Awake and Dreaming - Kit Pearson [72]
Theo grinned at them. “I’ll ask Rae,” she said.
She curled her arms behind her neck and squinted at the sky. The summer had fallen into place, waiting for her to enjoy it. Everything would probably even happen the way it was arranged, she thought in wonder. And in the fall she’d go back to the same school again.
But would it stay the same? Maybe Rae would get restless. Maybe Sharon would finally travel.
If only kids were allowed to live alone—like Pippi Longstocking. I’d like to live in a tree, decided Theo. I’d cut shelves into the trunk for my dishes and food, and sleep on a hammock …
“What are you dreaming about, Theo?” asked Anna.
“She always does that,” said Skye.
Theo smiled at her friends. She had them to turn to if things went wrong again. “Friends are like gold,” Cecily had said.
She jumped up. “Let’s play follow-the-leader!” She led them in a line through the cemetery. They skipped in and out of the shadows the thick foliage made on the grass. Theo held out one arm, walked with giant steps, hopped from leg to leg and waved her hands in the air. She deliberately ended up at Cecily’s grave, then took them in a dancing circle around it.
“My turn to be leader!” cried Lisbeth. “You have to go to the back of the line, Theo.”
Theo ran behind Anna. Then she paused by the plot while the others dashed off.
She examined the white shrub rose Cecily had asked her to plant. Dan had helped her move it from the front garden of the house. They had clipped the grass and pulled up all the dandelions.
There was no sign of Cecily, of course. Theo knew she had gone away for good. She smoothed the marble pages of the book with her palms, as if she were pressing it firmly open.
“I won’t forget,” she whispered.
Table of Contents
Cover
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
Prologue
Part 1: Theo
1
2
3
4
5
Part 2: The Family
6
7
8
9
10
11
Part 3: Cecily
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22