Page 1 of Secret Redemption

Prologue

Summer 1996

Zack sat on the edge of his dying sister’s bed. Her pale face made the dark circles under her sunken eyes seem more pronounced. Long black lashes feathered her translucent skin. Every time she came home from the hospital, Zack fought the need to rage at the world.

The Doctor seemed to think that this treatment was working and the end justified the means. He hated it. All her life Catherine had been the weak, sickly one. At least in her body. Her spirit was a different thing. Catherine had the spirit of a warrior, she always had.

When he was feeling low or scared, it was Catherine who picked him up and showed him what it was to be strong. It was also Catherine that brought out this deep-seated need inside him to protect the weak of body. She was the only one who knew that he and Kanan planned to join the army.

He was expected to go into the family business and run the family law firm one day, but it wasn’t what he wanted. He couldn’t see himself sitting in an office all day. He wanted to be on the front where all the action was. Where he could truly make a difference.

Catherine’s eyes slowly opened, and as she always did when she saw Zack, she smiled. He returned her smile and watched her try to sit up. Moving back slightly he leaned over and tucked a pillow behind her back.

“Better?” he asked. She nodded and took a tiny sip of the water he offered her. Zack looked around her room for her Walkman. Catherine was never without her music or her drawing pad. She was an incredible artist and would sketch all day. She would draw anything, but fantasy dragons and mythical creatures were her favourites. Reaching over the dresser, he passed her both.

Catherine was three years younger than he was and unlike other siblings, they never fought. He had always watched out for her, and his parents had always made him look after and watch over her. It was never a chore for him like it would have been for some older brothers. Their parents were good people, and like him, they had been devastated by Catherine’s leukaemia diagnosis. They didn’t shirk their responsibility, it was more his parents expected him to be her bodyguard, not only at school but everywhere they couldn’t be.

Friends had never been allowed home in case it made Catherine sick. It would have been so easy to resent her, but he didn’t. Even as a small child, Catherine had been the sweetest person in the world, and she still was even now. She never bemoaned the fact that she couldn’t do what the other kids could, she just made the most of every day.

The only person Zack had was Kanan. K was his best friend and had been since they were small boys. Kanan’s mum worked for them in the estate kitchens, and they lived in a cottage on the grounds of their family estate. This meant that the boys had grown up together, so they were more like brothers than friends.

Catherine adored Kanan and always joked she was going to marry him one day. It was mutual, Kanan adored her as well, but he only saw her as a little sister.

“Have mum and Dad left?” Catherine asked.

Zack shook his head. “No, they are leaving soon though. Mum will be up in a bit.” Catherine laughed, but Zack saw the worry cross her delicate features.

“Mum worries too much,” she said.

“It’s what she does. She wouldn’t be mum unless she had something to worry about.”

Catherine laughed again and then grinned. “That’s true. Are you meeting Zoe tonight?”

Zack laughed at her matchmaking. “No, you know what mum and dad say about having people over.”

Catherine dropped her head. “Yeah, I know. But it’s not fair that you should suffer because of me.”

Zack gently took her hand. “Hey, don’t say that. You don’t stop me doing anything I want to do.”

“So, you’ll invite her over? You can sneak her in after mum and dad go out. I’m just gonna sit and draw anyway.”

Zack knew then he had been out-manoeuvred. He should never have told Catherine how much he liked Zoe. “Okay, okay, I’ll do it.”

“Good. You need to live a little Zachy,” she said using her childhood name for him.

Zack laughed and kissed her forehead as the door opened and their parents walked in. He rose and left them to fuss over her while he went to text Zoe. Tonight would be the best night of his life!