Page 102 - СКАЗКИ СНЕЖНОГО ЭЛЬФА

‘We’ll need them very soon,’ the Queen replied quickly and
vanished in a frosty cloud.
‘There now, never would say ‘Good-bye’. Frost looked upset.
‘Well, Snow Maiden, time is getting short, it is pre-dawn.’
Frost picked Snowyflake up and a few moments later they
landed at the gate of the parents’ house.
‘Oh, grandpa, what do I say to my dad? He must’ve lost me.’
‘Don’t worry, he came back late at night and was sure you
were sleeping.’
Up the steps, Snowyflake quietly opened the door and came
in. Father sat at the table sleeping, his head lowed on his hands.
The girl came up to mum’s bed and put the cone branch at the
head. The cone white crystals started showering right on mum’s
face. When touching it, they flashed blue and disappeared. Step
by step mum’s face became smooth and bright, her breath blew
lightly and she nearly smiled.
‘Mummy,’ Snowyflake called in a low voice.
The woman’s eyelids fluttered and she opened her eyes.
‘Daughter, dear, what’s up, are you sick?’ She quickly touched
Snowyflake’s forehead. ‘You feel cold, are you freezing? We
need to have the fire burning and knead the dough for pies. It’s
Christmas.’
Mum got up and fussed about the house. Father woke up
and stared at his wife, unable to believe his eyes. It was a great
joy. Then guests came and couldn’t help wondering at that mir-
acle cure.
The next day Father Frost came over. Snowyflake had told
her parents what’d happened to her and asked them to allow
her to be a disciple of the magician. The parents teared up a lit-
tle but did let her go, so long as she promised to come on short
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