The Azurite Encounter
by
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She ran along the swollen creek back to the trees. She glanced back to see if the stranger was following. The burning in her arm radiated to her neck. Before reaching the trees she splashed into water. Its level rose higher then when she left the campsite. She sidestepped it and climbed higher along the bank but found no dry path. She decided to run through the wet, wooded area. She started to panic. Her breathing quickened and shortened. Her sides began to spasm. She stopped and leaned up against a tree to catch her breath. She now felt the cold water flowing into her boots. The creek was still rising. Keep moving, Desiree, you've been in situations worse than this, she thought. Her mind flashed back to the I Love Lucy television show. It sure would be nice to have firemen rescue me like they did Lucy and Ethel, she thought. Then she heard someone kicking water. She tried to look back, but her neck muscles cramped. She couldn't hold onto the tree anymore and started to slide down its trunk.
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About the Book
“My people believe that wearing Azurite can heal the damaged soul.”
Desiree Sumner needs massive healing when she enters high school. Her parents’ separation and the death of her beloved grandfather throw her life into upheaval. She loses most of her interests and falls into a hazy kaleidoscope of daydreams. By her senior year, she’s begun to heal when she learns of geology field trip to the Grand Canyon—an adventure she and her grandfather had intended to have someday.
Their geology teacher mysteriously omits the camp’s location from the permission slip and is oddly secretive about the real purpose for this annual trip. When the class finally arrives at the canyon, they are met with warm rains and a record snowmelt that causes the canyon waterways to overflow. The rising waters cut Desiree off from her group, and she encounters the forces of the Grand Canyon, the most frightening thing that’s ever happened to her. Will she be able to escape with her life?
About the Author
Jane Frances Ruby earned degrees in Chemistry from John Carroll University. Her experiences serving the Alpine Valley Ski Patrol, playing beach volleyball, and race sailing provided many ideas for The Azurite Encounter, her first novel. She and her husband, David, live in Phoenix, Arizona along with their daughters, Alaina and Gillian.