by Fraser Smith
Kim had cooked up kina fritters for lunch. He seemed very interested in ambergris. “How did you find that lump, Awa?”
“Carrot found it,” Awa admitted, not mentioning that there was more than one lump. “I ask him to find, and he looks around the beach. I think Tredget taught him.”
“Ahh! Tredget. He always had mysterious money. Do you think the bird will work for me? What’s that you say? Shoulder? Here Carrot, shoulder!”
Carrot was perched on the back of Awa’s chair. He stepped onto Awa’s shoulder. “Boy shoulder,” he said.
“Kim shoulder.” Kim patted his own shoulder.
Carrot nodded. “Boy shoulder,” he said, and then he shouted, “Zealots!”
Kim walked over to the bird, knelt down and asked again, “Kim shoulder? Kim shoulder?”
Carrot hopped away from him onto the table, looked at Kim and then turned to Awa. “Crusty Boy?”
Awa gave him a crust of bread, which he started to eat with his back to Kim.
Kim got a bigger piece of bread, put jam on it and held it out to the bird. “Crusty? With jam on?” he asked.
“Crusty Boy. Crusty Boy.” Carrot ignored Kim.
Tai laughed. “You’re gonna have to grease him up better than that!”
Kim dunked the bread and jam in his tea and ate it noisily, saying, “MMMM crusty, crusty.”
Carrot watched. “ZEALOTS!” he yelled.
“What have I ever done to that bird?” asked Kim.
Awa stuck up for Carrot. “You’ve teased him. He never forgets. Be careful, Kim, you know what he did to you and Frank. And you call him Kākā Feathers. He doesn’t like it!”
“I have a way with birds. This one will be eating out of my hand one day soon.”
“Yeah, like that big white duck of yours.” Tai was enjoying himself.
“That gander was trained. Best guard bird in the district.”
“Tastiest guard bird in the district,” laughed Tai.
Kim laughed too. “Plenty more where he came from, a gaggle of goslings.”
Awa changed the subject. “I reckon Tai and I’ll do the dishes and take Carrot home. Is Nan’s first-aid kit here? Pa Rumble stabbed his foot with his seaweed fork.”
They found the precious kit under her bed. Kim laughed. “Give him some of that iodine. That’ll make him hop.”
Tai winced in sympathy.
Pa Rumble was home. Ma had his boots off, and one swollen foot was perched on a piece of newspaper on the table. She was more pleased than Pa about the first-aid kit.
“Thanks, Awatea, what a wonderful thought. We had forgotten about this. I would have got your Nan over if she was here. This silly old bugger –”
“Old bugger,” said the parrot.
“– has left his foot to heal itself.”
“I rubbed it with seaweed and washed it in the sea,” complained Pa.
“And put your dirty old sock back on and went back to work! Now look at it!”
The boys did. The foot was swollen, but the big toe was huge and purple. The fork had split the end, which wept pink blood.
“I don’t think you want to watch this, boys,” said Ma as she got out the iodine. “It may be too late but better than nothing.” She was soaking cotton wool in iodine.
Pa’s face was looking strained.
They left. “We can get Nan if that doesn’t work,” said Tai as he hurried out the door.
They heard Pa Rumble roar louder than the sea as they rushed off home.
Awa told Kim about the toe.
“I have seen septic toes go to gangrene, and that means off with the foot before it spreads up the leg. If it gets to his heart, he’s a goner! It’s three hours to the nearest hospital. The tide will be low enough in an hour or so. Maybe Nan can come back and fix up Pa Rumble.”
“We can stay and cook, keep the home fires burning. You’ll be back before dark,” said Awa hopefully.
Kim looked at the boys. “You know how long it takes your Nan to get ready. I’ll go now and look at Pa. If it looks as bad as you say, I might have to take him in myself.”
It wasn’t long before the boys heard the Rumbles’ car outside. Ma Rumble and Carrot got out to come up to the bach. The boys ran out to meet them as Kim drove off down the beach with Pa.
“Kim says he needs the sort of treatment we can’t give him here,” said Ma, sounding shocked. “There are deep red veins on his foot, and his groin is swollen. It would get worse if we left it till the morning. Your Nan will be able to get antibiotics. I’ll stay with you.”
Ma checked the food supplies Kim had brought. “Apples, honey, flour, fresh milk and cream, butter. I have cinnamon. Light the stove, boys. I feel a baked apple dumpling coming on. Can you boys run back and get this messy bird’s poop perch and the cinnamon from the pantry?”
They hopped to it. Nan made pudding for after dinner only. Kim never made pudding. Ma Rumble made sticky apple dumpling for dinner, with cream and custard.
Carrot was in the mood to help. He jumped from chair-back to chair-back to the bench, urging them on with “Crusty!” calls, eating apple cores and spreading bits of them about.
14
Treasure Chest
Tai and Awa helped Ma Rumble. They enjoyed being the men of the house. They carried in firewood, pumped water and collected Kim’s cray pot from off the reef. They set the hīnaki and caught and smoked fish for Ma.
Between Ma’s fantastic meals, the boys and Carrot roamed the beach between Kawa Gang HQ and the bach, and searched fruitlessly for ambergris. They had the beach to themselves, but they didn’t leave Ma for too long. She was worried about Pa Rumble. There had been no news for four long days.
On the fifth day, about lunchtime, Pop’s Humber 80 rolled up the beach. As the boys jumped down the sand hills, they saw Nan, Pop and Pa Rumble get out of the car. Pa took a while to get up to the bach. He was like Long John Silver – a pirate with a crutch.
Carrot screamed, “Avast, look out, Rarmbull!” and flew down to perch on his shoulder, which made Pa look even more like a pirate. Awa and Tai looked at his leg, hoping it was all there.
Ma had the kettle on and the teapot on the table.
“It was lucky you got him out when you did,” said Nan. “The doctor and I had the devil of a job getting the infection down. We kept him at home and made him keep his foot up. He’s a lot better now. We had to lance, scrape and stitch it. Pa had strong antibiotics straight into his blood supply. He mustn’t walk too much, and he has pills to take. I’ll remove the stitches in a week, if he does what he’s told. Luckily, he missed the bone with that rusty old fork of his!”
Tai was looking at Pa with admiration. “Lance, scrape and stitch, Pa?”
Pa wiggled his bushy eyebrows. “Aye, lad, she scraped the dead flesh away until she got to the living, bleeding meat, and then she stitched it up clean. She used plenty of iodine, I can tell you. But she saved the leg.”
“Did it hurt?” asked Tai.
“Not as much as having my leg cut off, but your grandma is pretty ruthless with a scalpel and a needle, Boy. I was lucky she gave me a bit of wood to bite on.”
“How soon can he walk properly, Nan?” asked Awa.
“He must keep that leg up as much as he can for a week, then I’ll see. Oh, and some news for you two bush bunnies. Happily, your dad is on the mend, too. He is home and ready for work again.” Nan paused and looked sadly at the boys. “Your mum is coming to collect you in a couple of days. The May holidays will be over soon.”
One minute Awa and Tai were thrilled to hear good news about their dad, and the next they were shocked at how quickly time had passed. Awa watched a tear roll down Tai’s cheek, and he went over to pat Carrot, who was on his perch. Tai followed him.
“Boy, Boy,” Carrot purred quietly. He climbed on Awa’s shoulder and carefully groomed his hair.
Ma had tears in her eyes. “Those boys have been such a help to me.”
“And me,” said Pa. “Awa cal
led in the ambulance brigade. Boy vigilantes! Poachers beware, and what’s that bird gonna do?”
The boys were now sitting on the sofa and looking out the window to the sea. Carrot was perched on Awa’s knees, and both boys were gently stroking the bird, whose eyes were closed.
“There will be more holidays, and we will always want you with us,” said Nan. “Some things we can’t change.”
Pop walked out, saying, “I’m just gonna bring up the gear.”
Ma gathered up her stuff and helped Pa out the door. “Carrot can stay, if it’s all right with you, Lill?”
Nan nodded as she cleared the table. “I’ll be over later to make sure Pa’s settled in.”
Back at the homestead, Kim took the lump of ambergris in to the agent. He came back with forty pounds for Awa and Tai. “You don’t have to sleep in a ghost’s bed now, boys, you are rich!” he laughed.
The boys figured there were eight people involved in this treasure, and that was five pounds each. Pop changed it at the post office, and they gave Nan, Pop and Kim their share. They would give Tredget and Ma and Pa Rumble theirs next time they went to Mangokuri.
Nan made Pop open an account at the post office for Awa and Tai. “That’s far too much money for such young boys to have. It should be put in a safe place. Now you boys can have a savings account.” She gave them two shillings each. “This is quite enough spending money.”
Tai was annoyed that he couldn’t buy a dozen ice creams and eat them all while he counted the change. Instead, he got a little bank book with numbers in it. But an extra two shillings helped him fight back a few tears.
Awa was thinking about the rest of his treasure. Now he knew what he’d do with it. He would ask Pop to sell the ambergris and put the money in his post office account. He could trust Pop. Maybe he’d have enough to buy a parrot.
Awa showed Pop the jar he had brought back from Kawa Gang HQ.
“Two lumps of ambergris and nineteen pounds. Awa, you are rich! There could be one hundred pounds in your account after we cash all this in!”
Awa smiled. “Beats the ten pounds to sleep in Mrs Carol’s house. But you and Tredget are the only ones who know, Pop. It’s a secret, OK?”
“What about that bird?”
“He can’t really keep a secret, Pop. He knows everything. I was thinking I might have enough money to buy a parrot like Carrot.”
“Let me think about this for a bit.”
There was one last chance to visit the beach. The boys showed Pop the Kawa Gang HQ, and Nan and Pop let the boys spend their last day and night there. There was no storm, and the kamikaze gang kept to their own territory. It was peaceful top and tailing on the mingimingi bed. They told each other pūhāhā stories well into the night. Carrot was happy to be with them.
In the cold of the morning, with rain threatening, they packed up everything so that it would stay dry until they or Tredget came back. In Tredget’s tin, they left his five pounds and a note with their address and phone number on it.
Rain was beginning to fall when they knocked on the Rumbles’ door. Ma was cooking breakfast.
“I was kind of expecting you three. Come in. Sit down,” she said.
Awa bumped Carrot off his shoulder and onto his perch. Carrot was grumbling. “Boy, Rarmbull, crusty.”
Pa was in an old armchair with his foot up. He grumbled back. “Bird, Boy, Boy.”
But the cabin was cheerful and warm. Ma had made porridge with cinnamon, and baked apples stuffed with raisins and brown sugar.
Carrot had a special bowl. He ate his oats raw. The baked apples got a loud, “Crusty, mmmm!” reaction.
The boys agreed.
Full and warm again, Awa asked about Tredget. “Where has he gone this time, Ma? How long do you think he will be away?”
“That boy is like his father was. Now look at the old bugger.”
“Old bugger,” said Carrot.
“He left a week ago to do some shopping, he said. We haven’t seen him since. Has he had that bird out looking for treasure again?”
Awa remembered. “He did take Carrot off saying he had something for him to do. That’ll be it, Ma. He’s found something and gone on one of his rambles.”
Awa walked over to Carrot. “What did you find? Tell me the secret?”
“Boy shhh.” Carrot’s beak was sealed.
There was a knock at the door. Nan shook the water off her raincoat before coming in.
“A cup of tea after surgery,” she said in quite an official voice. “And what is wrong with my cooking, boys?”
Tai was quick. “Oh sorry, Nan, it was raining and we were cold.”
“You will insist on sleeping out when winter’s on the way. I guess you’ll be back to your own beds soon enough. And I’ll miss you. Oh well. Now let’s look at that foot.”
She examined Pa’s wound. “Swelling down.” She pushed him in the groin. “Sore there?”
Pa winced but managed a small smile.
“You are a lucky man, Pa Rumble. Next time you get a cut out here, clean it straight away, wrap it up, and keep it dry and clean. I will leave you this iodine and kawakawa balm. Use the balm as the wound heals to keep it moist. Take it slowly for a while.”
Pa mumbled, “Thanks, Lill.”
Awa thought Pa wasn’t so fierce when it came to his Nan.
“Awatea.” Pa used his full name. “I was thinking about you and this bird. He is only sixty and could live to be a hundred. If Tredget can’t stay in one place to look after him, would you? In ten years’ time I am going to be tired of that bird, and you won’t need to ask anyone’s permission to have a crazy parrot.”
Awa hadn’t thought that far ahead. He would be twenty years old in ten years’ time.
“Yes! Of course! We can keep visiting, and whenever I can I will have him, and when you want me to keep him, I’ll do it! I owe Carrot a few favours!” His face lit up with a huge grin as he punched high into the air.
Carrot jumped up and down on his perch. “Boy. Boy.”
“By Jove,” Nan said. “Rumble, you are a cunning old coot. I bet you and Bill cooked that one up between you.”
“He did mention something about the boy wanting to buy a parrot like Carrot. But no such parrot can be bought, eh Carrot?” Pa laughed.
Carrot caught on. “Hehe haha haa!”