The Solomon Stone by Christine Sandgren

Author:Christine Sandgren [Sandgren, Christine]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-1-945419-50-8
Publisher: FawkesPress

15

Ruby stared at the fractions until they looked blurry. She had been doing homework for seventeen minutes and her brain hurt. Elena’s knife thunked steadily against the cutting board as she chopped vegetables for dinner.

Ruby glanced across the table, where Alice seemed engrossed in a small pile of papers. Quietly, Ruby tugged out the notebook page with the map she had been making of the Diamond District. Winston and Charlie had helped supply the names of each shop, along with a brief history of every building. She sucked on her hair, studying the small rectangle that was Steiner’s shop. Her Lines ran laps around it, but they offered no suggestions for how to get in.

Ruby rubbed her toes against her ankle where a blister had formed from wearing Jane’s old soccer cleats. She thought again about telling Alice and asking for a new pair. But then Ruby remembered Alice’s face when she’d seen the permission slip.

“Can I borrow your laptop?” Ruby asked. “Mine’s out of battery.”

“It’s on my desk,” Alice said.

Ruby retrieved the laptop and opened it, carefully positioning the screen out of Alice’s sightline. She pulled up the Amazon homepage.

The front door opened. “Hello?” Harlan called from the entry.

Ruby’s stomach tightened. Harlan. She hadn’t seen her un-fun uncle since he’d put Octavius into a coma last week. She tucked her map inside her notebook.

“Hi Mom,” Harlan said as he entered the kitchen and kissed Alice’s cheek. “Hi Ruby.”

A tremor of disgust and terror convulsed through Ruby, making the hairs on her neck prickle in alarm. She didn’t answer, unable to shake the image of Harlan smiling excitedly over Octavius’s unconscious body.

“Are you staying for dinner?” Alice asked, folding her hand over Harlan’s.

“No. Miles just needs me to sign something. Is he in the office?”

Ruby drummed her fingers on the laptop, willing Harlan to leave. Yes, go away to the office. But he sat next to Alice instead, pulling over a bowl with some remnants of nuts in it and started shelling them.

Elena made a tsking sound and placed a frosted sugar cookie and a glass of milk in front of him.

Ruby’s lips tightened. Those were her favorite cookies. Elena made them especially for her with extra frosting and sprinkles. Was there anything of hers he wouldn’t steal? She dug her phone and earbuds from her backpack and shoved them into her ears, drowning out her uncle’s voice with whatever music popped up first on her playlist.

There were at least thirty different kinds of cleats. Ruby scrolled through them, trying to decide which ones to buy. She selected an expensive fluorescent pink pair and put them in Alice’s shopping cart. Then she searched for soccer socks. She picked a pair of black socks and a pair of fluorescent orange ones, then checked out. A smile tugged at her mouth as Amazon automatically charged Alice’s credit card.

“Ruby.”

Ruby looked up to meet Alice’s intense gaze.

“Huh? Sorry.” Ruby popped out her earbuds and tried not to look at Harlan, who was already on his second cookie.

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