Guardians of Plaxas

Chapter the Fourteenth: Ruby

I'm doing my homework when mom gets home.

Of course we still don't go to school, because the plague is everywhere. We still haven't thought of a name for it, and there's definitely no cure, but it has completely consumed our town. So instead, our teacher sends out these video lessons. They're the most boring things in the universe, but mom makes me do them.

Mom started getting out of the house more, too. I guess she realized, like me, that it didn't matter where you were, because the plague can get you anywhere. We both realized this when one of our neighbors, an old lady named Lydia Reed, caught it a few days ago. She hadn't left the house in one month, and her front door hadn't even been opened.

Today, mom enters the house with a solemn expression on her face. I place my work to the side and get up. "Mom, what's wrong?"

A tear silently drips down her cheek. "Have you checked your email?" she asks quietly.

I hadn't, not in two hours, and I do, with a sinking feeling of dread. There, at the top of my unread emails is one from the hospital of Kitney. I open it, already crying.

Dear Miss Organda,

We are very sorry to tell you that your father, Mr. Benjamin Organda, has died of the Unknown Sickness at 1:34 PM. We offer our deepest condolences. Mr. Organda's body will be given an autopsy to help figure out what this sickness might be and what we can do to cure it. In thanks for Mr. Organda's help, your family will be paid $150.

Stay healthy,

The Hospital of Kitney

107 Center street

"No," I breathe, looking up at mom. But I know that it's true. Dad is gone. Dead.

"No!" I yell.

Mom's arms envelop me, holding me tightly while I cry. Dad is dead.

And Opal....in a school far away, just when I most need her.

Opal, who abandoned me for magic.

Opal, who needs to know.

I throw mom's arms off me and dash for the door, tears still falling.

"Ruby. Ruby! Where are you going?" cries mom, following me into the front hall where I pull on my shoes.

I don't answer her as I rush out the door.

Once I'm on the street, I pause, looking both directions. I can't take the car. Mom needs it, for work. And cars take gasoline and I have no idea how far I have to go.

But how else am I supposed to get there?

I think. What type of transportation can I ride for x amount of miles? It can't be electric because the town can track cars and giant drones, and....well, I don't honestly know what other types of things are electric or run on battery that I can take. So it'll have to be....

And suddenly, I have it. When we were young, Opal and I begged my parents to let us take horseback riding lessons and finally they gave in. The stables aren't that far from our house. In fact I pass them every day on my way to school. I already know how to ride, more or less, and a horse isn't trackable. It's super fast and pretty reliable, too.

I run in that direction, my shoes slapping the sidewalk, the wind rustling my hair. I shiver, wishing I'd brought a sweater. October is already cold.

The stables are closed for the night, but I have a few tricks up my sleeve. A gate like this is to keep the horses in, not to keep people out. It's easy to jump.

Once inside, I cross the small field used for horseback riding lessons and to give the horses exercise, heading for the stables. Horses are rarely used anymore-their main offer to us today is meat. But people can still ride them around designated sections of town, and people can rent them for use if their car is being fixed or something. Which people rarely ever do. While renting a horse is cheaper than renting a car, it also looks ridiculous.

I search for the mare I had ridden when I was young. Her name was Flower, if I remember correctly. But she's not here. I do spot a horse that looks very much like her, with a black coat and a white stripe running down her snout. Her legs are white, too, which looks strange, but I think she's beautiful. The plaque on the door says that her name is Petal. I assume she's Flower's daughter.

It takes me a while to find the bridle and seat thing and whatever else I need to rein a horse, and when I find them, Petal absolutely refuses to get them put on her. Either she's too young to have worn one of these (doubtful, since she seems about middle-aged) or she's used to riding without them.

Which is good, because I'm used to it too.

I've ridden both bare-backed and with a bridle. The horse trainer whom I got my lessons from always started people with the bridle because it was safer, but as soon as I tried riding without one, I knew that riding bareback was better for me.

I had tried the bridle this time anyway because I hadn't ridden in a while, but as soon as I slipped onto Petal's back, I felt better.

I open the stable gate and lead Petal out, across the field, up to the other gate. She waits for me obediently as I pick the lock to the main gate and then I swing myself onto her.

I remember the route that the white van took out of Kitney very clearly. I head to the road leaving the town to the East, and I urge Petal to pick up the pace until she's running freely along the empty road with the sunset at our backs.

Opal, I'm coming for you.