She rehearsed everything she could remember while eating with Kate. At night she dreamed of conversations with her mother and relived the nights she curled up beside her to listen to the stories of her past while scented raindrops pelted the paper-thin windows of their tiny cottage.
The only result of all this effort was that Avery missed her mother even more.
She dreaded having to tell Kendrick she had nothing helpful to offer him. He would be rightfully annoyed.
Kate’s sewing room looked like a market stall with its colorful bolts of fabric stacked side by side. Avery loved to sneak upstairs and watch her friend work.
“What’s on your mind?” Kate asked without looking up, sticking pins into freshly cut fabric.
Avery smiled, her lip quivering. “It’s about your grandmother.”
Kate set down her tools and looked up. “Go on.”
“After she took Henry and me from the woods, she must have instructed someone to take my brother somewhere—another village, maybe, or somewhere here in the castle?”
Kate looked away. Avery wondered if this conversation came too soon after the old woman’s death.
Finally Kate said, “If you’re asking me where Henry is, I don’t know.”
“But you must!” Avery blurted. “You know everything else about the inner workings of the court, and your grandmother is the reason—” Sleepless nights had made her emotional. She would get nowhere blaming Kate’s grandmother.
Kate nodded and said quietly, “You should spend time in the chapel.”
Avery smiled. Her mother always gave her the same advice when she was struggling with something. “You will find the answers to your most important questions there.”
But Avery didn’t find her answers in the chapel, especially the ornate one upstairs in the castle, no matter how often she went. She preferred immediate answers—with audible replies.
She wished her mother—and Kate—would offer more useful advice.
At the end of each day, the scouts updated the cabinet.
They met in the sitting room off the kids’ dining room, where Bronte and her litter of quickly growing pups scratched the floor and nipped at each other’s ears while the council talked of serious matters.
In addition to the colorful tents near the king’s gardens, tonight two of the scouts claimed to have laid eyes on the largest stadium they had ever seen, being built on the east end of the royal land. They used terms like magnificent and brilliant and astounding—words larger than their usual vocabulary.
Avery itched to get out and see it.
“It will house the biggest events of the Olympiad,” one of the scouts explained. “His Majesty has hired the best workers to build it, sparing no expense.”
“And the king himself visits every day to make sure the builders are on target,” the second cut in. “Rumor is, he’s willing to bankrupt the realm to make sure everyone at these games is the happiest they’ve ever been.”
Avery noticed what the scouts left unsaid.
No one is allowed to be unhappy.
“Or what?” she mumbled.
“Appearances mean everything to this king,” Kendrick whispered beside her while the scouts continued talking. “He doesn’t care if you truly are happy, so long as you look like you are.” He paused then whispered, “Have you thought of anything new from your mother’s stories yet?”
Avery shook her head. Kendrick exhaled loudly.
“Anything else?” Tuck asked the scouts.
They looked at each other and seemed to hesitate.
“There is one more thing,” one said. “The king is still searching for a runner to represent the crown in the half-mile race. It’s eight laps of 110 yards each, and the winner receives a private audience with the king.”
Avery sat a little straighter and looked from member to member of the council.
“Won’t anyone volunteer?” Tuck asked.
The scouts shook their heads. “His Majesty believes victory at the Olympiad will signal God’s favor on his reign,” one said. “So even the most competent runners are refusing, for fear the opposite will prove God’s displeasure.”
Tuck thanked the scouts and dismissed them.
Avery didn’t hesitate. “I can run. I’m fast. And I know how to endure distances like that.”
She hoped she sounded more casual than she felt, because a half-mile run was a killer—long enough to exhaust a person but too short to allow you to slack off and pace yourself without losing. Still, her heart kicked up the way it did when an idea energized her.
This could be my chance to meet the king!
But Tuck had already moved on to other matters.
Avery couldn’t sleep. She lay there rolling questions over in her mind.
How did it benefit the royal family to pretend the king’s son died?
What if the king never knew his son lived?
Could Kendrick be the answer to our problems?
The answers could mean freedom or death. She needed to know which.
“You’re thinking about your brother, aren’t you?” Kate asked.
Avery rolled over and shrugged.
“I’ve been thinking about what you said,” Kate continued. “And you’re right, my grandmother probably did know what happened to Henry, but she never told me. Do you remember anything about your conversation with her?”
“She said she didn’t want to have to dig another grave.” Hot tears gathered in Avery’s eyes.
Kate sat up, threw off her blanket, and moved to sit on the edge of Avery’s mattress. “My grandmother wouldn’t have killed your brother,” she said. “It was her job to bury the children of royals who died in the womb or shortly after birth. More than once my grandmother had to dig a grave for a mourning mother. She often told me she never wanted to see another dead child. I’m sure—wherever Henry is right now—he is alive and well.”
Avery nodded. She wanted to believe it. She also wanted to believe she would find him someday.
She drifted to sleep a few minutes later with the hope that Henry lived.
Chapter 4
Disappearance
Kate looked unusually somber at breakfast, stabbing a fork into her breakfast potatoes.
Avery wondered if she had hurt her with the questions about her grandmother. She hadn’t intended to; she only wanted answers. She owed it to Kendrick to turn over every stone of her memory. She was just summoning the courage to apologize when Kate said quietly, “Do not go back to the tunnels.”
Kate was so direct Avery was startled.
“I know you’re fascinated with the underworld,” Kate continued, unflinching, “but don’t be. Nothing good happens there.”
“Who told you I went into the tunnels?”
“Just listen for once, and don’t go down there. You aren’t welcome.”
The familiar words gave Avery a chill, but she wasn’t about to make a promise she couldn’t keep. She was already planning her next trip, better prepared this time with a candle, matches, and a blade. But she was going.
“Don’t do it,” Kate said. “Promise me—no more exploring.”
“Not without a good reason,” Avery said evenly.
“My grandmother went into the tunnels the day she died,” Kate pushed. “I believe she discovered something she wasn’t meant to find.”
“Well, that may be,” Avery said, “but I—”
Tuck stood on his chair at the center of the table and called for everyone’s attention. The usual scraping of silverware against tin plates stopped.
“The king has been searching for the fastest half-miler in the realm for the Olympiad, and it appears he need look no further.”
Tuck caught Avery’s gaze, and she smiled. The table broke into animated conversation. The kids hadn’t had anything to be this excited about since the royal wedding.
Tuck continued, “Of course, the king has no idea a thirteen-year-old will run the race, but I believe he’ll be pleased. We pl
ay to win!”
The kids cheered.
“Would you like to know who will represent us?”
More cheers. Avery pushed back her chair.
“Thomas, please stand!”
Avery froze, staring.
A gangly, red-faced, shaggy-haired boy rose to a roar of shouts and the occasional whoop.
Avery didn’t know Thomas, but she was certain she could outrun him. She outran everyone back home—boys included, and this guy didn’t look like anything special. It had taken him a snail’s age to simply push back his chair and stand.
When he swept his hair aside, his wrist showed a crisscrossed web of scars. Everything about him set her nerves on edge.
“Don’t be jealous,” Kate said when everyone resumed eating. “He’ll have a lot of pressure on his shoulders. If the king believes victory signals God’s favor, the athletes compete at the risk of their lives. Better not to run and live than to lose and die.”
“I’m not jealous,” Avery said, slicing into her meat with extra vigor, but her voice squeaked, and Kate smiled.
In truth, Avery wanted to run to more than just prove she could win. She wanted that audience with the king so she could tell him about Kendrick. She had already imagined the whole scenario, complete with the curtsy and the life-changing words, “Your son is alive!”
Of course that would be a colossal risk in itself. The king could kill her on the spot if it was a secret he wanted sealed. But if it proved to be news he welcomed, he might grant her freedom. She envisioned a grateful king returning the favor of helping her find her family.
How will I ever know for sure if I don’t talk to him?
And how will I ever talk to him if I don’t run the race?
A scout appeared, wildly beckoning Kate and Avery. “Quickly!” he said. “You’re needed in the kitchen!”
One of the kitchen girls hadn’t shown up to help with breakfast, and the others were a mess of gossip and fear. Their eyes and noses were red as they spilled the details. “We’ve looked everywhere!” one said.
“We assumed she overslept,” another explained, “but she’s nowhere to be found. We’re afraid something terrible has happened.”
This signaled a chorus of cries from the rest.
“It’s too early to panic,” Kate said, throwing a glance at Avery. “Sometimes people like to explore, even when it isn’t in their best interest.”
Avery called over the din, “She may be back by noon with a good explanation. Sometimes people explore for all the right reasons. Let’s wait and see.”
When noon came with no sign of the missing girl, word spread like wildfire. Comparisons were made to Edward and his sudden disappearance. Questions floated around the lunch table.
Where could she have gone? What if she’s in danger? Could she have left by choice?
Things only grew worse the next morning when a boy with the courage of a housefly went missing from his bed. By supper a third child had disappeared.
“What’s happening?” Avery whispered.
Kate, in a rare moment of vulnerability, looked as frightened as the rest of the thirteen-year-olds. “I don’t know,” she said, “and I have a feeling I don’t want to know.”
Who would be next?
Chapter 5
Lost
That kids were snatched from their beds in the night and whisked off to who-knows-where was chilling, but that they were also grabbed midday was doubly terrifying. The cabinet began performing roll calls before every meal.
Each time, someone was gone.
All excitement about the Olympiad had vanished with the missing kids.
The council questioned each missing kid’s friends and work partners.
Was he happy?
Had she been acting strange before she disappeared?
Did you notice anything unusual?
Each interview raised more questions than answers.
“This may sound heartless, Avery,” Kate whispered from her bed one night, “but not only are our friends disappearing, but our workload is getting harder. We won’t be able to keep up if we lose any more.”
“That is heartless, Kate. I’m worried about who’ll be next. It could be any of us.”
“The problem is,” Kate continued, “if we can’t keep up with our workload, the few adults who know about our existence in the castle will have no reason to keep our secret.”
The girls lay back against their pillows, Avery too nervous to go to sleep and alert to every sound. Even with scouts posted outside the bunkroom door around the clock, how could anyone feel safe?
That question was answered in the morning when Thomas—the runner—didn’t show up to breakfast. He was often late. But after one of the other boys went to look for him and came back eerily white and shaken, everyone knew.
The dining room erupted in a frenzy.
Tuck caught Avery’s eye from across the table. “Meeting after breakfast,” he mouthed.
Kendrick, Kate, and Avery sat in the sitting room as Tuck paced.
Avery had seen Tuck this upset only the day she had returned to the castle after sneaking back to her family home. He was inconsolable. “We’ve got to fix this!”
“How can the scouts have seen nothing?” Avery said. “People can’t disappear into thin air. Someone isn’t talking.”
“How do we make them talk?” Kendrick asked.
“We don’t,” Kate said. “We begin with what we know.”
“We’re disappearing the same way we all arrived,” Kendrick said.
“Not exactly,” Avery said. “Sorry to be blunt, Kate, but obviously your grandmother isn’t involved.”
“What I mean,” Kendrick continued, “is there appears to be no pattern. The missing seem to have nothing in common.”
“We only assume they’re being snatched,” Avery said. “What if they’re leaving because they’ve found a way out? Leaving by choice?”
“Why wouldn’t they share the news with their closest friends? And where would they go?” Kate asked. “It’s not like most of us have homes to return to, and it’s the wrong time of year to sleep outdoors.”
Tuck stopped. “We need to move,” he said. “We’ve got to find a place to relocate before the next person is grabbed. At the very least, relocating might buy us time to learn what’s happening.”
“Where could we possibly go that would be large enough to hide everyone?” Kendrick asked.
Avery shot Kate a knowing glance.
She would go back to the tunnels tonight with or without Kate’s approval.
Avery intended her second trip into the tunnels to be brief. She wanted to approach Tuck with the idea of moving, but she needed more information. He would ask where they would sleep, eat, meet, and work.
She hadn’t considered getting lost.
Yet, thirty minutes into her trip, the maze of interconnecting chambers broken by giant columns dizzied her. With only a candle to guide her, the catacomb of blown-out rooms overwhelmed. The space was enough to house an underground city. But the longer she walked and the deeper she traveled into the castle’s underbelly, the more certain she felt she had gotten in over her head.
Armed with a pocket of matches and her jeweled dagger, she moved silently through the space, wondering how many eyes watched her from the deep shadows.
She turned a corner and realized she had already seen this part of the tunnel.
In fact, twice—maybe three times.
She had heard the tunnels were a death trap to anyone incapable of figuring them out. It was the castle’s hideous joke on lawless men who hid in its subterranean shadows to avoid the dungeon or the chopping block.
Bending, she quickly dragged her fingers through the mysterious sludge coating the floor, drew an X on the wall, and picked up her pace.
Avery saw the same X again a few minutes later and slumped against the wall.
Tears stung as she rested her head in her arms. She smelled dead fish and heard a voice she r
ecognized immediately. “I told you never to come back here again.”
Avery whipped around in time to see the dim light of a waning torch. She pushed herself up and backed away from the voice, reaching for the dagger in her pocket.
The voice continued, “Go straight until you reach a fork. Then left until you see the X that leads to the stairs. And don’t come back. I know who you are. You aren’t safe here.”
Avery turned and ran, relief sweeping over her when she reached the library and let herself back inside. She had been gone much longer than she intended.
She wouldn’t make that mistake again.
Chapter 6
A Terrible Idea
Girls huddled in the bunkroom, wailing. Avery knew immediately someone else was missing, but who?
She approached a group of girls, frantically searching for Kate. “What happened? Who’s missing?”
A great cry went up as Kate raced across the room and grabbed Avery, shaking her. Kate’s voice quavered with rage. “Where have you been, Avery?”
Confused by the startled expressions, Avery finally comprehended what had caused the upset. I missed supper. I missed roll call. I wasn’t in my room.
“I’m sorry,” she said quietly. “I lost track of time.”
“You were gone!” a girl wailed.
“So sorry,” Avery said, louder now, realizing everyone thought she had been swallowed by that mysterious hole everyone seemed to be falling into one by one. She was overcome that girls who had never spoken to her had been mourning her demise and were now celebrating her appearance.
Grief makes best friends of strangers.
Within moments, the crisis had passed and the girls had moved on to other things.
“Where were you?” Kate demanded.
“You know where, and don’t start with me. I had no choice. You heard what Tuck said about moving. You know the tunnels are a good choice—maybe even our only choice.”
The Ruby Moon Page 2
