Awake and Dreaming - Kit Pearson [71]
She couldn’t remember ever having a real birthday party before. Some years Rae had bought a cake and candles; last year she’d forgotten completely. Theo tried not to think of that.
Today her mother had given her a white bathing suit covered with yellow flowers. “We’ll go swimming this summer,” she said. “I’ll take you to Beaver Lake, where I used to go.”
Sharon had bought Theo her first watch. Theo kept glancing at the important weight on her wrist. Skye had given her some barrettes with rainbow streamers on them. Robin and Carol had given her felt pens that changed colours. Ben drew her a picture of a dinosaur, Lisbeth and Anna had pooled their allowance to buy her a novel she’d wanted, and John had made her a flute out of a piece of bamboo.
The best present was from Laura and Dan—a painting Laura had done of all the Kaldors and Theo sitting on the steps of the house.
“Remember last month, when we went out to the front and Dan called that man coming up the street to take our picture?” said Laura. “I did it from that.”
Theo remembered. It had been raining for days but then the sun had burst through the clouds and they’d gone out to breathe in the freshly washed air. It had been a shining moment.
She could hear Cecily’s voice: “There are lots of shining moments.” Now she had this picture to remind her of one of the many she’d shared with her favourite family. “Thank you,” said Theo.
AFTER THEY’D STUFFED THEMSELVES with cake and ice cream, all six children left the adults and ran out to the cemetery.
“Are we allowed in here?” said Skye. “It’s creepy!”
“We play here all the time,” said Lisbeth. “Come on, let’s race to the angel!” The others ran after her, John and Anna quickly taking the lead. Anna won, and dropped to the ground triumphantly.
“Is your mum a rock singer, Theo?” asked Lisbeth.
“Shut up, Lisbeth,” hissed John.
“Why do you have two mummies, Skye?” said Ben.
Skye flushed.
“She just does, that’s all,” said Theo, giving her friend a reassuring smile.
“How do you like your new place?” Anna asked Theo.
“It’s okay. There are two trees to climb and the dogs are really friendly.”
“What kind are they?”
“Scotties. Scotch is old and fat, but Soda likes to chase sticks. Next week Mrs. Lundy’s going away for three weeks and then we get to use the whole house.” Theo paused. “You’ll have to come over with Bingo. He’d like to play with the dogs.”
“Sure!” said Anna.
Theo was relieved. Her new life still felt fragile; having the Kaldors over would make it more real.
Rae had found a job in a souvenir store on Government Street. She said it was easy: she spent all day talking to American tourists. When Theo got tired of hearing about them, she’d walk over to Sharon’s and watch TV with her.
“Only a few more days of school,” sighed Anna happily.
John looked anxious. “My last few days at this school,” he reminded her.
“Don’t worry, I bet you’ll like grade eight,” said Lisbeth. “You can go to dances and take out girls on dates.” John looked even more worried.
“We’re going camping for a week at Long Beach as soon as school’s out,” said Anna. “What are you doing, Skye?”
“I get to spend all summer with my father,” said Skye eagerly. “He lives on a farm near Duncan. There’s chickens and a donkey.”
Anna looked at her with more respect. “I’ve never see a donkey,” she said.
“How about you, Theo?” asked John.
“Rae can’t take any holidays in the summer, but Sharon gets two weeks in August. She and I are going to stay at her friend Mandy’s parents’ place on Saltspring. Rae can come over on her days off.”
“You’ll like Saltspring,” said Anna. “We camped there once.”
“Could you come with us to Long Beach, Theo?” Lisbeth asked.
“We would have asked you before, but we weren’t sure