Series: Emerald City
Author: Alexander Volkov
Title: Wizard of the Emerald City
Year: 2003
Translated from: Russian language
Do you believe that wizards and fairies exist in the world? Do you want to go to Magic Land? Ellie also dreamed about it. Bu...
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In the middle of the vast Kansas steppe lived a girl, Ellie. Her father, farmer John, worked in the fields all day, and her mother, Anna, took care of the housework.
They lived in a small van, removed from the wheels and put on the ground.The furnishings of the house were poor: an iron stove, a wardrobe, a table, three chairs and two beds. Next to the house, at the very door, a "hurricane cellar" was dug out. In the cellar, the family sat out during storms.
Steppe hurricanes more than once overturned farmer John's light dwelling. But John did not lose heart: when the wind subsided, he raised the house, the stove and the beds fell into place. Ellie was picking up pewter plates and mugs from the floor, and everything was fine until the next storm.
The steppe stretched out to the very horizon, as flat as a tablecloth. Here and there one could see the same poor houses as John's house. Around them were arable lands where farmers sowed wheat and corn.
Ellie knew all the neighbors well for three miles around. Uncle Robert lived in the west with his sons Bob and Dick. Old Rolf lived in a house in the north. He made wonderful windmills for children.
The wide steppe did not seem dull to Ellie: after all, it was her homeland. Ellie didn't know any other places. She saw mountains and forests only in pictures, and they did not attract her, perhaps because they were poorly drawn in cheap Ellie's books.
When Ellie got bored, she called the cheerful dog Toto and went to visit Dick and Bob or went to Grandpa Rolf, from whom she never returned without a homemade toy.
Barking, Totoshka jumped across the steppe, chasing crows, and was infinitely pleased with himself and his little mistress. Totoshka had black hair, pointed ears, and small, funny eyes that shone. Toto was never bored and could play with the girl all day long.
Ellie had a lot to worry about. She helped her mother with the housework, and her father taught her to read, write and count, because the school was far away, and the girl was still too young to go there every day.
Ellie was sitting on the porch one summer evening, reading a story aloud. Anna was washing clothes.
"And then the strong, mighty hero Arnaulf saw a wizard as tall as a tower," Ellie read in a singsong voice, running her finger along the lines. "Fire flew out of the wizard's mouth and nostrils ..." Mom, Ellie asked, looking up from her book, "are there wizards now?"
