The Secret of Sinbad's Cave

  Chapter 7

  Break Through

  Outside the Waitomo Glowworm Cave, the buses were lined up as usual; Nat counted them as they biked past.

  ‘Four here at the moment,’ she said.

  ‘End of the day,’ called Elijah. ‘They’ve probably put through thirty since this morning.’

  The impressive beams of the Glowworm Cave building stretched out over the bustle below. Nat wondered for a moment if anyone was watching them. There’s nothing to worry about, she told herself. We just want to sit in the boat and see the glowworms, like everyone else.

  ‘Do you think the building looks like a hinaki?’ Jack asked Riki.

  ‘An eel-catcher?’ She shrugged. ‘A really fancy one maybe.’

  ‘What do you think Nat?’ Jack was doing his best to wind her up again. ‘A big old eel-catcher for big bad-daddy eels?’

  ‘Watch out!’ cried Nat. A group of people had wandered onto the road, oblivious of any traffic.

  ‘No fear, sister!’ called Jack as he swerved around the tourists. He swung into the car park and everyone followed him. They stashed their bikes in the bush and raced up to the building.

  ‘Give me a second to talk to my Aunty,’ said Riki. ‘She’ll sort everything.’

  They waited on a bench and watched the crowds. Some were posing for photos, others wandering about taking it all in.

  ‘It’s the best hiding place,’ said Nat. ‘Right in front of millions of people.’

  Jack glanced up from checking their head-torches. ‘The scent on our mystery is pretty cold,’ he said. ‘I doubt we’ll find anything.’

  Elijah patted Nat on the back. ‘Love your enthusiasm,’ he said. ‘But Jack’s right. There’s almost no chance.’

  There was a shrill whistle, and Riki waved out from the ticket office. They leapt up.

  The lady behind the counter smiled.

  ‘You kids have a good time,’ she said. ‘You’re on the last tour with two bus loads, and the final few tourists of the day. Sorry it couldn’t be a smaller group.’

  ‘Not a problem,’ said Riki. Nat could tell exactly what she was thinking – it’s perfect.

  Their guide welcomed them and the group trooped inside, past the round door that reminded Nat of a hobbit hole. In the cave, there was a murmur of voices and the shuffle of feet; it was like entering a shrine.

  ‘How long do we wait?’ whispered Jack.

  ‘Easy daisy,’ said Elijah. ‘We can’t disappear right away. Act touristy for a bit.’

  Immediately Jack and Barnaby adopted terrible American accents.

  ‘What’s this formation here?’ said Barnaby.

  ‘That’s a stalagmite,’ said Riki, playing along.

  ‘Shoot,’ said Barnaby. ‘The stalagmites we’ve got at home are twice the size of these ones.’

  Nat rolled her eyes. Trust the boys to act up

  ‘And our caves,’ twanged Jack, ‘they’re way darker than this one!’

  ‘Shut up, you buffoons,’ said Elijah. ‘Nat, tell me more about what we’re looking for.’

  ‘If something has been hidden all this time, it has to be well concealed,’ said Nat. ‘We should split up and examine the edges of the cave, especially the floor and walls. If you find anything suspicious, report back.’

  Elijah nodded. ‘Good plan.’

  The group moved slowly towards the narrow steps and began to funnel into the Cathedral. Nat could hear the guide pointing out different features. He was focused on the people at the front. She nudged Elijah.
‘Now’s good.’

  Elijah beckoned to Jack. ‘We’ll double back and look at the entrance.’

  ‘Check all the side passages too,’ said Riki.

  ‘Got it,’ said Elijah. ‘See you at the boat.’

  They pulled out their torches and scurried away into the darkness.

  Nat tried to relax and enjoy the beauty of the cave, but her eyes couldn’t rest for a second. Every rock she saw made her wonder if a secret passageway sat beneath it. Behind each formation, she imagined something was hidden. Barnaby put his arm around her to calm her down.

  ‘Deep breath in, deep breath out,’ he said, although now her heart was aflutter for a totally different reason. ‘They’ll be back in no time.’

  Nat gripped the hand rail and shuffled down the steps. She listened absentmindedly to the conversation of the couple in front of her. A thin man was whispering to a woman holding a briefcase. Then Nat heard the man say something about Sinbad. It must be my imagination, she thought. Straining to hear more, she leant forward.

  Suddenly her foot slipped. Barnaby reached out to pull her back, but she had too much momentum. She fell straight onto the couple, tumbling them down the last steps. The briefcase flew through the air, hit a wall, and cracked open. Something golden soared through the cave, clanged on the floor, and spun to a stop. The woman fell in an undignified heap, and the thin man sprawled on top of her. There was a dull thud as his head hit the floor. Nat landed on both of them. A shower of fine formation loosened by the flying briefcase sprinkled over all of them.

  Before Nat knew what was happening, Barnaby had pulled her to her feet and Riki was apologising.

  ‘Are you okay?’ asked Barnaby.

  Nat nodded. She watched as the woman heaved the man off her. Riki offered to help her up, but the woman snarled at her outstretched hand.

  The rest of the group had melted out of the way, but now they began to creep closer to the gleaming object. The woman shoved them aside and scooped the golden item into her arms. She made no effort to check on the thin man, who was nursing his head and rubbing his hip.

  He turned to the woman. ‘Is it safe?’ he whispered.

  ‘Of course,’ she hissed, and disappeared into the shadows.

  The man hobbled to his feet and with one quick movement caught Nat’s chin with his hand. He wrenched her head towards him, and leant in so close Nat could see his nostrils quiver.

  ‘You should be more careful,’ he sneered, holding her tight.

  ‘I’m so sorry,’ said Nat. ‘I didn’t mean to.’

  ‘Where are your parents?’ he demanded. ‘Who is here with you?’

  ‘We’re here by ourselves,’ said Riki. The man shifted his glare to her.

  ‘Despicable,’ he spat, as he turned to go.

  ‘Excuse me,’ said Nat. ‘Did you say something before about Sinbad?’

  The man spun about so quickly he winced and grabbed his hip. ‘What?’ he demanded.

  Nat gulped. ‘I just thought I heard – ’

  ‘Stupid girl. Get out of my sight.’

  Barnaby and Riki steered Nat away from the man. She looked over her shoulder and watched as he picked up the broken case and hobbled away. The woman was waiting for him on the far side of the Cathedral. When the man limped towards her, she began scolding him, stabbing him in the chest with her finger.

  Nat brushed herself off. ‘Did anyone else see that?’

  ‘I saw something bright, but that’s it,’ said Barnaby.

  ‘I did,’ said Riki.

  ‘What was it?’ asked Barnaby.

  Riki glanced around before speaking. ‘It was a golden mask. It looked like a tiger.’

  Nat frowned. ‘Why would someone carry around a mask?’

  ‘Because it’s too valuable to leave anywhere,’ said Barnaby.

  ‘I bet Abraham will know what it was,’ said Riki.

  The guide started telling the group about the famous people who’d performed in the Cathedral, and asked if anyone would like to sing. A group of Koreans launched into a lullaby. As everyone listened, a movement in the upper levels of the cave caught Nat’s attention. The thin man and the woman were now talking to a chubby man in a suit. Pretending to point out a stout formation to Barnaby, she showed him the peculiar meeting. Then they spotted Jack and Elijah, flattened against a wall. They’d snuck up on the trio and were listening closely.

  ‘Good,’ muttered Nat. ‘We’ll figure out what the
y’re up to.’

  ‘It might be nothing,’ said Barnaby.

  ‘Yeah right,’ said Nat. ‘That woman was strange. The man too. They’re up to something.’

  The guide announced they’d now begin loading the glowworm boats.

  ‘This is our moment,’ said Riki. ‘I’ll tell the guide we’re leaving because our friend isn’t feeling well.’ She winked at Nat. ‘Then we’ll find a place to hide.’ She trotted away. Nat watched as the guide pointed Riki to the exit.

  ‘Right,’ said Barnaby. ‘Let’s go.’ He and Riki put an arm around Nat, who lolled her head around and acted the patient. Nat almost giggled at the mock-drama of it all, but Riki shushed her with a serious glance.

  At the foot of the stairs, they found Elijah and Jack, who beckoned them into the darkness.

  ‘This way,’ said Elijah. ‘We can watch from the alcoves under here.’

  Barnaby checked over his shoulder, but the group was intent on filing into the boats. He half lifted, half slid Nat up onto a rock ledge and squeezed in beside her. The others filed into the next alcove, pulled up their feet and burrowed themselves into the rock.

  ‘You got strong,’ whispered Nat to Barnaby. ‘How are you going to fit through the cave squeezes?’

  ‘That’s what I’ve got you for,’ he replied.

  Nat shook her head. ‘I don’t like squeezes. They make me feel trapped.’

  ‘Is this okay?’ Barnaby smiled. They were jammed tight into the niche.

  ‘Now?’ said Nat. ‘Yeah, this is okay.’ She blushed, and said a silent thank you for the darkness.

  They listened as the awestruck whispers and exclamations from the tourists drifted back to their hiding spot. The first group exited the cave, and the boat returned to load the final people. When they left, the cave settled into a happy silence. Nat felt sorry for the place, full of chattering and noises all day.

  Staccato footsteps cut through her musings, and two men appeared. One was limping; Nat recognised him as the thin man she’d scuttled on the stairs. The other man was wearing a suit two sizes too small.

  ‘Really, Henderson,’ said the thin man, ‘I’ve got a lot of work to do. This better be good.’

  The plump man bent over double to catch his breath. ‘This place is iconic, Wylie. Have a look around.’

  ‘You’re supposed to be calling me Cortez.’

  ‘I’ll use your code name when Drake’s around. What sent her packing?’

  ‘Those annoying kids. She hates children.’

  ‘She hates everyone.’

  ‘Yeah, but kids are at the top of the list. Especially unsupervised gangs of them.’

  ‘Right. So, this is the Cathedral. Pretty spectacular, isn’t it?’

  ‘Seen one, seen ‘em all,’ said Wylie, sounding bored. ‘It’s not caves that I find fascinating, but the things that are hidden in them.’

  Nat’s eyes bulged as he grabbed onto a stalactite and casually leaned on it. Everyone knew the damage that could cause!

  Henderson started to stutter. ‘Ah – I – ah – I don’t think you’re allowed to touch that.’

  ‘I’m the world’s pre-eminent cave expert,’ said Wylie. ‘I’ll touch what I’ll like.’

  Barnaby shifted beside her. Every hair on his body was standing on end, like a dog with his hackles up. She held her arm out in front of his chest, silently warning him to stay put.

  Henderson chuckled. ‘You’ve started to believe your own propaganda. Remember, I know where you bought your degree.’

  ‘I didn’t hire you to believe my tall tales,’ spat Wylie. ‘I hired you to see through walls. What’s taking so long?’

  ‘I told you this wasn’t going to deliver a quick return.’

  ‘What was so important you couldn’t tell me in Auckland?’

  ‘Come and see for yourself.’

  ‘This better be good. We don’t want word to get out that we’re chasing fairy stories.’

  ‘You won’t be disappointed.’

  The voices floated off. Elijah leapt out of the darkness, landing on his feet like a cat. Nat watched him jealously. He signalled that he was going to follow the men, and before anyone could stop him, he was gone. The cave was still again. Ten minutes passed, twenty, and everything remained silent. Nat’s legs started fizzing with pins and needles. Barnaby’s stomach grumbled and they both had to swallow their laughter. Thirty minutes passed and then an almighty clang echoed through the cave.

  ‘That’s the door closing,’ said Nat, almost to herself. ‘We’re locked in.’

  A moment later Elijah scampered back. ‘We’re in the clear,’ he called.

  Stretching and groaning like they’d been cooped up for years, they piled out into the Cathedral. As all the lights had been turned off, they switched on their head-torches. Elijah waited for them with gleaming eyes.

  ‘What’s going on?’ demanded Jack. ‘You were gone for ages.’

  ‘They talked for ages,’ said Elijah. ‘That man, Cain Wylie, is telling everyone he’s a cave expert.’

  ‘He’s no expert,’ muttered Barnaby, inspecting the formation the man had grabbed.

  ‘So Wylie was the grumpy one?’ asked Riki.

  ‘Yeah, and the fat one, Henderson, he’s in charge of a special project. It’s been going on for a couple of years now, and lots of cash has been poured into it – ’

  ‘But they haven’t got anything back yet,’ finished Barnaby.

  ‘Exactly,’ said Elijah. ‘Wylie is mad, wants results, and is willing to do anything to get them.’

  ‘What’s the project?’ asked Nat.

  ‘You’re not going to believe this,’ said Elijah. ‘They’ve been scanning the cave walls with some kind of sonar imagery, looking for hollow spaces.’

  Nat looked at Elijah blankly. ‘Why is that exciting?’

  ‘They’ve heard rumours that treasure was hidden here before the cave opened to the public. To find out once and for all whether the story is true, they’ve been going through the cave, segment by segment, scanning to see if there’s anything there.’

  ‘And they’ve found something,’ said Jack, ‘or you wouldn’t be grinning like an idiot.’

  Elijah nodded. ‘I followed them to a wall, and Henderson told Wylie that behind this particular wall there was a small space, about elevator size.’

  Riki frowned. ‘What are they going to do next?’

  ‘On Monday a team will come down from Auckland, close off that part of the cave under the guise of a safety inspection, and probe the wall.’

  ‘They can’t do that,’ said Riki. ‘The cave is tapu. It’s a taonga.’

  Nat turned to her new friend. ‘They don’t care if it’s sacred or not,’ she said. ‘They don’t care about anything but the money.’

  Riki’s frown deepened. ‘They’ll come to a bad end,’ she said. ‘It doesn’t matter whether they believe in it or not.’

  ‘Can you show us the wall?’ asked Jack.

  ‘Follow me,’ said Elijah.

  He led them to the upper parts of the cave. The beams of their head-torches flashed about as they climbed the stairs. Nat hung back for a moment, turned away from the others and switched off her light. Apart from footsteps, the only sound was an eerie dripping somewhere in the blackness. She shivered with excitement. Flicking her light back on, she raced to catch up. They had stopped in a nondescript passage. There was nothing to suggest that anything was hidden there.

  ‘Are you sure?’ asked Nat.

  ‘Yep,’ said Elijah. ‘I know it doesn’t look like anything, but that’s the genius, isn’t it – imagine how many people have walked where we are now, and never knew what was on the other side!’

  Barnaby interrupted. ‘Hey, we don’t know either.’

  ‘Yeah, but we will soon. What do you reckon? We could get in there and get it out before the guy in the suit returns.’

  ‘Hold on,’ said Riki. ‘What did you say?’

  ‘We can break through,’ said Elija
h.

  ‘With what?’ scoffed Barnaby.

  ‘No way,’ said Riki.

  Elijah looked at them. ‘On Monday any treasure is gone to a bank vault in Auckland. They’ve been searching for ages for what we’ve been looking for today. It’s a golden opportunity – we have to seize it.’

  As he spoke, Nat saw Jack backing away from the group. Without warning he hurtled down the passage and threw himself at the wall. He bounced back and fell to the floor. Nat couldn’t help herself. She burst out laughing. So did the others.

  ‘Nice work,’ said Nat.

  ‘Shut up Splat,’ said Jack. ‘At least I gave it a go.’

  Barnaby was running his hands over the wall, tapping and listening as he went. ‘It’s all rock,’ he said. ‘Good old bone crunching thirty million year old rock. There’s no way we can smash through it.’

  Jack groaned. ‘I’d agree with the bone crunching part.’

  Watching Barnaby, something clicked in Nat’s brain. She dropped to her knees and examined the bottom section of the wall. Running her hands over the limestone, she tapped and patted it as Barnaby had done. Then, in the bottom right corner of the wall, she took a deep breath and scratched her fingernails into the rock. A little dust flaked off. She tried again, and more powder trickled onto the cave floor. Furiously, she scraped her hands against the rock, and it started to crumble before her. The others were still arguing. She looked up at them.

  ‘Hey!’ she said. ‘I’ve got something.’

  They gathered around her.

  ‘That’s not limestone,’ said Barnaby. He picked up the dust and sniffed it. ‘It’s plaster.’

  Nat stepped back to let the others have a turn.

  ‘You’re bleeding,’ said Riki.

  Nat looked down at her hands. She’d attacked the rock so vigorously she’d skinned her knuckles. ‘It’s for a good cause,’ she said.

  The boys dug out the plaster until they’d created what looked like a massive mouse hole.

  Elijah lay on his stomach, stretched his arm deep into the hole, and gasped. ‘We’ve done it,’ he said. ‘I’m through to the other side!’