them I’m bringing the Ruby.”
“What? But…” Mrs. Jenkins looked from Mum to me and back again.
“Please just do as I say.” I’d never heard my mother sound so determined.
Mrs. Jenkins stood up and came around the desk. She examined me from head to foot, and I felt terrible in my ugly school uniform. I hadn’t washed my hair that morning, and it was just held back in a ponytail by a rubber band. I wasn’t wearing any makeup either. “Are you sure about this?”
“Of course I’m sure. Do you think I’d make some silly joke out of such a thing? Hurry, please. We may not have much time.”
“Well—please wait here.” Mrs. Jenkins turned and disappeared through another door between two shelves of files.
“The Ruby?” I asked.
“Yes,” said Mum. “Each of the time travelers is represented by a gemstone. You’re the Ruby.”
“How do you know?”
“ The first pair Opal and Amber are, Agate sings in B flat, the wolf avatar, A duet— solutio! —with Aquamarine. Mighty Emerald next, with lovely Citrine. The Carnelian twins of the Scorpio sign, Number Eight is digestio, her stone is Jade fine. E major’s the key of the Black Tourmaline, Sapphire sings in F major, and bright is her sheen. Then almost at once comes Diamond alone, whose sign of the lion as Leo is known. Projectio! Time flows on, both present and past, Ruby red is the first and is also the last. ” Mum looked at me with a rather sad smile. “I still know it off by heart.”
For some reason, her performance gave me goose bumps. It had sounded more like a magic spell than a poem, the kind of thing that wicked witches mutter in films while they stir a cauldron with green vapors rising from it.
“What’s all that supposed to mean?”
“It’s only a memory jingle, thought up by secretive old men to make something complicated sound even more complex,” said Mum. “Twelve numbers, twelve time travelers, twelve gemstones, twelve musical keys, twelve Zodiacal ascendants, twelve steps in the alchemical process of making the philosopher’s stone—”
“Philosopher’s stone? What’s that supposed to—?” I stopped short and sighed. I was tired of asking questions, and every answer left me more confused.
Mum didn’t seem to want to answer me either. She was looking out the window. “Nothing’s changed here, anyway. It’s as if time has stood still.”
“Did you come here a lot when you were younger?”
“My father sometimes brought me with him,” said Mum. “He was a bit more outgoing about it all than my mother. About the secrets too. I liked it here as a child. And then later, when Lucy…” She sighed.
For a while I wondered whether to ask more questions or not, and then my curiosity won out. “Great-aunt Maddy told me Lucy is another time traveler. Is that why she ran away?”
“Yes,” said Mum.
“And where did she run away to?”
“No one knows.” Mum ran her fingers through her hair again. She was obviously worked up. I’d never known her to be so nervous. I’d have felt sorry for her if my own nerves hadn’t been stretched to the breaking point.
We said nothing for a while. Mum looked out the window again.
“So I’m a ruby,” I said. “Those are red, aren’t they?”
Mum nodded.
“And what gemstone is Charlotte?”
“She isn’t one,” said Mum.
“Mum, do I by any chance have a twin sister you forgot to tell me about?”
Mum turned to me and smiled. “No, darling, you don’t.”
“Are you sure?”
“Quite sure. I was there at your birth, wasn’t I?”
I heard footsteps somewhere, quickly coming closer. Mum sat up very straight, breathing deeply. Aunt Glenda came through the doorway with Mrs. Jenkins, and behind her a small, elderly man with a bald patch.
Aunt Glenda looked angry. “Grace! Mrs. Jenkins says you said—”
“It’s true,” said Mum. “And I don’t want to waste Gwyneth’s time convincing you, of all people, of the truth. I want to see Mr. de Villiers
“What? But…” Mrs. Jenkins looked from Mum to me and back again.
“Please just do as I say.” I’d never heard my mother sound so determined.
Mrs. Jenkins stood up and came around the desk. She examined me from head to foot, and I felt terrible in my ugly school uniform. I hadn’t washed my hair that morning, and it was just held back in a ponytail by a rubber band. I wasn’t wearing any makeup either. “Are you sure about this?”
“Of course I’m sure. Do you think I’d make some silly joke out of such a thing? Hurry, please. We may not have much time.”
“Well—please wait here.” Mrs. Jenkins turned and disappeared through another door between two shelves of files.
“The Ruby?” I asked.
“Yes,” said Mum. “Each of the time travelers is represented by a gemstone. You’re the Ruby.”
“How do you know?”
“ The first pair Opal and Amber are, Agate sings in B flat, the wolf avatar, A duet— solutio! —with Aquamarine. Mighty Emerald next, with lovely Citrine. The Carnelian twins of the Scorpio sign, Number Eight is digestio, her stone is Jade fine. E major’s the key of the Black Tourmaline, Sapphire sings in F major, and bright is her sheen. Then almost at once comes Diamond alone, whose sign of the lion as Leo is known. Projectio! Time flows on, both present and past, Ruby red is the first and is also the last. ” Mum looked at me with a rather sad smile. “I still know it off by heart.”
For some reason, her performance gave me goose bumps. It had sounded more like a magic spell than a poem, the kind of thing that wicked witches mutter in films while they stir a cauldron with green vapors rising from it.
“What’s all that supposed to mean?”
“It’s only a memory jingle, thought up by secretive old men to make something complicated sound even more complex,” said Mum. “Twelve numbers, twelve time travelers, twelve gemstones, twelve musical keys, twelve Zodiacal ascendants, twelve steps in the alchemical process of making the philosopher’s stone—”
“Philosopher’s stone? What’s that supposed to—?” I stopped short and sighed. I was tired of asking questions, and every answer left me more confused.
Mum didn’t seem to want to answer me either. She was looking out the window. “Nothing’s changed here, anyway. It’s as if time has stood still.”
“Did you come here a lot when you were younger?”
“My father sometimes brought me with him,” said Mum. “He was a bit more outgoing about it all than my mother. About the secrets too. I liked it here as a child. And then later, when Lucy…” She sighed.
For a while I wondered whether to ask more questions or not, and then my curiosity won out. “Great-aunt Maddy told me Lucy is another time traveler. Is that why she ran away?”
“Yes,” said Mum.
“And where did she run away to?”
“No one knows.” Mum ran her fingers through her hair again. She was obviously worked up. I’d never known her to be so nervous. I’d have felt sorry for her if my own nerves hadn’t been stretched to the breaking point.
We said nothing for a while. Mum looked out the window again.
“So I’m a ruby,” I said. “Those are red, aren’t they?”
Mum nodded.
“And what gemstone is Charlotte?”
“She isn’t one,” said Mum.
“Mum, do I by any chance have a twin sister you forgot to tell me about?”
Mum turned to me and smiled. “No, darling, you don’t.”
“Are you sure?”
“Quite sure. I was there at your birth, wasn’t I?”
I heard footsteps somewhere, quickly coming closer. Mum sat up very straight, breathing deeply. Aunt Glenda came through the doorway with Mrs. Jenkins, and behind her a small, elderly man with a bald patch.
Aunt Glenda looked angry. “Grace! Mrs. Jenkins says you said—”
“It’s true,” said Mum. “And I don’t want to waste Gwyneth’s time convincing you, of all people, of the truth. I want to see Mr. de Villiers
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