The Lights Go On Again by Kit Pearson

Author:Kit Pearson
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780143056362
Publisher: PENGUIN GROUP (CANADA)

10

A Surprise Visitor

The family tried to carry on as if they weren’t waiting for a decision that would change their lives forever. By unspoken agreement no one talked about it, but the whole household itched with prickly suspense. Aunt Mary was overcome by spring allergies and took to her bed. Hanny served dull, badly cooked meals and sat around the kitchen morosely nursing her tea and cigarette. Norah had to study for her final exams. Sometimes Paige persuaded her to go to a movie or the canteen, but most of the time she escaped into her books. Aunt Florence took Gavin to the Riverdale Zoo on Firecracker Day. They were both relieved when the outing was over, after the strain of pretending that everything was normal.

But when June came and there was still no word from Grandad, Aunt Florence broke the silence. “When is he going to phone?” she asked Norah angrily. “It’s unbearable, keeping us in suspense like this! If he hasn’t phoned by Monday I’m going to send another telegram.”

“How should I know why?” said Norah sullenly. “It isn’t my fault he hasn’t phoned yet! I want to know what he’s decided just as much as you do.” The two of them were as antagonistic as when Norah and Gavin had first arrived, as if their four years’ truce had never happened.

Gavin began to daydream so much in class that Mrs. Moss had to keep him after school several times to finish his work. “Are you worried about going back to England?” she asked during one of these detentions. She looked up from her desk as he tried to concentrate on a page of long division.

He couldn’t tell her his secret. He just whispered “Yes, Mrs. Moss” so sadly that she let him leave.

Gavin walked home slowly, kicking at the sidewalk and scuffing his new oxfords. He didn’t care. Waiting. It seemed that all he had done in 1945 was wait. He felt as dry and wrung-out as the twisted dishcloths that Hanny hung on the line.

Today was Monday—the day Aunt Florence said she’d send Grandad another telegram. That cheered him up a little. At least they were doing something.

The house was silent when Gavin got there. Hanny told him the aunts had gone out to vote in the Ontario election. “Norah’s at the library. I’d like to nip out and vote myself before I start dinner. Will you be all right by yourself for half an hour?”

“Sure.” After Hanny had gone, he wandered upstairs, Bosley padding behind and whining for a bite of his cookie. Gavin was rarely alone in the house. He decided to explore every inch of it, as if he had never been here before.

First he climbed on a chair and tried to open the trap door to the roof, but he couldn’t quite reach it. Then he made his way slowly downwards, from Norah’s tower to the musty basement.

He even ventured into the aunts’ rooms, careful not to touch anything. He examined the

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.