Awake and Dreaming - Kit Pearson [45]
If only she could even go out for a walk! She couldn’t help thinking of the walks the Kaldors took on Sundays along Dallas Road. The cemetery wasn’t very far from here. She could walk there easily …
Seeing the cemetery would make her miss the family even more. But all at once Theo gave up trying not to think of them. Her puppet self went away for good. A surge of excitement filled the real Theo as she sat down beside Sharon again. She ignored the program and began to make a plan.
A FEW DAYS LATER Sharon got a terrible cold. Theo felt sorry for her as she lay on the couch on Saturday morning, surrounded by glasses of juice and wadded-up tissues. Sharon being sick, however, made Theo’s plan much easier.
She lingered by the phone, waiting for it to ring. When it did, she snatched it up, listened for a few seconds, then said to Sharon, “It’s Skye. She wants me to go to Goldstream Park for the day with her mum and Carol.”
“That’s nice,” said Sharon, “especially when I’m so useless today. Let me talk to Robin.” Sharon had become quite friendly with Robin and Carol.
Theo had expected this. “Is your mum there?” she asked into the receiver.
At the other end Skye giggled so hard that Theo was afraid Sharon would hear.
“They’ve gone to the store for a few minutes,” she told Sharon.
“Let me talk to Skye, then.”
Theo listened in agonized suspense. Could Skye stop laughing? Sharon said, “Uh huh … uh huh … and you’ll be back at six? All right. Please thank your mother for including Theo.”
She handed the phone back and blew her nose. “She says you’ll be gone all day—you’re going on a hike. That’s good—you shouldn’t be around me with all these germs. You’d better make yourself a sandwich and take one of those juice boxes. You’ll have to walk to Skye’s on your own, Theo. I can’t move. Go straight there and phone me when you arrive.”
“I’ll be careful,” said Theo, to make Sharon stop looking so worried. She made herself a peanut butter sandwich and put it with an apple and some juice and her anorak into the backpack Sharon had bought her. It was incredible that her guilt wasn’t more apparent—it felt as if it were sprouting from her like prickles. She’d thought Sharon would insist on walking her to Skye’s and she hadn’t figured out how to stop her coming in to speak to Robin.
“Have a good time, hon,” said Sharon. “No, don’t kiss me—you might get my cold.”
Theo blew her a kiss as she walked out the door.
SHE HEADED IN the direction of Skye’s house in case Sharon was watching out the window. As she passed it a few streets over, she glanced at it gratefully and kept on going. Good for Skye. She’d thought the plan was fun when Theo had suggested it to her.
“But what are you going to do?” she’d asked.
Theo shrugged. “I just want to explore Victoria on my own.”
“Good idea!” said Skye. “Maybe I could come with you!” She looked so eager that Theo almost said yes. She was relieved when Skye remembered that she and her mum had to visit someone on Saturday afternoon.
Theo turned towards Beacon Hill Park. Then she remembered she was supposed to phone Sharon. She looked for the quarter she’d put in her pocket and used a phone booth on the corner. “Have a good time,” said her aunt again.
Theo felt so guilty that her legs quivered as she crossed Dallas Road. But as soon as she set out along the path beside the sea, she forgot about Sharon.
It was a bright March day. Early daffodils blew in the long grass beside the pond where kids and old men were sailing model boats. Below the cliffs the waves were wild, as if they were as excited as Theo. This was the first time she’d been alone since she’d arrived.
People smiled at her as they passed with their dogs and kids and bicycles. The cliff path was so familiar that Theo felt as if John and Anna and Lisbeth and Ben were walking beside her. The Kaldors aren’t real she reminded herself, but today she couldn’t believe that they had only existed in her dream.
When she got near the cemetery, Theo’s heart started pounding. She