Awake and Dreaming - Kit Pearson [21]
Lisbeth and Ben waved frantically to the other ferry as it glided by. Then Lisbeth whirled around. “Let’s fly!” she shouted.
She tore along the wide deck, the others following. Towards the bow the wind was so strong they had to push against it, while their legs walked in slow motion.
“Fly!” screamed Lisbeth. She opened up her jacket and held it out. “Come on, Theo, you do it, too!”
Theo unzipped her jacket and gasped as the wind slapped her chest like a huge cold hand. Her eyes streamed and her hair felt ripped out by its roots. But she copied the others and held the sides of her jacket open like wings. The wind actually lifted her a little off the ground—then she fell backwards onto the deck.
“Are you okay?” Anna helped her up.
Theo nodded. She tried again, and this time she kept her balance.
“Flyyy …” They jumped and twisted and danced in the wind’s power. Lisbeth was lifted the highest, as if she were a feather. At first John had hung back but soon he was shouting as loudly as the others.
“Let’s go and scare Mummy and Daddy!” said Ben. Their feet thundered along the deck as they dashed back and pounded on the windows beside the place where their parents were sitting. The whole row of adults jerked with surprise. Dan wagged his finger and Laura waved them away.
They battled their way to the side of the ferry, where it was less windy. There they stopped to zip up their jackets and catch their breaths. They held onto the cold bars of the railing and peered at the sheet of water far below. Beyond them rose the cliffs at the end of one of the islands.
“I wonder why we haven’t seen your mother yet, Theo,” said Anna.
Theo had been relieved they hadn’t run into Rae. “Maybe she’s on another deck,” she said hopefully.
“Shouldn’t we go and look for her?” asked John.
Theo put up her hood to warm her freezing ears—and to give her time to think. “We can wait a while,” she said. “It’s okay. She won’t be worried.” She had almost added, “She doesn’t care.” She watched some gulls hovering in the sky as if they were pasted there.
“How long are you staying in Victoria?” asked Anna.
“I don’t know.”
“Maybe you’ll have time to come and visit us.”
“We have our own mountain!” said Ben.
“It’s just a rocky hill behind our house, but Ben calls it a mountain,” explained John.
“And in front we have a graveyard,” said Lisbeth. “It’s spooky!”
“Don’t scare her,” said Anna. “Our house is across the street from a cemetery, Theo. It’s not spooky at all. It’s like a park and we play there every day.”
“Could you come and play with us when you’re in Victoria?” asked Ben.
“Could you? Please?” begged Lisbeth.
“When we go back in we’ll give you our address,” said Anna. “Maybe your mum could bring you over.”
Theo gazed at the Kaldors’ friendly faces. “I’ll try,” she said softly. But she wondered if Sharon would let her go.
“Hurray!” Lisbeth threw her arms around Theo and hugged her hard. An icy part of Theo melted and she tentatively hugged Lisbeth back.
“Look at the moon!” cried Ben. “The moon in the daytime!” He pointed to a sliver of pale moon.
“Why does it look like it’s moving?” said Lisbeth.
“Because we’re moving,” said John. “It’s a new moon.”
“How do you know?” demanded Lisbeth.
“Because it’s shaped like a backwards C. We learned that last year.”
“Grannie says you can wish on a new moon,” said Anna.
“I’m going to wish,” said Ben. He squeezed his eyes shut.
“I bet you’re wishing for a real iguana,” said Lisbeth. “Let’s all wish.”
The five of them looked up at the moon while the ferry churned its way to Victoria.
I wish I could belong to this family, thought Theo. But the wish made her want to cry—it would never come true.
Then she looked towards the bow. Rae was striding around the corner, struggling with the wind. She caught sight of Theo and headed towards her.
Theo almost screamed with despair. She couldn’t go with Rae to Victoria and be left with an unknown aunt! An aunt who was probably mean, who’d probably never let