The Secret of Sinbad's Cave
Chapter 16
Harpagornis
On Sunday morning, Nat was up at dawn. It wasn’t her idea. Pi woke her with his singing. Nat jumped out of bed, threw warm clothes on and slipped out the door. There were too many things racing round her head to get any more sleep. Pi buzzed about, singing all the while.
‘You’re so noisy,’ muttered Nat.
She introduced her new friend to Plato, and by the time she’d saddled up and was heading into the valley, Pi had begun an interesting routine of flitting from the horse’s ear to the ground and back again, giving the impression that the bird was conveying secret messages from the worms.
It was a misty morning, and as Nat led Plato to the river to drink, she watched steam rising from the bush. Each plume indicated a tomo or a cave. How many were mapped, how many were a mystery, Nat had no idea. She looked east, scanning each dip and hollow in the landscape. That mission could wait. Today, they had a different task; a council down at Abraham’s to discuss the next step. Nat could scarcely believe everything they’d been through in a week. She couldn’t wait to tell her mother about it – although she’d decided to leave out a lot of the details.
Back at the house, Nat cooked a pot of porridge for everyone. Kathleen was still sitting at the breakfast table when the boys pulled on gumboots, arguing about who smelt the worst.
‘You okay mate?’ asked Nat.
‘Yeah,’ said Kathleen. ‘I want to help but I’m scared of the bad guys.’
Nat scooped her up in a hug. ‘They’re gone,’ she said, ‘and they’re never coming back.’
‘You sure?’ asked Kathleen.
‘Yep,’ said Nat.
Kathleen nodded and left the table.
‘Ready Splatters?’ called Jack. ‘Hurry up or we’re leaving without you.’
Nat grinned. Everyone was desperately excited to get down to Abraham’s. She leapt on her bike.
‘Bout time!’ said Elijah. ‘We’ve been waiting forever.’
‘Shut it!’ cried Nat, as she pedalled up the driveway. There was a furious chirping behind her, and Nat braked so fast she left a trail in the dirt. She’d forgotten her feathered friend in the rush. As the others took off, she made sure Pi was comfortable in her jacket.
‘All good?’ called a voice ahead.
Nat looked up. It was Barnaby.
‘You didn’t need to wait,’ said Nat. ‘I can catch up.’
‘I wanted to,’ said Barnaby. ‘Riki is nice, and I can see Jack and Elijah any time. But I –’ Nat watched him twisting one foot into the mud. ‘I - I think you’re great fun and I like the way you look at the world.’ He sighed, as if the words had been an effort to pronounce.
‘Thanks,’ said Nat. ‘I don’t know if I’m different from anyone else though.’
‘You are different,’ said Barnaby. ‘In a good way. You can see deeper into things.’
Nat gathered all her courage together. ‘I think you’re awesome too, Barnaby.’ For a terrible moment, she thought it might have been the wrong thing to say, but then she watched an ear to ear smile spread across his face.
‘Cool,’ he said. They kicked off and followed the others without saying much at all.
They coasted down the hill, pedalled once or twice on the straights, then wove through the corners to the valley floor. Nat watched as Barnaby took his hands off, sat up straight, and sailed past her. She gripped the handlebars firmly – she didn’t want to splat in front of him. They could see the others ahead a few times, but they didn’t catch them until they arrived at Abraham’s house.
As Nat cruised down the driveway, she looked around more than she had on her first visit. She noticed the paint on Abraham’s wooden house was peeling, and the vine that wound along the edge of the verandah was pulling the guttering away from the roof. But somehow those things didn’t seem to matter. She loved the place. Every plant around the house was magnificent, from the spiky cabbage trees by the chicken coop to the dense kowhai hedge. There was a feeling of calm that seemed to envelop Nat from the moment she saw the house. It was like the outside world didn’t exist, or certainly didn’t matter.
Abraham was seated on the verandah. He called out a welcome as they gathered together.
‘Morena, morena,’ he said. ‘Good to see you all again.’
Nat released Pi from her jacket. He shot into the air and was quickly surrounded by an abundance of birds. They swirled together in an aerial dance. Everyone watched as they sang to each other, darting and twisting. When each bird had greeted every other, the swirl evaporated and Pi flew to Abraham and sat on his knee. He burst into song. The old man listened and nodded.
‘The patupaiarehe,’ said Nat, when there was a pause in the song. ‘They gave him to – ’
‘No need to explain it all again,’ said Abraham. ‘I have heard everything from him.’
Nat’s mouth dropped open, then she shook her head with a smile.
‘So,’ said Abraham. ‘I believe you have another clue.’
‘Do you know what it is?’ asked Barnaby.
‘Let’s we have a look together,’ said Abraham. ‘Follow me.’
He led them down a hallway where the floorboards had begun to warp downwards. As they walked, open doors offered glimpses into Abraham’s world. Nat saw shelves in one room lined with plants and dried herbs and something with fur. The ceilings in the old house were very high, and the shelves stretched right up to the roof. Another room was full of maps, lining the walls, and there was a ladder that could slide along if any map needed closer examination. Abraham stopped in front of the last door. As he turned the handle he muttered to himself, and something seemed to scurry away.
Riki’s room had zany old-fashioned flowery wallpaper, but you couldn’t see much of it because there were so many pictures plastered over the top. There was an entire wall dedicated to American Indians, including a poster of an old Chief, and a glossy black and white print of Indians on horseback in a majestic desert landscape. Nat leaned in to read the name; Canyon de Chelly.
‘That can wait,’ said Jack. He’d taken a seat on Riki’s bed and thrown his feet up on the quilt. Nat and Barnaby perched beside him. Abraham settled into an armchair in the corner. The rubbing from the cave sat on Riki’s desk.
‘So this was etched on the cave wall?’ asked Abraham.
Nat nodded.
‘Oh!’ said Barnaby. ‘I know what it is!’
Everyone looked at him.
‘Yes?’ asked Abraham.
Barnaby grinned. ‘It’s a Haast Eagle, isn’t it?’
Abraham nodded. ‘The Latin name is Harpagornis moorei.’
‘The largest eagle to have ever lived,’ said Barnaby. ‘Look at the talons.’
‘The feathers in the room must have been from the eagle,’ said Riki.
‘So where’s the treasure?’ asked Elijah.
‘And who moved it?’ asked Jack.
‘Good questions,’ said Abraham.
‘And who was that lady with the mask?’ asked Barnaby.
‘They called her Drake,’ said Elijah.
A strange look crossed Abraham’s face. ‘Well,’ he said. ‘I imagine we’ll see her again. Perhaps I could fill in more details then.’ He cleared his throat. ‘A more important thing to think about is – who does the treasure belong to?’
‘Does it belong to the government?’ asked Nat.
‘Actually,’ said Abraham, ‘it belongs first and foremost to you. I’ll fish out the paperwork, then we can pass the legal ownership along directly.’
Nat stared at Riki, who stared back. Then they threw their arms around each other and started whooping and dancing. Abraham chuckled, and shuffled back to his armchair to watch the delight leap around the room.