Chapter 19
Search and Rescue
The truck hurtled up the hills and out towards the bluffs with the huntaway dogs, Snow and Boss, on the back. The cloud had sunk so low the peaks had disappeared. The truck stayed on course only because Mike knew every detail of the track.
The further towards the cliffs they got, the thicker the cloud became. The winds were picking up too, and started to rattle the occupants of the cabin. Mike gripped the steering wheel and stared straight ahead. Jack sat beside him, giving nothing away. Nat was left to her own thoughts.
Right now, those awful men were in the Rehua Reserve. They might be smashing through the cave wall already. She bit her lip, hard. They had to find Kathleen and get back down the hill as soon as they could, otherwise all their efforts in the last week would be in vain.
‘The thing is,’ said Mike, ‘where we’re going – there are funny stories about the place. My father avoided it too.’
‘What sort of stories?’ asked Jack.
Boss howled and leapt into the fog. A group of sheep were huddled in the middle of the track. The sheep scattered; Boss jumped back onto the truck.
‘Good dog,’ called Mike. ‘White sheep, white cloud – this is ridiculous.’ He concentrated on steering the truck down a deep ravine and then up the other side.
The bush to the right was deep and dark, tangled with vines. In some places on the farm the bush was light and airy, but here it looked as if it was about to charge the fence and take over.
‘Dad,’ said Jack. ‘What kind of – ’
‘Lights,’ snapped Mike. ‘Late at night, people have seen lights out here. The cattle won’t go near these paddocks – if you herd them up here, they’ll turn around and come back.’
‘What are you saying?’ asked Nat.
‘I’m saying – I don’t know what the deal is. So be careful. Really careful.’
Mike’s phone buzzed. He perched the truck at the top of the hill and pulled the handbrake on hard.
‘Hello?’ he called. ‘Tony – where are you?’ Nat leaned closer, but all she could hear was static. ‘Stupid things,’ said Mike. He climbed out of the truck and scrambled up the nearest rise. His coat was almost swept off by the buffeting winds. The further he climbed the more of his body disappeared into the fog. Nat watched his boots pace back and forth as he yelled into the phone.
She leant her head against the window. When people were lost in the bush it sometimes took all night to find them. She knew there was no way her father would let her leave until Kathleen was safe, and even then, he’d be keeping a pretty close eye on them. There had to be a way to save her sister and get back down to the reserve.
Pi stirred in her jacket pocket, and there was a bright cheep. She opened her lapel enough for him to wiggle out. He fluttered up onto the dash and started singing. Boss and Snow howled at the bird. Nat wound down the window.
‘He’s all right,’ she said.
Pi jumped to Nat’s shoulder, and flew out the window.
‘Pi!’ she called.
The bird flew back, then flew out again.
‘Looks like he’s got a plan,’ said Jack.
‘I hope he knows what he’s doing,’ said Nat
‘Probably not,’ said Jack. ‘He is a bird brain.’ He grinned to himself, as if that was the funniest joke of the year, and was still grinning when Mike clambered back into the truck.
‘My phone’s running red hot,’ said Mike. ‘Tony’s boys have been worried about where you two were – apparently there was a rendezvous set up and you didn’t arrive. They’re on their way up here to help. Then Abraham Te Kaitiaki rang. He and Riki wanted to see you too. I started to tell him what was going on but he said he already knew, and to give him a call when we’re all safe.’
Nat grinned. The cavalry was on its way.
Mike slammed the accelerator to the floor and took off over the final track to the bluffs. As the gusts stirred up the cloud, windows to the valley floor opened. Even in pockets, the view was spectacular. They could see the ring of mountains hemming in the pasture land below. Nat thought of Sinbad and the shipwrecked sailors, walking through the land of the roc. In order to get their bearings perhaps they had climbed high. This could be they view they had witnessed.
‘This is as far as we can go,’ said Mike. ‘Make sure you rug up. This is going to be tough.’
The truck was perched on the last shelf of land before the rocks and dirt gave up and plummeted to the valley floor. It was a spooky place; snags of mist caught in the ferns, and misshapen trees formed gnarled sculptures. Nat put on another jersey and her raincoat. She shoved her jeans into her socks so they didn’t come loose in her gumboots, and pulled on a woollen hat. She was ready.
Mike grabbed the rope from the truck and charged ahead. Nat could hear him bellowing into the wind, calling Kathleen. Nat and Jack followed and started yelling too. Soon they were following long slivers of rock towards the cliff edge. Jack paused. Nat knew why.
‘The fog is good for something huh?’
Jack nodded. ‘Or no way you’d catch me out here.’
Some of the limestone platforms wobbled, and Nat was almost pitched off when she jumped down to one outcrop.
‘Easy tiger,’ said Jack. ‘We don’t need any splattercat appearances today.’
They clambered down holding onto flax or tussock to keep their balance. Before long the Limas arrived. Barnaby shouted as he emerged from the fog and Nat waved. While Mike and Tony put their heads together, the boys scrambled down to Jack and Nat.
‘They’ve found Sundance,’ said Elijah. ‘They untied him and sent him home.’
‘So we know we’re in the right place,’ said Barnaby.
‘If we’re in the right place, why isn’t she answering?’ demanded Jack.
‘What would you do?’ asked Barnaby. ‘You’d find a warm, dry place, and crawl in – likely she can’t hear us.’
Mike and Tony called from the hill, and indicated they should split into three teams. The men would work their way down the most exposed part of the cliff, Jack and Elijah would take the middle, and Barnaby and Nat the far side.
‘Have you been to this cave before?’ asked Nat as they swept back and forth, making sure they didn’t miss any trail Kathleen might have left.
‘No,’ said Barnaby, his eyes focused on the ground. ‘Dad was telling us some good stories though – it’s a pretty sacred place. The Elders don’t give permission for people to come out here very often.’
Nat stopped suddenly and listened.
‘You all right?’ asked Barnaby.
She nodded. ‘I thought I heard Pi.’
Nat listened again, but the wind started to howl. It whipped around the rocks, buffeting them. The noise was immense.
The bedraggled fantail burst through the fog, chirping for all he was worth, but unable to get the noise through the elements. He circled and dived out of sight.
The cloud snuggled close against the cliffs. Nat couldn’t make out where Pi had gone. She inched forward and stopped when she could feel her toes hanging off an edge. For all she knew, it could be a hundred metre bluff; there were more than a few of those out here. She shuffled her feet back, but Pi emerged again, chirping loudly, and then dived down into the mist.
‘What’s going on?’ asked Barnaby.
‘Pi wants me to go down there but I can’t see a thing.’
Barnaby thought for a moment. ‘If I brace myself against these rocks, and we hold on tight, I could lower you down until you get a foothold.’
Nat looked at him. ‘If there is a foothold.’
She grabbed Barnaby’s wrist, and he grabbed hers. Nat lay on her stomach and wriggled back to the edge. Barnaby braced his legs and gave her a nod.
‘Geronimo,’ she muttered, and pushed off. Her feet searched beneath her. Nothing. Barnaby lowered her further. Her feet scratched against the rocks but they were too smooth.
‘Lower,’ she called. Barnaby slid
forward, and her feet flailed around again, desperate for a foothold, even a tiny ledge to rest on. Still, there was nothing.
From below her, within the mist, Pi sang again. He was insistent, chirping louder and louder. A great gust came howling through the cliffs and Nat was slammed against the rock face. The winds were following each other in a game of cat and mouse in the impossible white out.
Barnaby gripped tighter.
‘I’m not letting go,’ he yelled.
Again, Pi sang, more demanding now. Nat felt around with her feet. She swung them in all directions. There was nothing there. Pi hovered next to her, singing all the time.
‘I think you have to let go,’ called Nat. ‘Pi keeps telling me I’ll be okay.’
The winds collided and Nat felt Barnaby’s grip slip. A hollow boom sounded across the cliffs, then Nat lurched wildly and fell backwards into the whiteout.