Awake and Dreaming - Kit Pearson [48]
It was just like a story; rather like time-travel stories she’d read, except she’d gone sideways in time, not backwards. Stories were more complete, however, and they gave reasons for the magic.
Theo didn’t care. She hugged herself. It had happened after all—she had once belonged to the Kaldors, in some kind of strange fantasy that had ended with no explanation. But now she’d found them again.
The trouble was, they didn’t remember her. Were the children just pretending not to know her in front of their parents? Was it part of the magic that only Theo could remember?
She pondered her family in greedy detail. Lisbeth had lost a tooth and Anna had had her hair cut. John was taller. She had been with them such a short while, she hadn’t had time to notice other things or to talk to them, except to Anna.
Somehow she had to see them again. Then she would make them remember and everything would be as perfect as it had been before.
15
The next morning Theo received a phone call.
“Theo?” said an eager voice. “This is Anna Kaldor, the person you met yesterday? How are you feeling?”
Theo’s voice shook. “Fine.”
“We were wondering if you’d like to come over this afternoon.”
“Oh! I—I would! Just a minute, I’ll ask my aunt.”
After Sharon, too, asked Theo how she was feeling, she said it was okay. Theo listened to Anna telling her what time to come. She could barely squeak a goodbye.
“It’s nice of them to ask,” said Sharon. “Are you sure you want to?”
“Yes, yes, yes!” cried Theo, dancing around the kitchen.
Sharon looked surprised. “You’re usually so shy! And you’ve only just met them. But Anna looked like a nice girl and I liked Laura—she seems so serene, somehow. Did you say she was an artist?”
“She’s a graphic artist,” said Theo. “She paints wonderful cards of dressed-up animals and kids playing.”
“Did she show them to you?”
“Uh huh.” Theo flushed. Was that a lie? Laura had shown them to her—but not yesterday. She went to get ready for church before Sharon could ask her more.
“WHAT A GREAT OLD HOUSE,” said Sharon as they walked up the Kaldors’ steps after lunch. Theo stood silently in the hall as Sharon met the rest of the family. She barely heard her aunt’s goodbye as she drank them in. She was home.
“We’re glad you could come, Theo,” said Laura. “The girls begged to see you again. I hope you’re feeling better now.”
Theo knew she couldn’t call her “Mum”—not yet, not until she’d figured out how to make them remember her. But she gave Laura a huge smile. “I feel great,” she assured her.
But right away, things began to go wrong. “Come and see our room,” said Lisbeth. She pulled Theo up the stairs, Anna following.
Theo trembled as she stared at the familiar, messy space. But her bed and dresser weren’t there. She opened her mouth to remind them that she’d once slept here. But she couldn’t get out the words, as Anna and Lisbeth competed to show her things.
“This is Heather, my best doll.” Lisbeth put the red-haired doll in Theo’s arms and Theo hugged the familiar shape for comfort.
“That’s my favourite hockey player,” said Anna, pointing to the poster by her bed.
“I know,” Theo began, “I—”
“—Oh, do you like him, too?” asked Anna.
“This is my eraser collection,” said Lisbeth. She pulled down a box from the top of the bookshelf and knocked off a china horse.
“Lisbeth!” Anna picked up the horse. Its leg was missing. “Look what you’ve done, you stupid klutz! You’re an idiot!” She punched Lisbeth’s shoulder.
Lisbeth started a high-pitched, whining wail. “Owww! You hurt me! You’re not supposed to hit me, Anna! And Daddy said you’re not supposed to call me an idiot!”
“Then you’re a—a person of low intelligence! You broke my favourite horse! I’m telling!” Anna ran out of the room.
Theo stood there in bewilderment while Lisbeth continued to cry. The two of