Marked (21 page)
Authors: Denis Martin
It would’ve been great if you’d been able to come over for the funeral, but I know it wasn’t an option. In any case, Blissy told me she doubted if you’d ever be able to face Cooksville again. I think I know how you feel – and I don’t think we’ll be here for much longer either. Mum came rushing home from Europe in a flurry of panic. It’s really good to have her back with us, but she doesn’t like it here. Too many evil vibes from the past – and the firebugs don’t help either. They stopped for a while after that house was gutted, but they’re at it again now and it’s freaking her out. It’s all bad karma, she reckons, so she’s applying for
work elsewhere. Wants us to make a fresh start. She thinks she’s got a good chance of a position in Sydney teaching music. I’m hoping like hell she gets it. That would be really, really cool.
Say hi to Blissy and tell her she’s just as filipticious as Jed claimed. But so are you, Kat – even more so. You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me. I know you’re in lockdown, but soon as you can, please write.
Cully
DENIS MARTIN is the author of several acclaimed teen thrillers:
Face It
,
Playing For Keeps
and
The Silence of Fear
(all published by Penguin New Zealand).
Marked
is his first book with Walker Books Australia.
He worked as an English teacher and librarian in New Zealand and Papua New Guinea, and now writes full-time.
He lives with his wife, Jan, and a rather strange dog in Blenheim, New Zealand.
Published in 2012
by Walker Books Australia Pty Ltd
Locked Bag 22, Newtown
NSW 2042 Australia
This ebook edition published in 2014
The moral rights of the author and illustrator have been asserted.
Text © 2012 Denis Martin
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means – electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise – without the prior written permission of the publisher.
National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication entry:
Martin, Denis, 1945– author.
Marked / Denis Martin.
For young adults.
| Subjects: | Murder – Juvenile fiction. |
| | Friendship – Juvenile fiction. |
| | Teenagers – Juvenile fiction. |
NZ823.4
ISBN: 978-1-925126-15-0 (ePub)
ISBN: 978-1-925126-14-3 (e-PDF)
ISBN: 978-1-925126-16-7 (.PRC)
Cover image © iStockphoto/ParkerDeen/Vetta Collection
For my parents, Byllee and Tony, who raised me to
value storytelling and surrounded me with books
.