Erimentha Parker Chapter 18:
Plot -
- Ruby goes to class for afternoon registration and finds someone has gone into her satchel and thrown everything everywhere. She finds most of her stuff apart from her stationary and spare pencil case
- Even though she has spare stationary, she has now lost her favourite pastel highlighters so she asks mum if they can go stationary shopping on Saturday and writes a list of things to bring on a shopping trip. Her list includes a purse, a book, her receipt book, a lip balm, an umbrella, suncream, hand sanitiser, hand cream, a canvas bag, post it notes, a pen and her book of reminders.
- Despite being one week after they had an outside BBQ it is now incredibly cold. Ruby wears a midnight blue velvet skirt, white cable-knit jumper and brown boots as well as a beige duffle coat and a scarf, but even that isn't enough to stay warm. Turns out it is 4 degrees which isn't even that bad.
- Ruby finds a starry pencil case in paperchase and asks her mum if they can make a star map. Mum says she wont be able to help but she will buy Ruby some black paper to make one
- When Ruby comes back from getting the paper, an old lady is talking to mum saying "I just wanted to commend you for the raising of such a well-behaved and charming daughter". She goes on to sat most children only care about phones and technology so Ruby is extra special
- They visit every stationary shop in the mall and presumably drain mums bank account. And then find a quant deli for coffee
- The cafe has mini jam pots for their cream teas and Ruby wants some to use as candle holders. So she asks if she can have some without paying, and after speaking to a supervisor they give her 7. Mum and Ruby then buy beeswax and wicks so they can make candles
- In the afternoon mum and Ruby make candles and then Ruby lights them all in a circle round her in the evening when she is reading her book. Maybe for cozy vibes, or maybe to summon a demon.
Quotes -
- "When I was a lot younger, mum bought us matching yellow dresses for church and I delighted at the sense of order that it brought - I wanted us to wear them everyday and I was terribly dismayed when I eventually outgrew it. I believe that mum kept hers but she doesn't wear it anymore, feeling guilty that she, unlike me, still has access to that much loved dress
- "I have to hold my chest with both hands to prevent the icy chill from spreading too far"
- "But the colours of autumn are just so beautiful - when October arrives, it is as though a homemade quilt has been laid across the countryside for hibernating animals"
- "Mum orders a black coffee and I get a hot chocolate. Knowing that it will otherwise scald my tongue, I ask for it to be topped up with cold water and, sure enough, I take my first sip without any damage to my taste buds. Mum is not quite so lucky"
- "I have made a cocoon on the patio bench, snuggled up under such a multitude of blankets and cushions that I cannot feel the cool September air"
- "I am wearing gloves which makes it difficult to turn the pages of my book and I eventually take them off, frustrated"
- "Protected by this circle of lights, an arabesque against the cold, the girls at Lady Nightingale's cannot hurt me"