It had been with some trepidation that Igor had approached the regional manager who was his direct boss, although he got on well with the man right from the initial interview, he was still unsure how this meeting would pan out.

"Stepan, thank you for agreeing to see me at such short notice, I have a difficult subject I want to broach with you this morning." "Please don't tell me you have received an offer from someone else, you have been getting on well here, in such a short time you have become an asset to the team."

"No, nothing like that I'm very happy working here, the issue is a delicate one, but I would hate for it to affect our working relations, if you will hear me out I will explain the situation.

My children have a fund set aside for their future, for both their education and for if they wish to travel, with the uncertain state of the economy we were concerned about the cash just sitting there. An opportunity has arisen for a local property deal which would involve some refurbishment work, that would help increase the value of their nest egg."

"I would very much like to do this for them, so I will ask your indulgence, if I could bring forward some of my holiday time, not in one big chunk but arranged so that I could work reduced hours for the next four or five weeks it shouldn't cause disruption to the projects I'm currently running. The other issue is you have many skilled men working at the company who have holiday time owing to them for this year, that they have yet to take.

In truth I think they are trying to bank good will with the company, as well as not wishing to spend cash by going away anywhere for a break just now."

"They will need to take that holiday at some point for there's rarely any overtime available, my scheme could give these men the possibility of taking the holiday due to them, and to earn a little extra cash for their families. I'm asking if this would cause a problem, I hope I haven't shot myself in the foot."

"I have had staff in the past who would rob me blind, if I didn't watch out for every scam, but you have plainly stated your case, in similar circumstances I would do the same for my family, so provided there is no conflict of interest with anything this company is involved in I can see no reason we cant be flexible. Providing company interests come first, you can hire who you like on their days off and I will have no problems with this, - so tell me about your refurbishment project."

That afternoon in a lawyers office all the documents that were required had now been verified and all the interested parties looked on as Igor slid across the certified bankers draft, the legal equivalent of real money, if he had held it above the table the quiver in his hand would have been plain to see, just thinking about such an enormous sum.

The only reason he didn't stop for a stiff drink on the way home was the draconian drink driving laws, and the reason for not having a stiff one at home, was they didn't have any!

Their father was a little late, a brief greeting and he was off upstairs to wash and change, saying to call him when supper was ready, Marta thought he had been wearing his best jacket, so perhaps he had been to a meeting that afternoon. Greg called his dad that super was ready, instead of going straight to the table he got out some glasses pouring juice for the boys, the other glasses he filled with wine. Bringing them to the table he proposed a toast. "To the success of our first house refurbishment"

Ella and the girls were wide eyed, but they knew about toasts, and solemnly repeated the last part of the toast, the girls barely able to keep still from the excitement, after taking a ritual sip they put down their glasses and bombarded him with questions.

He had kept quite over the last few days, the tension had risen as the owner had replied saying the offer was too low, and seeking a higher price, but Igor stated his highest offer was already on the table, take it or leave it, as he would be withdrawing the offer by the end of the week. The title searches had been done, all the documentation sorted and ready, and the bank loan approved, at last that morning the call had come prompting his meeting with Stepan, an hour later he called back to confirm the deal then he contacted the bank to say he would need the bank draft for the title transfer that afternoon.

Igor said that if he hadn't been aware of the house owners liabilities, and his need to liquidate some of his assets, he would never have dared place such a low bid on the table last Friday, on the other hand a higher bid would have made the deal less attractive.

"So do we own the house now Daddy?", Anna asked.

"Well us and the bank, if all goes well by the time we finish working on the house it will look very different, then the sooner we can sell it the less we need to pay the bank for the loan.

I want the outside cleaned-up and painted before the end of the month, come November there's to much risk of frost for outdoor work, so then we can knuckle down to the inside jobs."

Playing with the numbers he was sure the girls would still see a twenty percent rise in the size of their pot even if it took till late spring to sell the house, but much depended on the deals he could do, or if he could make a quicker sale.

Rather than the usual diverse subjects at the meal table, that evening the only topic was of building work and how to market their renovated masterpiece. The girls thought it odd that their father went out that evening after making a swift phone call, as they had expected to move to the study for more planning, but then Igor had some plans of his own. He didn't go far just down the road, turning at the park into a nearby road, Yuri invited Igor into his little home office, where he leaned of his new friend's project.

Igor was both observant and astute, on his tour of Yuri's premises he noted that the turn down in the economy meant only the cheaper brand products were shifting, and Yuri had shelves stacked with premium quality paint, that could only sit there for so long before it was unsaleable. Yuri soon found Igor's deal very appealing, to sell a bunch of frozen stock that would be worthless in another six months at a low profit rather than take a total loss, that would please the bean counters at head office. Partly due to their common bond Igor felt he wanted make a fair offer, and not squeeze his new brother.

As their dad was out Marta got on with her own scheme which involved calling Karl to help her out, yes he did know about the sports trophies that Dmitri had got engraved as awards for her and Anna, and he was certain the same shop printed team shirts and the like, and yes he would get off early to meet her after school tomorrow.

Her tall handsome reliable boyfriend was standing outside the gates as school let out, he even offered to carry her backpack, saying it made it easier to give her a hug, and she was happy several of her classmates witnessed the encounter. They took the Metro heading into town, soon arriving at the shop, where she explained her requirements, and found they could do simple letters or numbers from stock transfers there and then, it was only the fancy stuff or pictures that would take time. Marta placed the order on condition she could take one set now and pick up the others today before close of business, the fact she would pay cash half now and half later was a great incentive. Just a couple more stops, then they made for the nearby park.

Marta had been working on the idea for the past week, sitting across the table from Irisha, the girl had asked Marta if she was crazy, that she could magic up the money, or find her mum a job. Maybe it would be hard finding jobs for grown-ups, but she was going to try to help a few more youngsters, now she needed to pick her team, on that choice the scheme would sink or swim, she had been on the lookout with this in mind each time she saw groups of young teens in the city, now she had a project and a purpose.

Those youngsters that were in need were plain to anyone with eyes in their head, the state of their clothes, holes in their shoes, the look in their eyes. She had been watching this group, there were five of them, unlike some others, they had merit, they didn't just stand about begging, one had a mouth organ, another a tin to beat out a rhythm, while the others would take turns dancing to entertain passers by. They made an effort, which is more than could be said for most of those she had seen, but despite this their pickings seemed slim.

She had not been sure how they would view her approach so she had Karl start with the opening gambit, as they stepped forwards holding hands.

"Excuse me guys, but my girlfriend and I would like half an hour of your time to talk something over, to show good faith that we aren't wasting your time there's 5 hryvnias in it for each of you."

This perked up their interest, they were unlikely to earn this much if they were out all day busking, any US tourist may have been surprised that the promise of about 65 cents each would gain their attention. They moved to one of the empty pick-nick tables nearby in the park, as Karl handed out the cash Marta delved into a large shoulder bag to produce sandwiches which she handed around, fed and paid they were all ears when Marta spoke.

"Several months ago I was very nearly in the position where you find yourselves, but I've seen that unlike some others you are trying to improve your life, so I decided I would try to give you a helping hand; not charity, but a boost to help you out."

Marta seeing she still had her audience continued.

"If my guess is right I'm sure you would all like to find a way to help your families in these hard times, but with even adults having trouble finding work, you probably think there is no work to be had. In the wealthy suburbs there is work to be found, washing cars, weeding driveways, clearing leaves, even in the bigger houses where they have staff I'm sure there are still minor jobs to be found."

The boy who she assumed to be the leader of the group pointed out if they showed up in that sort of neighbourhood knocking on doors they would likely get dogs set on them, or someone would call the police to move them on.

"I agree with you, but suppose you spruced up a bit had matching shirts and caps, politely enquired about cleaning their cars, and had your own supplies, do you think that would get a better response?" After a moment of silence there was a cacophony of conflicting comments each lad trying to be heard at once.

Marta rapped on the table, a hush returned as they all faced her.

"I've thought about this, so if you want to give it a go I've got your first customer lined up, a large house is being refurbished, the gardens need to be tidied, the shrubs trimmed, and the grass cut, tools will be provided. Next on the roads nearby cars will be getting dusty due to this building work, so you will be paid by this customer so that you can offer these neighbours a 'free' car wash, next time you call round, having had a free sample they would probably be up for paying you, if you did a good job the last time."

Marta reached into the bag placing a new green sweatshirt on the table, along side she placed a matching baseball cap each bore an MMC logo, before even finishing the question each boy had raised their hand. Each would be given two shirts and one cap, they needed to wear their best jeans, and there would be rules. They had to be polite and respectful, and swearing would not be tolerated, they were also expected to arrive for work clean and tidy, in a freshly washed shirt each day.

"When people living near this first project see a bunch of youngsters who are keen, hard working and polite, they will answer the door without setting the dogs on you, and some of them may have jobs that need doing, and they may have friends with jobs too."

A lot more talking ensued, all thoughts of busking forgotten, as Marta picked out each fly that was thrown into the ointment, until Taras the leader of the group admitted she must of actually spent time on this idea. She told them for the first job she would ensure they got a set hourly rate, for new customers they gained, there would be a scale of charges they could quote for set tasks, or they could quote an hourly rate. The prices were set low as it was a buyers market, the idea being when they put on a good show by working hard the customers would feel guilty enough to include a good tip.

Marta gave each of them a small map showing the route from the nearest Metro station to the job site where they were to meet early the next day, where she would issue them their uniforms. The final pleasant surprise was an additional handout to cover the fare on the Metro the next day, followed by her parting words.

"Don't let me down, and don't let yourselves down, you have a chance - use it."

Marta was there an hour early, she had walked, it wasn't that far, she had placed all the kit and clothing in the house for her 'work crew' - if they arrived, Karl said he would be along early to lend his support, but her main worry was if any of these boys would show up.

Had she been foolish wasting the money, she had ordered twenty shirts across three sizes so there would be spares, in theory she could double the crew, but....

Her doubts had been for nothing, there at the end of the road she could see her rag-tag team approaching three-quarters of an hour early, were they really that keen, or was it poor time keeping? Marta took her own advice to heart - If you look the part and feel the part, you can be the part, it didn't matter that all of these boys were older than she was.

She took charge shaking each boy by the hand starting with Taras, she would need to remember the others names, but for now she welcomed them, leading them up the drive and into the house, she waved to Melenki and some of the others who were gathered round a table looking at drawings in a room off the main hallway. She lead them straight to the kitchen, knowing that a boy's second main interest was food, portable gas rings were set up, with a water urn and a big pot of Borsch, the aroma of which filled the room.

Watching them devour the thick soup and bread, confirmed her sad suspicions that they were probably undernourished, just then Karl turned up asking if that was her mum's recipe, then ladling himself a bowl while greeting the other boys.

Later as the shirts were being tried for size and sorted out someone asked about the logo.

Karl was quick to tell them it stood for "Marta's Magic Crew", which came about as a joke for what to call the team when she thought up the idea. They were less amused when they heard Marta's next idea of play acting, she and Karl gave a demonstration, each taking turns to be the householder and job seeker.

On there first tries they were awkward and wooden, but the practice proved worth while, as soon they showed more confidence, then Marta upped the anti, by being rude, but as she had taught them, their responses remained polite. Her small foray as a director and play-write was finding an application in real life, but now they had covered the rules, and how she expected them to behave it was on to practical matters.

Igor had not just considered his fellow workers and contacts, but through them he had also found others who had a wealth of experience, those that had been cast aside due to age or some other perceived shortcoming. These past few weeks he had been very busy cultivating this vast network, and had found some real gems, one of them was about to meet Marta's work crew.

Yaroslaw was only fifty-six but all his working life he had loved the outdoors, working in parks and gardens all that time, there was little he didn't know about the care of plants, so it had been a bitter blow to loose his job to a younger man at half the pay, who could barely mow a straight line in the grass. With the state of the country everywhere cuts and cost savings, tell that to the dead plants he thought, but now for a short time at least he had work and his self respect back.

She introduced the boys to Yaroslaw, he looked them over, then began telling them of the jobs to be done, the tools they would use, and how to stay safe by using them properly.

As she looked on, the older man passing on a few grains of his own arcane wisdom, made her think warmly of the time Gramps first acquainted her with the chessboard, and it's fascinating carved pieces, each with their own strange dance.

Yaroslaw explained how it was too late in the season to prune some plants, so they would trim those they could to improve their appearance, others they would tie back especially a couple near the house walls, to ease access for the painters. Outside they were each given tasks with words of encouragement under his watchful eye, so that within a few hours the visual aspect of the area where they were working was markedly improved.

Mid morning a truck delivered several large items of building site machinery, including two cherry pickers, for Stepan on hearing Igor's audacious plan had said he could borrow any kit he needed from the company depot that would speed up the job. By lunchtime two men had started to pressure clean the walls as others followed behind making good any small defects. As the day wore on what at first looked to be chaos, was in fact a choreographed mechanical ballet, as slowly things took shape and order reigned. Before the day was over they had received many pallets of materials, some were covered with tarpaulins, others were unloaded and hauled inside.

With her MMC team safely in the hands of that day's mentor, Marta went to find her father, who was talking with Melenki his now de-facto deputy, as they were refining the list of jobs to be done, and which men they would assign to the various tasks. Other than updating the kitchen the whole place needed a good clean, a few minor repairs, and a lick of paint after being neglected for so long, but the final package required that wow factor in order to catch the eye and clinch the sale. Taking a breather from their planning Igor introduced Melenki to his daughter and her boyfriend, but he said they had met earlier that morning when she arrived with two big bags of sweatshirts.

Igor smiled at the parallel, him with his team, and his daughter with hers, proud that she would even attempt to help some more disadvantaged youngsters. As he had moved about the house several times he had paused to look out and see them diligently following instructions from the old gardener, as the beaming Yaroslaw oversaw the start of the grounds transformation.

Karl had witnessed what a strange dichotomy his girlfriend posed, at times she seemed a whirling dervish, her quick alert mind, the connections she made, the can do attitude, then there were the insecurities that she had harboured for so long, hopefully those fears would diminish with her ever growing confidence.

Seeking a brief change of pace Igor toured the house with Marta and Karl, to review some of the ideas they had discussed over the past two weeks, there were three places where it was evident doors had been bricked up in some previous remodelling, though he was at a loss to say why the finished areas were inset instead of flush. Marta opened one of her little notebooks where she had sketched out a rough idea of the Trompe l'oeil deception for each location, one of which would require a little more effort, but Igor thought it added a brilliant touch. With her father's blessing now all she had to do was visit the studio find the painters then choose some pictures to perform this artful makeover.

Igor's new toy - the laptop, with the Gant chart running on it, had enabled him to organise plant, labour, and materials, with a level of efficiency he would have found hard if he was juggling the schedule on paper as he had done before. When he had asked a few of the men he worked with if they were interested in a little private 'off the books' work he had been inundated, it seemed each man had a brother, cousin, or son that would also be eager to work on this job. In consequence he even had a bunch of night-watchman, as those who had come from out of town were bedding down on site for the work's duration.

At home Anna had her own list of tasks while supervising her brothers, her mum was doing her first big baking job for the catering company. Once she had the boys settled, and bribed to stay out of the kitchen, Anna called the studio to make some enquiries, four names were put forward as the most capable, and eventually she managed to catch each of them on their home numbers, as none of them were on standby over the weekend, all had agreed to meet at the work site the following day.

With additional bribes and threats Anna ensured the boys wouldn't come round the side of the table where she was working in the study, so she was still able to watch them as she worked on her secure studio laptop, she didn't want them to see the images she was reviewing. There was one last disk they had not yet viewed, so Anna loaded it up then looked through the directory, going down the listings, it was all the same old stuff, similar to what they had seen on so many others, until she came to a folder that held only text files.

She couldn't make any sense of the cryptic folder or file titles, but opened the first to see what it held, it was a list of web addresses, long gobbledygook letters and numbers that gave no clue what the web site might be about, only one way to find out, she would go online and paste them into the browser. She did the first two, then a couple at random from the list of twenty or more, though she couldn't understand them it was plain these sites were run by people like Boris as the words security and hacking were both prominent.

The next file was more interesting, Boris and Dmitri had both talked about back-doors into sites, and it looked like she had thirty or more in this list. She now had access to many of the sites that she had seen on disk, and was able to view new sets that had been released since her copies had been made. Progressing down the list she found some of the links no longer worked, but it was fun to sneak into those web sites that were still open.

There were still several folders left, the next file had names of web sites seemed to have a common theme, big boobs and stockings, and it was again more back-doors, just this time though it wasn't teens, it was all grown up ladies, very grown up.

Another file had lists of web sites that gave out lists of other web sites, looking at those she thought she could soon get lost as the choice was just too much, so she moved on to the next file to see what that held. Nudists, lots of clubs, beaches and lakeside scenes of families enjoying their sunny holidays, it was educational to see naked men, these grown ups had big thingies, penises that was the grown up word she had been taught, anyway they were well bigger than her brothers, but most of the pictures concentrated on the ladies, the teenage girls or girls who were even younger.

With all the sites she had visited so far, she began to wonder if there was room on the internet for any stuff that wasn't about naked people, and she still had quite a few text files left to check through.

The next list she found was something called bulletin boards, so she loaded the first URL into her browser, as the page loaded she stared at the screen in disbelief. "OMG"

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For those of you who are still with me - a comment or two might be helpful, just to find out if anyone is there - you're all very quiet? Not having my own 'on topic' blog, website, or e-mail address, I often visit the forum on this site to join the current subjects under debate.

Read chapter 31 if you want to find out what has shocked our young heroine, and a bit further on in this tale there is some factual information on the history of porn and of various laws.