The Ruby Beads

By Ira Smith

At a time when pristine wilderness is soon to be conquered by the march of high rise condominiums, two boys revel in the last shards of the Florida frontier. Rusty and Chris spend long summer days wandering the coastal wilderness of rolling sand dunes, blue water reefs, and hidden mangrove estuaries... but they are not the only ones dwelling in this rapidly disappearing past. The earliest of Florida's coastal settlers--- the "Conchs"--- have many centuries of history in this place, and some among them have intentions that are not so innocent as that of Rusty or Chris. The once wild coasts of Florida were ripe for smuggling and rum running in times past, and even as those wild coasts are being tamed, some among the Conchs are not prepared to abandon the ways of their forefathers or the inlets and lagoons they called home. It is in this setting that the youthful play of adolescents is entangled in the foul plotting of hardened criminals. Along the way, Rusty and Chris will discover a centuries old relic, and amid the sounds of the ocean breeze whispering in the palms and sea grapes, they'll hear the echoes of ages gone.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1981510508
• ISBN13: 9781981510504
• Release Date: December 2017
• Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
• Length: 285 Pages
• Weight: 0.93 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.0" x 0.7" x 6.0"