A mute girl from a closed community of Old Believers finds herself in my care. Her village was burned down by a gang that I shepherded for several months, but I was unable to prevent the tragedy, and I blame myself for what happened. Now Masha is the only witness to the crime, but she doesn’t trust me, and she can’t even talk. Is her muteness a consequence of a recent shock or is there a deeper cause? I have to figure this out and save her at all costs, because the hunt is open for the girl.*** “Okay, let’s get up,” I grab the girl’s armpits and try to pull her to her feet. Useless. She starts acting like a wild cat. She breaks free, flails at me with her hands and chokes on her own sobs. I grab her into my arms, drag her into the bedroom and there I begin to tear off her wet clothes.

The text contains: brutal hero, true love, overcoming difficulties, emotionally