Chapter 12
Tautoru
The next night Elijah was sporting a nasty bruise on his temple from where a ewe had booted him. Barnaby laughed at him and Jack joined in. By the time Abraham dropped off Riki a noisy party was underway. Nat skipped on the spot when she spied Riki’s trademark plaits.
Riki produced ice-cream from a freezer bag when she walked in and everyone cheered. Nat looked around. It was a celebration of being alive, she realised. It might have been a different result if things hadn’t been on their side on Saturday night. When they next went out, they’d have to be more careful.
‘Why so serious?’ said Barnaby, elbowing her.
She smiled at him. ‘Just trying to figure everything out.’
‘You’ll figure it out,’ said Barnaby. 'Now are you gonna eat those chips or not?’
She shovelled the last of her nachos onto Barnaby’s plate and he wolfed them down. Nat watched him flick his long hair behind his ears and realised she was staring. She excused herself and started clearing the plates.
‘Attention everyone!’ said Mike, banging his fork on the table. ‘I’ve got a flyer here for a talk by a cave expert.’ He waved it in the air. ‘Professor Wylie. Next Sunday.’
‘I’m busy that day,’ said Jack.
‘No you’re not,’ retorted Mike. ‘We’re all going and we’re going to learn something.’ He waited for the groaning to subside. ‘Anyway,’ said Mike, ‘he might be able to tell us something about these treasure stories. They’re the talk of the town.’
Nat felt the change in the room.
‘What have you heard Dad?’ asked Jack.
‘A few different versions,’ said Mike. ‘First thing is, the hole these robbers got in was really small – so they reckon you’re dealing with a gymnastics troupe, a midget, or someone operating a mechanical arm.’
‘That’s an interesting theory,’ said Barnaby, and for a moment all Nat could picture was Barnaby’s legs and bum stuck in the squeeze. She scraped the plates loudly to clear the image away.
‘Professionals, they reckon,’ said Mike. ‘They got in without anyone seeing them and disappeared into the night. The only clue left behind was a bit of blood, but not enough to find a match.’ He smiled. ‘Is it ice-cream time yet?’
‘Yes!’ yelped Kathleen. She fetched the plates and started scooping out uneven amounts.
‘There have been some funny characters hanging around the village,’ said Mike as he distributed the spoons. ‘A couple of guys in suits. I’ve had some chats with them.’
‘What do they do?’ asked Elijah.
‘One’s a whiz on machines. He told me they can map unknown spaces with sonar imaging and see what’s in them! Bit of new fashioned magic really.’
Mike paused to savour his dessert. ‘This is good stuff Riki, thank you.’ He grinned at Kathleen, who was mashing her ice-cream to a pulp.
‘It’s his mate that worries me; a dark horse. He’d do anything for money. The lads fed him a couple of rums the other night, and you wouldn’t believe the stories he was spouting – he reckons there’s treasure around here that’d make him rich beyond belief.’
‘Really?’ asked Riki. ‘Like what?’
Mike leaned in. ‘He kept talking about gems – rubies and emeralds. Then he started up about twin treasure chests, and one of them even had a curse on it! Anyway, some of these stories seemed familiar, so this morning I pulled out your great great grandmother’s prized possession; her photo album. This is the lady Nat was named for.’ Mike stopped for a moment, realising he had a captive audience. He surveyed them. ‘Nat’s shown you the letter she found up in the attic.’
‘She sure did,’ said Elijah.
Barnaby and Riki nodded.
Mike paused again. ‘There’s nothing you guys want to tell me is there?’ he asked. The question hung in the air, demanding a response.
‘Not a single thing,’ said Jack.
‘All right,’ said Mike. ‘Pass me that cloth. We’ll give this table a wipe first.’
Everyone gathered around as Mike opened the album. It was small, with hand-stitching around the binding. White tissue papers were trying to escape from between the black pages.
‘This is our house,’ said Mike. He pointed out a willowy figure with an elegant hat. ‘This is Natalia. Before anything went wrong.’
‘What went wrong?’ asked Jack.
‘Nothing,’ said Mike, but to Nat’s ears, his reply was too quick. They turned the page and found Natalia wearing a strange outfit, and carrying a lamp.
‘Is she going caving?’ asked Barnaby.
‘Look closer,’ said Mike. ‘You can see where she is.’
‘The glowworm cave,’ said Riki. ‘She explored it with my Uncle Rewi, didn’t she?’
‘Don’t you mean great-great-uncle?’ asked Barnaby.
Riki giggled. ‘Yeah,’ she said. ‘But uncle is easier.’
Mike nodded. ‘They used to say they were cave mad, those two.’
‘Who’s this?’ asked Nat. She’d found a photo of Natalia standing with a bulky man. Her namesake wasn’t looking comfortable.
‘That’s her husband,’ said Mike. ‘Your great-great-grandfather, Griffith.’
‘How come we have these photos?’ asked Jack. ‘Cameras must have been pretty new back then.’
‘That they were,’ said Mike. ‘Griffith was a surveyor, so the camera would have been for work – one of those ‘everyone hold still’ ones. He was away a lot, up and down the country, telling them where to put roads and bridges through.’
‘She doesn’t look very happy,’ said Nat.
‘It’s hard to see happy when you look back that far,’ said Mike. He stood, and Nat scooted into his seat.
There weren’t many other photos of Natalia in the book. Perhaps Griffith had work to do, and had taken his camera with him. The next page had a small programme pasted into it, announcing the opening of the ‘Best new attraction in the Empire; the Waitomo Glowworm Cave.’
So she’d been there at the very beginning, thought Nat. The next photos were of babies and toddlers. The rest of the album was scenic shots of New Zealand. Nat closed the back cover. There was more to this lady than was being let on.
‘We’ve got a couple of movies we could watch,’ said Mike. ‘Anyone keen?’
‘Do we get popcorn?’ asked Kathleen.
‘You just ate an enormous dinner,’ said Nat.
Kathleen smiled. ‘Doesn’t matter.’
‘You’ll go pop,’ said Mike. ‘Come on.’
Father and daughter scuttled down the hallway, leaving the others alone. They looked at each other for a moment and Nat took a deep breath – then her Dad stuck his head back in the room.
‘You guys coming?’ he asked.
Riki was standing at the window, gazing outside. ‘The stars are incredible,’ she said. ‘Even better than down in the valley.’
‘Of course,’ said Mike. ‘Up here, ain’t nothing between us and the sky. You two go check out the stars. The rest of you – movie’s starting.’
Nat handed a coat to Riki and pulled one on too. She tucked her hands in her pockets as they stepped out the door.
‘Your Dad’s right,’ said Riki, grinning up at the perfect sky. ‘What’s your favourite constellation?’
‘Orion,’ said Nat. ‘Or, as I used to call it, the cooking pot.’
Riki giggled. ‘Mine is the Southern Cross.’
‘I love the three stars of Orion’s belt,’ said Nat. ‘They’re like an anchor. When Mum and Dad divorced and we lived up here part-time, it was like living in a fog.’ She frowned. ‘I don’t want to think about what it would be like to lose this place altogether.’
‘Tautoru,’ said Riki. ‘Orion’s belt. Looking from one magic place to another, I reckon.’ She smiled at Nat. ‘I’ll help you,’ she promised. ‘As much as I can. This place is alive. You belong here. To leave would be – terrible.’
Riki checked over her shoulder
before speaking again. ‘Tomorrow, on the beach, a meeting has been arranged with someone who wants to help us.’
Nat stared at her. ‘Who?’
Riki shook her head. ‘I can’t say anything more.’
Nat grinned. ‘Then bring on tomorrow!’
Chaos erupted on Saturday morning. In the middle of the night Barnaby had hidden everyone’s shoes and toothbrushes, and refused to reveal their locations. He danced around the house, laughing at everyone’s frustration, until Jack and Elijah held him down and rubbed toothpaste through his hair. A mad toothpaste fight erupted.
Only when Mike yelled did the whole sprinting, dodging household come to a halt.
‘We’re leaving for the beach in five minutes. If you’re not in the truck at ten o’clock I’m going without you!’
The madness intensified; three dogs escaped and raced around the yard. The boys ran for their togs and towels, and at the very last moment Nat leapt out of the truck and ran up the stairs two at a time to grab the box they’d found in the attic. She felt better about it being with her. When they exited the driveway, Riki cheered that they’d got that far.
When everyone had settled into the hum of the journey, Mike cleared his throat.
‘There’s a bit more to the story from last night,’ he said.
‘Like what?’ asked Jack.
‘You deserve to know the truth,’ said Mike, never taking his eyes from the road. He paused, as if was calculating where to start.
‘About Natalia?’ asked Nat.
‘Yeah,’ said Mike. ‘Her marriage was arranged. She came from an English society family that had run out of money, so they sent her to New Zealand. As you could see from the photos, it wasn’t a perfect match. But she couldn’t do anything about it.’
‘How many children did they have?’ asked Nat.
‘I think six were born,’ said Mike. ‘They were a long way from any medical attention, and a few passed away when they were young. I imagine it was all very sad. Natalia poured her heart into her hobby – caving. She loved the way nature had created secret worlds.’
‘She was a cave-geek,’ said Barnaby. ‘Just like me.’
Mike laughed. ‘She didn’t have the gear that you have – there were no ascenders or fancy ropes back then. They did it the hard way.’
‘Purists,’ said Barnaby, to himself. ‘Nice.’
‘Anyway,’ said Mike, ‘there was speculation that Natalia and Rewi Te Kaitiaki knew of a cave that housed an incredible treasure. But they weren’t interested in its value, only the cave.
‘There were also some questions being asked about what a nice English lady was doing hanging out with a Maori man – that sort of behaviour used to be frowned upon. Rewi got a lot of pressure to back off.’
‘According to our family he was exiled,’ said Riki.
Mike nodded. ‘But the treasure rumours never died. Snippets of information trickled down; no-one ever knew which were true, and which were made up. There was a story about a cave map with directions hidden in the watermark, and another about a drowned cave entrance. People searched everywhere. And no-one ever found it.’
They were on the last stretch of road now, and Nat caught a glimpse of the sea, shining out ahead.
‘Hell of a tale, Mr. Sheppard,’ said Elijah.
‘Well, as long as no-one takes it too seriously,’ said Mike. ‘Stories round here have been known to get out of control.’