nz national library

You Gotta Believe Me

SYNOPSIS
You Gotta Believe Me.
15-year-old Ash Phillips and his best mate Ro Kepa are stars of the Maungapekepeke High School’s first fifteen. Spunky Rachel Johnson, net ball captain is ardently admired by Ash, but Rachel’s older brother, Quentin, the town bully, makes things difficult for them.

Police Sergeant Wiki Kepa, father of Ro, was best friend of Ash’s policeman father Steven. Steven was killed in a shooting incident seven years before the story begins. Wiki and his wife Nance keep a very friendly eye on Ash and his mother Chrissie.

Another friend and neighbour, Brian Stewart, gives Ash a border-collie puppy, Buddy, shortly after Steven’s death. Brian helps Ash train Buddy for obedience and agility trials. Ash hopes that Chrissie and Brian might eventually get together, but flashy Greg Fletcher arrives in Maungapekepeke four years after Steven death and sweeps Chrissie off her feet and they marry.

Ash’s biggest problem now is Greg, his stepfather. Although it’s war from the start between Ash and Greg, Chrissie is happy for a time until Greg starts drinking heavily and becoming increasingly nasty and violent. Things come to a head when an attempt is made to kill Ash’s dog Buddy. Greg is suspected but to Ash’s disgust nothing is able to be pinned on him.

Wiki appears to think Ash is imagining the bad things about Greg, so Ash decides that it is up to him to protect Chrissie, Buddy and himself from the increasing violence. Ash hatches a dangerous plan to catch Greg out so that Wiki Kepa will arrest him. An opportunity is presented when he overhears a telephone conversation in which Greg is planning to steal some prize sheep from Rachel’s father. He decides to catch Greg red handed so that Wiki will believe him. The plan goes horribly wrong and Ash is seriously injured. At least Wiki now knows that Greg is a dangerous criminal.
How does this complicated tale end?