Ruby Hood, A Twistedly True Tale (Chapter 1)

Chapter 1

“Did you hear about the mauled homeless man just on the other side of the river?” Lily Fair asked, leaning over to whisper in Ruby Hood’s ear.

            “You mean mauled murdered man? That attack killed him, according to the papers this morning.” Ruby said.

“That’s terrible!” Lily looked around to see if anyone heard her, “I hadn’t heard. What did your mom say?”

“You know mom, she’s filled with warnings when the sky’s overcast, so you can only imagine what sort of cautionary tales, this sort of shockwave brought about. Then I got to endure at least 30 minutes of lectures, which I know equates to her love for me and wanting me to be safe.” Ruby paused to look at the essay in front of her. She clicked her pen and circled a mistake. “But it’s totally freaky, isn’t it? I don’t remember hearing about a murder, in or near Woodsville. In my almost eighteen years. Ever.”

            “I know. Never. As long as I’ve lived here,” Lily said, eyeing her own work.

They were editing their latest college essays. They really weren’t supposed to be gabbing on about Woodsville’s shocking gossip, but it was hard to help. Things like this didn’t happen anywhere around Woodville. Everyone was talking about it. Most of the accounts and rumors were of some sort of wild animal, but Woodsville didn’t have those either. Ruby and Lily spoke only in hushed tones and continued to work, hoping no one would notice, especially the lurking long-term sub Ms. Armstrong.

Ruby missed Mrs. Greenhalgh, their real literature teacher, who was on sabbatical for several more weeks promoting her bestselling novel around the country. It was a dream of Ruby’s to get out of Woodsville, by way of archeology and treasure hunts, traveling the world. Right now, however, she was stuck in senior lit class with a crummy sub and a college essay to perfect.

“What did your dad say?” Ruby asked, once their teacher had passed by again.

            “Dad freaked out over breakfast, of course. You know how protective he is. Made me promise to be extra careful.” Lily pointed to another mistake. “The usual.”

            “Hmmm…you’re right.” Ruby craned her neck then curled her lip. She’d read that paragraph at least five times and every time she’d missed it. Then she spoke softly, “Yeah, it’s going around. Grams even called to warn me. The little old lady living in the Wood called to warn me.”

“Pssst … Rue … she’s on the move.” Lily said out of the side of her mouth. Staring at her paper in front of her, she began making notes in the margin.

“Well, Ruby Hood, I imagine your essay is just about done.” Mrs. Armstrong said, stopping at their table.

“I thought so, but Lily just found a mistake,” Ruby frowned, glancing up. She couldn’t put her finger on it, but she knew Mrs. Armstrong didn’t like her, which was weird because most teachers did. Usually. “I’ll take a few more passes, if you don’t mind ma’am.”

“Of course, Ruby.” The slim brunette pushed her glasses up her pointed nose and tucked one side of her short brunette hair behind her ear. Then she changed the subject. “And how are you liking Gone with the Wind? What’s your take on the motivations of the main character Scarlett?”

Ruby’s pen slipped out of her hand and she looked up. Her dark almond eyes were wide as she reached to twirl one of her long blonde braids. It was a nervous habit. “Do we have an oral response to reading today?”

“Nothing formal. I was just wandering, about how you like the book so far.” Mrs. Armstrong stood next to Ruby’s desk with her arms clasped behind her back. Clearly, she wasn’t going anywhere.

“Ahhh,” Ruby stumbled over her words and twisted fingers together. She took a deep breath and switched her brain from college essay to honors English book study before she spoke, “Well, Mrs. Armstrong, I think Scarlet’s motivated by anger and resentment at being left alone to fend for herself, but it has made her a stronger and better person, even if she has yet to realize it.”

Books were kind of Ruby’s thing. She spent nights and weekends lost in the pages of fictional worlds. They were always much more exciting than her own ho hum life in a quiet quaint town.

“That’s an in-depth analysis, Ruby,” Mrs. Armstrong words were clipped and her eyes narrow, “especially only 600 pages in. Are you using Cliff Notes?”

“What no!” Ruby’s voice rose higher than she’d intended. Ruby used Cliff Notes to challenge herself. Only after she finished a book, to see if she missed anything. “No! But I have actually read it three times.”

“You’ve read Gone with the Wind three times?” Mrs. Armstrong’s voice quivered. “You’ve read a 1048-page book three times already? The rest of the class is on page 600 but you’ve read it three times?”

“Yeah,” Ruby met Mrs. Armstrong’s gaze with a defiant shrug, “The first time I liked it, so I kept reading. Then it was over. I had some questions, so I reread it. Then I was bored,” Ruby said, hoping to see the woman flinch. Teachers hates that word. “so I read it again, but I picked up some subtle foreshadowing. It’s a great classic. I loved the historical fiction and character development.”

“I see,” She didn’t flinch, instead a nasty smirk crossed her lips. Mrs. Armstrong smoothed her bob. “From here on out Miss Hood, I’ll make sure you have plenty to keep you from getting bored.”

“Thank you,” Ruby sat back in her chair and eyed this teacher. The woman may not like her, but that was no reason Ruby shouldn’t get everything she could out of senior lit. She devoured anything that taught her about life outside of Woodsville. All Ruby had ever dreamed about was traveling, experiencing life, exploring ancient civilizations and then maybe write a memoir someday. “I would appreciate that.”

“Book nerd,” Lily teased in a low whisper when Armstrong walked away.

“And who would you cheat off if I weren’t?” Ruby looked up and gave her friend a wink.

“Too true,” Lily stifled her giggle and stuck out her tongue.

The bell rang, and before Mrs. Armstrong could dismiss the class, a frenzied hustle and bustle of restless honors students gathered their things and headed toward the door. This weekend’s Homecoming Festivities had the entire campus of Woodville High keyed up.

“Thanks again, Mrs. Armstrong. Have a nice weekend.” Ruby smiled, as the girls passed her desk. She’d win this teacher over, just like all the others.

Mrs. Armstrong forced a smile in response.

At the top of the Main building, Ruby and Lily wove their way through halls, stairwells and seas of students out the front door. Steep cement steps loomed below them. On the way down, Lily stopped to talk to her chemistry lab partner.

Ruby tuned out their conversation. She’d passed chemistry sophomore year and saw no reason to reminisce. Shielding her eyes from the sun, she scanned the Woodsville Senior High campus sprawled out below her. WHS consisted of three buildings, the Main, the Annex and the Olin Building, all of which surrounded a large parking lot. The Pit, as the parking lot was known by every resident of the town, was the place to hangout and play ‘pit ball’ during downtimes and between classes.

Today, more kids mingled outside than usual, but it was also the middle of Friday before the Homecoming game. Restlessness plagued a great majority of the school’s 3,500 students and most of the faculty.

Tonight’s big game pitted the Woodsville High Cougars against their biggest rival, the Hickory Grove Beavers. At first, a single-zero-prospects Ruby Hood was dreading going stag to homecoming her senior year, but most of the book nerds were stagging it, which was kind of cool. After much discussion, mostly pleading and bargaining from Lily, Ruby agreed to go. Besides she did have the most perfect little black dress.

            A fall breeze picked up, sending a chill through the air. Ruby’s eyes were drawn to the other side of the school off in the distance. The Wood. Just on the other side of the river at its edge, a mauled man had been found, attacked. Before he died, shortly after arriving at the hospital, he’d talked to the nurses. The animal had been a creature. It had been grey. And fast. With sharp teeth. Goose flesh erupted over her bare arms.

            “Ready, Rue?” Lily tapped her friend on the shoulder and tossed her naturally curly strawberry blonde hair over one shoulder.

With a nod, Ruby fell in step behind her friend. The pair made their way down the steps to the center of the Pit. Keeping your belongings in your car was the thing to do at WHS. It was much easier than storing daily necessities in a random locker down a random hall.

 “Do you get a weird vibe from Armstrong?” Lily popped the trunk. Her car was a tiny, beat-up red thing that back-fired every time she came to a stop, but it was better than sharing a station wagon with your mother.

“I think she’s probably just one of those old ladies who hates kids and wishes she’d done something else besides teach. But she’s only a miserable cow of a sub. She’s just miserable.”

“Rue, you are too much.” Lily scolded, reaching into her blue milk crate on one side of the trunk, where she stashed her stuff. “And besides, she’s not old, she’s your mom’s age….my dad’s…They’re not that old.”

Both girls had lost a parent. Ruby’s dad died in a horrible car accident months before she was born. Lily’s mom had been the victim of a senseless mugging gone wrong when Lily was only three. Long before she’d moved to Woodville.

“I guess you’re right,” Ruby pulled a mirror out of her purple crate on the other side of the trunk and checked the status of her hair.  She smoothed and straightened her white-blonde braids, one on either side, and tucked a few loose hairs behind her ears.

Lily glanced over Ruby’s shoulder and fluffed her curls before adding bit of lip glass.

“You look beautiful, darling.” Ruby put the mirror back and grabbed her history book.

“Likewise, Rue.” Lily said slamming the trunk once she had everything she needed, then the two walked to the only air-conditioned building, the Annex. “What did your Grams say about the mauled man?”

“Be careful. Stay alert. You never know what’s out there. Typical Grams and her cryptic warnings.”

“Rue, I’m not gonna lie, I’m freaked. It was so close, just on the other side of the Wood. The man claims it was an animal. Where would an animal go? The Wood, Rue. Your Grams is out there. You go out there. WE go out there.” Lily raised an eyebrow and dodged a confused freshman.

Ruby said, “I know, Lil, but I’m sure the police have team out searching. If it’s an animal, they’ll catch it.” Ruby said, with much more certainty than she felt.

“But aren’t you going out there tomorrow?”

“No, Sunday. It’s the Equinox…an annual thing for me and Grams…” There was a tug in Ruby’s gut, but she pushed it away and shrugged, “Grams has been living in the Hood family cabin as long as I can remember. And you know Grams, if it’s not safe, there is no way she’ll let anyone into the Wood. I’m sure everything will be fine.”

“If you say so, Rue,” Lily said, linking her free arm through her friend’s. “Now, come on, let’s get this last class and ever-handsome and charming Kellan Wolf.”

“Ah, Kellan,” Ruby voice took on a dreamy state and most of her worry vanished. Grams wouldn’t let anything happen to her, and the Wood was perfectly safe, wasn’t it?