toward the back of the
boat, one hand on the dusty, earthen wall, and shook his head. “It’s my own
damned fault.”
I joined him and saw that
what seemed like the back wall of the cavern was actually a rubble pile that
had tumbled down on top of the very back end of the boat. Probably when Wyn had
taken a pickaxe to the old diamond mine.
Boards that once made up
part of my boat now littered the ground, and rocks were piled on top of the
boat’s backside, splintering the boards there. I took his hand back up and
squeezed it.
“Thank you,” I whispered.
“But I’ve ruined it now,”
he said miserably.
I shook my head and turned
to him, resuming our dancing pose. “While you were sleeping away, giving us all
a scare, I made a decision.”
“To scare me out of my
concussed mind?” He laughed.
I grinned, but tried to
keep the seriousness of the conversation. “No. Well, that too. But before that,
I decided we should stay.
“What?” he said.
And then it all came
rushing out. “I’ve been scared, Wyn. Before you got hurt. I don’t know why.
I’ve always wanted to go on The Great and Mighty Voyage, but I don’t think I’m
ready! And now, with your leg, I think we should stay here in Killybeg. Where
you can heal, and if … if your leg doesn’t …”
“No,” he said, shaking his
head violently. He ripped his hand out of mine. “No!” It was only the second
time I’d heard him raise his voice, and both within the last two days.
“Wyn, we could have a great
life here. I can work in the bakery and you could … well, I don’t know, but
we’d find something. I’ll learn to sew and … well, I don’t know. Just all those
things the other girls do. And –”
“Ruby, stop!” he yelled.
“We have to be reasonable,”
I insisted.
“I am being reasonable!” he shouted. “I’ve waited my whole life to run
away with you. With or without a left leg, we’re going. The both of us. We’re
going to go and make our lives into whatever we want them to be, wherever we
want them to be. We’re going to create our own adventure, our own excitement. I
promise you we will not stay here. Our lives will be filled with excitement and
grandeur. I promise, Ruby.”
Tears were unaccountably
springing to my eyes, and I began to hang my head to hide them, but one bruised
finger pushed my chin up to face him and his lips caught mine.
In that bottomless moment,
I wasn’t Ruby. I was some celestial spirit that could see the whole, beautiful
world when this boy’s lips touched mine. I was at once everything and nothing.
As though I had ceased to be, except in this moment. Perpetually.
As he pulled away, that
familiar grin on his lips, a splash of color amind the gray rubble at our feet
caught my eye. A long piece of wood hung, still attached to the boat by one
nail, stretching down to the floor near my dusty boots. I bent and picked it
gingerly from the rocky debris, twisting it up so that it continued from its
perch on the hull as though the collapsing mine hadn’t nearly snapped it in
two.
The board had a name
scribbled across it in red paint and loopy handwriting, upside down, as the
boat was now. I twisted the board on its single nail until the handwriting,
shaky as I knew Wyn’s cursive was, faced me. It read:
The Ruby Princess.
Chapter Eleven
Neither Maisie nor Sarah let the scolding rest
when we got back to the cottage.
“Just disappeared into thin
air, the pair of you!” Sarah squeaked bitterly. “What do you think we thought?”
Happy tears poured down her face.
“Well you didn’t sound the
alarm, so I guess you weren’t too worried,” Wyn said sarcastically. I helped him to the bed in the corner, where
he sat down and sighed. I’d been so elated by The Ruby Princess that I’d forgotten what pain he must have been
experiencing. He twisted around and lay back against the pillows. We’d closed
Felix in the house when we went to the diamond mine, and he perched on the edge
of the
boat, one hand on the dusty, earthen wall, and shook his head. “It’s my own
damned fault.”
I joined him and saw that
what seemed like the back wall of the cavern was actually a rubble pile that
had tumbled down on top of the very back end of the boat. Probably when Wyn had
taken a pickaxe to the old diamond mine.
Boards that once made up
part of my boat now littered the ground, and rocks were piled on top of the
boat’s backside, splintering the boards there. I took his hand back up and
squeezed it.
“Thank you,” I whispered.
“But I’ve ruined it now,”
he said miserably.
I shook my head and turned
to him, resuming our dancing pose. “While you were sleeping away, giving us all
a scare, I made a decision.”
“To scare me out of my
concussed mind?” He laughed.
I grinned, but tried to
keep the seriousness of the conversation. “No. Well, that too. But before that,
I decided we should stay.
“What?” he said.
And then it all came
rushing out. “I’ve been scared, Wyn. Before you got hurt. I don’t know why.
I’ve always wanted to go on The Great and Mighty Voyage, but I don’t think I’m
ready! And now, with your leg, I think we should stay here in Killybeg. Where
you can heal, and if … if your leg doesn’t …”
“No,” he said, shaking his
head violently. He ripped his hand out of mine. “No!” It was only the second
time I’d heard him raise his voice, and both within the last two days.
“Wyn, we could have a great
life here. I can work in the bakery and you could … well, I don’t know, but
we’d find something. I’ll learn to sew and … well, I don’t know. Just all those
things the other girls do. And –”
“Ruby, stop!” he yelled.
“We have to be reasonable,”
I insisted.
“I am being reasonable!” he shouted. “I’ve waited my whole life to run
away with you. With or without a left leg, we’re going. The both of us. We’re
going to go and make our lives into whatever we want them to be, wherever we
want them to be. We’re going to create our own adventure, our own excitement. I
promise you we will not stay here. Our lives will be filled with excitement and
grandeur. I promise, Ruby.”
Tears were unaccountably
springing to my eyes, and I began to hang my head to hide them, but one bruised
finger pushed my chin up to face him and his lips caught mine.
In that bottomless moment,
I wasn’t Ruby. I was some celestial spirit that could see the whole, beautiful
world when this boy’s lips touched mine. I was at once everything and nothing.
As though I had ceased to be, except in this moment. Perpetually.
As he pulled away, that
familiar grin on his lips, a splash of color amind the gray rubble at our feet
caught my eye. A long piece of wood hung, still attached to the boat by one
nail, stretching down to the floor near my dusty boots. I bent and picked it
gingerly from the rocky debris, twisting it up so that it continued from its
perch on the hull as though the collapsing mine hadn’t nearly snapped it in
two.
The board had a name
scribbled across it in red paint and loopy handwriting, upside down, as the
boat was now. I twisted the board on its single nail until the handwriting,
shaky as I knew Wyn’s cursive was, faced me. It read:
The Ruby Princess.
Chapter Eleven
Neither Maisie nor Sarah let the scolding rest
when we got back to the cottage.
“Just disappeared into thin
air, the pair of you!” Sarah squeaked bitterly. “What do you think we thought?”
Happy tears poured down her face.
“Well you didn’t sound the
alarm, so I guess you weren’t too worried,” Wyn said sarcastically. I helped him to the bed in the corner, where
he sat down and sighed. I’d been so elated by The Ruby Princess that I’d forgotten what pain he must have been
experiencing. He twisted around and lay back against the pillows. We’d closed
Felix in the house when we went to the diamond mine, and he perched on the edge
of the
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