Coming Home

Chapter 1

Rain poured down on the rickety roof. The sea crashed and roared up against the rocks. Ruby sat bolt upright in her bed, drenched in sweat and shaking from head to toe. She had just been having the worst dream; her mother had gone missing. Only, as Ruby sat there thinking about this dream, she realised it hadn't been a dream at all. Her mother had once gone out alone for a walk when Ruby was three and mysteriously, she had never come back. Ruby's dad had always claimed that Samantha, Ruby's mother, had died. But, as Ruby had rightly told him every time he made this comment, he had no proof she was dead. But then again they had no proof she was alive either. Ruby sat there in her bed for over ten minutes. She slowly got to her feet and slipped on her boots that were at the end of her bed. Ruby tip-toed out of her room and to the tiny front door. Maurice, the family tabby cat, brushed up against her legs and Ruby let out a shrill scream. Maurice hunched his back and his fur stuck on end. He kept meowing at Ruby as if to ask why she had screamed.

"Shh Maurice! You're going to wake Dad up!" Ruby hissed.

Maurice made a disgusted look as if to say 'You were the one who screamed, not Me.' then skulked off.

As Ruby unlocked the door there was a creaking of a bed and the sound of heavy footsteps. Before she could squeeze out of the door it was pushed closed by a big hand.

"And where do you think you're going miss?" asked a deep voice behind her.

Ruby turned around to face her father. His deep blue eyes swimming with worry, yet his mouth twisted into a half smile. He ran his hand through his shocking tan hair making it stick up at an awkward angle so it looked like a wave crashing on the beach.

"Erm, I was just... going for a walk." Ruby stuttered.

Her fathers face was shinning with disbelief.

"What's up Rubes?" He asked eventually.

She sighed, crossed the room and sat down on an old squashy armchair. Her dad then went and perched himself on the arm of a sofa. He yawned loudly, stretched his arms and looked at his watch. His eyes widened.

"Good golly! It's only five fifteen! But really Ruby, what's wrong? Why were you trying to go outside in weather like this at five in the morning?"

Ruby sighed again.

"Well, I had a really bad dream. So I was going to go to my cave to think about it."

The McMeel family had lived in a small hut in a cove by the beach ever since Ruby could remember. She thought it a great spot to live apart from the fact she had no friends because she was home schooled. But of course having so much land meant she could explore, something her mother had loved doing herself. While Ruby had been on one of her great adventures she had stumbled across a cave. She was hardly ever scared so she ventured inside the cave where she met an injured seal. Ruby and her father had cared for the seal until it was strong enough to swim back into the ocean. She had often gone back to the cave just to check if the seal had came back, but it never did. But five years later, Ruby being almost seventeen, she mostly only used it as a place where she could think about things.

"So what was this dream about?" Andrew questioned.

"Dad, you know the dream I have the most." Hinted Ruby.

"Oh... the one about the unicorns and butterflies! Yeah, yeah I know that one!"

Ruby frowned and hit him hard with a cushion.

"Ha ha, very funny. No Mr McMeel! The one about Mum!"

The silent laugh faltered and slowly faded off Andrews face. He didn't like it when Ruby brought up his wife; it made him sad to think about her. Even when he knew exactly which dream Ruby had been having, it shocked him every time. Then without warning he burst into tears. Ruby rushed over to her father and hugged him.