Chapter 32
Beyond the Lowest Passage
The shock of the water was brutally cold. Nat’s lungs heaved as she threw her arms forward in a frantic freestyle stroke, but she knew she had to keep going. Their escape route would be a dead giveaway if anyone saw the ripples in the lagoon, rain or no rain. She pushed further, concentrating on flicking up her toes so she didn’t lose her gumboots. When she reached a set of massive stalactites stretching down from the cave ceiling she hid behind them and scanned the bush. She could see no-one. So far, so good. Turning towards the gloom, she switched on her light, and swam deeper into the cave.
Soon she could make out the lights of the others. They were climbing onto a rock outcrop. When she reached them, Jack and Elijah hauled her out of the water.
‘Thanks,’ she whispered.
‘Did you see anyone behind us?’ asked Barnaby.
She shook her head.
‘Good,’ said Riki. ‘The spirits did their job.’
‘That was a cool trick,’ said Elijah. ‘What else have you got up your sleeve?’
Riki grinned. ‘Wouldn’t you like to know?’
‘It was incredible,’ said Nat.
‘My job was to get us here safely,’ said Riki. ‘The next part is up to you.’
Nat gulped, but Riki took her hand and squeezed it.
The inside of the cave was narrow, but high. The roof was thirty metres above them, and the rocks had been carved into twisted shapes. Whenever anyone moved their head, their light cast demented shadows on the limestone canvas.
‘Anyone figure out how deep the water is?’ asked Riki.
‘Real deep,’ said Jack. ‘If we lose anything in here, it’s gone.’
Nat looked around, scanning for a sign that they were in the right place. She could find none. ‘How do we know this is it?’ she asked.
Elijah stepped aside, and everything was clear. Five metres away, the rocks they were standing on plunged back into the stream. Across the water, Nat could see an eagle carved into the rock. The symbol was identical to that carved on the wall in the Glowworm Cave.
‘Harpagornis,’ she whispered.
‘This is where we got to when we were scouting it out,’ said Elijah. ‘The tunnels are directly underneath the sign.’
‘There’s not as much room as the other day,’ said Jack.
‘Yeah, the water is rising.’ Barnaby’s face betrayed no emotion. Nat had seen him like this before. It was his way of dealing with tricky situations. When the going got tough, Barnaby got factual.
Elijah continued his instructions. ‘If you swim to the sign, then straight down, you’ll come to the second tunnel. The first is further to the right. The one you want is to the left and slightly further down than the others.’
‘Okay,’ said Nat. ‘We’d better get moving. Where’s the rope?’ Elijah produced a length of rope from his bag, and Nat tied a releasable knot around her waist. ‘One tug for help, two for safe, and three to be pulled back through. Right?’
Elijah nodded, and Jack set up an identical system with the second rope. While she waited for her brother, Nat focused on what the patupaiarehe had told her.
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.’
Jack signaled that he was ready, and Nat looked at Barnaby, Elijah and Riki. She gave them the thumbs up and slipped into the water.
Nat swam across to the Harpagornis sign, took a deep breath and dived straight down. Her heart was thumping faster than it ever had before, but she pushed all her fear aside. She had to do this. There was no going back, and there was no time to lose. Even with her light on full beam, the water was murky. Nat kept her hand on the wall for orientation, and used it to pull herself deeper. The rocks under her palms were sharp. She kept tracing her fingers down, down – and then her hand thrust into nothing. This must be the second tunnel.
She wondered for a moment what might be waiting for the unsuspecting caver or treasure seeker who took that option. Would it proceed through to the other side or be walled off? Would it take you to a completely different place? She would never know. Grasping the rocks, she pulled herself further to the left and found the third tunnel with her feet. She didn’t have enough air to hesitate, so she pushed off the walls and swam in.
The tunnel was narrow and smooth. A lot of time had been spent on its creation. Nat searched for something to grip onto. For a panicked moment she couldn’t find anything, and her hands hunted furiously for a finger hold. Suddenly she found a narrow crack. She dug her hand in and pulled as hard as she could, gathering enough momentum to shoot straight through to the other side. She rose to the surface and gasped a deep, thankful breath.
She was bobbing at the edge of a huge moat. A grand island rose from the water before her, and Nat could see a path leading to the upper levels of the cave. Everything was silent. She tugged on the rope twice. Safe. As she did so, a deep rumble rolled around the cave. Nat looked about frantically. The noise stopped. She trod water, waiting for Jack. In a spluttering, kicking burst he arrived beside her. He looked around with wild eyes, then sent the signal back to the others. They both floated in the water a moment, taking it all in.
Before them was a beautiful cavern. In comparison with the bare rocks of the other side, every surface here was decorated with delicate formations. Nat pointed out the path to Jack. They swam across to the island and pulled themselves onto the rocks, undid the knots and coiled the ropes. Nat looked back the way they’d come. There was nothing to betray any kind of exit; just a sheer wall rising from the water. It was a perfect hiding place.
‘Ready?’ asked Jack. His voice was little in the majestic space. Nat nodded. Jack turned and started climbing. He hadn’t gone three steps when the rumble began again.
‘That’s what I could hear in the tunnel,’ he said. ‘Talk about scary.’
‘Is it the drilling?’ asked Nat.
‘Must be.’
‘Which direction is it coming from?’
They listened as the vibrations increased, and both looked up.
Jack allowed himself a wry smile. ‘The way we’re going.’
‘Those low-down dirty cave-destroying creeps,’ spat Nat. ‘Who do they think they are?’
They started to climb higher into the cavern. It wasn’t so much a track they were following, Nat realised, but rather the path the water had carved on its way to the moat below. The rocks shifted beneath their feet. Some rolled down and toppled into the water with soft splashes. She stopped for a moment to look behind her and was astonished to see how high they had already come. Any misstep and it was a long tumble down.
The closer they got to the ceiling, the more incredible formations they could see. There were pure white shawls and fine straws with coppery colours in the calcium carbonate. Nat knew Barnaby would be furious to miss them. She wondered how the others were doing on the far side of the wall. The sitting and waiting would be painful for them.
‘Nat?’
‘Yeah?’
‘Check this out.’ Jack pointed to a massive pillar. The strength of this type of formation was phenomenal. The back of it had been slashed, as if someone had repeatedly dragged a blade across it. ‘What’s that from?’
Nat shrugged. ‘I’ve never seen anything like it.’
Puzzled, they continued upwards, picking their way through the loose rocks. But soon Jack stopped again.
‘Nat - ’
She followed Jack’s gaze and found herself looking at a bone. Not a small bone either. She hung back as her brother took a closer look.
‘That’s from a sheep,’ muttered Jack. ‘There’s another one!’ He clambered round a boulder. ‘Here’s the rest of it.’
‘How did a sheep get in here?’ asked Nat. They scanned the chamber, their lights flicking across the great darkness. ‘That d
oesn’t make any sense.’
Without warning, the drilling began again. The noise hammered around the room. All the rocks started jumping, and suddenly a whole section of the cave slipped down into the moat below. They scrambled to safety. Nat watched the water explode as the debris smashed into it, but she couldn’t hear the splashes; the vibrations were too loud in her head. When the drill stopped again, the ringing in her ears was intense.
‘I guess the spirits got the guys outside, but whoever’s in here is still going strong,’ said Jack.
Nat was inspecting an enormous stalagmite. It was crisscrossed with the same striation marks they’d seen below.
‘Here’s another ripped up formation,’ she said. ‘But you can see it’s not fresh.’ She sat back on her haunches. ‘These grooves are really deep. Whatever they were using was incredibly sharp.’
‘Let’s keep going,’ said Jack. ‘Watch your feet. Stand on the wrong rock around here and you’re a gonner.’
They climbed further up the watercourse. It became more vertical and dangerous. Nat had to stretch out to gain some precarious handholds, and there were bigger boulders to scale. They’d now reached the roof of the cave, and Jack had to duck down to miss the formations. Nat scrambled past him, looking for an easier path, and found herself at the bottom of an enormous slab of limestone. Bridging carefully, she shimmied up the rock and lifted her head to see what lay beyond. The sight was extraordinary. She slid back down the rock and landed next to Jack.
‘We’ve found it!’
His eyes widened. ‘The treasure?’
Nat grinned at him. ‘The eagle’s nest.’