felt a pain like that before.”
“I’m so happy you’re
awake,” I said, my smile growing. The anxiety and fear hadn’t lifted all at
once, but it was starting to drain away like the puddles after a summer storm.
“Wyn, what happened?”
He stopped struggling with
his leg and lay back against his pillow, the exertion showing on his face. “I
don’t want to tell you, Rube,” he said.
“Wyn.”
His lashes covered his eyes
as he looked down, ashamed. When he met my eyes again, he said, “I went to get
work at the amethyst mine.” He gulped and shook his head, his eyes flying to
the ceiling. “They said no. Only they didn’t say no. Instead they called me a
worthless kid and laughed in my face. I could have handled it if they’d just
said no.”
I looked down to where our
hands were still folded together. It looked as natural as anything, but felt
more exhilarating than anything in the world.
“But I left with them still
laughing at my back. I was really angry.” A nerve ticked in his jaw, and I knew
the anger hadn’t yet subsided. “So I crept back in and stole a bunch of their
stuff. Tools and picks and all sorts of things they have … or had .”
“Oh, Wyn,” I breathed. “Why
didn’t you just come talk to me?”
Wyn bit his bottom lip. “I
was embarrassed. How am I supposed to take you across the sea if everybody still
thinks I’m a kid?”
“ I don’t think you are,” I said.
“Well, I acted like one. I
went to the abandoned diamond mine and started messing around in there with
their tools. I was sure I could find something – anything – to sell
or take with us. Just to get us on our way.”
“Edwyn Martin, that mine
isn’t stable,” I whispered plaintively.
A smile quirked his lips.
“I know that now.”
Sniffling, I playfully hit
the only non-bruised patch I could find on his arm. Then I fell upon him,
sobbing in earnest, and threw my arms around his neck. He drew in a sharp
breath of pain and I recoiled.
“You could have been
killed,” I said sternly.
Chatter from outside was
audible, but inside the house we sat in relieved silence. That is, until Wyn
said, “But that wasn’t the only reason I was in the diamond mine.”
My eyebrows pushed
together. What other reason could he have had for going to an old, abandoned,
notoriously dangerous mine?
“Rube, I have something to
show you.”
Chapter Ten
He couldn’t walk very well on his own, so we shuffled
along, his arm slung over my shoulder. We met townspeople who greeted him
excitedly, but steered carefully away from the field where Maisie and Sarah
were. If they knew he was up and about, he’d be sent straight back to bed. And
I would get quite an earful.
It was slow going, but I
didn’t mind, as long as I was touching Wyn, feeling the warmth of his body.
When we reached the bottom of the steps to Diamond’s Peak, I grew suspicious.
“Are we going to the
bakery?” I asked.
“Of course not,” he replied,
hopping onto the first step with his good foot and nearly toppling me over in
his quest for stability. “We’re going to the mine.”
“Why?” I asked, dread
creeping up my spine.
“Just wait.”
“It’s all caved in,” I
protested. “How do you think you got that lump on your head and a mashed-up
leg?”
“Just wait,” he repeated,
huffing as he struggled up the steps.
A few more perilous hops
brought us to the giant pile of rocks that had come tumbling down on my knight.
“See?” I said, waving my
free arm at the rubble. Whatever idea he had up his sleeve was making me
anxious.
“Help me over there,” he said,
pointing toward the grass on the far side of the cave opening. The side that
faced the sea.
I did as he ordered,
inching around the hill, and my stomach did a somersault as the horizontal path
we treaded turned into a slight grassy slope. Wyn’s good foot slipped, but I
caught him and hauled him back to even ground. My arms around him, he faced me,
my nose barely
“I’m so happy you’re
awake,” I said, my smile growing. The anxiety and fear hadn’t lifted all at
once, but it was starting to drain away like the puddles after a summer storm.
“Wyn, what happened?”
He stopped struggling with
his leg and lay back against his pillow, the exertion showing on his face. “I
don’t want to tell you, Rube,” he said.
“Wyn.”
His lashes covered his eyes
as he looked down, ashamed. When he met my eyes again, he said, “I went to get
work at the amethyst mine.” He gulped and shook his head, his eyes flying to
the ceiling. “They said no. Only they didn’t say no. Instead they called me a
worthless kid and laughed in my face. I could have handled it if they’d just
said no.”
I looked down to where our
hands were still folded together. It looked as natural as anything, but felt
more exhilarating than anything in the world.
“But I left with them still
laughing at my back. I was really angry.” A nerve ticked in his jaw, and I knew
the anger hadn’t yet subsided. “So I crept back in and stole a bunch of their
stuff. Tools and picks and all sorts of things they have … or had .”
“Oh, Wyn,” I breathed. “Why
didn’t you just come talk to me?”
Wyn bit his bottom lip. “I
was embarrassed. How am I supposed to take you across the sea if everybody still
thinks I’m a kid?”
“ I don’t think you are,” I said.
“Well, I acted like one. I
went to the abandoned diamond mine and started messing around in there with
their tools. I was sure I could find something – anything – to sell
or take with us. Just to get us on our way.”
“Edwyn Martin, that mine
isn’t stable,” I whispered plaintively.
A smile quirked his lips.
“I know that now.”
Sniffling, I playfully hit
the only non-bruised patch I could find on his arm. Then I fell upon him,
sobbing in earnest, and threw my arms around his neck. He drew in a sharp
breath of pain and I recoiled.
“You could have been
killed,” I said sternly.
Chatter from outside was
audible, but inside the house we sat in relieved silence. That is, until Wyn
said, “But that wasn’t the only reason I was in the diamond mine.”
My eyebrows pushed
together. What other reason could he have had for going to an old, abandoned,
notoriously dangerous mine?
“Rube, I have something to
show you.”
Chapter Ten
He couldn’t walk very well on his own, so we shuffled
along, his arm slung over my shoulder. We met townspeople who greeted him
excitedly, but steered carefully away from the field where Maisie and Sarah
were. If they knew he was up and about, he’d be sent straight back to bed. And
I would get quite an earful.
It was slow going, but I
didn’t mind, as long as I was touching Wyn, feeling the warmth of his body.
When we reached the bottom of the steps to Diamond’s Peak, I grew suspicious.
“Are we going to the
bakery?” I asked.
“Of course not,” he replied,
hopping onto the first step with his good foot and nearly toppling me over in
his quest for stability. “We’re going to the mine.”
“Why?” I asked, dread
creeping up my spine.
“Just wait.”
“It’s all caved in,” I
protested. “How do you think you got that lump on your head and a mashed-up
leg?”
“Just wait,” he repeated,
huffing as he struggled up the steps.
A few more perilous hops
brought us to the giant pile of rocks that had come tumbling down on my knight.
“See?” I said, waving my
free arm at the rubble. Whatever idea he had up his sleeve was making me
anxious.
“Help me over there,” he said,
pointing toward the grass on the far side of the cave opening. The side that
faced the sea.
I did as he ordered,
inching around the hill, and my stomach did a somersault as the horizontal path
we treaded turned into a slight grassy slope. Wyn’s good foot slipped, but I
caught him and hauled him back to even ground. My arms around him, he faced me,
my nose barely
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