style="font-size:15px;"> – Not easy, not easy! – Peach the cat drawled from somewhere above, having, as always, sensed the ringing, but not understanding what it was about.
– And I… – the Ghost Engine hesitated.
– We need help,” the cat Blackie interrupted him. – We can’t do it alone. – And you can no longer leave. The process has started and if the fire goes out, the cat pointed to the fire. – Then we won’t be able to do anything.
– I’ll help, – the Ghost Engine offered sincerely. – What should be done.
Pushing the cat and Baba Yaga aside, the Fox stepped forward. She moved so gracefully and spoke so slowly that the engine was even confused.
– Here, very close, – said the Fox. – There is an old depot. As old as the steam locomotives that live in the swamp. And now steam locomotives have settled in this very depot. There are several of them, but the main and most important among them is the Chu-Chukhin steam locomotive. He is such an important and significant locomotive that his help alone would be enough for us. – Fox came almost close to the Ghost Engine. – If only he were called here alone, and if he agreed to help the other locomotives, then we would help everyone in an instant!
– I’ll call him! – the Ghost Engine perked up. – I’ll find him right away and tell him…
– Oh, dear! – Baba Yaga stopped him. – You shouldn’t be in such a hurry. – You don’t know at all what this Chu-Chukhin is. This is not exactly a simple locomotive. This is a locomotive that may or may not want to help. Therefore, you need to communicate with him carefully. You need to say it in such a way that he himself wants to help, and so that he considers that this is only his merit.
– That’s why you find him, little engine,” continued the cat Chernysh. – Find it and tell him the following. Yes, remember everything word for word and don’t say anything else, but answer all questions: “You’ll see everything on the spot!” You will tell him the following: “I escaped alone from the Swamp of Old Locomotives. He broke out to tell us that we needed help. We have heard about you in the swamp and know that only you can help us! Help us. You just need to do it now, because soon this opportunity will disappear!”
– Do you remember everything? – Baba Yaga asked.
– All! – the Ghost Steam Locomotive nodded and immediately set off.
He knew approximately where the depot was located. All locomotives in the swamp, no matter what they say about them, at least somehow navigate what is happening around them. And we also heard that Baba Yaga lives on the outskirts of the swamp. But for someone to want to help them and rescue them from the swamp – this was the first time, and this probably discouraged the Ghost Engine. And he rushed to Chu-Chukhin to ask him for help, which, if he had thought carefully, the inhabitants of the Swamp of Old Steam Locomotives might not have needed. They had been in this swamp for decades, they had all gotten used to their environment long ago, and few people were already thinking in the categories that were inherent to them when they were steel giants roaming across endless expanses. It even seemed to them that there was nothing better than a swamp in the world, which is why Baba Yaga, the Fox and the cats were not lucky enough to snatch more locomotives out of the swamp with their magic than they managed. One Ghost Engine, who wanted it, escaped. The rest of the locomotives did not want this. And they didn’t need help at all.
***
The depot lived its own life, despite such a late hour. Most of the locomotives had already gone to the hangar to sleep. Kolobchuk was counting something in his office, spending electricity on lighting, Maslenka the cat was inspecting and repairing locomotives, and those who had not yet gone to bed were still standing there, behind the hangar, talking about something.
Hello, – the Ghost Engine greeted them. -Where can I find Chu-Chukhin’s locomotive?
– There? – someone pointed towards the workshop, not having time to notice that in front of them was a real ghost.
– Thank you, – answered the Ghost Engine and wanted to ask something else, but by that time they had already looked at him and, frightened, ran away in all directions. It’s not every day that an unfamiliar Ghost Steam Engine arrives at the depot and looks for one of its inhabitants.
Maslenka the Cat was sitting with his back to the Ghost Engine and therefore did not see who had approached him. Maslenka was digging into one of the mechanical parts of the locomotive, which was standing in a semi-disassembled state at a repair site, and was of little interest to what was happening around him.
– Good night! – Greeted the Ghost Engine.
– Good, good… – Maslenka answered without turning around.
– Where can I find the Chu-Chukhin locomotive, can you tell me?
– There… – Maslenka pointed in the direction, without taking his head off from what he was doing.
Chu-Chukhin stood on the sidelines, waiting in the wings to undergo technical inspection and admiring the stars.
Good night, locomotive Chu-Chukhin, – the Ghost Engine flew up to him. “The locomotives in the Swamp of Old Locomotives urgently need your help,” he completely forgot about what Baba Yaga, the Fox and the cats taught him. “So far I’m the only one who managed to escape from it, but the rest of my brothers…” he explained confusingly. – If only you would come and help us!
The Chu-Chukhin locomotive was surprised by such a request, and even at such an hour, but he was a very responsive locomotive, and sometimes even naive, immediately believing the one who came:
– Where should I go? What do we have to do? – he asked questions. The Ghost locomotive realized that he had not spoken as he had been taught, but if Chu-Chukhin volunteered to help him, then this no longer mattered much.
– I’ll show you everything there! – answered the Ghost Engine, quite seriously believing what Baba Yaga and the Fox and the cats told him.
– Can I handle it alone? Can someone call for help?
– They told me that there is very little time, – the Ghost Steam Locomotive showed him the way. – We need to hurry. – they left the depot.
They quickly rushed along the old paths, then turned, rolled down the slope towards the forest and entered impenetrable darkness. If for the Ghost all this did not pose any serious difficulties, then Chu-Chukhin was exhausted, trying to keep up with the hurrying Ghost Engine.
– Where to next? – Chu-Chukhin saw nothing in the darkness.
– And then here! – Baba Yaga’s malicious voice suddenly thundered throughout the forest. – Come on, the tree, they picked him up and straight into the hut! – she commanded.
The mighty trees that were already surrounding Chu-Chukhin immediately grabbed him with their branches, pressed him on all sides with small branches and leaves so much that Chu-Chukhin could no longer do anything, although he tried to escape with all his might. His wheels hung in the air, cutting it with their rotation, but in vain – the solid soil disappeared from under the wheels, and he only felt as if in pitch darkness, he was being thrown from branch to branch, each time
