The Secret of Sinbad's Cave

  Chapter 25

  The Set Up

  When Mike laid down the law, the kids knew there was no arguing with him. But Abraham didn’t seem disturbed by the turn of events. He suggested to Mike that they take a walk, explaining that as a child, he’d been brought up to this farm to see where his Uncle Rewi had lived, and he’d never had a chance to look around since.

  The men pulled on their boots and ambled out the door. The boys followed them to the porch and Kathleen tagged along. Nat watched from the window as Mike and Abraham walked up the driveway together.

  ‘What do we do now?’ she asked.

  ‘He’s up to something,’ said Riki. ‘Give it some time.’

  Nat sat down. ‘How do you know?’

  ‘I can see when he’s plotting,’ said Riki.

  ‘I want to be more like you,’ said Nat. ‘When things go bad, you’re already onto the next plan.’

  Riki grinned. ‘That’s funny, I want to be more like you. You always do something at the right moment that turns everything around.’

  Nat shook her head. ‘Nah, I’m a klutz.’

  ‘Actually, you’re awesome,’ said Riki.

  ‘Thanks heaps,’ said Nat. ‘It’s super cool having you around. Before you there was my horse, and he’s neat, but – ’

  ‘He doesn’t talk back?’ said Riki, laughing.

  ‘Exactly. And then there’s Jack and Kathleen.’

  ‘But they sort of don’t count?’

  ‘Yeah!’ said Nat.

  ‘Imagine how it’s been for me,’ said Riki. ‘I’ve only got Abraham to talk to.’

  ‘He’s pretty cool,’ said Nat. ‘But you probably couldn’t tell him about some things.’

  ‘You got it,’ said Riki. ‘I’ve always wanted a best friend.’

  Nat grinned. ‘Me too.’

  ‘How cool that I found you!’ said Riki.

  ‘Nah, I found you!’ protested Nat.

  ‘I think it was meant to be,’ said Riki. They high fived each other so hard they gasped with the pain of the impact. When they’d finished shaking the sting out of their hands they dissolved into giggles on the couch.

  The boys and Kathleen walked back inside.

  ‘Right,’ said Elijah. ‘Let’s get a plan together.’

  Nat admired the way everyone obeyed Elijah. He was a natural leader.

  ‘Okay,’ said Barnaby. ‘What do we know?’

  ‘We know where the cave is,’ started Nat. ‘We know the entrance is underwater.’

  ‘There are three passages,’ said Kathleen. ‘‘We were told to take the lowest.’

  ‘By who?’ demanded Barnaby.

  ‘Can’t say,’ said Kathleen. She smiled as Barnaby gritted his teeth.

  Elijah leaned forward. ‘What exactly were you told?’

  ‘Trace the outline of Orion’s belt on the rock,’ recited Nat.

  Jack looked blank. ‘What?’

  ‘It’s part of a constellation,’ said Riki. ‘There are three stars, one lower than the others.’

  ‘You know,’ said Nat. ‘The stars that look like a pot.’

  ‘Oh yeah,’ said Jack. ‘I’m with you now.’

  ‘We also know that it’s dangerous,’ said Nat.

  ‘And we know that on Saturday, the bad guys are going to do whatever they can to get in there,’ said Barnaby. He frowned. ‘We’ve got a lot of broad information, but not a lot of specifics. Like – how long do we dive for? How big are the tunnels? What do we have to look out for?’

  ‘You have to look out for eels, not losing your way and not drowning, you twit,’ said Elijah. ‘If there’s any sump diving involved, I should do it. I’m the oldest and strongest. I’ll feed rope out behind me so I can find my way back.’

  Riki nodded. ‘That’s a good idea.’

  ‘We know that lots of things are on our side,’ said Kathleen. ‘The cave, the valley, the people – none of them want Wylie to get that treasure.’

  Nat beamed. Her sister had a greater grasp of what was going on than any of them. 'That's right,’ she said. ‘And I think that might be the decider.’

  ‘Nat,’ whispered Kathleen.

  ‘Yes?’ she whispered back.

  ‘If we get those treasure chests, I bet we can keep Sundance and Plato.’ Kathleen’s eyes were wide with excitement.

  ‘Even better than that,’ said Nat. ‘If we had those gems, no-one could ever take the horses away from us.’

  ‘Then that’s what we have to do!’ said Kathleen.

  Mike stepped back inside. ‘I might have been a bit tough before,’ he said. ‘It’s pretty hard hearing all these stories of treasure and not even being allowed to see where it might be. Whadaya say we head down into the reserve, go for a walk and see that lagoon Barnaby was talking about? Abraham reckons by the time we get there the sun will be just right.’

  Nat wanted to do a back-flip out of her chair. She wiggled around, unable to keep still.

  Jack raised one eyebrow at her. ‘Sounds good,’ he said. ‘I think we’d all like that.’

  Ten minutes later they were heading down the hill. Riki, Pi and Nat had the back seat of Abraham’s truck, while Kathleen sat in the front.

  ‘I still haven’t told you what happened the day we went looking for Kathleen,’ said Nat.

  Abraham laughed, and the hearty sound cheered Nat.

  ‘What’s so funny?’ she asked.

  ‘Don’t you know yet?’ said Abraham. ‘We knew where you were before you did. The trees passed the messages down the valley, with every detail – the broken arm, the promise never to tell, the way you both loved the place.’

  Nat couldn’t believe it. She looked at Riki. ‘All this time, you knew what I was going to say and you let me try and tell you anyway?’ Riki nodded. Nat slid along the seat and gave her friend a sideways hug. ‘You’re the best.’

  ‘I want to see the trees,’ said Kathleen.

  ‘What, dear?’ asked Abraham.

  ‘The trees, when they’re passing messages.’

  ‘You already have,’ he said. ‘Look, here comes one now.’ As the truck rumbled down the road, the trees on either side reached across to each other, touching tips before swinging back into place.

  ‘But that’s just the wind!’ protested Kathleen.

  ‘It looks like the wind,’ corrected Abraham. ‘But in reality, it is something quite different.’

  ‘Then what did they say?’ she asked.

  ‘It wasn’t a message for me,’ he said. ‘So I can’t tell you.’

  ‘But –’ said Kathleen. She took a deep breath. ‘Do you mean that –’

  ‘What I mean,’ said Abraham, ‘is that we live in an enchanted part of the world. So keep your eyes open. Amazing things happen every day.’

  ‘Like miracles?’ asked Kathleen.

  ‘Exactly,’ said Abraham.

  Nat could see the boys moving around in Mike’s truck. She wondered how Abraham had convinced her Dad to change his mind. If she asked, she doubted she’d get a straight answer. She was just grateful that they were on the move.

  When they pulled into the Rehua Reserve, the boys were fooling around so Nat and Riki went on ahead with Kathleen and Abraham. Pi fluttered beside them as they followed the path, passing signs advertising where to wait for the tourist caves. A crowd of Indian children romped together on the grass, their mothers and grandmothers hovering nearby. As Nat and Abraham entered the canopy, a tall blonde couple focused their camera on a twisted tree. They chatted to each other in a language Nat didn’t recognise.

  ‘You see?’ said Abraham. ‘People from all over the world are drawn here. There are no great attractions, just a quiet valley. But still they come.’

  Nat understood. The Rehua Reserve was world-famous due to its concentration of caves. The hills surrounding them were riddled with tunnels and passageways of all shapes and sizes. Beneath the trees, everything was beautiful. The sunlight trickled down, bouncing from leaf to leaf before landing in splotch
es on the ground. In the lazy river flowing alongside the path, she could see two brown koura being chased by an eel. The air was soft and humid, heavy with the smell of growth and new life.

  ‘There is a balance,’ explained Abraham. ‘The magic swells up from the earth, entwines with the air we breathe and fills us up. All these people are looking to capture a fragment of that magic – in a photo or a memory – something to accompany them through life.’ He looked at her. ‘But we get to see these things every day.’

  ‘So we should be grateful,’ said Nat.

  ‘Always,’ said Abraham. ‘It is a gift we have. But it is also a job. We must look after what is here.’

  ‘Like Rewi,’ said Nat.

  Abraham nodded. ‘And now there’s also the boys, Ariki, you and I.’

  ‘We’re the only ones?’ asked Nat.

  ‘There are others,’ said Abraham. ‘Some turn down the job. Others ignore it. Some haven’t yet realised what they’re here to do.’

  The boys interrupted their chat, arguing loudly as they entered the bush. Barnaby had a length of rope around his shoulders, and both Elijah and Jack wanted it.

  ‘You’re being an idiot,’ yelled Elijah, as they marched past Abraham and Nat. ‘I said we’d go caving later, not now.’

  ‘Who wants to go caving?’ yelled Barnaby. ‘I’m taking my pet rope for a walk.’

  Mike shook his head when he met them on the path. ‘The poor tourists out there think those three are crazy,’ he said. ‘By the time we’d got half-way down the hill, Barnaby had given the rope a name and was trying to teach it to sit.’

  ‘They’re just letting off steam,’ said Abraham.

  ‘Found it!’ yelled Barnaby.

  Nat turned to see the boys in a mad sprint to the end of the path. All around them were sheer cliffs, perhaps twenty or thirty metres high. She watched as the boys scrambled over the rocky outcrop that guarded the deep pool of water on the other side. They skidded to a halt, but the arguing and shoving continued. Then Barnaby reached out and pushed Elijah. Nat started running as she heard a cry, and there was a splash as Elijah hit the water.