A Riddle in Ruby by Kent Davis Page A

handful of the stuff, and sending them all down into the dark water. That was what she had done to Gwath, however you wanted to paint it. She had spent the first minutes of their flight staring over her shoulder at the receding mass of the Thrift , desperate to sight a big, friendly shape diving over the side and then strongly pulling for the boat triumphant and spent from whatever savage duel he had undergone to guard their escape.
    That did not happen.
    Indeed, the tug continued toward the Benzene Yards docks as if nothing at all strange had occurred. Not being chased was welcome but confusing. Why was thereno alarm? Why did Rool not descend on them like a tidal wave? But he did not.
    After that there was only the pain in her wrist, the haggard breathing of the two young men, and the hole in her heart.
    Cram finally broke the silence. “Where we goin’?” he asked through gritted teeth. He had begun grunting with each pull, though to his credit he had not slowed.
    The sun would be rising soon. Athen, just as winded, covered in sweat, was waiting for her to answer. They would soon be in and among the ships, where too many might note the passage of an odd boat. Her instincts clicked. She needed to curl up in a quiet dark place. She needed to go to ground. In the back of her head Gwath told her to blend in.
    â€œSlow down,” Ruby muttered.
    â€œWhat?” Athen looked up. “Ruby—”
    â€œSlow down,” she chattered through chilled teeth. Cold was creeping up through her legs. “We look like we are running. This needs to be an early-morning delivery. We’re three errand makers who just got up. We have toblend in. Sleepy, slow, and forgettable.”
    Cram almost stopped rowing altogether. “As your ladyship wishes,” he gasped. They moved slowly into the landscape.
    According to her father, the docks had once been a single level, close to the water, but UpTown had changed that. A little girl sat on the edge of the overhang high above, legs sticking out into the air. She was blond and was wearing a pretty little frilly dress. At this distance Ruby couldn’t see what it was, but she was eating something, probably something sweet, and she was tossing pebbles over the edge into the water below. It had to be a hundred feet to the water, but the girl didn’t seem the least bit concerned and was kicking her legs with that slow consistency that indicated the deepest of pleasures. A pebble splooshed into the water, and the girl noticed them. Ruby waved. She waved back, tossed another stone into the drink, and started kicking her legs again. She obviously had much more important things to think about.
    They crawled past the new docks that had grownup underneath the edge of Uptown, rowing between the massive stone and carbon pillars that supported the platform of streets, houses, and money above their heads.
    The air under the overhang was reassuringly thick, like bean and bacon soup with the spicy tang of metal. Ruby breathed deep. Athen coughed and scrunched his lips. Cram perked up like a hungry puppy.
    They pulled the boat up on the gravel shore in a deserted shadow between two of the house-thick pillars.
    â€œWhere are the clear skies and coonskin caps?” Athen pulled his clinking bag out of the boat. “Where are the beasts of the wild? I thought this was the land of fresh air and indomitable spirit?” He reached over to help her out of the boat as Cram stowed the oars.
    â€œTinkers and Rupert’s Bay needed to build close to the shore and their manufactories. And then there are the Algonkin in the woods. They couldn’t build inland and stay close, so they built straight up. They put another town on top of the old one, like a layer cake.”
    â€œAmazing,” Athen said.
    â€œIsn’t it? All you Euros, you have no idea what’shappening over here.” She reached down into the lifeboat and ripped the gray, gooey seal off the hole in