head was too heavy to read any more.
Sheâd managed to hang around Mrs. Miticâs apartment for the rest of the day, watching a movie with her. But at supper-time the old woman had shooed her down the hall. âAll right, thatâs enough of you. I want to phone my sister. You know where I am if you need anything.â
Sheâd been so brusque that Theo hadnât gone back, even though the second night was just as awful as the first. She couldnât escape into sleep from her night terrors, not when she knew Rae wasnât arriving home later. Theo quivered in bed, sure that every sound was something coming to get her. She didnât close her eyes until the first sign of light; then she had a terrible nightmare about falling down a dark hole, falling forever without landing.
Today she had hardly left the couch, letting the TV sound fill up the empty space inside her. She couldnât read and she couldnât pretend; she was a grey blob of nothing.
Now Theo looked up at her mother blearily. At least she wasnât alone any more.
Rae looked sort ofâ sparkly . Her cheeks glowed and her hair was dotted with raindrops. She moved away some of the encrusted plates, sat down beside Theo and gave her a hug. Theo stiffened.
âI have wonderful news, Kitten. Cal has asked me to move in with him!â
Theo felt as if all the air had been sucked out of her. âWhat?â
âHeâs asked me to live with himâisnât that cool? Iâve finally found the right man! Heâs really committed, Theo, I can tell.â
âButââ Theo couldnât get her tongue around the question. Finally it blurted out. âBut what about me ? Will I live there, too?â
Rae had never looked so guilty. âWe havenât made up our minds about that yet.â She shook her wet hair as if she were shaking away the decision. âBut donât worry, Kitten. I have a planâI just need to figure out the details. It will all work out, I promise. Whatever happens, Iâll make sure youâre taken good care of.â
5
âP lease, RaeâI donât want to go!â begged Theo for the hundredth time.
Rae was shoving Theoâs clothes into a duffel bag. She looked up, holding a blue sock. âTheo, weâve been over this again and again. Iâve told you, itâs only for a little while. Just until Cal and I get settled. Then Iâll persuade him to let you live with us. But he isnât ready for you yetâhe needs to get used to me first. Donât you see, Kitten? Besides, Sharon really wants you. She was overjoyed when I suggested it.â
âI donât know Sharon,â moaned Theo.
âOf course you know her. Sheâs your aunt! She was always making a fuss over you when you lived with her and Ma. Is there a mate for this sock?â
Theo ran out of the room and buried her face in the couch. It was no use. Sheâd argued angrily with Rae all week, ever since sheâd phoned Sharon in Victoria.
Surprisingly, Rae didnât get angry back. She repeated her arguments with a wooden patience, as if she were learning lines for a play. Theo wanted to scream every time she said, âItâs only for a little while.â
Exactly how long was a âlittle whileâ? Every time she asked, Rae would repeat, âI canât say exactly. We just have to wait and see.â
The only thing that was certain was that tomorrowâtomorrow!âshe and Rae were taking the ferry to Victoria. Rae was leaving her there. Leaving her to live with her older sister Sharon, whom Theo couldnât remember at all.
Wasnât that what she yearned for? To live somewhere else? But not this! She wanted a family, a proper family with a mother and a father and four childrenânot a single aunt. And what would Sharon be like? What if she was mean? And sheâd have to start a new school again â¦
Rae wouldnât let her