Chapter 11
A week had now passed since Maya and Ben first arrived in Ruby City, and Ilvy and Jeriel treated them like their own children. The boy and girl made friends with the other inhabitants, too, and people no longer stared at them in amazement if they went with Ilvy to the market, or simply wandered the narrow streets by themselves. One thing that was never discussed, however, was how they might get home. Jeriel seemed to have forgotten about it, and Ilvy was always busy with day-to-day chores. At first, Ben tried asking whether anyone had tried to get down from the levitating island to the earth below, but only received puzzled looks in return. It seemed that nobody had even made it to the edge of the island.
One morning, when Ben went downstairs, he found Jeriel sitting alone at
