The Ruby Moon Read Online Free Page A

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.”
    “It’s my
job
to keep you safe,” Kate said.
    “Says who?”
    Kate looked away and her tone softened. “Especially right now, you need to follow orders. Please, for me, stay out of the tunnels.”

    Tuck wanted Avery to join him in the sitting room after supper, and she knew that couldn’t mean good news. The twinkle was gone from his eyes, and she hadn’t seen him smile since the thirteen-year-olds started disappearing. She just hoped Kate hadn’t told him where she’d been.
    He’ll take her side for sure. Everyone always does.
    In the corner of the sitting room, she found Tuck, Kendrick, Kate, and a scout she didn’t know. Tuck motioned for her to sit. “We have a problem.”
    “Only one?” Kendrick muttered.
    “As you know,” Tuck continued, “Thomas was to run in the Olympiad half mile. We have no idea if he’ll be found in time.”
    “The scouts want you to run,” Kate blurted. “It’s a terrible idea.”
    Tuck nodded. “Terrible.”
    Avery looked to Kendrick, who shrugged and turned away.
    “We hope Thomas will be found,” the scout said, “but we need a backup. The king will be furious if no one represents the kingdom. We were told to produce a runner, and if we don’t, there will be no mercy.”
    Everyone looked grave.
    Kendrick said, “The king doesn’t give second chances, Avery. Whoever runs must win.”
    “You think I can’t?”
    No one looked her in the eye.
    “What do you think, Tuck? Do you believe I can win?”
    Tuck didn’t respond.
    “You’re the only one willing to try,” the scout said. “You could get out of the castle a bit. See the Olympiad up close, visit the tents.”
    Avery’s friends shook their heads.
    “If something happened to you …,” Tuck said.
    “I’ll do it,” Avery said, a little too loudly.
    I’ll prove I can do something right.

    In bed that night, Avery began to doubt her decision.
    Who might her competition be? Whoever it was, they had likely been training for months while she had been cooped up letting her muscles shrivel and grow weak.
    Why am I so impulsive? What have I agreed to?
    This wouldn’t be one of her races back home on a bright, cold morning where the winner received the praises of her friends. The outcome of this race could mean the difference between freedom and the tower, life and death.
    Unable to sleep, she dressed and went to the Great Room the kids used for midnight court. She ran as quickly as she could from one side of the room to the other until she was exhausted. She looked silly, but she didn’t care. It felt good to fill her lungs again and feel the ground fly beneath her bare feet—even if it was marble instead of dirt. Avery was not ready for a half mile, but if she ran each night while her friends slept—also on the stairs and through the halls—maybe she would be.
    A shift in the shadows just outside the room caught her eye.
    She needed to get back to her mattress before anyone worried.

    Avery lay staring at the ceiling and decided, regardless how the race ended, she owed it to her friends to tell them they had a safer place to live right beneath them. If it was the last thing she did, she would ensure their safe passage to the tunnels.
    She
needed
to go back underground, and she needed someone to go with her.

Chapter 7
Taking Kate
    Avery cautiously approached the storage room where each afternoon Kate organized the shipment of castle castoffs the scouts delivered by the trunk load. With the Olympiad fast approaching, the castle was in pandemonium, with artisans making new clothes and fashioning new jewelry, so castoffs were plentiful. Most wound up in the kids’ store, where the thirteen-year-olds bought and sold with marbles.
    “I need you to come with me,” Avery said.
    Kate looked