The Ruby Moon

by Trisha Priebe

  “No doubt.”

  “But this will pass, and sooner than you think.”

  “How can you say that?”

  “The king is dying, Avery. Those angling for his throne are moving into the kingdom in droves. A race won by an unknown thirteen-year-old girl will soon be the furthest thing from his mind. He risks dying without an heir—and to a king, little matters more than securing his throne. Having a son or staying alive will soon be all he cares about.”

  They sat for a long silent moment.

  “Thank you,” Avery whispered finally.

  “I’m just glad you’re back,” Kendrick said. He pulled from a sack a loaf of crusty bread and a wedge of cheese and handed half to Avery. “You need to get your strength back.”

  They ate as dusk settled. When a shadow crept across the face of the moon, Avery said, “Shouldn’t we go back? Kate and Tuck will worry.”

  “Wait. There’s something you’ll want to see.”

  “I don’t think I can handle any more excitement today.”

  As the minutes passed, the shadow continued to fill the moon until the entire circle of moon was hidden. And then—in a breathtaking instant—the moon reappeared in all its glory, only in brilliant red.

  “The ruby moon,” Avery whispered. “I’ve imagined it but never seen it.”

  “The king planned his Olympiad around astronomers’ predictions,” Kendrick said. “He calls it ‘God’s favor.’ I call it good timing.”

  Kate, Tuck, and even Bronte were waiting in the otherwise empty dining room. Despite the time that had passed since the race, Avery felt its effects, plus the fear and the run back to the castle. Her muscles throbbed, and her legs felt like jelly.

  If I never run another race, it’ll still be too soon.

  Kate rushed to Avery and drew her into a hard hug. “What happened?”

  As she sat and poured out the story, Tuck draped his coat over her shoulders. Then Kate brought her a bowl of hot broth and more bread. Bronte nudged her cold nose under Avery’s hand so she had to pet the dog’s silky fur.

  Each gesture made Avery feel better.

  The group sat contemplating their next move until a scout burst in. “We need to move!” he said. “The king’s guard has fanned out searching for the mystery girl who won the race. Castle staff have been put on high alert to find her and report her to His Majesty’s people at once!”

  Kendrick said, “A few servants know about the kids’ quarters. If they breathe a word of it to the wrong person, guards will ransack this side of the castle within minutes.”

  “Then we need a new place to live,” Tuck said. “Now.”

  Chapter 14

  The Exodus

  “Listen carefully!” Tuck called to the kids assembled in the Great Room. “We don’t have much time! We’re in danger even as I speak!” They closed in on him in a tight circle.

  Avery counted twenty-five and wondered where everyone was then realized that with the disappearances of so many of her peers, this was it.

  Tuck continued urgently, “The guards could ransack this side of the castle at any moment, so we need to find new lodging immediately.”

  One called out, “Is it true that they are looking for Avery?”

  Another said, “Where can we go? We have no options.”

  “The underworld,” Tuck said. “Take everything you can carry and move to the tunnels. No time to waste! We won’t be coming back to this part of the castle, so don’t leave anything you wish to keep.”

  Kids began grabbing whatever they could carry—furniture, clothing, books, and blankets—and moving to the stairwell and the library door. Fights broke out over who owned what and who had the right to something that had belonged to someone now missing.

  Avery suspected they were arguing over far more than the objects in question.

  No one liked the idea of moving on such short notice—and certainly not to the castle’s underbelly. In a few hours, this side of the castle would be as empty as the winter woods—and would feel just as cold.

  She hurried to the bunkroom to gather her things.

  “What an eventful day!” a familiar voice trilled from the doorway.

  Everyone stopped, and the room fell silent.

  Ilsa glided toward Avery, arms crossed, eyes narrow. “So this is all your fault?”

  Avery rolled her eyes.

  Ilsa laughed, sounding hollow as the room. “You know more scouts follow you than watch the king? Ironic that you think you’re saving us from the evil queen when in reality we’re saving you from yourself. And now we move to the tunnels because of you. Where next? The dungeon?”

  Avery wanted to protest, but how could she? Ilsa was right.

  She was relieved when Tuck appeared, but instead of calling Ilsa out, he whispered, “Why don’t you find someplace to wait while we finish here? I’ll send someone for you when we’re done.”

  With Bronte at her heels, Avery slipped across the hall into the storage room where Queen Elizabeth’s personal things had been kept. The place had been largely picked over for the kids’ store, but a few crates remained. She kicked one and bundles of handwritten letters tied with faded ribbons tumbled out.

  The kids moved like a great wave of rats into the castle’s frigid underworld.

  They spent the first night deep in the tunnels—away from the undesirables who occupied the catacombs—bickering and bartering over who slept where and which rooms would be used as common areas. Instead of sleeping in giant bunkrooms as they had upstairs, the kids paired up and claimed smaller spaces. When they found a room they wanted, kids tied a rope between a pair of wall sconces and hung a blanket over it to serve as a door.

  With all the blankets, mattresses, and personal belongings, the tunnels quickly began to resemble the stalls Avery’s mother had dragged her to on market days.

  Avery and Kate claimed an alcove off the main tunnel away from Ilsa and her friends.

  Bronte and her quickly growing litter had free rein of the tunnels and were soon loudly scampering up and down the corridors, barking and nipping and rolling in the sludge.

  Avery sensed she would rarely see them in this new home.

  Avery—her hair in inky black knots that looked as bad as she felt—went searching for the new dining room and, more specifically, Tuck.

  He appeared in a doorway, a kind smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.

  “Go ahead,” she said, holding out a pair of shears, “laugh. I know I look ridiculous.”

  “What are these for?”

  “Kate won’t cut my hair. Someone needs to.”

  Tuck’s face contorted. “Why?”

  “It’ll give me away. If I look like a boy, maybe they’ll move on. Now come on.”

  Tuck shook his head, pushing Avery’s hand away. “Nobody’s gonna find us. I doubt Angelina even knows this place exists. If she does, she’s certainly not going to step foot down here.”

  Avery didn’t budge.

  “Fine,” Tuck said, taking the shears. “Sit.”

  Avery sat and closed her eyes. She could only imagine what her hair would look like after a thirteen-year-old boy cut it.

  This would be such a disappointment to my mother.

  She heard the shears open and snap shut a couple of times as Tuck seemed to be practicing with them.

  “Ilsa’s right, you know,” she said. “This is all my fault. I’m sorry we were forced to move here.”

  “We’re here for our own safety,” he said. “Forget the race or what you said to the queen. We couldn’t stay in the kids’ quarters waiting for the next person to disappear. You understand that, right?”

  Avery nodded, eyes still closed, fighting tears. “I guess.”

  The shears opened and Avery tensed.

  Then suddenly Tuck said, “I’m not doing this. But I’ll tell you what I will do. I’ll protect you from anyone who comes looking for you. You have my word.”

  Avery turned to face him, but he left, t
aking the shears with him.

  She dug in her pocket for a comb and attacked her tangled mess, wondering if Tuck had any idea what he had promised. It was a gallant gesture, and she was touched. She just hoped he wouldn’t be put to the test.

  She suspected the queen wouldn’t give up looking for her so easily.

  Chapter 15

  The Dark-Cloaked Figure

  By the next morning, Avery knew the rest of the kids understood two things.

  First, they had to be careful. If anyone else living in the tunnels discovered who they were and reported them to the king or queen, that person would become instantly rich and the kids instantly condemned.

  Second, deliveries were going to be a lot tougher underground. Matches and candles would have to be smuggled down all the time. And though they’d found space for a large dining table the kids had fashioned out of driftwood, getting food from the kitchens upstairs would require creativity and work. Stragglers in the underbelly would always be threats to steal their next meal, whenever food was delivered.

  Breakfast the first morning consisted of meager delicacies the kitchen staff had been able to sneak past the most persistent stragglers. Avery, Kate, Tuck, and Kendrick knew they needed to do something quickly, before mealtimes became too big an ordeal.

  The four stayed at the rough-hewn table after breakfast.

  “You have it?” Tuck asked Kate, who handed him a velvet pouch. “Nicely done,” he said, weighing it in his hand.

  “What if no one comes?” Avery said.

  “They’ll come,” Tuck said, confident as a king.

  Several more minutes passed, but just as Kendrick let out a sigh, two tall men with unkempt hair, beards like untamed forests, and greasy clothes appeared in the doorway.

  Tuck slipped the pouch into his pocket as he stood and extended a hand.

  Both ignored it and glared, so Tuck motioned for them to sit.

  They looked wary, but they sat, one grunting, “Hear you want peace in these here tunnels.”

  Tuck nodded. “Don’t want any trouble. Just want to get along.”

  “Who are you?” the other man growled. “Kin tell by your clothes you don’t belong down here.”

  “Secret society,” Tuck said. “What do you say we agree to mind our business and you agree to mind yours?”

  The men glanced at each other, mumbled something, and nodded. “You were right to come to us,” the first said, running stubby fingers through his beard.

  “We kin make sure you’re left alone,” the second said, “but don’t ’spect us to do it for nothin’.”

  “I’m listening,” Tuck said, casually putting his hands in his pockets. “What would be a fair price?”

  “Scraps,” the second man said.

  “Excuse me?”

  “Offa this here table. We want what’s left when you’re finished. You gotta get food down here somehow to feed this society o’ yers. We ain’t askin’ fer much.”

  Tuck squinted and spoke slowly. “You protect our food deliveries, and we give you what’s left after each meal?”

  “Yessir, that’ll do us. Jes’ leave it down at the juncture yonder. I kin show ya where I’ll be.”

  “And if I agree to that, you’ll shake my hand?”

  “Yep.”

  When they were gone, Tuck said, “And I was prepared to give them enough gold to buy a country house.”

  During the first week in the underworld, Avery noticed a dark-cloaked figure—head and body bent low—move slowly through the tunnels at the same time each night.

  His left foot dragged, and he carried a stick over his shoulder bearing a lantern on one end attached to a hook. Something compelled her to talk to him, but she couldn’t imagine what she would say.

  Avery vowed to work up the courage to learn more about him.

  The twenty-five kids filed into their new makeshift Great Room for midnight court. The space was smaller than it had been upstairs, so they sat shoulder to shoulder, waiting for Tuck to call the meeting to order.

  “We have to be quieter here,” he began. “You never know who’s listening or who they might tell. And we have not simply changed our residence. We have changed our identity. We barely have enough resources to protect and feed ourselves. We’re down to scouts and scavengers. Each one of us is now responsible to gather or protect. We must all do our best and not lose heart. We will get out of here.”

  The kids broke into muted applause.

  When the meeting ended, Kendrick motioned for Avery to join him, and she followed him into the main tunnel to a tiny alcove where they could be alone, hoping he had news.

  He pulled a folded bulletin from his pocket. “Brace yourself,” he said.

  Chapter 16

  Hungry Rats

  Beneath a headline about the mystery girl who had won the half-mile race, an artist had drawn Avery’s face.

  “My nose is the wrong size. And my eyes—do they look like that?” Kendrick shook his head. “Good.” She handed it back. “Nobody will recognize me from this.”

  “You don’t want to read about the reward for your return?”

  “I assume they want me dead, so no, I’d rather not.”

  “Actually, they want you alive.”

  Avery took back the bulletin and read the story. The reward was handsome, but indeed, only if she was delivered alive.

  Kendrick said quietly, “Only the crown has access to that kind of reward.”

  “Obviously.”

  The figure was more than three times her father’s annual income. Much as she’d like to believe he was trying to find her and would capitalize on the race to make it happen, she knew otherwise.

  “With a reward like that, they must really want to find you.”

  “So let them,” Avery said, putting the bulletin in her pocket.

  Her afternoons began to consist of sitting beside Tuck in the Great Room listening to the complaints of the kids and the stragglers. Damp, dark days fueled frustrations and allegations, and often the line to speak to him stretched twenty deep.

  Tuck would listen, suggest a solution, and send the person or pair on their way.

  “He stole my brooch!” one girl accused an old man who lived in the tunnels.

  “Do I look like the type of person who would wear a brooch?” the man said.

  Avery had to stifle a laugh. She suspected this man was very interested in stealing and selling brooches.

  At night the tunnels belched beggars and thieves onto the streets outside the castle. A beautiful brooch could sell for a pretty penny and the money used to buy whatever an old man desired.

  Chapter 17

  The Night Venture

  Distant wailing kept Avery awake long after she should have fallen asleep each night—that, and the bone-chilling dampness that made her toss and turn. She pulled the covers up to her chin to no avail. There weren’t enough blankets in the world to make for comfortable sleeping in the tunnels.

  But the wailing, oh, the wailing.

  Was it a child crying for her mother or a mother crying for her child?

  Kate appeared to sleep despite the sound.

  But what was that in the darkness on her pillow? Avery strained to see. The ruby ring Kate had received from her grandmother? Whether she had taken it off or it had fallen off, Avery didn’t know, but what Kate had told her about it Avery could never forget:

  “It belonged to my grandmother. It’s a locket. She wrote me this message, but I’ll never show anyone what it says.”

  Avery threw off her blankets and sat up, curiosity intruding like an unwanted visitor.

  Kate would never know.

  What agony! Avery wanted to read it so badly, yet something compelled her not to move.

  Friendship cannot survive if trust is broken.

  She slid her legs over the side of her mattress and froze to see if Kate stirred. Her friend looked like the daughter of nobility, her breathing still steady and deep.

  Avery battle
d every impulse and slipped outside their room. Taking a torch from a sconce on the wall, she would find out where the wailing was coming from.

  With the torch aloft, Avery navigated the maze that so many came to in order to escape the king’s wrath.

  As she followed the sound, the louder it grew and the more familiar it sounded.

  “Mother?” she whispered, twisting and turning with increased speed.

  It was crazy—maybe impossible—but she couldn’t imagine happier news than finding her mother in the tunnels. Her mother would know how to fix the mess involving the thirteen-year-olds. And she would do it with her trademark kindness and wisdom. Avery quickly rounded a corner and then another, and suddenly the crying stopped. She stood still and waited, willing it to start again so she could follow the sound.

  She considered calling out before realizing her foolishness. Why would her mother have disappeared from their country cottage to hide in the castle’s underworld? Angry with herself, Avery turned to go back to bed.

  But a hundred feet from where she stood, a cart sat in the center of an alcove.

  Had it been there all along? She hadn’t seen it a moment ago.

  She looked closer and saw that it was not just any cart. The very sight of it made her heart quicken and her eyes fill.

  Avery knew from the moment she spotted it that this was the cart that had brought her to the castle. She took a step forward and it rattled, sending her reeling backward.

  Another child inside?

  She raced to it and yanked back the lid. A pigeon flew out, making Avery shriek. It soared straight up then thudded to the ground. She caught her breath, looked closer, and saw a tiny tube fastened beneath its beak.

  “How long were you trapped inside?” she asked, finding a sconce for her torch and picking up the creature so she could open the tube as she had seen her father do a dozen times with his carrier pigeons.