The Ruby chronicles the life of a hillbilly family in the Ozark wilderness of Missouri during the Great Depression, and their attempt to cope with mounting problems brought on by the mysterious arrival of a time-traveler from two-thousand years in the future who has become stranded. <br><br>The time-portation device has worn out and Dorian finds himself in an unfamiliar and primitive life. While searching for a replacement of the failed component—a ruby—he is taken in by the impoverished farm family and falls in love with one of the daughters. <br><br>Eventually he discovers a means to restore the ruby's power, and activates his device even at the cost of losing the woman he loves and the risk of being displaced to yet another unpredictable location.
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Leland Nichols. The Ruby
CHAPTER ONE. Stranded
CHAPTER TWO. Pleasant Memories
CHAPTER THREE. The Accident
CHAPTER FOUR. The Hunt
CHAPTER FIVE. A New Way of Life
CHAPTER SIX. The Tale
CHAPTER SEVEN. A Secret Revealed
CHAPTER EIGHT. Seeking a Love Potion
CHAPTER NINE. A Bigger Problem
CHAPTER TEN. The Good Doctor
CHAPTER ELEVEN. A Familiar Face
CHAPTER TWELVE. The Peddler
CHAPTER THIRTEEN. Seeking Wisdom
CHAPTER FOURTEEN. Visit to the Witch
CHAPTER FIFTEEN. Bad News
CHAPTER SIXTEEN. The Storm
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN. The Mine
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN. Where Wisdom Counts
CHAPTER NINETEEN. Days of Autumn
CHAPTER TWENTY. New Surroundings
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE. Eve of the Double Cross
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO. Back to Reality
EPILOGUE
About the Author
Отрывок из книги
I have been taken prisoner, securely bound to a wooden structure and put on display, among all the mockery, to die in public shame. As they paraded me through the streets, some glared at me in scornful silence, others humiliated me with contemptuous laughter, still others pelted me with the myriad of objects they threw. I was surrounded by a magnitude of humans, yet was all alone in my humanity.
I awoke with a jolt, as one who thinks his last moment has come, yet with no time to prepare. A burning thirst consumes me, agony wracks my whole body. I try to stretch the muscles of my back and arms, but lack the strength to pull myself up a bit, as before. I draw a deep breath, trying to feel conscious of my existence. Growing feebler in body, and dimmer in my senses, I must keep my mind active, my thoughts flowing, for I fear a sudden, complete collapse is near. It seems that now, I remain at longer intervals in a state of unconsciousness, an unsatisfying sleep. I face the realization that I will soon drift ever more often into those brief slices of death.
.....
“You don’t say much, do ya? Where ya from?”
“Actually, quite a ways from here. Uh… you’ve probably never heard of it.”
