Chapter 31
Kehua
Nat lay silent under the ferns. The rain trickled behind her ears and down her neck, but she didn’t dare move. She was frozen with terror. That gun was the scariest thing she’d ever seen. She’d been around her Dad’s hunting rifle, but it was treated with utmost caution. The only place she’d seen an automatic firearm was in movies or on TV, and she was horrified to be faced with a real one.
As she lay there, she tried to rationalise it to herself. Maybe it was a prop. Perhaps it wasn’t loaded. But then she thought of those black lace-up boots. Those boots meant business. You didn’t get footwear like that for a walk in the bush. You got them to get something done. Deep down, she knew that the gun was real, and it was looking for them.
A fern moved and her heart nearly exploded, but Elijah appeared. Relief that it wasn’t the bad guys, and that Elijah was okay flooded through Nat’s body. He held his thumbs up and she nodded. Riki tapped her on the shoulder and beckoned.
‘Keep low,’ she whispered. ‘Follow me.’
They crept through the bush, stopping whenever there was a noise, and continuing when they gained enough confidence. Nat realised they were being led in a great arc back towards the cliffs. When they reached a soaring nikau palm, Riki gathered them close together.
‘We have to karakia,’ she said. ‘We’re heading into a wahi tapu.’
‘A what?’ asked Barnaby.
‘You heard me,’ said Riki. ‘A sacred area. And a burial ground. We’ll be safe there.’
Holding hands in the falling rain, they listened to Riki’s whispered chanting. A twig snapped in the distance. Riki froze. Nat shivered. It was spooky enough being off the path in the dense bush and chased by men with guns, let alone heading into a graveyard. They picked their way past rewarewa seedlings, over fledgling pongas, and Nat saw that they were following an old trail. The limestone face got closer and closer, and suddenly they were right against it.
Riki resumed her chant. She ducked down and disappeared into a hole. Nat followed. Inside, the karakia grew stronger and inexplicably, a second voice joined Riki’s. Nat spun around. In the dim light, she could make out two figures already inside! She stepped back, eager to escape, but Elijah and Barnaby blocked the way.
‘You are safe,’ said a calm voice. ‘They will not find us here.’ Abraham stepped forward, followed by Jack. Relief flowed through Nat again, and she crumpled to the floor. Barnaby sat beside her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders.
‘Sit,’ said Abraham. He hugged Riki tight. ‘I knew you would know where to come.’
‘It’s the only safe place,’ said Riki. ‘We said our karakia outside too.’
‘The spirits are satisfied,’ he said. ‘The treasure those men are trying to steal belongs to our ancestors too. The many kehua of this place are on your side.’
‘If there’s another earthquake, will we be all right in here?’ asked Nat.
‘They weren’t earthquakes,’ said Jack. ‘We think its dynamite. Someone’s blasting underground.’
‘They can’t do that!’ said Elijah. ‘This is Department of Conservation land.’
‘No they can’t,’ said Abraham. ‘They know that, so they’ve shut the reserve down.’
It was Riki’s turn to look astonished. ‘I beg your pardon?’
‘After the tremor,’ said Abraham, ‘a man wearing army fatigues told everyone that the area was unsafe; they were advised to leave. Outside the lagoon, rocks were falling. It looked like the cliff might collapse.’
‘That’s why those tourists were standing around taking photos,’ said Nat.
‘Oh yes,’ said Abraham. ‘There was quite a show.’
‘So they got rid of anyone who could have been a witness,’ said Barnaby.
Abraham nodded. ‘The whole place is cut off. They have someone at the top of the hill baring the way.’
‘How’d you get through?’ asked Nat.
Even in the dim light, she could make out his smile. ‘I know a few other ways in.’
‘So who are we dealing with?’ asked Elijah.
‘I’d put my money on Cain Wylie,’ said Abraham.
‘The cave geek?’ asked Nat. ‘He wouldn’t go blowing up caves.’
‘That’s just his cover,’ said Jack. ‘He’s a treasure hunter above all else.’
‘Which means he’d do anything if it got him what he wanted,’ said Barnaby.
‘And he wants this treasure chest badly,’ said Riki. ‘Bad enough to kill and bad enough to break a lot of rules.’
Barnaby groaned. ‘I know what’s going on. They’re supposedly renovating in the Flower Grotto, right?’ Everyone nodded. ‘There’s a funny chamber up in the top section. When you stand there, you can feel a breeze. Elijah and I tried to find where it was coming from one year. We didn’t get very far. But – hold on.’ Barnaby turned on his torch and grabbed a stick from the ground. He smoothed the dirt and sketched the Grotto. Then he drew what they knew of the lagoon and the tunnels beneath it. ‘They’re right next to each other,’ he said. ‘They would have scanned the Flower Grotto like they did the Glowworm Cave, and realised they could tunnel through. All they needed was unlimited access.’
‘Which they’ve created,’ said Abraham.
Without warning, another series of blasts detonated. Nat could see Barnaby tense in the shadows. He was getting angry. In his book, anyone who deliberately destroyed the environment was a criminal.
‘Uncle?’ said Riki. ‘Do you think you and I could create a diversion?’ Her sentence trailed off.
‘Perhaps something as simple as a meeting of our ancestors,’ said Abraham.
There was a pause in the gloom; he and Riki still seemed to be talking, but without saying a word.
Abraham cleared his throat. ‘What you will see children, will be frightening. The key is to remember that what comes from one time cannot hurt those in another.’
Jack looked confused. ‘But doesn’t that mean the guys out there won’t be hurt either?’
‘Not physically,’ said Abraham. ‘But they don’t know that. And doesn’t Endure and Prevail teach you that fear in the mind is a much greater threat?’
‘How’d you know about my computer game?’ asked Jack.
‘To warfare and wisdom, the same rules always apply,’ said Abraham. ‘Let us talk more about that later. For now – everyone please gather at the entrance.’
Nat, Barnaby, Jack and Elijah shuffled towards the green light. The rain was pouring down now. Nat hugged herself to gain more warmth. Behind them, Riki and Abraham stood back to back and began to chant. Nat watched as swirls of mist rose from the cave floor. The air resonated with a high pitched hum. Outside, the same mist flowed from the ferns and churned together. The chanting grew louder, and the mist grew into hundreds of human forms. Soon Abraham and Riki were shouting as they recited the incantation.
They wailed together, a fierce battle cry, and Nat watched as the summons went out into the forest. It sliced into the ribbon separating past and present and the misty forms solidified into tattooed Maori warriors. They buried their toes into the earth and bellowed their indignation at the disturbance of their land. Four kehua men near the cave launched into a haka, and every hair on Nat’s body stood on end. It didn’t matter from how many hundred years ago these men had been called, they knew there were intruders in their midst, and they began to hunt them. The trees dropped spears into their outstretched hands, and the warriors crouched down low and stalked through the undergrowth.
Riki joined Nat at the entrance. ‘Long ago,’ she whispered, ‘long even before Rewi’s time, there was a mighty battle in this place. The whole valley is heavy with spirits. At a certain phase of the moon, you can talk to them. When you are surrounded, they can be called to help.’
Out in the bush, there was a human cry. One of the soldiers ran into view. He looked around desperately, brandished his weapon and fired into the air. The warriors still advanced. Terrified, t
he man with the gun ran, ducking between the trees, and the spirits followed.
‘Now’s our chance,’ said Riki. ‘We head straight for the lagoon. Follow me!’
She leapt out of the cave and cut through the bush. Jack, Barnaby and Elijah followed. Nat looked back at Abraham. He was sitting on the cave floor, calmly loading his pipe.
‘Go,’ he said. ‘They need you. I’ll be all right. I have some old friends to catch up with.’
Reassured, Nat climbed towards the light and sprinted through the bush. Licks and wisps of mist turned and examined her as she ran. Sticking close to the cliffs, she could soon see the lagoon, and the debris that had fallen from the blasting. There was no time to think about the risk. She hurtled over the barrier rocks and leapt straight into the water.