(BOOK 1 IN THE FAMILY SERIES)
Featuring Carlton Football Club
She's lived a life in abuse,
She's lost her mother and brother,
And she has nothing but two friends to her name.
Adeline Isobel (surname covered) lives in hell.
That is, until one day...
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...
Lachie -
"Do you ever answer your phone?" I ask impatiently as I stand in the waiting area of the economy lounge at the airport.
"Are we not talking right now?" Ashleigh Templeton asks in her annoying smart-alec voice.
"Look - my flight will board in ten minutes, you need to update me on things" I say, boarding pass as I look around. Oh man, the football club and Leon Cameron are going to kill me for this.
"What things? Make it quick, I'm getting my nails done at Westfield" Ashleigh says.
"Man, some people never change" I say, thinking back to how obsessed she used to be with her looks - clearly I can still count on that fixation to stay the same.
"So, what things?" Ashleigh asks again, almost hissing the last s.
"My sister! Is she still...Ashleigh, what's her condition like? Are dad and his family and Adeline's friends definitely going to be away from the hospital?" I ask.
"Nope - I mean, yep! Yeah, Zaine's got a TAC game tonight and everyone is going except Charlie's parents, but they'll probably be in the cafeteria waiting for any news. Cameron only goes in around at 5pm every day and leaves at 6, so you're safe" Ashleigh explains.
"And her condition?" I ask.
"What about it?" Ashleigh asks stupidly. I breathe in, suppressing whatever insult I'm about to come flying out with.
"Is she okay?" I ask.
"No change."
...
"Yeah mum, I'm in Victoria again. Where are you?"
"Where do you think I am? At home, hiding in Macedon from your psycho father!"
"Mum, I've told you before - he lives in Geelong, or near it at least. He's not going to come and find you" I say.
"You don't know that. He shot you, Lachlan! Your memory has really been evaporating quickly lately. So, why are you in Victoria?" Mum asks.
"Remember that call you received from dad about Adeline? It's true. Ashleigh called me - that's Adeline's friend, the little crazy one with the makeup addiction" I say.
"I know who Ashleigh is" Mum says, annoyed that I'd even think of reminding her.
"Right, well...Adeline's really not looking good, according to Ashleigh. Apparently Andrea abandoned her car when she saw Charlie and Adeline fighting, and pushed her in front of another moving vehicle? Look, I don't know all the details, but one thing I do know is that when I was nine years old I promised Adeline I wouldn't let anything or anyone hurt her, and I've broken that promise many times - so I'm fixing it right now. I'm at the Avalon Airport near Geelong, hopefully there's a bus that can come and take me into the city. Ashleigh said she'd meet me in the hospital entrance" I say.
