Ruby Redfort 1 - Look Into My Eyes Read Free Page A

TV passion, and
Crazy Cops
in particular.
Crazy Cops
was a police drama that Ruby and Clancy were practically addicted to; it was very informative while at the same time being extremely entertaining. They had both picked up their knowledge about police investigations and human behavior from watching
Crazy Cops.
“
There’s a lot of truth in fiction,”
was something Ruby was fond of reminding her parents whenever they complained about her “TV habit.” Sunday night, however, was toon night, and they were just into a fourth episode of
Grime Girl of the Crime World,
when Ruby heard her parents’ car pulling into the driveway.
    Clancy looked at his watch and groaned. “I guess I gotta go. My dad won’t exactly see the funny side if I’m late.”
    “That’s too bad, Clance. But hey, don’t forget to smile.”
    “Yeah, yeah, some friend you are. I’ll call you later.”
    He left by climbing from the roof onto a branch of the large tree handily positioned right next to the house — from there he could shinny his way down to the yard. Ruby usually descended more conventionally, by way of the stairs.
    Noticing that she had forgotten to tackle the large pile of shoes in the middle of the room, she fetched the beanbag and placed it on top. The room looked magazine-shoot tidy. She took one last look in the mirror, then adjusted the barrette securing her long dark hair in a firm side part, giving her a look of utter composure.
    Satisfied, Ruby sort of half walked, half hopped downstairs, followed silently by Bug.

“HEY HONEY, HOW’S MY GIRL?” said her father, lifting Ruby up over his shoulder and mussing her hair. It was a “welcome home” ritual Brant Redfort had never grown out of.
    “Hey, Dad, do ya wanna cool it? You’re messing with my look!” said Ruby in a somewhat strangled voice.
    “Oh, Brant!” said Sabina Redfort, pretending to disapprove. “For an intelligent man you really can behave like a total nut.” No one but Sabina would ever describe Brant Redfort as intelligent. Ruby had been born to parents who would never be giving Einstein a run for his money.
    In many ways nature
had
been generous to Brant and Sabina. They had been given an easy charm and likeability, good looks, and generous personalities. But for all their fairy tale–like graces they had little going on upstairs in the smarts department. However, you would be hard-pressed to meet a more popular couple, and for this reason they headed up just about every committee or fundraising benefit in Twinford. They were what’s known as “socialites.”
    The Redfort family walked upstairs to the living room and settled down on one of the large white couches.
    “So how was Switzerland?” said Ruby.
    “Oh, it was wonderful, just wonderful. If we hadn’t had to get back for the museum launch we would have stayed longer,” said Sabina wistfully.
    “Oh, yeah? What museum launch is that?” said Ruby.
    “Ruby, surely you haven’t forgotten about the Jade Buddha of Khotan!” exclaimed her mother.
    “Sabina honey, she’s pulling your leg,” said Brant, raising his eyes heavenward. “You have been talking about nothing but the museum launch for the last two months.”
    “Oh, very cute!” laughed Sabina as she pinched Ruby on the cheek.
    Ruby’s parents were both wildly excited about the Jade Buddha coming to Twinford. Stolen from the ancient kingdom of Khotan during the eighth century and missing for more than a thousand years, the Buddha had recently been rediscovered encased in a block of ice somewhere north of Alaska. The archaeologist who dug the artifact out of the glacier was the senior curator of the Twinford City Museum, Dr. Enrico Gonzales. In recognition of this monumental and heroic discovery, the people of Khotan had agreed to have the Buddha displayed at the museum for a limited period before it made its long journey home. Brant and Sabina were, of course, on the museum party committee.
    “You guys sure do travel