Grigory Borzenko The Resurrected Gogol Manuscript from the series “Time Traveler”

Grigory Borzenko
The Resurrected Gogol Manuscript
from the series “Time Traveler”

Episode one
It was simply incredible! She refused to believe that what was happening was real! This simply cannot happen! This cannot happen under any circumstances! It was something out of fantasy!
She knew that sometimes fantasy can become reality. She watched science fiction films, she read about unique people who had absolutely incredible, superhuman abilities. Nostradamus and Vanga knew how to predict the future, Wolf Messing had an amazing sense of suggestion. He could give the seller a blank sheet of paper, say that it was a high-denomination banknote, and the counter worker would accept this piece of paper as payment for the goods. Detective Ned Baxter's wife knew how to read other people's thoughts.
A modest resident of the equally modest small town of Flint, located on the slopes of picturesque mountains and on the ocean shore in North Wales, Gloria Evans never thought that she could join the list of these unique people. Even in her worst nightmare, she could not have dreamed that she, too, could become the owner of some unique gift, thanks to which she would be able to demonstrate some kind of superhuman abilities. But that's exactly what happened!
It all started with the fact that one day, poking around in her smartphone and looking for the information she needed, but never finding an answer, out of frustration she pressed the microphone in the search engine and irritably said that she wanted to be in the place she was looking for, and she wanted to figure it all out. What a huge surprise she was, which would be more accurately called shock, when what happened next happened.
Having expressed her wish into the microphone of the search engine, she closed her eyes. Either out of frustration, or because of dreams. She wanted to imagine how she would actually end up where she wanted to be.
It is impossible to describe the degree of her surprise when she opened her eyes and saw herself exactly where she wanted!
It was not just difficult, it was impossible to believe! But she was really surrounded by a completely different place and other people! It was as if in an instant she was transported to another country and another time dimension!
The shock was so enormous that she instantly wanted to see everything here with her own eyes, and to figure out for herself the question that just a minute ago interested her more than anything else.
Now, paralyzed by fear, a sense of the unknown and ignorance of what awaits her ahead, she most of all wanted to go back! Exactly back! Home! To the place and time where she was a few minutes ago.
The shock was so enormous that she was not interested in how this even happened, and how she could have ended up here. Now it seemed unimportant to her. She was frightened by the fact that she could forever remain here, in this place, in this time, in this environment, a world alien to her. She wanted to quickly escape from this incomprehensible trap into which she had fallen.
The girl was so confused that she didn’t know what to do. Panic seized her. But it’s not in vain that in moments of extreme danger to life, a person’s instinct of self-preservation is triggered. He finds reserves within himself that he didn’t even know he had. In the normal course of life, he can spend hours sluggishly and sadly scratching his head, solving some problem to no avail. But in peak moments of nervous tension, having turned on something that is usually called a “brain attack”, he is able to, within one second, sort through in his head many options that will save him, and then in an instant choose one, but the right, saving solution for him.
Something similar happened at that moment with our heroine. She couldn’t think of anything better than to press the microphone button again in the search engine of her smartphone and whisper in a patter, exciting voice: “I want to go back again! There is a place and time in the pack!” And at that very moment I closed my eyes tightly...
... For a long time she did not dare to open her eyes. It seemed to her that as soon as she again saw around her a place that was foreign to her and unfamiliar people, he would immediately faint.
It is impossible to describe the degree of her jubilation when she, finally opening her eyes and looking in front of her, saw the painfully familiar park of her native Fleet, the bench on which she was sitting, her native townspeople passing in the distance and hurrying about their business!
Probably never before in her life has Gloria sighed with such relief as she does now...
But excitement and female curiosity are not a joke! Not having had time to recover from the experience, the girl no longer thought about anything other than how to use her gift to her advantage.
First, it was necessary to make sure that this was not an accident or an isolated incident. That in the future, just like that, at will, she can travel through time and space. Although she was frightened by the prospect of experiencing the familiar shock again, and by the fear of not returning back, yet, the more time passed, the more she realized that curiosity would still prevail over all her fears. The excitement flared up in her so rapidly that she began to understand: she would not live to see tomorrow! She wanted to do it all again! Here and now! Don't put it off until later!
The girl no longer doubted that she would do it now. The main thing: she had to choose the place and time where she wanted to go. This was especially true of time. Gloria had no doubt that she could move in space! But how far can she travel in time?! This one was really interesting to her! Where would you go? The excitement took hold of her more and more.
Realizing that she was unable to cope with him, she went to a deserted shore, chose the most remote bench, sat down on it, took out her smartphone, and thought.
It was necessary to choose a place and time that she knew very well. She understood that she needed to go to some fictional country from the book she had read, and not to fictitious literary characters, but to real historical figures! To whom? Where?!
It was then that she remembered how, while still a schoolgirl, she was amazed by what she heard in a history lesson. About how once, back in the seventeenth century, during the English Revolution, the King of England, Charles the First Stuart, was executed! Gloria was pious, with the greatest respect for her queen, and then for her son, who ascended the throne, King Charles III. Gloria quite sincerely considered the crown bearers to be God’s anointed ones. She could not imagine how it was possible then, in those distant times, not only to execute the king, but to cut off his head! In public! On the square! With a huge crowd of people! This seemed to young Gloria a kind of cave wildness, which she could not believe for a long time. She always thought it was fiction. This couldn't happen!
And now, when she had a unique opportunity to see everything for herself, with her own eyes, the girl could not deny herself the desire to do what she had in mind.
She pressed her finger, sweating from excitement, on the button to turn on the microphone of the search engine, and said, in a voice that was holding with excitement:
- I want to be in the seventeenth century, in London, in the square where King Charles the First of England will be beheaded in a few minutes...
She quickly hid her smartphone in her pocket and closed her eyes tightly...

Episode two
The day of January 30, 1649 turned out to be surprisingly frosty. The water surface of the Thames became covered with ice. Around two o'clock in the afternoon, the square, surrounded on three sides by the buildings of the royal palace, Whitehall in London, was filled with a motley crowd. The balconies and roofs of nearby houses were also occupied. Those who were younger and more skilled climbed tree branches and street lamps.
Someone silently and fearfully stroked the scaffold and the block upholstered in black fabric. Their appearance was a depressing sight.
Someone, more compassionate, looked at everything that was happening in silence, grieved in his soul, understanding the drama of the moment. The latter, almost with indifference on their faces, were gossiping about something with those who happened to be next to them.
At two o'clock in the afternoon the king appeared in the square, dressed all in black, accompanied by a reinforced military escort. The platform was immediately surrounded by several ranks of cavalry, separating the place of execution from the spectators.
Karl walked onto the platform directly from the window of the Banquet Hall. Accompanied by Bishop Jackson, his chosen confessor, and several officers. The executioner and his assistant were already waiting for him there. Both were dressed in black. Both were dressed as sailors. Both were wearing wigs, with false (glued-on) mustaches and beards. But this was not enough - their faces were also hidden under masks.
The condemned man took a sheet of paper folded in four from his pocket and, occasionally looking at it, made a short speech. He spoke of his innocence, accused parliament of starting the war, and the army of using brute force. He admitted his guilt only in allowing the Earl of Strafford to be executed. He sincerely insisted that he stood for people's freedom, but noted that it was not the business of subjects to participate in governing the state. The king spoke like a gracious monarch, as if instructing his subjects like foolish little children. His whole appearance seemed to demonstrate that he knew that power was given to him from above, and it was not his fault that it was taken from him in such a cruel way.
This confidence gave him the strength to maintain his royal dignity even now, in such a difficult hour of death for him. He was the second, after Mary Stuart, of the crowned kings who was forced to bow his head on the block.
The day was cold. The frosty wind blew in gusts, causing the king's eyes to water. Although, who knows, perhaps the nature of these tears was completely different.
“I am dying,” were the last words of the doomed man, “for freedom... I am a martyr for the people...
Having completed his farewell speech, the condemned man, with the help of the bishop, put his long gray hair under his cap, took off his cloak, knelt down, laid his head on the block, and, after a short prayer, extended his arms forward. This was a sign to the executioner that he was ready to die.
The crowd froze. Now the main thing will happen. Something that just recently seemed incredible.
Everyone held their breath. The executioner raised the ax over the victim's neck. The crowd's tension reached its climax.
The executioner will cut off the head from the body with one deft blow of the ax.
The executioner's assistant picked up his head and raised it high above his head.
- Here is the head of the traitor! – He was proclaimed loudly.
A universal cry, similar to both a groan and a sigh, sounded in one impulse over the square.
Large drops of blood fell more frequently onto the platform, watering it abundantly. Several people, breaking through the cordon, rushed to the platform to dip their scarves in the royal blood. The cavalrymen immediately began to correct their mistake and push the crowd away from the scaffold.
The fanaticism of the daredevils who decided to take away the miraculous moisture on their new scarves was understandable. Many blindly believed that everything connected with the king, the representative of God on earth, had miraculous powers. Along the route of the convoy that was leading the captive king, there were almost queues lined up on the roadsides. Many brought their sick relatives and begged the crown bearer to touch them. People blindly believed that just the touch of God's anointed one would heal the sick and suffering!
And now they, dipping their handkerchiefs in the blood of the executed man, planned to come home and smear the sore spots of their relatives with this moisture.
Gloria looked at all this with eyes wide from shock and horror. She did not believe in the reality of what was happening! It seemed to her that, while in the cinema, she somehow ended up on the other side of the screen. I got into the film and became a real participant in the events. She was amazed by the very fact that she managed to end up where she wanted to go. This means that she can travel not only in space, but also in time. She was also amazed by what she saw. What did not surprise anyone in those distant times seemed barbaric to a modern educated girl.
What she saw struck her so much that she hastened to immediately retreat from the scene. It seemed to her that the guards would now grab her, drag her to the scaffold, bow her head to the block, and the merciless hand of the executioner would make a fatal swing with an ax.
When our heroine whispered the cherished words in a voice breaking with excitement and found herself back in her native Flint, she immediately hurried home. Having locked herself in her room and fallen onto her bed, she looked at the ceiling for a long time, rethinking what she had lived through.
She suddenly realized that the joy of possessing a new wonderful gift might be premature. She suddenly remembered the nuclear bomb. At first everyone admired this phenomenon. Cities that were close to the site where nuclear tests were carried out in the state of Nevada in the United States became rich. Thousands of tourists came from all over the world to, sitting at a table and lazily drinking beer, admire the beautiful sight: a nuclear mushroom. Only then, much time later, will people understand that this “toy” is fraught with not only beauty, but also indescribable horror. Gloria realized that something similar could happen to her gift. It was necessary to rethink everything and realize what it is: good or evil? Gift or curse? What can all this ultimately bring her?
The girl again and again recalled the events in Whitehall Square, shuddered at what she saw and experienced, but at the same time, she understood that she would not give up her new gift. Gloria had no doubt that he would not only dramatically change her life, but could bring her something so incredible that it would surprise not only her, but the whole world!

Episode three
Gloria was a very restless and active person. She often traveled to many cities in Wales and England. She spent a lot of time on trains. Traveling did not tire her. The carriages are comfortable, the seats are soft, very comfortable! For some, traveling on trains may have been a torture in terms of not knowing what to do or how to pass the time. Gloria quite sincerely considered the phrase “killing time” the most stupid and absurd of all that she had ever heard in her life. How can you “kill” time? After all, this is the most valuable thing for a person! Lost time cannot be returned; no amount of money can buy it! They need to be treasured! Use it rationally and carefully! Therefore, even when traveling, the girl tried not to spend time aimlessly, but to use it to write emails, search for the necessary information on the Internet, and, of course, read. She loved to read not only electronic books, but also regular books. The world of books is something that sincerely fascinated her. She loved to read since childhood. The world of books, the world of literary heroes, the world of adventure and travel, it’s wonderful! This is what brings pleasure, serves to develop the horizons, the mind, and is a consolation for the soul and heart.
Here it is now. Gloria sat in a comfortable seat on the Manchester - Holyhead train, read another story about her fellow countryman, detective Jack Bradley, plunged into fascinating events and, it seemed, nothing around her bothered her. She knew that in Flint she would get out, and until that time she would read, read, and read some more.
She had little interest in the respectable-looking man who sat next to her, deep in work on his laptop. Sometimes he answered the phone. The girl involuntarily heard what the neighbor sitting next to her was talking about, but still tried not to be distracted from reading and not pay attention to conversations that did not concern her.
All this lasted until the stranger began to say into the phone something that keenly interested our heroine.
- I understand, Mr. Jackson, that you sincerely wish the prosperity of my publishing house, the Oliver Grant Publishing House, and that is why you are offering me projects that, in your opinion, are profitable. – Gloria’s neighbor spoke calmly and quietly. But because he was sitting next to her, she involuntarily, without wanting it, heard her voice. “But I’ve already published so many things that nothing can surprise me anymore.” I approach all projects calmly. I will only be interested in proposals that are not just unusual. I'm tired of the routine. I dream of publishing books that can become an information bomb! Books that will blow up the whole world! Well... It may have been said pompously, but I’m talking about what I’m thinking about.
The neighbor fell silent. Apparently he listened to his interlocutor. Gloria loved books, so she involuntarily became interested in what her fellow traveler was talking about, and allowed herself, not involuntarily, but consciously, to eavesdrop on the conversation.
- What book do I mean, you say?! – The man thought for a second. - Well... I don’t know... Something out of the ordinary... Well, for example... - He thought again for a second, but immediately continued. - Everyone in the world knows about the legendary novel by the Ukrainian writer Nikolai Gogol “Dead Souls”. As well as, for sure, we have heard that this great writer wrote the second volume of “Dead Souls”! But... Alas... In a fit of mental anguish, the genius took and burned his creation! In one moment, not the literary work on which he had been working for so long... The greatest drama! The greatest! Both for the writer himself and for readers around the world! They lost the opportunity to read a work that could have become as great as the first volume of Dead Souls!
The man said this with such passion that he even allowed himself to raise his voice a little. But he immediately pulled himself together and continued in a quieter voice and calmer tone.
- Now, if someone brought the manuscript of this book to my publishing house, I would not only publish a continuation of the great novel in a huge print run, but I would also pay the person who brought me the irretrievably lost masterpiece of world literature a fee that would be included in the Guinness Book of Records ! So, my dear Mr. Jackson, as soon as you have this Gogol manuscript in your hands, come to me immediately! I assure you that not only will you not hear another excuse from me, but also... However, why repeat yourself? I have already spoken about the fact that I will make such a person rich. Please forgive me, but I'm working. Even on the train. The laptop is in front of me. Please forgive me. All the best! Say hello to your beautiful half for me. To my beautiful wife. All the best to you, Mr. Jackson.
Gloria's traveling companion put the smartphone on the table next to the laptop and plunged headlong into the laptop screen.
From that moment on, the girl lost peace. Lately, all she had been doing was thinking from morning to evening: how to use her new gift as rationally and profitably as possible. Now it dawned on her! Here he is! An example of how you can go somewhere for a reason, but to a specific place, at a specific time, for a specific purpose! A goal that, when achieved, can provide more than just moral satisfaction. The words about the fee, the size of which would be so high that it could be included in the Guinness Book, firmly sank into the consciousness of a young, but smart and quick-witted girl beyond her years.
She immediately made a decision.
- Sorry... - She timidly turned to her neighbor. – Will you allow me to ask you a question?
The girl’s voice sounded so gentle that the man couldn’t help but look away from the laptop screen and look at her. Before him he saw such a cute creature that he simply wouldn’t be able to say, “Sorry, but I’m busy.”
- Yes... I’m listening to you...
The man was not only respectable-looking, but also equally respectable in age. Therefore, the appeal of such a young girl did not seem like a reason for an acquaintance. As young people sometimes do, in order to strike up a friendship with a peer they like. What does she want from him? This appeal intrigued the man.
- Excuse me, but I involuntarily... Honestly, involuntarily! I heard your conversation. In this regard, I have a question. What if they provide you not with the manuscript itself, but with clear photographs of each page of the second volume of Dead Souls? Will you pay the promised fee to anyone who provides such photographs?
Gloria looked at Grant with such an open gaze, her eyes radiated such sincerity that it was simply impossible to answer her question with silence!
Alas, the publisher did just that. He understood that the young girl, although she was incredibly pretty, was talking about things that she most likely made up. Well, she can’t actually provide him with photographs that probably don’t exist! In Gogol's time there were no cameras or other similar devices. Most likely, this young lady is a con artist. She makes eyes at her victims, promises them the impossible, and then those, naive and gullible, become her victims.
Oliver smiled ironically, shook his head reproachfully, sighed heavily, and plunged headlong into working on his laptop again.
Gloria was not offended by this. She understood that the reaction of the respectable gentleman was exactly what it should have been.
The heroine of our story was not only beautiful, but also stubborn and purposeful. She didn't like to stop halfway.
She opened her purse, took out her passport and other documents that she usually always carried with her, and carefully placed them on the table in front of her neighbor. Next to the laptop and smartphone.
- Here... Take... - she said. -You think I'm deceiving you. This is proof that I'm serious. If I don’t bring you what I promise, you can take my documents for yourself and not give them to me...
The girl’s unusual act amazed the publisher so much that he even pushed his laptop aside and stared at her. He looked for a long time, with a searching gaze.
“I could bring you the manuscript itself...” she said in a very significant tone. “But I also read the famous book and watched the movie “The Butterfly Effect.” I know that under no circumstances should anything be changed in the past. That's why I don't want to take the manuscript. But I will try to photograph all the pages...
The publisher looked at his fellow traveler with an astonished gaze.
Her eyes were no less expressive.
“Before he burns them…” the girl added.
The prudence of such a young girl, but wise beyond her years, amazed the experienced businessman.
He looked at her for a while, then took out a fountain pen and notepad. He tore a page out of it and wrote down his phone number and email address in a flourish. Then he indicated his last name.
He placed the sheet in front of Gloria. A second later, her documents were next to him. He returned them to her.
The girl looked up. A running electronic line on the monitor under the ceiling of the car indicated the name of the next stop: Flint.
She smiled, quickly gathered her things, and hurried to the door.
When the train started moving, the publisher sat for a long time, looking thoughtfully ahead.

Episode four
Gloria decided to treat her subsequent travels in time and space with greater responsibility. She realized that from now on she needs to prepare for such voyages in advance. This idea was prompted by her previous trip to London for the king’s execution. Having fallen from summer to winter, being lightly dressed, she then became terribly cold. She was saved by the fact that what she saw in the square and the subsequent emotions took over her consciousness so much that she did not pay attention to the fact that she was terribly cold. In a different situation, if she had found herself somewhere in a terrible cold, and such a storm of events had not raged around her, she would have immediately returned back to her time. She would have run away from the cold, perhaps never having achieved what she set out on her journey for. Now she knew that before she went on a journey, she needed to know what to wear.
This applied not only to winter and summer clothes, but also to the clothes themselves in general. After all, it’s not hard to guess that if she showed up in medieval Spain to the square where heretics were burned in a miniskirt, it would cause such a shock in the prim saints that she herself would be immediately sent to the stake! Like a witch, or a madwoman, possessed by the devil! After all, in your right mind it is impossible to allow yourself to go out naked. And this is exactly how these medieval prudes would perceive the girl, regardless of the fact that she was wearing a miniskirt.
Gloria remembered shots from the film “Angelique of the Marquise of Angels,” when Michelle Marcier went to the beach not in the then swimsuit, more reminiscent of a burqa or diving suit, but in a short swimsuit dress, exposing most of her legs. She remembered how that “great-grandmother’s” swimsuit, which would cause an ironic smile in modern girls, then, in the time of King Louis, caused an indescribable shock among all those present! What would now only cause an ironic smile for Gloria’s contemporaries, for herself, if she found herself surrounded by those who organized a “witch hunt” in ancient times, it could end very badly...
Therefore, now, going back to the eighteenth century, when the writer Nikolai Gogol lived, Gloria Evans was not too lazy to surf the Internet and find out from there everything that could be useful to her. Information about the situation around the writer, and about the house in which he lived, about the weather, the fashion of that time, everything! Everything! The girl always took responsibility for what she had to do. Now even more so.
Having learned that there was a theater group in her native Flint, she visited it. She asked to show her stage costumes and ladies' dresses from around the eighteenth century. Although these clothes were dominated by British styles, Gloria realized that such dresses would be quite suitable for her enterprise. She begged the costume designer to give her one dress for a while. She agreed.
Gloria also bought a flashlight that is attached to her forehead with an elastic band. And a digital camera.
She noticed that every time she went on a trip, not only she herself moved to another dimension, but also everything that was on her and with her. Both clothes and items that are in pockets or in a purse. This gave hope that the items listed above would go with her on the planned trip.
However, she did not despair. The smartphone has already traveled with her to the past. If things don't work out, she'll take pictures of the manuscript pages using her smartphone.
The main thing remains: to go on a journey, which may be more important for her than ever.
Gloria locked herself in her room, put on a dress she had borrowed from the theater group, and put a flashlight and camera in her bag. I even took spare batteries for them. Although they were unnecessary, the prudent heroine of our story really wanted to show additional precautions in this case.
When everything was ready, she said the cherished words into her smartphone and closed her eyes tightly...

Episode five
- Excuse me, Mr. Grant, but a girl who seemed a little strange to me is asking to see you... But she really asks... She says it’s important... I don’t know what to do...
The secretary's voice on the phone sounded embarrassed.
- And what was the expression of this strangeness of hers? – The chief’s question followed.
- When I asked how to introduce her to you, she hesitated... And then she said the name Betty Mills. I think she came up with the name on the fly. She doesn't inspire confidence in me, Mr. Grant. I wouldn't want to let her come to you. But she asked me to tell you that she came about the second volume of the novel “Dead Souls”... She says you will understand everything.
A ringing silence reigned in the receiver.
- Really?! “This was the first time the secretary had listened to her boss’s voice sound so surprised. – So that’s where we had to start! Skip her!
Oliver Grant immediately recognized this girl as soon as she entered his office. Recent fellow traveler on the train! This is, without a doubt, her! God! How beautiful she is! Moreover, apparently, she is also determined! The experienced publisher immediately felt that she had come for a reason. Otherwise there would be no point in her coming at all. He was so intrigued that he felt a little nervous.
- Hello!
The girl’s sweet voice brought the businessman back onto the train as he listened to this voice and was amazed at the contrast. This girl’s speech was gentle, but what she said, as it seemed to him then, was pure nonsense. Now he began to understand that what she was talking about then may ultimately turn out to be far from nonsense.
- Good afternoon. Have a seat.
Oliver pointed his guest to a chair.
But before she sat down, she placed a flash drive in front of him. And only then did she sit down. She looked at him with her large and beautiful eyes so expressively that he understood: asking her about what was on the flash drive meant showing her his lack of intelligence.
He silently took the flash drive, stuck it in the laptop slot, and looked at the screen.
His eyes widened almost to the size of tea saucers. His look and face expressed such a high degree of amazement that it was difficult to describe in words.
“I know his hand...” He finally squeezed out in shock. The words got stuck in his throat, parched from excitement. – This is one of my favorite writers. I have seen photographs of his previous manuscripts... This is his hand...
She saw his shock. She would like to prolong the moment of high. And your triumph too. But she was a man of action. She immediately said:
-On this flash drive there is only the first chapter. You will receive a flash drive with the remaining chapters after you transfer to my account the amount that, according to you, will be worthy of being included in the Guinness Book of Records. As you can see, I kept my word. Now peel back and see if you can hold your own. Here is my bank card number.
And with these words, she placed in front of him a sheet of paper from a notebook with numbers written on it.
The girl looked at her interlocutor with such a piercing gaze that he caught himself thinking: if he were younger, he would definitely and definitely fall madly in love with this divinely beautiful and charming beast! But out loud he said something completely different:
- I, like you, am the master of my word. I will of course keep it in check. But now, looking at you and realizing what happened, I think not so much about the resurrected work of the great writer, but about what great things you and I could do if we agreed on cooperation!
For the first time during the conversation, it was no longer the owner of the office, but, on the contrary, the guest looked at him with great surprise.
- What do you have in mind? “She said in an unusually timid voice.
The publisher smiled mysteriously.
- Think carefully... How many secrets are there in the world... Who was behind the assassination of President Kennedy? Who was the mysterious Jack the Ripper? The list of these burning secrets and mysteries that concern the world can be continued indefinitely. Can you imagine how many sensational materials we could publish regularly and constantly?! The same effect of an exploding information bomb that will be caused by the sensational, forever seemingly lost manuscript of the mysterious second volume of Gogol’s “Dead Souls” will be caused by other similar publications of all kinds of sensations! You and I can get rich on this! It's fabulous to get rich!!!
The owner of the office expected a storm of joyful emotions from his guest. But everything happened exactly the opposite. The girl's face instantly became sad.
This had a depressing effect on Oliver Grant.
- I'm not asking you how you do it. I do not ask you to visit me in your secret. Let her stay with you. But I understand that you have the ability to travel through time. It would be great stupidity for you not to use such amazing abilities to your advantage! We can combine your ability with my ability and ability to publish books, and now perhaps newspapers, all over the world! We will eclipse the glory of Rupert Murdoch! We will create our own information empire! It brought him billions, and it will bring us trillions!!!
Grant thought he had said enough to make this girl squeal with delight. But her face became even sadder.
“I’m not stupid,” she finally said. - I understand. But there is another side to this coin... Have you read the book “Time Stopper”?
Oliver looked at Gloria with genuine surprise.
- No... I’ve never heard of a book with that title...
- This is bad! You publish a bunch of literature, but you don’t notice those books that simply cannot be ignored! This author writes amazing things! He devoted his entire life and all his work to describing the history of Great Britain! And his historical trilogy “Doomsday of England”, about the English revolution of the seventeenth century and the confrontation between King Charles the First and Oliver Cromwell, is generally a masterpiece! It's impossible to get away from him. But at the same time, the author himself, from his meager pension benefit, leaves work to announcers, sound engineers, artists, and everyone who works on his books and audiobooks! He, alone, pays for the work of all these people! At the same time, he himself never received anything for his work! Absolutely nothing! You are a British publisher! Why don't you pay attention to the writer who devoted all his work to Britain?!
For the first time, Grant saw some signs of anger on the face of this stunning girl. This gave her even more charm. She was already beautiful, and in her sincere anger she became even more beautiful.
“However, that’s just me, by the way...” Gloria continued in a calmer voice. – This writer is simply my fellow countryman. He also lives in Flint. And he writes really interesting books that you can’t stop reading. But that’s not what I wanted to say... So... In his novel “Time Stopper” he described a similar situation. The guy acquired a unique gift: he knew how to master time! It would seem that this is wonderful! He, seeing that a suicide was falling from the roof of a high-rise building, managed to stop time. And during that hour, while the suicide was flying down, this unique person, using his gift, managed to do a lot in those few seconds that ultimately saved the man. There are many such examples that can be given. But…
The narrator sighed heavily.
- But the bandits found out about this guy’s unique gift. They immediately decided that his abilities could be used for bank robberies. One second, while the cashier opens the doors of the safe, will be enough for a unique person to fill the bag with the bundles of money in the safe, and leave the bank with it! To go into a bank, rob it, and leave with impunity, before anyone notices anything, to do this within one second, or even a split second, bandits had never even dreamed of this before! Now the villains have forced the guy to work for them. His gift from now on created not good, but evil...
The narrator raised her head and looked meaningfully at her listener.
“I’m afraid that something similar could happen in my case.” I don’t want to be a weak-willed and dumb slave in someone’s evil and unkind hands...
Oliver looked at her, Gloria answered the same.
- I understand that you will now begin to assure me of the opposite. But at the beginning everyone always promises a lot, and then... That’s why I gave your secretary a false name. And the bank card I indicated was not my own... I want to remain incognito for now. I don’t know... Maybe all this is naive on my part... For example, in a fit of emotion I just blurted out that I’m from Flint. Now you will know where to look for me...
- And I already knew where to look for you. I remember very well that you got off the train in Flint. See, I’m telling you this honestly myself. I will always be honest with you in everything. Make inquiries about me. I value my reputation. I am an honest person. I will not let you down. Trust me! I'm not rushing you. Think about everything carefully, weigh everything. I see that you are not just a beautiful girl. You are a strong personality! You are very reasonable! If you're not stupid, and you definitely and unequivocally are not stupid, then you should realize that I'm offering you an amazingly good deal.
The publisher looked at the girl searchingly. She was silent for now.
- You said the main phrase...- She finally responded. – Not about a profitable deal. I understand this myself. What I've been doing lately is thinking about how to use my gift profitably and for good. Now you have solved this issue for me. I'm really not stupid and I understand that you are offering me a very good deal. Where I can use the gift and get something in return. But I am very... Very much confused by the fact that sooner or later this idyll may end and I will find myself in the same situation as the hero of the book “Time Stopper”. Read it! Everything there is so twisted and dramatic, there are so many events and experiences that that guy cursed the day when inspiration descended on him. Which became for him not a gift, but a curse!
The girl thought about it.
- You mentioned the main phrase that I said. – Grant raised his voice cautiously. – What phrase did you mean?
- You said: “I’m not rushing you.” This phrase means more to me than you might think. She gives me hope... I repeat! So far it only gives hope! That you can be trusted. You have not gone crazy with the desire to have everything at once. You thought not only about yourself, but also about me. You have reckoned with me. They gave me time, they gave me the right to choose. This is captivating...
She sighed heavily.
- Let's decide this. “Her voice began to sound firm and confident. “For now, let’s finish one thing, and then we’ll see what to do next.” Is it worth starting the second one? I’ll see what amount comes to the bank card... I’ll also watch how you behave in the future. If I see... If my soul feels that everything is fine, that there is no catch, then... I don’t know how to say it... Premonition has never let me down before. I hope it doesn’t work now.
She stood up.
- I think we agreed. If everything is fine, then I will come to you myself soon. It is not my gift that is important in this matter. He's not in first place! The main thing is different! So that I myself would want to voluntarily come to you here. And not by force. After all, the bandits brought that guy to them by force. If only you knew how it all ended for them...
She smiled slyly, walked up to the door, grabbed the handle and looked back.
- You still read the book “Time Stopper”. Then you will know how amazing the outcome was. – And, after a second of silence, she added. – And you will understand that it is also not advisable to resolve the matter with me by force...
The door closed quietly behind the guests...

Completion date for this story: December 8, 2023
Place of birth of the story: Great Britain, North Wales, Flint, Bolingbroke Street 135.


You are provided with the text of the next story of the new detective series, the author of which translated from Russian into English using the usual Google translator. We really need a literary editor for the English texts of these detective book series. I am ready to pay for the work of an editor and translator. Respond! Thank you! Best regards, author.
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