Read Online Kite Spirit by Sita Brahmachari - Free Book Online Page B

Jimmy. Hazel spoke about Dawn as if she was still here too; she couldn’t bring herself to place her in the past either.
    Hazel lowered her eyes as she finally released the card from her grip. Kite’s name had been written in Dawn’s best italic ink pen. She turned it over to find the neatly resealed
edges of the envelope and lifted it to her nose. It smelt of Dawn.
    Ruby walked in with a tray of mugs, and Kite swiftly took the card and placed it in her bag.
    ‘Let’s be off!’ shouted Seth, bounding up the steps. ‘Where’s your stuff? The car’s all packed!’ He was freshly shaven and had put on his favourite blue
denim shirt and beaten-up suede jacket. He was wearing some new linen trousers and the leather Converse Ruby had bought him for his birthday the week before. As soon as he saw Hazel he slowed his
pace, walked over to her and clasped her hand in his.
    ‘Sorry, I didn’t know you were visiting.’
    ‘Have some tea,’ intercepted Ruby, handing him a mug.
    Hazel took a sip and placed the mug back on the table.
    ‘And I was wondering, is there anything you want of hers?’ murmured Hazel without looking up.
    Kite’s mind went blank. What possession of Dawn’s could give her real comfort now? Hazel raised her hand to the plain silver cross she wore around her own neck and that sparked an
idea.
    ‘Maybe the locket I bought her?’
    ‘She’s still wearing that,’ Hazel said.
    Actually Kite was relieved to hear they hadn’t taken the locket off Dawn. As far as she knew, she had worn it every day since she’d given it to her in Year 6. And now she thought of
it there was something else of Dawn’s that she would like to hold close.
    ‘I’d like . . . the little box I gave her for her birthday, with her reeds in, and if I could just listen to her iPod?’ It sounded like an odd request even to Kite, but somehow
she felt that if she could only listen to Dawn’s music she might be able to sleep again.
    ‘Of course. We don’t know what to do with all her oboe things – sheet music and everything. Jimmy thinks we should give it to the school, so someone else gets to play. Are you
sure that’s
all
you want?’
    Kite nodded.
    ‘OK, well, I must be off. We’re packing up ourselves. We asked for an emergency move. The council’s been very understanding actually. I just wanted to wish you . . . well, if
Dawn had been here we would have seen you on your birthday . . .’
    ‘Poor, poor woman,’ sighed Ruby as they listened to her walk down the stairs.
    A part of Kite wanted to rip up the card. What was the point of it anyway? It’s not as if Dawn had cared enough to confide in her. She didn’t want Dawn’s beautiful writing or
her words haunting her from beyond the grave. She just wanted Dawn back and everything to be how it was before.

 
The Angel of the North
    Ruby stood on the pavement waving them off. In the car, Kite lowered her head as some students in her year walked past chatting and laughing on their way into school. It felt
wrong that the world was going on just as it always had. At the far end of the road she spotted the familiar face of the postman working his way up the street. A removal van had double-parked, and
Jimmy was loading Dawn’s little blue bedroom sofa into it. How many times had they come in from school and slumped down on that? Jimmy caught Kite staring at him, dug his hand deep in his
pocket and came over to the car.
    ‘Hazel says you wanted these,’ he muttered, handing her a gift bag through the half-open car window. Kite looked inside to find the tiny leather reed box, Dawn’s iPod and three
bars of lemon soap.
    ‘Well, I’ll be seeing you then.’ Jimmy tapped on the side window, lowered his head and started making his way back towards Fairview. Before Kite knew what was happening, Seth
had flung open his door, leaving the car stranded in the middle of the road, and jumped out.
    ‘Wait up!’
    Jimmy stood frozen with his back towards Seth, who