miner’s heaven. They were worth little to the people
of Lorrha, as common as milk, but were traded to lands beyond the East for
massive sums.
The blackness of the
island’s past disappeared behind me just as an emerald and deep blue
hummingbird appeared in front of me. I didn’t recognize this one, but stuck out
a finger, and he alighted on the perch, grasping round my knuckle as I dashed
on. Hummingbirds had a strange tendency to follow me. I’d never questioned it.
But others did.
“You’re a loon, Ruby Beg,”
I could hear any number of kids in town saying. Only loons were followed by
hummingbirds, lived with a strange old woman, had ghostly dreams, or saw
specters in the Haunted Wood. Unfortunately, all those things described me.
Maybe that’s normal across the sea , I thought. Maybe there, I
wouldn’t be crazy.
But here in Killybeg, there
was only one kid who didn’t think I was odd. Eager to see him, I took the last
steps down the hill three at a time, and landed in the lush green grass with a thump .
And it was then, just as I
regained my balance, that a chill racked my spine. I froze. It took me a moment
of frenzied thought, but I finally recognized it. It was the feeling of being
watched.
Had that awful Oren
followed me? Trying to look casual, I glanced over my shoulder at the hillside.
But Oren wasn’t there. Nobody was there. Even the abandoned mine was just that
… abandoned.
So why were there two
tingling spots on my back, as sure as if they’d been stuck there by touch?
Turning back around, I saw
no living creature but the tiny bird on my finger. The familiar grassy lane
unfolded before me, winding through the cluster of the oldest cottages in the
village, including Sarah’s lemon-yellow one and the bright blue one where I
lived with Maisie. Empty as ever.
“So paranoid she’s sure the
plates and spoons have eyes,” Maisie would say. But Maisie wasn’t here.
There were plenty of
thieves about, known for stealing traveler’s valuables, but they stayed in the
forests and bogs, where they had some cover of safety. That’s why no one left
town. Why I wasn’t allowed farther than the Haunted Wood.
But there had been whispers
recently. Rumors of bands of thieves traveling up and down the southern part of
the Amethyst Coast, getting bold and entering towns in the dark of night,
stealing people’s most prized possessions. My free hand touched the ruby
necklace that lay upon my collarbone. A scream might frighten a thief away, but
there were things that didn’t scare so easily. The Haunted Wood lay dark and
foreboding on the far side of the cottages. Most people thought no ghosts really haunted that place. But I knew
better.
This was an unfamiliar
feeling for me. I’d never felt threatened in Killybeg.
With a gulp, I retracted my
finger and the hummingbird twirled upward like a spring. There was only one
person who could make me feel safe. The same person who had pulled me out of
the bog when I’d fallen in, just a little kid. The boy who had curled up and
fallen asleep by my side when I heard noises in the dark. So I picked up the
skirt of my woolen dress and sprinted down the lane like a madwoman.
Who really looks batty now?
When the road ended at Pat
Manor’s field, I climbed hastily over the crooked fence and dashed toward the
line of evergreen trees ahead. The grass was strewn with rocks that Pat Manor
had missed when he’d dug them all up decades before, but I knew where the big
ones were and dodged them deftly.
It wasn’t until I reached
the evergreens that my racing heart began to ease. I stepped into the umbrage
of the trees, and paused in the safety of the maze of branches. The feeling was
gone. Paranoid or not, I felt better in here. I peeked back out at Pat Manor’s
empty field.
You’re a loon, Ruby Beg.
Turning back and heading toward
my destination, I picked aside the last branch and stepped into Maisie’s field,
forgetting all else. The sun let its brilliant
of Lorrha, as common as milk, but were traded to lands beyond the East for
massive sums.
The blackness of the
island’s past disappeared behind me just as an emerald and deep blue
hummingbird appeared in front of me. I didn’t recognize this one, but stuck out
a finger, and he alighted on the perch, grasping round my knuckle as I dashed
on. Hummingbirds had a strange tendency to follow me. I’d never questioned it.
But others did.
“You’re a loon, Ruby Beg,”
I could hear any number of kids in town saying. Only loons were followed by
hummingbirds, lived with a strange old woman, had ghostly dreams, or saw
specters in the Haunted Wood. Unfortunately, all those things described me.
Maybe that’s normal across the sea , I thought. Maybe there, I
wouldn’t be crazy.
But here in Killybeg, there
was only one kid who didn’t think I was odd. Eager to see him, I took the last
steps down the hill three at a time, and landed in the lush green grass with a thump .
And it was then, just as I
regained my balance, that a chill racked my spine. I froze. It took me a moment
of frenzied thought, but I finally recognized it. It was the feeling of being
watched.
Had that awful Oren
followed me? Trying to look casual, I glanced over my shoulder at the hillside.
But Oren wasn’t there. Nobody was there. Even the abandoned mine was just that
… abandoned.
So why were there two
tingling spots on my back, as sure as if they’d been stuck there by touch?
Turning back around, I saw
no living creature but the tiny bird on my finger. The familiar grassy lane
unfolded before me, winding through the cluster of the oldest cottages in the
village, including Sarah’s lemon-yellow one and the bright blue one where I
lived with Maisie. Empty as ever.
“So paranoid she’s sure the
plates and spoons have eyes,” Maisie would say. But Maisie wasn’t here.
There were plenty of
thieves about, known for stealing traveler’s valuables, but they stayed in the
forests and bogs, where they had some cover of safety. That’s why no one left
town. Why I wasn’t allowed farther than the Haunted Wood.
But there had been whispers
recently. Rumors of bands of thieves traveling up and down the southern part of
the Amethyst Coast, getting bold and entering towns in the dark of night,
stealing people’s most prized possessions. My free hand touched the ruby
necklace that lay upon my collarbone. A scream might frighten a thief away, but
there were things that didn’t scare so easily. The Haunted Wood lay dark and
foreboding on the far side of the cottages. Most people thought no ghosts really haunted that place. But I knew
better.
This was an unfamiliar
feeling for me. I’d never felt threatened in Killybeg.
With a gulp, I retracted my
finger and the hummingbird twirled upward like a spring. There was only one
person who could make me feel safe. The same person who had pulled me out of
the bog when I’d fallen in, just a little kid. The boy who had curled up and
fallen asleep by my side when I heard noises in the dark. So I picked up the
skirt of my woolen dress and sprinted down the lane like a madwoman.
Who really looks batty now?
When the road ended at Pat
Manor’s field, I climbed hastily over the crooked fence and dashed toward the
line of evergreen trees ahead. The grass was strewn with rocks that Pat Manor
had missed when he’d dug them all up decades before, but I knew where the big
ones were and dodged them deftly.
It wasn’t until I reached
the evergreens that my racing heart began to ease. I stepped into the umbrage
of the trees, and paused in the safety of the maze of branches. The feeling was
gone. Paranoid or not, I felt better in here. I peeked back out at Pat Manor’s
empty field.
You’re a loon, Ruby Beg.
Turning back and heading toward
my destination, I picked aside the last branch and stepped into Maisie’s field,
forgetting all else. The sun let its brilliant
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