Chapter One

KATE MOORE FELT a grubby little paw slide into her hand and she squeezed it tight. She glanced down at the white face of her son as he walked gamely but slowly, oh so slowly, next to her along the wide hallway.

"Can I carry you for a bit?" she suggested, though she knew how much he hated her asking. "I could give you a piggyback if you like."

He shook his head.

"Or at least stop a moment for a rest?"

He was too exhausted even to object to her fussing.

"No, I'm fine," was all he said, but the set look of determination on his face and the blue tinge to his lips told a story of their own.

She blinked away the tears that threatened to fall down her cheeks. Their visit to the heart specialist in his fancy steel and glass offices in downtown Auckland had tired little Ben out—and all for nothing. She should have refused when he begged to go up the Sky Tower, the tall, needle-shaped building that dominated Auckland's skyline, but he had been so disappointed when she had said no. After one look at his beseeching face, she had given in. After all, he had so little fun in his life, why should she begrudge him this one small pleasure?

She regretted it now though. Even the walk through the hallways to the elevator that took them up to the viewing platform that bulged out of the needle halfway to the top had proven a struggle for him. Once on the viewing platform, Ben had insisted on walking all the way around to look at the view from all directions, clapping his hands and exclaiming with delight as she pointed out every landmark in sight. She had almost had to drag him away.

Now they were on their way home again, he was almost too worn out to stand. The muggy heat of a late morning in summer didn't help either. She was starting to wilt herself.

As they walked slowly along towards the exit, Ben put his free hand into his pocket and drew out a small golden coin, tarnished with age. He pressed it into Kate's hand. "Take it, Mum," he begged, "and try your luck over there."

He pointed towards the open door of the public casino that occupied the ground floor of the tower complex. Kate stared through the door with distaste and shook her head. "I'm sorry, but I can't, darling," she said, glad she had a cast-iron excuse for refusing him. "You're not allowed to go in there with me until you're eighteen, and I can't leave you out here on your own."

Ben gestured towards the bathrooms. "I need to go in there anyway. Please, go and put it in one of the machines for me. Uncle Vernon gave it to me, and I brought it with me specially."

"Keep your dollar and spend it on a chocolate fish instead. You know how much you love chocolate fish."

His bottom lip trembled at her refusal. "You might win a lot of money with my dollar."

She smiled at his foolish hope. "More likely I'll lose it instead and then you won't even have a chocolate fish to show for it."

"I don't care if you lose it all. I don't like chocolate fish anyway. I never want to eat one ever again." He threw the gold coin on the floor at his feet in a rare flash of childish temper. "If I was eighteen I'd go in there and put my coin in the machine and I'd win a whole heap of them out again, hundreds and hundreds of them until my pocket was so full it could burst and I'd give them all to the doctor so he could put a patch on the hole in my heart and glue it up tight. He'd make me all better and I would never get tired again. Never ever."

She picked up the coin from the hall floor, studiously ignoring the pitying looks from the hall porter who had heard everything. "Go off with you," she said, giving him a gentle nudge towards the bathroom door.

He stood his ground. "Only if you spend my dollar."

How could she refuse him this last, faint ray of hope? She didn't have it in her to disappoint him. Besides, you never knew until you tried. Someone had to win. Heaven knows, she needed the money more than most. She sighed. "I'll go put your coin into one of those machines in there, and if I win a whole heap of money with it, I'll do exactly as you said."

Ben's face creased into a smile. His outbursts never lasted for long before all was sunshine again. "Thanks, Mum," he said, throwing his arms around her and giving her a hug. "It's my lucky dollar. You'll win something with it, I know you will."

Copyright © 2005 Catherine A. Sneyd