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

feel sick to her stomach. The idea of ever eating anything again seemed impossible. How could she enjoy food when her favorite aunt was dying? What she wanted to do was scream and cry and tell everyone how unfair it was that someone so smart and funny and beautiful could be filled with something that was eating her up from the inside.
    â€œIt won’t do any good,” her aunt said, interrupting her thoughts.
    â€œWhat won’t do any good?” Kate asked.
    â€œNot eating,” said Aunt Netty. “I tried that. I tried crying a lot and trying to figure out what caused it, too, but that didn’t work either. Trust me—I’ve tried pretty much everything, and it doesn’t do any good. But you know what does help?”
    â€œWhat?” asked Kate glumly when her aunt paused.
    â€œCheesecake,” said Aunt Netty. “There isn’t a problem in the world that cheesecake can’t solve. Why do you think I had you order it?”
    She gave Kate a huge smile, and Kate couldn’t help but give her a little one back. She still felt a great big knot of pain and fear in her stomach, but seeing her aunt smile made it loosen a little bit. Maybe even enough to fit a clam strip in there, she thought, picking up one of the fried pieces and dipping it in the bowl of tartar sauce on the side of her plate.
    â€œThat’s my girl,” said Aunt Netty. “So, do you have any other questions, besides the one about my imminent demise?”
    â€œI don’t know,” Kate said. “I’ve never known anyone who had—” She paused, not knowing how to finish. “Who had what you have,” she said finally.
    â€œCancer,” said her aunt. “I have cancer. I know it’s an ugly word, but you make it uglier when you don’t say it.”
    â€œCancer,” Kate said, hating the sound of it. “I’ve never known anyone who had cancer.”
    â€œI’ll give you the crash course, then,” her aunt said. “Basically, I have these cells in my body that, for one reason or another, are behaving abnormally. They divide and form new cells when they aren’t supposed to, and this forms tumors. Eventually, these cells can begin to destroy surrounding organs.”
    â€œThey can’t just take the tumors out?” Kate asked.
    Aunt Netty nodded. “That’s what we did first,” she said. “But the cancer had already spread to other parts of my body. Now we’re trying to stop it from spreading any more.”
    â€œHow?” Kate asked.
    â€œVarious things,” her aunt explained. “I’ll be happy to explain all of it later. But right now let’s just have lunch. We have my whole visit to talk about medical things.”
    â€œWhen do you go into the hospital?” asked Kate.
    â€œTomorrow,” her aunt informed her. “This may be my last chance to have cheesecake for a while, so let’s enjoy it. Maybe I’ll even get two pieces. I’m feeling pretty good today.”
    So was I, Kate thought as she picked up another clam strip and put it into her mouth. At least until a few minutes ago.

CHAPTER  5
    Annie walked into Shady Hills on Thursday morning wishing she was anyplace else. Her run-in with Ben Rowe on Tuesday had gotten things off to a bad start. Although she hadn’t seen the old man at all on her second day, the memory of his anger was still fresh in her mind. To make everything even worse, Kate had called her the night before, distraught, to tell her that her aunt had cancer. Annie had never heard her friend so upset before, and while she had tried to comfort Kate as much as she could, she knew she wasn’t very good at that kind of thing. In fact, hearing Kate’s news had brought back a lot of memories that Annie hadn’t wanted to face, at least not quite yet.
    As much as she’d been tempted to call in sick, or even to quit altogether, Annie had made a