Trafika Europe 12 - French Bon-Bons

Laura Sintija ČCerniauskaitėe

shaman filled her with despair. At first she had hoped the boys would become friends – Gailius was full of good intentions – but Ilya didn’t pay any attention to him. When his step-brother approached him he would freeze, as if he couldn’t believe it was he who was being addressed. All offers of playing together would fly over his head like a gust of wind – wordlessly Ilya would carry on with the game he was playing or go out to find some more solitary entertainment. The games he played were the kind to be played alone – most of all, of course, if the sun was shining Ilya enjoyed looking out through the stained glass windows in the veranda. He would also spend a lot of time wandering through the nearby woods. At first, fearful of letting him go on his own, Isabel forced Gailius to go with him. Gailius came back later – as pale as a sheet – Ilya had disappeared! He came home just before dinner and from the wicked glint in his eyes it was clear his disappearance had been intentional. Liudas informed him he was grounded. Isabel prom- ised, though, not to interfere with his solitary ways any more. Liudas was the second most important person to Ilya after Isabel, but he watched him from afar, fearfully, as if Liudas was an unpredictable animal which you could only win the respect of with irreproachable behaviour. What behaviour was expected of him, Ilya had no idea. The large man would take charge in the evenings, his voice a reserved baritone that seemed to

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