Ring of Light by Isobel Bird Read Free Book Online Page A

inside of her.
    â€œI know I should have told you earlier,” Aunt Netty said. “You and I have never had secrets from each other, and I didn’t want to start now. But I wanted to do it in person, and I thought I would wait until the lump was gone and I was okay again.”
    Kate felt herself beginning to cry. Partly she was devastated by the news of her aunt’s illness. But more than that, she felt even more terrible about not being able to talk to Aunt Netty about Wicca. Here she was, battling cancer, and Kate couldn’t even talk to her about something as simple as her own spirituality.
    â€œDon’t start that,” Aunt Netty said, handing Kate a napkin. “If you cry then I’ll cry, and then this will all be way too much like a bad after-school special.”
    Kate laughed despite herself. She dabbed at her eyes with the napkin, then looked down at the wig sitting beside her aunt’s bread plate. “Are you going to put that back on?” she asked.
    â€œI don’t think so,” her aunt replied. “I sort of dropped it in the butter. Besides, I never liked it. Now that I don’t have to pretend anymore, I think I’ll stick with the hat look.”
    Aunt Netty took the wig and put it in the bag she’d been carrying with her. Then she took out a bottle of pills, opened it, and popped one in her mouth.
    â€œSo it wasn’t just a headache,” Kate said, suddenly remembering the incident from the night before. “And that’s why you didn’t eat much yesterday, and why Dad kept telling you to take it easy.”
    Her aunt nodded. “I’m really sorry I didn’t tell you earlier,” she said. “I’d hoped this would turn out to be nothing and that I could tell everyone when it was all over.”
    â€œBut it isn’t over?” asked Kate fearfully.
    Her aunt shook her head. “The lump was larger than we thought, and it turned out that the cancer had spread to some of my lymph nodes,” she answered. “That’s when I had the chemo and my hair fell out. Unfortunately, that still didn’t get it all. That’s why I’m here. The hospital here has a terrific cancer treatment center. My doctor has basically done everything he can. We want to see if this is any better.”
    Kate looked down at her hands, which were twisting her napkin into a ball. There was a question she desperately wanted to ask, but she was almost equally afraid of the answer she might get.
    At that moment the waiter arrived, bringing them their lunches. As he set the plates in front of them he glanced briefly at Aunt Netty’s bare head under her hat before looking away. Kate noticed his reaction and wanted to say “She has cancer.” She knew the waiter was wondering, and she didn’t like the idea of people looking at her aunt and thinking there was something wrong with her. But the waiter just asked them if they would like anything else, and when they shook their heads he walked away as if they were having a perfectly normal lunch.
    Only it wasn’t a perfectly normal lunch. It might have been when they’d sat down, but everything had changed as soon as Aunt Netty had uttered those three words that Kate was sure she would never get out of her head: “I have cancer.”
    â€œAre you going to die?” she asked suddenly, the question she’d been unable to voice tumbling out of her mouth before she could stop it.
    Her aunt paused, a forkful of red snapper halfway to her mouth, and looked into Kate’s eyes. “I don’t know,” she said. “I know that’s not the answer you want. It’s not the answer I want either. But it’s the truth. I’m not sure what will happen next.”
    â€œYou’re right,” Kate said. “That’s not what I wanted to hear.”
    She looked at the pile of clam strips in front of her. Just the thought of eating one made her