Awake and Dreaming - Kit Pearson [19]
His sister was the same height—were they twins? Her hair was shorter and darker than John’s, cut in a shining cap. She had a wide mouth that glittered with braces.
Theo shifted her gaze to the other two. Ben was engrossed in building something with another child. His hair was the same colour as John’s, but it curled around his chubby face, which was sprinkled with freckles. His sister was organizing a clapping game with three other children. She was the prettiest, with a long blonde pony-tail and huge fringed eyes. She looked delicate beside her sturdy little brother.
“Lisbeth, stop being so bossy,” said the older girl.
“But they aren’t playing it right!”
“Let them play it the way they want to.”
Ben looked up. “Anna, I need to blow my nose.”
Theo hugged her knees as Anna handed Ben a tissue. Now she knew all their names—John, Anna, Lisbeth and Ben.
A proper family. A family of four! She forgot her misery as she drank in every detail, trembling with wonder.
They seemed just the right ages, with a gap between Anna and Lisbeth for Theo to fit into. Anna looked kind, and John looked sort of … noble. Lisbeth was obviously mischievous and little Ben was cuddly, like a teddy bear. They were perfect.
Watching them was like reading about them in a book—except it wasn’t a book. The family was real—standing right in front of her!
Theo had a daring idea. Maybe she could get to know them. Maybe she could actually speak to them.
Why not? All the other kids were chatting easily. This wasn’t school. No one knew anything about each other, so the usual barriers were gone.
Theo glanced out the window. Rae was nowhere in sight. She slid out of her seat and edged closer and closer to Anna. John was helping Ben with something on the floor.
Say something. But it was so hard. Theo couldn’t make her tongue work and her legs kept shaking.
Then Anna noticed her and smiled—a large, friendly smile. “Hi.”
“Hi,” gulped Theo.
“What’s your name?”
“Theo Caffrey,” whispered Theo.
“I’m Anna—Anna Kaldor. Do you live in Victoria?” Theo shook her head.
“Vancouver?”
Theo just stood there. How could she explain that, at the moment, she didn’t live anywhere at all?
Anna didn’t persist. “We live in Victoria, but we’ve been visiting our grandparents in West Vancouver for the weekend. It was my grannie’s seventieth birthday. We got to miss a day of school and come on Friday.” She had a calm, warm voice.
Lisbeth jumped up and joined them. “Who’s that, Anna?”
“Don’t point, Lisbeth. This is Theo. This is Lisbeth, my rude little sister. And those two are my brothers.”
“Now you’re pointing.” Lisbeth took a pack of cards out of her pocket. “Do you want to play Fish with us?” To Theo’s astonishment Lisbeth pulled her by the hand.
“Come on, John and Ben,” she ordered. “We’re playing Fish.”
“We always do what Lisbeth says,” grinned Anna. All four of them sat down in a circle. Theo was part of it.
She was introduced to John and Ben. John nodded at her; he seemed shy. Ben pulled up a black patch on a piece of elastic around his neck and fixed it over one eye. He put his hand on a plastic dagger stuck in his belt and tugged at Theo’s sweater.
“Are you a pirate?” guessed Theo. He nodded proudly.
Theo held her cards in a fan and tried to stop her fingers from trembling as they all took turns asking for fives or jacks or sevens. Ben sprawled in Anna’s lap, gripping her cards. She kept burying her face in his curls. He ignored her, like a little prince used to homage.
“Lisbeth’s looking at our cards,” he complained.
“I can’t help it! You aren’t holding them up!”
“They’re too big,” said Ben. The cards were almost falling out of his small hands.
“Let him put his cards on the floor. No one will look at them, Ben,” said John.
“I will,” said Lisbeth. “How can I help it, if they’re just lying there?”
“Then you’re a cheat!” said Ben.
“I am not!”
“Shhh! If you’re going to argue, let’s stop. Fish is boring, anyway,” said Anna. They began making houses out of the cards instead. John was the best at balancing four cards against each other, then laying