Awake and Dreaming - Kit Pearson [63]
Theo turned at the hedge. “Will I see you again?”
“I don’t know,” said Cecily. “I hope so. Perhaps you will if you really need to.” She smiled sadly. “I’m not sure how long I’ll be here now, Theo. I found the story I was looking for—and I’m so amazed and delighted that it touched you. Now there’s only one more thing I need to find.” She looked intently at Theo. “It’s been extremely pleasant talking to you, dear child. Thank you for listening. Go on now, before the Kaldors get up.”
“Goodbye,” whispered Theo. She ran across the street, then she turned around to wave. But Cecily had gone.
20
Theo sat in a daze at breakfast. She had got back just in time to slip into bed before Ben wandered in and ordered someone to give him some cereal.
Had the incredible time she’d just spent been a dream? Had Cecily been a dream? Theo could still hear the angular woman’s musical voice and see her long hands emphasize her words as she talked. She knew she’d been real.
Well, not real … a ghost. A ghost writer! Theo told herself gleefully.
She yawned for the rest of the day, glad that Dan took them to a movie and she didn’t have to talk much. She had no idea what the movie was about. She went over and over Cecily’s conversation, trying to remember every word.
When she said goodbye after dinner, she surprised the family by giving each of them a hug. The Kaldors seemed like characters that Cecily had created. Of course they were real—more real now than they had been in that magic time. But if it wasn’t for Cecily, Theo would never have met them.
Late that night the apartment buzzer wakened Theo. She heard Sharon struggle out of bed to answer it. “Who is it? Oh! Come right up!”
The light went on in the living-room. Theo floated in and out of sleep as the door opened and someone came in. “You’re soaked!” she heard Sharon say. There were whispers and shushes and quick footsteps. Theo sat up as Sharon began to close her door. “I’m awake.”
“You are? Then you may as well get up. It’s your mother.”
“Hi, kid,” said Rae. She was rubbing her hair with a towel. Her bare feet were red; sopping socks were heaped beside them. Her backpack and a battered suitcase stood by the door.
“I’ll make some cocoa,” said Sharon. She began heating up milk while Theo continued to stand and stare at her mother. When Rae babbled about how hard it was raining, Theo sat down beside her aunt, as far away from Rae as she could get.
“I’m glad you’ve finally come to visit, Mary Rae,” said Sharon, her voice chilly. “We haven’t heard from you for so long.”
Rae looked at them, her wet curls making her head look small. “I’ve left Cal,” she said bluntly. “I had nowhere to live so I quit my job and came here.”
Sharon looked shaken. “Oh … but the last ferry gets in at 10:30. Where have you been all this time?”
“I wasn’t sure you’d want me. So I sat in a restaurant on Douglas Street until it closed, then I walked over. Can I stay for a while?”
Some of Sharon’s coldness melted. “You shouldn’t wander around alone at this time of night—it’s dangerous! Of course you can stay.”
Rae fumbled with her cigarette package. “I’m not living with that pig any more. I can’t believe I ever saw anything in him.”
Sharon glanced at Theo. “We can talk about it later. You go back to bed, Theo. I’ll get out the foamie.” Her voice was exhausted.
Theo tried to listen to Rae and Sharon through the closed door, but all she could hear was the roll of foam being dragged out of the cupboard, then silence.
Rae. How long was she going to stay? Would she make Theo go back to Vancouver with her? Angry tears began to slip down Theo’s face. Just as she’d found the Kaldors—just as she’d found Cecily—her mother had to come along and spoil everything.
CAL HAD STARTED DRINKING too much; that was all Theo knew. Rae would have told her more, but Sharon stopped her every time she tried.