"What do they want? Those bloodsuckers think they own this land — they come, take what they want, and steal th

"What do they want? Those bloodsuckers think they own this land — they come, take what they want, and steal the better part of our money every month as a toll for their leader. They even broke our gate so we couldn't try to hide anything from them. No one knows exactly how many there are. Sometimes only five or six come — sometimes, it's a whole gang. I'd have shown them what for long ago, if not for Svetlana."