Chapter 20
Pukatea Mountain
Nat landed flat on her back with a thud. She lay in an eerie cocoon of white, with the chill wind driving into her skin. First she wiggled her toes; they all moved. Next she shifted her fingers – no pain, no pins and needles. Gingerly she flexed her arms, and then her legs. Nothing seemed to hurt, nothing was broken. She sat up.
‘Barnaby!’ she yelled. ‘I’m okay!’ She listened hard, turning her head in the wind to catch any echo of a voice, but there was nothing. He’d probably doubled back to get help.
There was also no sign of Pi. Or Kathleen for that matter. Nat considered the predicament she’d landed in. There was no point in going further into the fog; she’d end up falling to the bottom of the cliff. The best plan was to inch back the way she’d come, hug the limestone, and find a place to shelter. She cautiously rose to her feet, holding out her arms for balance. As she was straightening her knees the wind did her two sudden favours. The first was to bat her to the ground with a single gust. She landed on her bottom with a thump. Then the wind gathered all its might and for a brief moment shooed the fog away so Nat could see where she was.
The ledge she sat on was about four metres below where Barnaby had gripped her hand. She shivered, and it wasn’t from the cold; she’d been lucky not to break her back in the fall. Beyond the ledge Nat had seen uneven rock and tussock, and then a sheer vertical drop of at least eighty metres.
But none of that mattered when Nat saw the two immense rock figures guarding the cliff. She only made them out for a moment, then the fog rushed back, and she was left alone, struggling to understand what she had seen.
The statues were carved from the rock, and made to scare all intruders away. Their giant feet extended towards her, and they were so tall that her gumboots must have been scraping their ears when she’d hung onto Barnaby. The figure on the left had the body of a human, wore some kind of tunic and held aloft a spear. But his head was an eagle, and Nat had seen great wings rising from his back. The figure on the right had cloven feet, like a goat, and his tail was wrapped around his legs. From his neck sprouted a mane, and his head grew ferns instead of hair.
Suddenly lightening cracked, and once again Nat saw the frightening faces of the statues. Under the eerie light they seemed to be peering at her, demanding to know what business she had with them. Then from somewhere within the cliff, Pi chirped. Nat’s heart flipped. This time Pi had to be kidding. There was no way she was going to walk between those statues. They were there to keep people out. She folded her arms over the layers of clothes and stuck her nose in the air. She wasn’t moving until rescue arrived.
One deep rumble of thunder was all it took to change her mind. As it rolled through the valley the vibrations were so intense Nat scuttled straight between the statues. Pi chirped in approval. Nat had to grin at herself. At least now she was out of the cold. She turned and saw the fantail fluttering along a passage leading deep inside the hill. Nat wondered what might be down the passageway, but she knew she’d be silly to wander too far – the others would be trying to find her, and she was supposed to be rescuing Kathleen, not exploring. Outside, the brutal winds howled. She looked from one option to the other and she had to admit neither looked good.
‘Pi?’ she called out. ‘What am I supposed to do now?’
The bird flew back, chirping as if the weather was balmy and all was well. Then he landed on Nat’s shoulder and sang again. When Nat looked up, the most curious thing had happened. Pi’s singing had conjured a man. He was very small. He looked just like the people they’d met at Raglan. Patupaiarehe, thought Nat with amazement, in our valley.
The man stood in front of them calmly, but he held a bow with an arrow ready to fly. He had blonde hair and was wrapped up in a fur-lined coat.
‘I’m sorry,’ said Nat, realising she’d probably invaded their territory. ‘Am I allowed to be here?’
‘Actually,’ said the man, in a deep voice, ‘we hoped you’d be arriving soon. We’ve been looking after Kathleen.’
Relief flooded Nat’s body. The man stepped closer. His face was wise and handsome, and Nat caught a glimpse of the pointed tips of his ears.
‘You must promise, on the life of your sister, that you will not tell anyone the location of our grotto,’ he said. ‘This is the most important oath you have ever taken, and we will be watching to make sure you keep it.’
‘I promise,’ said Nat.
‘Very well,’ said the tiny man. ‘Then you may follow me.’
Pi leapt from Nat’s shoulder and flew ahead with the patupaiarehe man. The bird started chirping to him, probably updating him on all that had happened, thought Nat. She glanced over her shoulder at the miserable cliff, then turned and followed them deeper into the cave.
‘There are others with me,’ said Nat as they traversed the long corridor. ‘Will they be able to follow us?’
The man shook his head. ‘Your father will find the ledge you landed upon. He will not see the guardian statues, just a steep passage that leads to the eagle’s nest. That is what they have on their maps.’
‘But what about all of this?’ asked Nat.
‘It does not exist to most grown-ups,’ said the man.
Nat ran her hands along the walls, wondering what kind of place she had found herself in.
‘This is a sanctuary,’ said the man, who apparently could hear Nat’s unspoken question. ‘Since ancient times the pukatea tree has offered water, shelter and hope to anyone who has needed it. This is Pukatea Mountain. No-one will find us here.’
They arrived at a set of massive wooden doors. The man looked intently at Nat. ‘Remember your promise,’ he said. She nodded. He pushed the doors open.
Beyond them was a massive grotto of light. The cave was huge, spanning far up and across. Nat could see balconies and terraces, and deep below a subterranean river meandered through the rock. But the cavern was dominated by great trees. Nat blinked, trying to understand what she was seeing. Grand trunks and root systems stretched from the world above down into crystal clear pools in the floor. She recognised the buttress roots – these were the pukatea trees. Each gigantic trunk shone, casting light from the luminous pools all the way up to the ceiling. At the roof of the cave, little tomos also allowed light to stream in, but the rain of the surface wasn’t able to lash the people here; instead, it trickled down the root system. Around the clear pools fern gardens grew, and in the centre of these children played on a green mossy area.
The whole place was tingling; the air had a zest to it that Nat loved.
‘This is incredible,’ she whispered.
He nodded. ‘This is our home. We have not had a human visitor for a very long time. Not since the eagles moved on.’
‘So the perch outside was an eagle’s nest,’ said Nat. ‘We’ve been following the trail.’
‘Rewi would approve,’ said the man. ‘We will do what we can to help.’
Nat listened to the rumble of the river and watched the children play among the ferns. She realised that one of them was her sister. She gasped, and the patupaiarehe man reached out and held her back.
‘Kathleen fell when she was looking for the cave. She broke her arm. We have set everything, but it was a bad break.’
Nat turned to the man. ‘Thank you,’ she said. ‘My father will be so relieved she’s okay.’
He smiled. ‘Your sister has been very happy here – maybe we will see her again.’
Nat ran down a grand stairway, around a series of terraces, then onto the moss. Pi swooped from above and followed her. Tiny children laughed and jumped when they saw her coming. Kathleen looked up to see what the fuss was about, and when she saw Nat tears welled up in her eyes. She stood up, and Nat saw the ingenious sling the patupaiarehe had created.
‘You came,’ said Kathleen. ‘You found me!’
‘Of course I came,’ said Nat, carefully wrapping her arms around her sister. ‘The others are up above still looking; we’ve
been calling and searching.’
‘I wanted to help find the treasure,’ said Kathleen, her big eyes full of the stories she had to tell. ‘So we could keep Plato and my pony. You all went off without me when I was the one that found the secret room to start with.’
‘We never forgot about you,’ said Nat. ‘We were trying to keep you safe!’
Kathleen looked at her arm. ‘Tell me about it.’
Nat grinned. A couple of the patupaiarehe children were gaining confidence and getting closer and closer to Nat. One of them dashed forward, touched her, then darted back again and collapsed with his friends into fits of giggles. They were pranksters all right. She waved to them, which prompted every child to leap behind a fern and hide.
‘We have to go,’ said Nat. ‘Dad’ll be beside himself by now.’
Kathleen gripped Nat’s arm. ‘It’s not goodbye forever though, right?’
Nat looked at the happy faces watching from all over the cavern. ‘Maybe not,’ she replied. ‘But I think we have to be careful who we tell about this place. It’s best if only you and I talk about it.’
Kathleen nodded. ‘I understand. They gave me a special juice to seal my lips.’
Concerned, Nat examined her sister, but Kathleen smiled. ‘It’s okay Nat, it’s just for when keeping a secret might be tricky. But they said I could always talk to my sister.’
Nat sat back, impressed at the wisdom of the Patupaiarehe. ‘Okay. Time to say goodbye.’
The children crept out from behind the ferns and hugged Kathleen – her feet, her knees, whatever they could reach. The sounds they made were like chiming bells.
They made their way through the terraces and up the staircase, back to the solid wooden doors, where the man was waiting. Nat was aware that many eyes were upon them. Pi landed on her shoulder. She looked around one more time, soaking in the view.
‘There is one last thing,’ said the patupaiarehe. ‘To find the treasure you seek, look for the pouakai. When you stand before the final wall, and there is no clue how to pass, trace the outline of Tautoru on the rock. Take the lowest passage and remember; you are on sacred ground.’
Nat memorised everything he said. ‘Thank you for all your help. Can we do anything in return?’
‘There will be,’ he said. ‘We will find you when the time is right.’ He bowed once, and disappeared behind the wooden doors.
Nat and Kathleen listened as they were fastened tight again. Kathleen lifted one hand and rested it against the door. Nat watched as a tear ran down her sister’s nose and fell to the floor.
‘Bye-bye,’ whispered Kathleen.
There was no reply.