by Lauren Child
Ruby slowly stopped talking.
‘You OK Hitch? You look like someone just ran over your goldfish.’
Hitch didn’t know what to say – how do you tell a kid her parents are missing, presumed dead? He struggled to find the right words, but there were no right words so he just said it.
She looked at him. Her face belied her thoughts. How could this have happened? One minute the girl who had it all, the next the girl who had lost the two most precious things in her life.
Hitch put his arm round her and said, ‘They’re just missing kid, no one’s saying more than that.’
But what Ruby heard was the little voice in her head. She knew that things were not looking good for her parents’ safe return, didn’t matter what ‘no one was saying’.
Ruby didn’t need to ask where their boat had been at the time; she was pretty sure it would be somewhere not so far from the Sibling Islands in those dangerous waters with the tricky currents, with the undertow every sailor feared.
‘Look, I spoke to LB,’ Hitch said. ‘She has authorised a Spectrum agent, using Spectrum equipment, to scan the Sibling waters for your parents. If they can be found we’ll find them – you can be certain of that kid.’
Ruby just nodded. They got in the car and drove back in silence.
Mrs Digby opened the door before Ruby was halfway up the steps.
‘Don’t you torture yourself up with worry Ruby; they’ll be back before you know it. I can feel it in my bones and my bones ain’t never wrong.’
Hitch made his excuses to Mrs Digby and headed back out. He couldn’t sit around – he had to do something, even if it was just taking the Spectrum dinghy out and scouting the waters. The chances of finding anything were remote, but at least it was something to keep his mind from believing the worst.
The old housekeeper and Ruby ate supper accompanied only by the noise of the ticking clock and the intermittent
ringing of the phone. Ruby barely touched her food. When she was done trying, she climbed the stairs to her room and flicked on the TV.
The story of the pirates and the survivors of the Humberts’ yacht was headline news. There was an interview with Ambassador Crew, his arm in a fresh black sling and a patch over one eye, ironically making him look distinctly pirate-like.
The conch shell in Ruby’s bathroom rang, and she picked it up at once.
‘Ruby, my dad told me everything.’
‘Hello Clancy.’ She sounded like every drop of energy had drained out of her.
‘This is awful Rube, just awful.’
‘Yeah,’ said Ruby.
‘I can be at the tree in ten,’ said Clancy.
Silence.
‘Wanna meet me there?’
Silence.
‘Rube…?’
‘Yeah,’ said Ruby, replacing the handset.
Clancy arrived at the oak tree on Amster Green just nine minutes later. Ruby was already there, sitting up on the highest climbable branch. He clambered up and slid along next to her.
‘But no one’s saying they’re dead,’ said Clancy. ‘They’re just missing is all.’
‘How many people can swim for seven days without life jackets, without rescue?’
It wasn’t a question that Clancy wanted to answer.
Instead he said, ‘But maybe they’ve been rescued. You yourself always go on about how lucky your folks are, maybe they got lucky one more time.’
‘Then why don’t we know about it? Why haven’t they radioed in?’ challenged Ruby. ‘They would radio, they would. If my mom’s expert at anything, it’s picking up a phone.’
They talked for a while before Ruby felt an overwhelming need to be alone.
‘Gotta go Clance, you know, just gotta go.’
‘I know,’ he said.
As she made her way down to the ground, Clancy called out.
‘Rube, you know I got a hunch they made it out of there alive.’
She looked up at him, her face suddenly full of hope, wanting to believe.
‘And you know what I’m like with my hunches, don’t you?’
‘Yeah,’ she replied. ‘You’re usually right.’
‘Correction!’ he called. ‘Always right. I have an unblemished record, remember that.’
She smiled at him sadly, got on her bike and rode back towards home.
Hitch’s car was not in the driveway and the lights were off in his apartment. It looked like he would be gone all night.
At 2.43am Ruby woke up cold and sweating. Her dreams had been turbulent. First she’d had the recurring nightmare, the one where something pulled her down into deepest indigo, something whispering, something with eyes that never blinked.
Then her parents had appeared – they were wading through the surf, calling to her, but she couldn’t hear what they were saying. She walked towards them, but no matter how many steps she took, she could not get any nearer. Then suddenly a huge wave engulfed them and when it retreated, they were gone.
Ruby snapped the light on and reached for her glasses. She looked around for Bug, but he must have gone downstairs to his basket. She couldn’t shake the image from her head so she climbed out of bed and went down to the kitchen.
Bug lifted his nose and got to his feet, yawning.
‘Hey there Bug.’ She stroked him behind the ears, trying to bring to mind exactly what Clancy had said. Did he really have a hunch or was he just being kind?
She switched on the radio. There was a late-night quiz show aimed at security guards and insomniacs; the questions were pretty dumb, but they were some distraction.
‘WHAT WOULD YOU CALL A BABY WHALE?’
‘A calf,’ said Ruby automatically.
‘WHAT WOULD YOU SAY IF YOU STEPPED ON A GERMAN’S TOE?’
‘Entschuldigung,’ said Ruby. ‘No, wait, verzeihung.’
‘WHAT WOULD YOU DO IF YOU WERE A COOPER?’
‘Make barrels.’
‘WHAT WOULD YOU BE IF YOU WERE ON CHARON’S FERRY?’
‘I know this one… what is it?’
Suddenly a news announcer’s voice broke in.
‘WE ARE SORRY TO INTERRUPT THIS PROGRAMME FOR SOME BREAKING NEWS. TWO BODIES HAVE BEEN FOUND BY A FISHING CREW TWENTY MILES OUT TO SEA. THEY HAVE NOT YET BEEN IDENTIFIED AND AT THIS TIME WE CAN ONLY SAY THAT THEY ARE A MAN AND WOMAN OF APPROXIMATELY MIDDLE AGE.’
Ruby didn’t hear anything more of the broadcast; all she heard was the answer to the quiz show question pinging into her head.
‘Dead,’ she said.
She leaned back against the wall and let herself slide down to the floor.
Chapter 23.
Love without words
RUBY DIDN’T SLEEP THAT NIGHT. She sat in her bedroom in the dark just staring out of her window, waiting for dawn to come.
At 6.30am on Wednesday morning the phone in her room rang. Clancy, she thought, but she didn’t pick up. She couldn’t talk to anyone, not even Clancy Crew. Talking to people meant listening to them telling her it was going to be all right, and she knew it wasn’t. It wasn’t all right at all.
At 6.39 Hitch knocked on her door. He could tell just by looking at her face that she must be aware of the latest reports.
‘I heard the news kid.’
She blinked back at him.
‘I agree it doesn’t look good,’ he said. ‘But we don’t know, not for sure. No one’s been identified.’
She didn’t speak.
‘I spent all night in the boat and I found nothing. Doesn’t mean it’s over; “nothing” can also be good. Zuko’s out in the chopper now; he’s a good agent with good eyes, good instinct. If there’s anything to find, he’ll find it.’
They went down to the kitchen and Mrs Digby came right over and kissed Ruby on the top of her head and squeezed her cheek, like she always did, always had done from the first day she was born.
‘I’m not going to class,’ Ruby said.
‘Course you’re not Ruby, you’re staying here with me,’ sai
d Mrs Digby, nodding her head. ‘I’m making you French toast and proper English tea.’
The housekeeper didn’t want to let Ruby out of sight, but at about a quarter to noon Ruby managed to give her the slip. She wanted to be out in the fresh air where she could think, where she wasn’t surrounded by everything that was her mom and dad.
She took a walk down to Amster Green. She nimbly climbed the old oak and when she reached the topmost climbing branch, she sat down. She felt around with her left hand, reaching for the deep knot in the bark. She pulled out a neatly folded origami turtle. The coded note said,
ec hbbtzik erl ocoeqw rpuyl
She took out her pencil, crossed out the code and wrote,
‘Commiserations you now have
a blemished record.’
She climbed back down, got on her bike and rode out to Twinford harbour.
For some reason it was the only place she wanted to be. Maybe because her parents had always loved boats, had always loved the ocean, or maybe it was because this was one of the last places Ruby had seen them alive.
The Redforts had met in the ocean and now they had died in the ocean – what had been the most romantic of beginnings was now the most tragic of endings.
Her parents had told the story so many times Ruby could almost hear their voices explaining how they had met off the Tuscan coast of Italy.
SABINA: ‘It must be seventeen years ago now – boy, was your dad ever handsome.’
BRANT: ‘And your mom, she was a knock-out.’
SABINA: ‘Brant was working as a diver, for that marine biologist.’
BRANT: ‘Yes, and you honey, were sailing single-handed around the Mediterranean coast, what a gal!’
SABINA: ‘I was trying to become fluent in Italian, but I never really got further than the word ciao.’
But as it turned out she hadn’t needed to. They had met underwater and it was love without words.
Somewhere far off, Ruby thought she could hear a dog barking. A real yapper, she thought.
‘Could you give it a rest already!’ A loud voice belonging to a woman scolded the dog, and the dog stopped yapping.
Then…
‘Ruby Redfort! Ruby! Ruby Redfort!’
Ruby looked up, but the sun was shining directly into her eyes, blinding her. All she could see was a tall silhouetted figure, a woman in a long, voluminous robe who appeared to be waving.
‘Ahoy there!’ came another voice, deep and sort of fat sounding.
Ruby squinted into the bright light, trying to make out the callers.
‘Nice of you to come meet us.’ It was Bernie and Eadie Runklehorn.
‘Look who we fished out of the drink!’ bellowed Mr Runklehorn.
And then two other figures came into view, followed by a little dog.
‘Hey honey, how did you know we would be sailing in today?’
‘Mom? Dad? Are you really alive?’
Her father glanced down as if checking. ‘Last time I looked,’ he called back.
Chapter 24.
Just plain lucky
IT WAS AGENT ZUKO WHO HAD SPOTTED THEM. The yacht’s engine had failed and due to the lack of wind, they were making slow progress back to shore. Zuko had landed the sea chopper on the water and fixed the engine. Not long after this the yacht cruised into the harbour. Everyone safe, everyone sound. Brant had swung Ruby up over his shoulder and muzzed up her hair in the way he always did, always had done since she was just a little kid – but for once she really didn’t mind one bit.
‘I owe you one pal,’ said Hitch, shaking Zuko’s hand.
‘Hey, easy job, you owe me nothing,’ said Zuko.
When things had calmed down and Ruby and Hitch were alone, she said, ‘Hey, you know – thanks.’
‘All part of the job,’ he replied.
‘No,’ said Ruby. ‘I know it’s not, so thank you.’
He winked at her. ‘Consider it my pleasure kid. I happen to like your folks a whole lot. Your mother can be a little pernickety and I can’t stand your father’s whistling, but on the whole I’d rather not do without them. ’
Of course, it was important that Brant and Sabina should be debriefed as soon as possible, before they forgot anything that might prove vital to catching those responsible for their near-death encounter. Both the police and the coastguard were keen to get some kind of description of the assailants, but the interview was not going well.
Ruby sat in on the debrief. Partly because it was so nice to see her not-dead parents, but also because she was intrigued to hear what they had to say.
‘He had terrible dental work,’ said Sabina, wrinkling her nose. ‘I mean he went to the trouble of having five or six gold teeth fitted, but the front one was very discoloured, and a couple of the lower ones were missing altogether, and talk about halitosis. I don’t think he had so much as sniffed a bottle of Mint-Mouth his whole criminal life.’
The police detective felt Sabina was getting sidetracked by teeth and tried to bring things back to more useful territory.
‘Try Mrs Redfort, if you will, to focus on the overall appearance of the man – how tall he was, for instance. Was he stocky? Was he lean? How was he dressed?’
‘Oh, he was dressed appallingly, nothing went together. Lots of things that didn’t make sense, very tasteless; not that the clothes themselves were all bad, but they didn’t work as an ensemble.’
Brant thought it might be time for him to chip in.
‘I think what Sabina is getting at is that the man had a somewhat haphazard appearance – he was small yet tough, no one doubted his strength. His clothing suggested that much of it was stolen – or acquired. Maybe he saw things, took them and wore them.’
‘Yes, well put honey,’ agreed Sabina. ‘That’s exactly it! He’s not a shopper.’ She stopped as if remembering something important. ‘But his colleague was.’
‘Colleague?’ queried the detective.
‘His cohort, accomplice, whatever you call these pirate types.’ Sabina waved her arms. ‘What I’m trying to say is that there was a fellow on-board who did not look one bit like a pirate, yet he was in with them.’
‘So what did he look like Mrs Redfort?’ asked the detective.
‘Sort of collegey, educated, respectable, nicely dressed, kinda like Brant,’ said Sabina.
Now, this was interesting. What was a guy like that doing with a bunch of pirates? thought Ruby.
‘And how many of these pirates would you say there were?’ asked the detective.
‘Forty, I’d say, at least. Would you agree Brant?’
Brant nodded. ‘Give or take – perhaps more like twenty.’
‘And would you say that these pirates were even slightly interested in kidnap and ransoms? I mean did you think it crossed their minds?’ the detective asked.
‘No, that wasn’t my impression,’ said Brant confidently. ‘They had no idea who Ambassador Crew was and they seemed to have not one jot of interest in us, just our wallets.’
‘And jewellery,’ added Sabina, looking down at the ring still firmly jammed on her finger, her finger still firmly attached to her hand.
‘And their boat?’ asked the detective. ‘Could you describe that?’
‘Pirate-like,’ said Sabina.
‘What do you mean, pirate-like?’ said the detective.
‘The sort of vessel,’ said Brant, ‘that you might expect a pirate to sail in. It was dramatic, sort of corny almost.’
‘Like in a film,’ said Sabina. ‘Old-fashioned. Lots of rigging and sails – you know, crow’s-nests and the like – all it was lacking was the Jolly Roger.’
The detective wrote that down. It was something and they didn’t have a whole lot to go on.
Old-fashioned, thought Ruby. Wasn’t that exactly the way the fishermen had described the boat they spotted in the distance, the one that failed to pick them up? Ruby found herself mulling this final fact over and over in her mind. There was something intriguing about it.
Like in a film, she said to herself.
Chapter 25.
Once in a blue moon
AT ABOUT SIX O’CLOCK THAT EVENING, Ruby was lying on her parents’ bed: her mother was sitting at the dressing table brushing her hair. Brant Redfort was choosing a necktie from his very large collection of neckties. They were all looking forward to a fun evening with the Runklehorns who were expected within the next half-hour or so.
‘So,’ asked Ruby, ‘what exactly did you learn out there – the whole history deal I mean?’
‘Some pretty fascinating stuff,’ said Brant.
‘Oh my! Did we ever,’ agreed Sabina. Ruby waited for her mother to launch into the story of the treasure of the Seahorse, a legend she was prone to talking about whenever she got the opportunity. Sabina was very fond of this tale because the legendary treasure – in particular, a priceless ruby necklace – supposedly belonged to her great-great-great-grandmother, Eliza Fairbank.
Tonight Sabina was particularly excited because during the cruise Dora Shoering had confirmed that the story was a lot more than legend – it was all, most probably, true. The fact that Dora Shoering knew no more about history than the next man or woman didn’t seem to bother Sabina.
‘Of course, they were my great-great-great-grandmother’s rubies.’ Sabina paused. ‘Or were they my great-great-great-great-grandmother’s? Either way, people say they were the most stunning jewels this side of India.’
‘What was the whole big deal about them?’ asked Ruby, who of course knew the whole big deal, but her mother liked to explain and Ruby was feeling kind enough to ask.
‘They were flawless – crystal clear and flawless – big too,’ replied her mother. ‘They would have been yours of course, eventually.’ She sighed. ‘They would have gone so well with this Marco Perella dress.’ Sabina was scrutinising herself in her dressing-room mirror.
‘Oh, you don’t need jewels Mom,’ said Ruby. ‘You always knock ’em dead – rubies or no rubies.’