Anne was in the room with Claude and Cora. Penny was there too with Lee, David and baby Christopher.
Jane and Steven were leaning over him. He kissed them both. Somehow he forced out the words: ‘Please get Nicole and the baby, and … and the father.’ He still couldn’t bring himself to say the father’s name.
‘They’re outside waiting, Dad,’ Jane, said. ‘All three of them.’ He felt himself slipping away and fought to stay. He opened his eyes and saw two figures standing beside his bed, Nicole holding a baby. He kissed them, whispering in turn, ‘I love you, Nicole, I love you, baby Mark.’ He felt himself slipping away again, and again brought himself back. He had to forgive the baby’s father before he went.
He kissed him and held him tight. ‘I love you, Zach. I forgive you,’ he said. He felt a sudden release of tension. He felt peace.
He closed his eyes for the final time. For a few moments he was still there with them.
In those last moments, he pondered that life had gone full circle.
The survival of the Chatfield dynasty had been guaranteed by the incestuous relationship of Zach and Nicole’s great-great-grandparents Claude and Cora Chatfield. They had passed on the crucial gene, starting the blood line that had enabled the Chatfield family to survive the super-SARS pandemic.
Was history repeating itself?
His grandmother Cora was beckoning him away. She was smiling, nodding wisely as he remembered her doing when he was a child. Did she really not know his grandfather was her twin brother? She smiled again, a different kind of smile. He wondered what it meant. It was time to leave; time to go to a new world and find the answer.
A message from the Author
I hope you enjoyed this book. If you did, PLEASE recommend it to your friends. REVIEWS would also be VERY MUCH APPRECIATED. Thank you.
If you would like to read the other books in the trilogy, learn more about the author or read his blog, please visit www.mgc.co.nz
‘The Blood Line Trilogy’
Blood Line (the first volume): When a pandemic strikes, members of the Chatfield family possess a crucial advantage. Guessing that their relatives on the other side of the world might also have escaped the devastating super-SARS virus, and knowing that for their ultimate survival they must increase their gene pool, two members of the family’s New Zealand branch embark on a perilous journey in a small yacht. The community they find on the other side of the world is a very different one, based on the rule of fear. Not only does it look impossible to take anyone back to New Zealand, but it may also be impossible for them to escape themselves… A dazzling debut, sharp, gripping and plausibly scary.
Blood Bond (The second volume): Escaping the repressive regime at Haver Hall in the UK, a group sails back to the southern hemisphere. Stopping in South Africa and then Australia, they are faced by unexpected dangers but also the hope that there might be other survivors of the super-SARS pandemic. What awaits them in New Zealand, though, is even more challenging. And can those left in the UK survive one another? An exciting page-turner that keeps surprising… up to the last page.
Blood Roots (The third volume): The Chatfield family, scattered across the globe, fight for survival. Their only hope is to form one strong community together, but power struggles, violence and disruption keep them apart. In this thrilling conclusion to the Blood Line Trilogy, the New Zealand community makes a last desperate bid to return to their relatives and Blood Roots in England. Along the way they discover more survivors of the super-SARS pandemic, but is this new addition to the gene pool more trouble than it’s worth? Blood Roots is another exciting page turner that will keep you guessing till the very end.
About the Author
Michael Green is a professional speaker and author. Formerly a merchant seaman, computer consultant and founder of several successful IT recruitment companies, Michael now spends his time writing and travelling.
Blood Roots: Are the roots strong enough to save the pandemic survivors? Page 31
