It turns out that mommy, daddy and
Lemuel. I knew how it happened. Mommy has a conversation in her mind
rila withme, she told me to go to the corner cell, it was more spacious there. B
All of us gathered in that cell. Only invisible ones.
   Yes, I almost forgot: I also became invisible after that
as he made his way into his cell, he saw that Mr. Armbrester was still
still sleeping, and noticed the commotion.
   “Grandpa let me know what was going on,” said Mommy. - I
I decided that I shouldn’t get in the way just yet. Heavy rain
yes?
   “Rest assured,” I replied. - Why is everyone so worried?
   “They can’t understand what happened to us,” Mom explained.
As soon as the noise subsides, we will return home. I hope you got it all sorted out
dil?
   - I did everything as grandpa ordered... - I started, and suddenly
Screams were heard from the corridor. A seasoned fat man rolled into the cell
raccoon with an armful of twigs. He walked straight, straight until he ran into
grate.  Then he sat down and began to lay out the rods to kindle
fire.  He looked stunned, so I guessed that Le-
muel raccoon hypnotized.
   A crowd gathered outside the cell door. Of course, she doesn’t care about us
I saw it, but I was staring at the seasoned raccoon. I also stared because
that I still can’t figure out how Lemuel skins raccoons
skin  I've seen them make fire before (Lemuel can
force them), but for some reason I’ve never been around when raccoons
stripped naked - they flayed themselves. I wish I could do this
watch.
   But before the raccoon could start, one of the policemenput it in your bag
and carried it away; so I never found out the secret. By then it was dawn. From
Yes, there was a continuous roar, and once I discerned a familiar
voice.
   “Mommy,” I say, “it looks like Mr. Armbrester.” I'll go
I'll see what they do with the poor fellow.
   “It’s time for us to go home,” Mom insisted. - We need to let grandpa out
and baby. You say the water wheel is turning?
   “Yes, mommy,” I say. - Now there is plenty of electricity.
   She groped in the air, found her daddy and hit him.
   - Wake up!
   “Have a drink,” Dad started again. But she crushed him
kala and announced that we were going home. But there’s no way to wake up Lemuel -
then I can’t. In the end, Mommy and Daddy took Lemuel for
arms and legs and flew out of the window with him (I scattered the bars into the air)
spirit so that they get through). It kept raining, but mommy said that
they are not sugar, and let me follow, otherwise they will pour me
below the back.
   “Okay, mommy,” I assented, but in fact I didn’t think
fly. I stayed to find out what they were doing with Mr. Armbrester.
   He was kept in the same brightly lit room. At the window, with the most
Mr. Gandy stood with a mean face, and Mr. Armbrester was thrown
sleeve, it looked like they were going to insert a glass needle. Well, wait a minute!
I immediately became visible.
   “I don’t recommend it,” I said.
   - Yes, this is the younger Hogben! - Someone howled. - Grab him!
   I was grabbed.  I allowed it. Very soon I was sitting onchair
with his sleeve rolled up, and Mr. Gandy grinned at me like a wolf.
   “Treat him with the drug of truth,” he said. - And the tramp
no need to question now.
   Mr. Armbrester, looking somewhat downtrodden, kept repeating:
   - I don’t know where Sonk went! If I had known, I wouldn’t have said...
   They hit him in the neck.  Mr. Gandy moved his face almost to
my nose.
   “Now we will find out the whole truth about the uranium boiler,” announced
he. - One injection and you'll give it all away. It's clear?
   They stuck a needle into my arm and injected me with medicine. It's ticklish
lo.
   Then they started asking questions.  I said I don't know anything
I know.  Mr. Gandy ordered another injection for me. Sde-
lali.
   I became completely unbearable from the tickling.
   Then someone ran into the room - and there was a scream.
   - The dam has broken!  - Yells. - Gendy-dam! In the southern valley
Half the farms are flooded!
   Mr. Gandy backed away and screamed:
   -Are you crazy? Can't be! There are already a hundred in Ursa Major
no water for years!
   Then everyone huddled together and started whispering. Something about
samples. And a crowd had already gathered below.
   “You must calm them down,” someone said to Mr. Gandy. They
seething with indignation. The crops are ruined...
   “I’ll calm them down,” Mr. Gandy assured. - No evidence -
kih. Oh, just a week before the elections!
   He ran out of the room, and the others rushed after him. I got up from
stool and scratched. The medicine they drugged me with is wilditching
lo under the skin. I got angry at Mr. Gandy.
   - Alive!  - Mr. Armbrester said. - Let's get out of here.
Now is the time.
   We escaped through the side entrance. It was easy. We came to
the front door, and there are a lot of people getting wet in the rain. On the steps
Mr. Gandy is standing in court, still with the same mean look, face to face
with a tall, broad-shouldered guy waving a piece of stone.
   “Each dam has its own limit of strength,” explained Mr. Gen.
di, but the tall guy roared and swung a stone over his head
howl.
   - I know where the concrete is good and where the concrete is bad! - He thundered.
It's all sand here! This dam can't hold even a gallon of water!
   Mr. Gandy shook his head.
   - Outrageous!  -  Speaks. - I am no less shocked than you.
Of course, we completely trusted the contractors. If construction
Edgex company used substandard materials, we
I'll take it to court.
   At that moment I was so tired of itching that I decided to take...
ry. I did just that.
   The broad-shouldered guy took a step back and pointed his finger at Mr.
Gandy.
   “That’s it,” he says. - There are rumors that the construction company
Edgex Company belongs to you. This is true?
   Mr. Gandy opened his mouth and closed it again. He's barely noticeable
shuddered.
   “Yes,” he says, “I am its owner.”
   You should have heard the scream of the crowd.
   The broad-shouldered guy gasped.
   - Did you confess? Maybe you will confess andthat they knew that
The dam is no good, huh? How much did you make from construction?
ve?
   “Eleven thousand dollars,” answered Mr. Gandy. - This is
net profit, after I paid the share to the sheriff, Alderman
and...
   But then the crowd moved up the steps and Mr. Gandy
became audible.
   “Yes, yes,” said Mr. Armbrester. - A rare sight. You
Do you understand what this means, Sonk? Gandy has gone crazy. Not otherwise. But
the reform party will win the elections, it will drive out the scammers, and
It will be a pleasant life for me again in Piperville. Not yet
Let's go south. Oddly enough, I found money in my pocket.
Shall we go have a drink, Sonk?
   “No, thanks,” I replied. - Mommy will be angry; she's
doesn't know where I went. And there will be no more troubles, mis-
ter Armbrester?
   “Eventually there will be someday,” he said, “but very
not soon.  Look, old Gandy is being taken to prison! Rather
of all, they want to protect them from an angry crowd. This should be celebrated
Come on, Sonk. You haven't changed your mind... Sonk! Where are you?
   But I became invisible.
   Well, that's it. There was no more itching under my skin. I flew away
home and helped set up a hydroelectric power station on a water wheel. Co
Over time, the flood subsided, but since then the river has been full of water.
a river of water, because at its source I arranged everything as it should. And
We lived quietly and calmly, as we love.  For us, such a life is safe
more dangerous.Grandpa said the flood was legitimate. Reminded him
the one his grandfather talked about. It turns out that when
grandpa's life there were uranium boilers and much more, but
very soon all this went out of control and a real
flood Grandpa's grandpa had to run away without looking back. From that day on
and until now no one has heard of his homeland; need to understand
Mother, everyone drowned in Atlantis. However, just think, the importance
some foreigners.
   Mr. Gandy was sent to prison. They never found out what had happened
forced him to confess everything; maybe his conscience spoke to him. Not
I think it's because of me. Not likely. And yet...
   Remember that trick that dad showed me - as short as possible...
take space and pump corn from his blood into mine? Yes
Well, I’m tired of the itching under the skin, where you can’t really scratch it, and I
I did this trick myself. From the injected medicine, as if it
no name, I was overcome by itching. I curved space a little
and pumped this dirty trick into Mr. Gandy's blood as he stood
on the steps of the court. My itching went away immediately, but Mr. Gen-
di, he apparently started strong. That's right for a scoundrel!
   I wonder if it was because he was itching that he told the whole truth?