The Silver Orb

Chapter 2~Inis Pic

Yavonne stepped out her door on to Black Horse Avenue in Cork Island, crossed the street and waded her way across a field. Then she stepped up on Newport Road and turned and walked north toward the park. A truck was on its way toward her and she turned and stuck her thumb out. It pulled past her a little ways and stopped. She ran over and the driver rolled down the passenger side window.
“You need a ride?” He looked like he was in his late twenties, had black hair that fell down to his shoulders and dark brown eyes with yellow specks. A thin white scar ran from his temple to his cheek.
“Yeah can you give me a ride to the docks?”
“Of course. Hop in.” She opened the door and jumped inside.
“So why you going to the shore?” he looked over at her briefly as he took off.
“My grandpa’s a fishermen. He’s leaving today.”
“Oh. Well we are almost there. It will be just a few moments.” He looked over at her again.
“Ok.”
She paid him no attention, but looked out the window. The smells the taste of the air on a hot summer day the feeling of not being able to feel her fingers and toes after swimming, she missed them all. But the worst was not being with her friends. They use to be the keepers of the docks, all the fishermen knew them, and they knew all of them. They knew where each of the ships went, and bet each other on which would bring back the most. Then it disappeared as they drove back into the city. He pulled up a block from the shore. She opened the door and jumped out.
“Thanks.”
“No problem.”
He stepped on the gas and disappeared around turned a corner. She turned and walked down the street. Yavonne tread carefully on the wooden boards remembering the game she would play. She would try to make it as far out on the dock as she could with out letting one of the boards creek. At first she had never made it far, but she had figured out where to step. She found the boat she was looking for and made her way towards it. The Irish Hunter was smaller than the rest of the boats, but it always brought back more fish. She stepped up on to the boat.
“Hey Joe you there?”
“Yavonne? That you?” the voice came from the other side of the boat.
“Yeah.”
“Haven’t seen you for a while.”
“I know. Where are you?” She turned a corner and found Joe looking over the side of the ship. His gray and black hair was back in a ponytail as usual.
“What are you looking at?”
She walked over and looked over the side as well. Sitting a few feet down was a young man. He had sandy blonde hair, big blue eyes and seemed to be fixing a chain.
“Who is he Joe?”
“He’s my new assistant”
She looked over at him with surprise. “You said you would never get an assistant.”
He looked up at her, a sad look on his face. “Yavonne, I am not young anymore. I can’t do the things I used to.”
“As long as I can remember you said you would never get and assistant.” He looked back down at the boy.
“Times change, people grow old. There’s nothing I can do about that.” They watched the boy finish in silence.
“Good job Will. Come on up here and we’ll get ready to set sail. The tide is coming in.”
Will climbed up the ladder on the side of the ship. He passed right by Yavonne and didn’t even look at her. Jack turned to her. “You coming with us?”
“Most of the way. Could you drop me off at Inis Pic?”
“Course we could we are going right past it.” He turned and hobbled up the steps to the cabin. Yavonne stayed out on the deck. She walked to the front of the ship and watched as the anchor came up. They set sail almost immediately. A slight breeze rustled her hair, waves splashed up tipping it to the left and right. She was home.
An hour later Yavonne was standing on the dock of Inis Pic looking out at the ocean watching jack sail away. He wouldn’t be staying out long on the first day. He never did. He would go out, find the fish come back and then go out for the rest of the week the next day. She turned and walked onto the small island. Before too long the rusty gate to the old castle loomed above her. She pushed the gate open and stepped inside. She came here often when she needed time alone.
Yavonne walked out a small back door and stepped into a clearing at the back of the castle, not far away forest covered the rest of the island. She walked to the middle of the clearing and lay down. Something poked her in the back and she sat up to move it. At first she thought it was a rock, but when the sun hit it she saw that is was a small, silver ball. It was ornately decorated with little diamonds. They ranged in size from the size of a pinhead to almost the size of a pea. It fit snuggly in her palm. She reached out and touched the biggest of the diamonds on top, the ball popped open with a little click. At the bottom of it was a silvery liquid.
She pulled a blade of grass out of the ground, but before she could poke it a small raindrop fell form the sky into the liquid. It sizzled and steam came out. For a moment it was lost from view, but then a small breeze rustled her hair and the steam cleared. The liquid had turned blood red. There was a click and it popped closed. She jumped, but notice the diamonds had turned to rubies. She lifted it up and lay down on the grass holding it above her. It popped open and spilled the liquid on her face. She immediately dropped the ball and sat up as her hands flew to her face, but she stopped and put her hands down. The feeling was wonderful. It felt as if liquid silk was running across her face. Yavonne lay back down and looked up at the sky. She opened her eyes and saw the clouds that had blown in from the sea, then she closed them again and drifted into an artificial sleep.
*******
Yavonne’s eyes popped open. Rain was falling in her face and she was soaked to the bone. She sat up and wiped her face on her sleeve, which didn’t really help seeing as it only made her wetter. She looked around her and realized that she was still on the island. The sun had gone down and there was no moon or starts because of the storm. She stood up and started walking towards the castle when a flash of lightening revealed something at her feet. She bent down and picked it up. It was about the size of a golf ball and fit in her hand perfectly. It rang a bell somewhere in her head so she pocketed it. It had begun to hail and she ran to the castle.
**********
Later that night Yavonne met up with Jack at the docks of Inis Pic. The next day or so seemed normal. Jack was like a grandpa to her and she trusted him. So the next day she showed him the small ball. He said it was a very beautiful artifact, but couldn’t come up with any reason whey it hadn’t rusted. Nor could ether of them come up with what type of metal it was. He told her not to worry about it, and she tried, but she still worried. Though she couldn’t think why.



I have stolen ideas from every book i have ever read. My principal for reserching for a novel is "Read like a butterfly, write like a bee," and if this story contains any honey, it is entirely because of the quality of the nectar i found in the work of better writers.~ Philip Pulman, Acknowledgments,The Amber Spyglass