Star Angels. The New World. Viktor Khorunzhy

don’t regret anything!”

      “That’s okay!” Katy gave a wave of her hand. “We’ll finish celebrating tomorrow if we can’t make everything today!”

      “Here’s another advice, and it’s rather for you, Katy. Don’t sacrifice your ‘today’ for your ‘tomorrow’. You never know what ‘tomorrow’ will be,” Michael added in a soft voice.

      “Right, dad: let’s go off the limit!” Alice swooped and jerked her sister’s hand. “Let’s hurry up!”

* * *

      Passing by Mrs. Thompson’s and Professor Marlow’s houses, the girls witnessed another morning duel of their owners.

      “Mr. Marlow,” Agatha spoke in a lecturing tone, never addressing his neighbour as ‘professor’ on purpose, “Your lawn is making a shame of our street!”

      Professor rearranged his glasses:

      “If you have only known, what a discovery I’m up to make, you wouldn’t have bothered me with such nonsenses as an untrimmed grass… I might change the course of the whole planet’s life! This includes yours, by the way!”

      Agatha Thompson snorted in anger:

      “I’m pretty much satisfied with my life… It’s your lawn that empoisons it!”

      Professor Marlow shook his shaggy head and went off inside his house, to his countless vials. Mrs. Thompson also went inside, to her fat cat Smoky.

      “I wonder who will eventually win this fight?” Alice asked cheerfully. “I suppose, this round has ended in a tie…”

      Katy gave a laugh as well:

      “I think these two would be bored to live without each other.”

      Thus, laughing and joking, the girls approached the river-walk, and then turned towards the centre.

* * *

      “Well, what do we start with?” Katy peered at Alice questioningly.

      Today was her junior sister’s day. And Katy would be obeying and indulging her at everything. Well, or nearly at everything…

      “We stick to our plan,” Alice told her in a bossy manner. “We start from cinema. I’ve wanted to watch that movie for a long time… I was invited to it by Eddie Hopes from our parallel class. But you’re a much more preferable company for me!”

      “Poor Eddie Hopes,” Katy thought. For some reason none of the boys hadn’t asked her out to the cinema yet. But she was flattered to know she was a better entertainment companion for Alice. So the high day twirled around. After cinema the girls went shopping. There were only a few shops in Flitton, and Alice jammed Katy through all of them, whether big or small. After shopping they went to an ice-cream parlour, which offered thirty kinds of that splendid dainty.

      The sisters were wandering along the street, licking the colourful ice knickers, biting off the edges of wafer cups. They felt good to be together, and they felt happy…

      Suddenly Alice rooted herself at the show-window of the weapons-shop.

      “Oh, boy!” she swished. “I’ve never seen this shop before… Look at that beauty! Let’s go inside!”

      Katy approached the window. Frightening razor-blade objects were lying on the shelf stand. Katy shrugged:

      “Now that’s indeed a beauty… As if in a cannibal’s basement…”

      “Well, Katy, darling! You’ve promised to be at my orders today,” Alice moaned and her elder sister gave up.

      They entered a cool, obscure room. Numerous cases contained hanging and lying knives, cutters and hoofs – from small Swiss ones, with sets of advanced accessories to about meter-long machetes, the mere sight of which could fill you with fear. A bit farther there were sabres, swords and court swords – both new and used ones. They were laid out under the glazing glass, shining gloomily with their steel and decorated handles.

      Alice started telling Katy everything she knew about knives. Comparing to her sister she was a real expert when it came to weapons.

      “Want to have a closer look at something?” the shop-assistant – a tall brawny guy in camouflage – appeared practically out of nowhere. “What is that you’re interested in?” he granted both girls with a dazzling smile.

      “No, sorry,” Katy got confused. “We’re just looking.”

      The shop-assistant was eyeing her closely.

      “Oh, can I have a look at this dagger?” Alice shifted her admiring glance from the handsome shop-assistant to a no less attractive narrow dagger with a long straight blade and ornate handle.

      The shop-assistant opened the case:

      “That’s dirk, a Scottish cutlass,” he explained, handing it over to Alice. “Carefully, it’s sharp!”

      Alice took the dirk with delight. The shop-assistant then turned to Katy.

      “Well, what would you like to see, young lady?”

      She shook her head.

      “I don’t know a thing about weapons…”

      The guy glared at her with a strange grin.

      “I don’t think that’s really so,” he uttered in a soft voice, as if talking to himself. Then he added. “I would like to show you something anyway…”

      He approached a short wooden stand in the far corner of the room, beckoning Katy to follow. She followed him, feeling strangely worried.

      A sword of wondrous beauty was resting on black velvet. It was about half a meter long, but the fact had not diminished its grandeur one bit. Hemispherical blade was made of greenish metal, its handle made of ivory. Massive and elegant at the same time, it held thousands of unbelievable stories of the battles won and lost, of the great warlords, of life and death…

      “That’s khopesh,” the guy said, “an Egyptiac short sword. It even has a name: Miracle… Can you see the metal’s colour? That’s copper.”

      Katy couldn’t turn her eyes away from the blade. Then she thrust her hand out and took the sword. The cool handle lied in her hand as if it had always been there. Katy made several quite confident kick-offs and lunges. She felt highly weird: as if all of a sudden the sword became a part of her. Perhaps, not her herself, but a part of her memory – the one that had been passed from generation to generation over thousands of years and was now secured somewhere in the farthest corner of her consciousness.

      Katy gave the sword back to the shop-assistant, though she felt no desire to part herself from khopesh. Her body quivered, as if some electrical impulses were running through it.

      The guy in camouflage pretended nothing had happened. As if skillful moves with an ancient sword, performed by a girl that couldn’t make head or tail of weapons, was something quite common and beneath notice. Without looking at Katy, the guy took khopesh and put it into its place.

      Being like in some kind of a magic dream, Katy proceeded to the exit past swords, sabres, daggers and court swords. She felt it – something had changed… She had somehow changed. Having been a slug to her only five minutes ago, the thing came to life now. The weapon had addressed her, now she knew it. Somehow Katy knew that if a rapier, a spear or a dagger had come to her hands, she would have managed either of those weapons as easily as she managed her pans and pots in the kitchen.

      It resembled some kind of delusion, but none the less… “Maybe, should I test it?!” she thought, feeling somehow anxious. She was sure that, as soon as she pointed to any weapon, the shop-assistant would instantly give it to her. What if these feelings were true?… Then her world would turn upside down and her rational and logical mind would fall…

      “Let’s do without adventures,” she grabbed hold of her own escaping argument and sped outside, where Alice had been already waiting for her.

      As in a fog, Katy approached her sister.

      “Where have you been? I’ve lost you,” she said cheerfully.