Ruby Rising

by Leah Cook

  I had also found the courage to ask my father if I could go on the youth group camping trip. Showing him the permission form which explicitly said that there are strict rules in place when it came to sleeping arrangements and alcohol and drug use. Girls and boys were separated in to two camps only coming into contact during the day for selected activities. There was also a no tolerance rule for alcohol and drug use, and anyone found to be using either substance would be sent home immediately.

  He gave me the standard I’ll think about it approach. Which in the past had always meant no, now though I wasn’t sure what his answer would be. He said he would talk to his boss and ask about the reputation of previous camps. I wasn’t sure if there had been any so I left it at that and hoped he would at least consider it. I left him the form, kissed him on the cheek and hadn’t mentioned it since.

  The last week of term and everyone in school was restless. More people played up in class, especially once all the assignments where handed in. The teachers were even more relaxed than usual, letting us out early for lunch on some of the warmer days. I felt like my life was different in a good way now. With my water ability and my mother’s gardening ability and having Scott in my life, as well as Mikayla, and my father being home more. Everything was finally starting to settle down. Chaotic at the best of times, but definitely better. I’d almost forgotten about my life in the city, my friendship with Claire and even Jake.

  Thursday night over dinner my parents handed me the completed permission form, signed and dated. I gaped at it, not quite believing that it was real.

  “Are you guys serious?” I jumped up and kissed them both on the cheek. “You’re not going to fall apart in the three days I’m away are you? Because I know how much you’ll miss me.”

  “Ruby, we’re so proud of you,” my father began. “We know how hard you’re working to get good grades at school and you’ve never been late for your curfew. Even if we have changed it on you without warning.”

  My mother reached for his hand and squeezed it, I loved watching the unseen words pass between them. “You’ve more than earned our trust honey. We want you to go and have fun and enjoy yourself.”

  “You talked to Mikayla and Scott’s Uncle and he vouched for it, didn’t he?” I smiled, not really caring how they came to their decision but that it had been made in my favour. “Oh my God! Wait until…Mikayla hears that I can go. She’s been giving me such a hard time about it.” In truth I meant Scott, but I didn’t want to give them any idea that I wanted more than anything to spend the days with him.

  “Well you better go and pack honey, don’t forget your sunscreen and I’ll send your father out to the garage for a sleeping bag.” She started clearing the table and I took it as a sign that the conversation was finished. I ran up the stairs to grab my phone tripping on the top stair and only just managing to save myself from face planted the carpet.

  I messaged only two words to Scott ‘I’m going!’ And waited impatiently for his reply.

  ‘I’ll be able to cuddle you all night.’ He sent back almost instantly and my entire body heated at the idea.

  My heart rate increased and I started to breathe just slightly shallower from the reply and the thought of spending the night with him. I don’t know how long I stared at my phone, but I dropped it, startled, when it started to ring, it was Scott.

  “Hi,” was all I managed.

  “Hey gorgeous, I didn’t get a reply and just wanted to make sure you were okay.”

  “Are you in bed?” I asked. He sounded completely relaxed, like he was just drifting off to sleep or waking up.

  “On top of it, but I’d rather be on top of you.” I could hear the smile on his face, knowing his dimples would be dancing on his face.

  “I…well…um…” I blushed hard and I was glad it wasn’t a video call.

  “Stop blushing, I can’t believe you’re still not used to me talking to you like that.” His voice was so husky. I hadn’t known I could get turned on by the sound of someone’s voice until I’d met Scott.

  “I thought the camp was segregated into girls and boys…” I trailed off not really sure if I wanted to know.

  “Well it is…mostly. You’ll understand tomorrow night. I have to go. See ya babe,” and without waiting for a reply he hung up.

  I stared at the phone and wondered if Scott had any idea of what he’d just done to me. My head was reeling at the thought of spending the night with him. There was no way I could lay next to him and not give in to the passion and the tension that had grown between us.

  Then I felt guilty, my father’s speech about how hard I had worked to earn their trust came back to me. Despite the guilt I couldn’t back out now. I wanted to see what went on at the camp. I had begun to notice a few little oddities at the meetings on Friday nights that I wasn’t sure about. The prayers had become more prominent and I still hadn’t asked who it was we were praying to, except that the name we used was the Great Star. I had meant to do a search on it at the library, but every time I thought of it I got caught up with something else. Reaching for my laptop I was about to turn it on when my father came in, knocking gently.

  “Here you go Ruby. I thought I’d better do it before I forgot.” He handed me the sleeping bag he had in his hands. “Oh, and before you ask, I did check it for spiders, I unzipped it and everything.”

  I smiled at him. “Thanks Dad. You know I really have noticed you around more. I think I kind of like it actually, and I know it makes mum happy when you’re home.” I gave him a little peck on the cheek and watched as his face flamed red. At least I knew where the blushing came from. “Hey, has mum always been interested in gardening?”

  “I guess so.” He paused, thinking for a moment, “at least as long as I’ve known her. She was only a couple of years older than you when we met. She grew the flowers that we used for our wedding, they were spectacular I tell you. Why the sudden interest?”

  “Oh, just an idea I had for mother’s day.” I almost choked, realising how easy the lie slipped out. These little lies seemed to be coming out easier and easier. Looking at me a little quizzically, my father left the room so I could start packing.

  I had that nagging feeling like I was about to do something. When I couldn’t remember I grabbed a bag and packed some clothes into it. Only concentrating when it came to my underwear selection. After all, I didn’t want to pack anything that would make Scott run a mile. After I’d packed I got my things ready for school the next day and changed for bed. A sweet goodnight message from Scott left me smiling as I climbed in.

  There was a quiet knock on the door before my mother came in looking slightly nervous.

  “Honey, can we have that chat?”

  “Sure, I’ve been wondering when you were going to do this,” I answered as I sat up in my bed. “I was starting to wonder if you were just going to ignore it.” I moved Phoenix, leaving her space to sit next to me on the bed. She sat down and placed her hand on my leg. “I was hoping you would though.”

  “I know, I just wasn’t sure if I would ever even need to have this conversation with you, I was hoping it would never come up. It’s not something that is always passed on to the next generation.” She sighed, trying to find the right words before she sighed heavily. Taking in a deep breath she held my hand and began. “As you already know I can make things grow. But it’s more than that too…I can make them grow faster. I discovered it about your age, when my parents had asked me to take over the gardening when my father got sick.”

  “Just before he died?” I asked.

  She nodded slowly before continuing. “It wasn’t something I could explain, at first it only happened when I was upset. I tended to let my grief out when I was in the garden. It was away from the house and I didn’t want to upset my parents with my own pain. Eventually my grandmother found me in the garden and watched me take a seed and grow into a seedling. She didn’t seem surprised at what she saw. Then she sat down with me and told me about the generations of
my family that could do what I could do. Over a few months she taught me about nature, about my ability and how important it was to protect it. Then one day she just disappeared, and we never heard from her again.”

  I felt my own silent tears stream down my face, my mother’s pain clear on her own face as well. She swallowed and continued her voice wavering as she spoke.

  “It’s handed down but, there are more people with different skills, abilities, powers, whatever you want to call it. It’s all related, earth, water, fire and air. It was once known by its Latin name as elementum magicae which means…”

  “Elemental magic,” I finished the sentence for her, she nodded and continued.

  “As much as she taught me, there were still so much that I didn’t understand and that I still don’t understand. She never got to tell me what it all meant or how it’s all connected. I didn’t even know if I would pass it on to you. She did tell me that sometimes it skipped generations though.” She turned her face to me, lifting my chin so that our eyes met. “I do know, however, that there are others out there that can steal this ability, through killing those with abilities, but I’m not sure how the magic actually crosses into them.” She seemed to want to tell me more, but hesitated before asking, “Ruby, the incident with the knife…have you had anything else like that happen? Anything that might seem even the slightest out of place.”

  I looked in to her eyes, seeing the fear that she held for me and for my future. So I lied to her. “No, that was it. I’m sure it was nothing.”

  “I’m sorry for not coming to you sooner, but I needed some time to gather my thoughts and work out what I remembered from my grandmother. I wish she had been able to tell me more before she disappeared, I always wondered if someone had taken her ability by force.”

  “I think I understand, and thank you for coming clean with me. I promise I’ll keep it to myself. Does Dad know?” I held her hand in my own to comfort us both.

  “No. I never felt there was a right time, and he never noticed what grew and when. It’s been easy to hide…until now that is. Just one more thing, it’s not just growing things, I can move other things that are related to the earth, dirt, trees...pretty much anything.”

  I smiled and she leaned in and hugged me, telling me I could go to her if I had any more questions. I had so many, but I knew she would eventually catch on that I was asking for my own benefit and I wasn’t ready to share them with her. The fear in her face when she’d asked about the knife had me wondering what she’d left out from her story.

  After she left I lay awake, trying to think of something else other than Scott’s arms wrapped around me in less than twenty four hours. Something else other than the information my mother had finally shared. Did I hold the water element within me? Like she did with her earth ability? I knew I would have to tell her eventually about my newly acquired water ability. But I still wasn’t sure what it was or if it was even the same thing.

  CHAPTER 14

  I went to school the next morning with a stomach full of nerves and my head full of the feelings that Scott set off in me. I went to classes, but by the end of the morning, I couldn’t remember a single thing the teachers had said. Mikayla was talking about the camping trip, but I couldn’t focus on her either. When I saw Scott at lunch my tunnel vision engaged and I went to him, barely aware that my feet were touching the ground.

  We never spoke a single word to each other. We kissed until my knees went weak and a teacher coughed loudly behind us. Scott broke the kiss and smiled at me, dimples and all. I was star struck, completely and utterly star struck. While everyone else sat around talking about camping and what they planned on doing, I was being mesmerised by the simplest touch of Scott’s hand gently gliding back and forth along my collar bone.

  When the bell went for our early release for the holidays, Mikayla had to wave her hand in front of my face to get my attention. She almost smiled at me, her eyes knowing exactly where my thoughts had been. I went a bright neon colour and quickly gathered up my things, realising that I hadn’t even bothered to take any notes all day. Hopefully we hadn’t been given any assignments to do over the holidays. By the time I grabbed my books from my locker, Scott and Mikayla had left, checking my phone, I saw that he had sent a message to say he’d pick me up at five. My stomach clenched and I felt light headed.

  ‘Pull yourself together Ruby.’ I told myself, I didn’t want to be this giddy and childish for the entire weekend. I took a deep breath, blew it out slowly, and walked home.

  The walk home calmed my nerves and I managed to clear some of the more hysterical euphoria that clouded my head. The house was quiet and empty so I let Phoenix in and organised his food for the weekend, putting sticky notes on all his food so my mother would know when to feed him.

  My little ball of fluff ran around me excitedly and I laughed at his antics and picked him up giving him a good scruff behind the ears. Once I put him back on the floor he proceeded to run laps around the kitchen island bench. I spent a few more minutes laughing and chasing after him, enjoying the tender moment.

  Heading upstairs I went to the bathroom for a shower. As the hot water pounded my shoulders I realised that this would probably be my last one for three days. I wasn’t due to come home until Monday night. I washed my entire body in a vanilla body wash, washed and conditioned my hair and shaved my legs and underarms.

  When I got out of the shower I stood on the mat with the shower door open facing into the small cubicle. I had wanted to try to repel water off my skin for a while, like I had done with Phoenix at the lake. I was relaxed after the shower and now was a good a time as ever. I closed my eyes and concentrated on the water that dripped down my body. I felt each bead, concentrated on the feel of it, the temperature of it, until I felt like I knew where every drop was. I could feel heat rising in me, pulsing throughout my body. I thought about where I wanted the water to go, visualised it coming away from my skin. I tried to throw the pulse away from me, willing it out of my fingers. My first few attempts failed and I felt my energy drain slightly. Taking a deep breath, I gave it another try and willed the heat to be more; stronger, bigger, better. I concentrated on that pulsing energy filling my body, feeling the water bead as my skin warmed. I willed the water off my body, and felt the pulse radiate off me. Opening my eyes, I smiled as the water hovered in the air in front of me. Every part of my body was dry. I moved my hands towards the shower and then lowered them. The water hovered and then fell with a splash into the shower base. I did a little happy dance, clapping my hands, and then blushed at myself for dancing naked. One day I wanted to be able to control the damn blushing. Controlling water was great, but blushing? Now there was a skill I could use every day.

  I wrapped myself in a towel and walked to my room to get ready. I put on a knee length black skirt that had a couple of small pleats in the front, a simple black singlet top and my combat boots. The weather was warm, it was only the end of March, but I packed in some leggings to put on later and a jacket. I put on my favourite perfume, paying particular attention to areas that I had discovered Scott loved to nuzzle. As I picked up my backpack I noticed my jewellery box sitting on my desk. I picked it up and searched through until I found what I was looking for. I held up the sterling silver necklace that had once been my mothers. A round black onyx was encased in the silver by a claw. I placed it around my neck and grabbed my backpack and sleeping bag and set off downstairs.

  I laughed when I saw the clock, it was only four and I still had a whole hour to waste. Phoenix had taken himself outside through his newly installed doggy door that I hadn’t noticed on my way in. My father was coming around if he’d let mum do that to the house. Phoenix now knew that he now had constant access to the house unless mum locked the door from the inside.

  After a few minutes of sitting and tapping my foot impatiently at the clock, I went outside and decided to water my mother’s veggie patch. She normally did it herself, but seeing she was out, I wanted to surprise her wh
en she got home.

  I grabbed the hose and started sprinkling the first patch, I suddenly felt the familiar pulsing in my hands and I waved them slowly over the water. The water flowing from the hose easily guided to where I wanted it to go. Water was getting easier and easier to get it to move.

  I played with the water for a few more minutes, making it rise and fall, my arms flailing around like I was conducting an orchestra.

  “Hey babe,” a husky voice said from around the side of the garage. Scott’s head poked around like he was playing peek-a-boo before he stepped forward.

  “Hey,” I said dropping the hose. I wasn’t sure if he’d seen what I had been doing from the angle he had. I went to the tap, turned the hose off and wound the hose back up, taking the time to calm my nerves and remind myself to be more careful. I knew I would have to tell him eventually but now wasn’t that time.

  “Helping your mum out, huh?” He walked towards me, wrapped his arms around my waist and gave me a kiss. “Are you ready to go?”

  “I’m all good, but I just need to ring my Mum and let her know that I’m leaving. I haven’t seen her today yet.” We headed into the house holding hands, such a simple gesture yet it made me feel special. My parents still held hands when they went out, and quite often even when they were on the couch watching TV together.

  I rang my Mum and she sounded distracted, quickly told me to have fun, and that she would see me Monday night. I stared at the phone after she had hung up, without telling me she loved me like she usually does.

  “Is everything okay?” Scott rubbed my back gently.

  “Um, yeah, I think so. That was just really strange. My Mum would normally make sure she would be here to lay down the ground rules and all that stuff. I guess it doesn’t matter.” I picked up my things and tossed the sleeping back at Scott who made an ‘oof’ sound as it hit him in the stomach.