The One and Only Ruby

Ruby remembers messily eating her first meal. It tasted delicious and sweet.

There were sixteen elephants in Ruby’s herd. The savanna was beautiful and vast, and sometimes dangerous. The herd walked constantly in search of food and water. As a small elephant, Ruby was especially vulnerable to predators, but her herd protected her.

Ruby loved her powerful and beautiful mother, Bishara. She often held onto her tail as they walked. Her brother was four years older and very boisterous. Her best friend was Gichinga, a cattle egret (a type of bird). Cattle egrets often follow elephant herds to eat the bugs their feet kick up from the earth. In return, the cattle egrets, who often ride on the elephants’ backs, sound an alarm when predators are coming.

An accompanying illustration depicts a small elephant, Ruby, holding the tail of a larger elephant, her mother, Bishara, in a line of elephants.

Initially, Ruby was indignant about the small bird sitting on her back, but Gichinga pointed out all the other elephants with birds on their backs. Before long, Gichinga and Ruby started to make music together.

Gichinga was an important friend for Ruby, because he showed her the possibilities of friendship.

Uncle Bob asks when Ruby first encountered humans. She explains that she smelled them, and her mother warned her that it was the smell of danger.

Ruby smelled smoke and knew instinctually that it was dangerous. Her grandmother explained that the world was much drier than in the past, so there were more fires.

The herd became hungry and excruciatingly thirsty; the land was gripped by drought.

An illustration shows a small elephant, Ruby.

Grandmama, the herd’s matriarch, led the herd to human farms, where angry farmers fired rifles at them.

Ruby began to lag. Her mother waited with her. Grandmama slowed the herd’s pace as much as possible. Gichinga began sitting on a faster elephant at his mother’s insistence.

Ruby and her mother lost the herd. Ruby saw a mud puddle and excitedly jumped into it. She sank and became stuck and scared. Her mother couldn’t reach her with her trunk. Ruby heard humans and was terrified.

The humans tied ropes around Ruby and helped her out. They were good humans. Ivan and Bob agree that there are some good humans.

On the other hand, Ruby says, “there were the bones” (97).

Ruby and her mother caught up to the herd. They came across a pile of elephant bones and stopped respectfully, taking turning gently touching the bones with their trunks. An older elephant reprimanded Ruby for almost stepping on a bone. Ruby asked where the elephant’s tusks were; Ruby’s mother and Grandmama did not know.

Two days later, Ruby and her mother fell behind again. Suddenly, Ruby’s mother was shot, and died. Ruby decided that she would stay and become bones with her.

Two young bull elephants approached and told Ruby that she had to run away; the poachers were coming for her mother’s tusks. She ran with the two bulls, who made sure Ruby didn’t watch what was happening, but she knew anyway.

The two bulls did their best to care for Ruby, but they had no milk to give her. They told her stories and sheltered her from the heat.

A giant insect, making a thud-thud-thud sound, appeared overhead. The bulls urged Ruby to run, but she was frozen in panic as it landed on the ground.

Three humans got out of the giant insect. One pointed a black stick at Ruby.

Ruby heard a sharp noise and felt pain in her side at the same time. She suddenly felt exhausted and lay down to rest.

Ruby awoke, feeling heavy and sleepy. She realized that she was flying through the air inside the insect. She felt bewildered and scared, and tried to think of her mother’s warmth.

Still feeling heavy and sleepy, Ruby was moved from the giant insect (a helicopter) into a truck. When the truck stopped, Ruby could smell both humans and baby elephants.

The humans helped Ruby up and corralled her into a large wooden cage, making soothing noises. A tall human in the cage, Jabori, laughed.

Ivan clarifies that this is the man who just came to visit Ruby.

Jabori, Ruby explains, was a kind, reassuring presence. He constantly talked and hummed, and he always knew what she needed.

Elephants call those who look after them sentinels. Ruby explains that Jabori was one of her sentinels. Before him, Ruby’s mother and Grandmama had been her sentinels. Now, Ivan and Bob are her sentinels. Ruby is grateful for all the sentinels in her life.

Jabori knew that Ruby liked having a blanket draped over her back to sleep, and he knew when she would be hungry. Jabori hummed comfortingly when Ruby had bad dreams. He called her Duni.

An accompanying illustration shows a young elephant, Ruby, being patted by a smiling man, Jabori. Ruby is under a blanket; she looks content.

Jabori started by providing food for Ruby, encouraging her to eat by dipping his fingers in the food and bringing them to her mouth. Eventually, she ate.

Bob agrees that there is nothing as good as a meal when you didn’t think you would ever get one again.

Jabori then brought a bottle of the same liquid for Ruby to drink from, which was easier and less messy.

An accompanying illustration shows a baby elephant, Ruby, suckling from a bottle.

Ruby now knows that she was in an elephant orphanage. The humans there were loving, and provided food and shelter for baby elephants who were lost and alone.

Ruby became aware that the other elephants, also kept in wooden enclosures with human companions, went out each day, and came back seeming happy. As well as Jabori and Ruby, a small African hedgehog called Odongo lived in her enclosure.

Soon after this, Ruby was allowed to join in with the other baby elephants on their adventures; she was welcomed with trumpets and nuzzles. Ruby heard the other elephants having nightmares, although none of them talked about their past.

Every morning at the orphanage, Ruby and the other baby elephants would get their bottles of milk substitute and then go outside to play. Their favorite thing to do was to roll in the mud puddles together.

Next, the elephants would forage, practicing for when they were old enough to eat plants rather than milk.

One day, Ruby was startled by a moth that flew out of a bush. She laughed at herself with the other elephants.

An accompanying illustration shows a small elephant, Ruby, with a moth sitting between her eyes, as she sits with an expression of surprise on her face. Another illustration depicts two baby elephants with their trunks linked together, looking happy.