A summary of "The Witch’s Treasure" by Tatyana Korsakova

This book is a mystical detective novel, first published in 2010. The plot weaves together events from several eras: the 19th century, the Soviet period, and the present day. A unique feature of the narrative is how the destinies of characters from different generations are skillfully intertwined through the mysterious legend of the Mistress of the Siberian Taiga — a formidable witch who can take the form of a red fox and guards cursed gold placers.

Tragedy at a gold mine in the 19th century

The story begins in the 19th century at a remote Siberian gold mine near Lisii Ruchei. Prospector Demyan Subbotin envies his handsome brother Akim, who has fallen in love with the forest witch Ustinya. Demyan experiences a complex mixture of fear and secret lust for Ustinya, which develops into a fierce hatred. When Akim is struck down by a severe fever and other residents of the mine begin to die from mysterious ailments, Demyan blames the witch for all their troubles.

He gathers a group of three desperate prospectors — Mikula, Grishka the Lame, and Yerofey. Together, they break into Ustinya’s dilapidated forest hut. Yerofey grabs the girl by her braids, and Demyan tears from her neck an unusual medallion of blackened silver, which he believes contains magical powers. After torturing her, the men strangle Ustinya and throw her body into the icy waters of Fox Creek.

Retribution overtakes the accomplices immediately. Akim dies of fever without regaining consciousness. Mikula, tormented by remorse, perishes in a burning house. Later, Yerofey drowns in a stream, and Grishka the Lame commits suicide. Demyan himself manages to accumulate untold wealth, thanks to the patronage of the Mistress of the Taiga, in the guise of a fox.

Demyan decides to hide his treasure securely. With the help of his powerful guide, Mityai Leonov, he transports a heavy chest of gold to a hidden island in the middle of Fox Marsh. To rid himself of a witness, Demyan kills Mityai, but in the ensuing scuffle, he drops Ustinya’s treasured silver medallion into the fast-flowing waters of Fox Creek. Deprived of the talisman, Subbotin loses his mind and dies in the stream, with the heavy nugget tied to his neck.

Mysterious attack on the hermitage

In our time, a young woman, Anastasia Rodionova, who has survived her husband’s betrayal and an unjust imprisonment, seeks peace in a secluded monastery. Her relationship with the strict abbess, Vasilisa, is difficult. Nastya humbly performs the difficult work, enduring bee stings in the apiary and the cold of the damp cellar.

The familiar routine is shattered late one evening when unknown robbers attack the hermitage. The wounded Mother Vasilisa descends into the cellar to Nastya. She thrusts a canvas bag containing a book into the girl’s hands and tears a silver fox medallion from her neck. The abbess orders Anastasia to escape through an ancient underground passage left by the Old Believers and find the elder, Ignat Morozov, in the village of Biryukovo.

Nastya struggles through a damp underground corridor running beneath the river. She emerges into the taiga without food, a compass, or warm shoes. It soon becomes clear that all four elderly nuns of the hermitage have been brutally murdered by raiders searching for a valuable item.

Meeting with the hunters

Anastasia wanders through the dense forest for several days, subsisting on wild berries. Exhausted, she comes upon a camp of three men: photographer Yegor Yalaev, his wealthy friend Anton Pomerantsev, and experienced gamekeeper Makar. Hungry, Nastya tries to steal some bagels and mosquito repellent from a backpack, but Yegor spots the thief and catches her after a chase.

Mistaking the girl for a boy, Yegor is surprised to discover that he is actually a young woman with long red hair. Anastasia decides to conceal her identity. She calls herself "Natalya" and lies that she escaped from a nearby youth commune because of the forced labor.

The hunters allow Nastya to stay at the camp. At dawn, the camp is attacked by an enraged man-eating bear, which Anton had previously wounded. The beast lunges at Yegor. Showing composure, Nastya snatches Anton’s rifle and kills the enormous predator with a single, precise shot to the back of the head.

Assassination attempts and death of the village headman

At night, near the river, where Nastya goes to wash her pot, an unknown assailant attacks her from behind, tying a noose around her neck. Yegor, who heard her screams, comes running and pulls her out of the water, scaring off the assailant. The next morning, the assailant attempts to tranquilize Anastasia right in her tent with a poison-soaked rag. Nastya manages to stab him, and Anton, who awakens, shoots the assailant with a rifle.

The body of the dead bandit mysteriously disappears from the campsite before help arrives. Gamekeeper Makar calls a rescue helicopter, which evacuates the group to the village of Biryukovo. Nastya goes to the village headman, Ignat Evseevich Morozov, and hands him the rescued folder.

It turns out that the deceased Mother Vasilisa is Valentina Mykalova, the village elder’s first love. Ignat Morozov informs Nastya that the police suspect her of involvement in the nuns’ murders. He gives the girl a large sum of money and demands that she leave immediately. Nastya secretly flees the village. That same night, unknown assailants brutally torture Ignat Morozov and kill him, slitting his throat and stealing the folder containing the maps.

The Secret of the Geodetic Expedition

A prosecutor interrogates the hunters, suspecting the missing pilgrim of murdering the village elder. Yegor Yalaev rescues Nastya by providing her with a false alibi. He claims she spent the night with him in a guesthouse. Yegor finds Nastya in the city, takes her to his place, and decides to help her understand what’s happening.

Nastya reveals the secret of the maps to Yegor. In 1929, Professor Ivan Vladimirovich Mykalov led a geodetic expedition in these parts. His young daughter, Valyusha, found a silver medallion and got lost in Fox Swamp, where she met the Mistress of the Taiga. The Mistress showed the girl the cave containing Subbotin’s gold. Professor Mykalov drew a map of the route to the island, and Yevgeny Pomerantsev secretly copied it.

In 1941, Valentina Mykalova found herself exiled to Biryukovo. Her lover, Ignat Morozov, decided to retrieve the treasure but died in a flooded cave before the eyes of his father, Evsey Morozov. After this tragedy, Valentina entered a monastery.

The Treasure Hunt and the Unmasking of the Traitor

Anastasia searches for the elderly Sasha Pivovarova in Tomsk, who tells her that the second copy of the atlas of maps is kept in a St. Petersburg museum. Nastya negotiates the purchase of the documents. Yegor and Anton Pomerantsev join her.

The heroes return to Biryukovo, recruit Makar, and head to Fox Marsh. Using landmarks on the map and the medallion’s secret, Nastya finds the turning boulder blocking the cave entrance. Inside, they discover a circular lake and a heavy chest filled to the brim with gold nuggets.

Anton’s Exposure

In a moment of triumph, Anton Pomerantsev points his gun at his companions. He confesses that he is the great-grandson of Yevgeny Pomerantsev and has spent his life searching for his great-grandfather’s treasure. It was he who hired bandits from the commune to raid the hermitage, tortured the nuns, and personally killed the elder, Ignat Morozov, for the map. Anton replaced the St. Petersburg map collection with the original to save money.

Anton offers his companions some poisoned cognac. Nastya displays a startling reaction and shoots the butt of his carbine with a rifle she had secretly loaded. The weapon shatters into splinters, wounding Anton. Ranger Makar pounces on the villain and ties him up.

The end of the story

A massive collapse begins in the cave. The water in the lake begins to glow, and the ghost of the Mistress of the Taiga rises above it. Nastya gives the Mistress a silver medallion, asking her to spare the people. The ghost takes the talisman and opens the collapsed passage to the outside.

Anton Pomerantsev struggles to the last to save the chest of gold. A huge black wave sweeps it and its treasures into the lake’s depths. Yegor, Nastya, and Makar manage to escape the collapsing cave. Fox Island slowly and irrevocably sinks beneath the waves, burying the cursed witch’s treasure forever.