by Des Hunt
Then another voice squeaked up. It was Pat sticking his head out of Lucy’s feathers. “And he can help me with guard duties at night.”
“What a good idea,” said Lucy. “We’ll need the extra security, now that we’re deep into adzebill country.” She looked around, checking that everyone was ready. “Right then, if Godfrey will come here we’ll be off.”
“I’d better do as she says, I suppose,” said Godfrey. He let out a sad sigh before moving forward. Shortly afterwards they were on their way again.
The track climbed through the forest up the side of a hill. From the top they got glimpses of the lake between the trees. There was no doubting that the activity had increased since the day before. As Godfrey put it: The Source was hotting up nicely.
From the top they moved down to tramp along the side of a valley. Here the land was different, with the forest replaced by rocky outcrops.
“Limestone country,” said Fluoro. “That means we’re certainly heading in the right direction.”
“How far do we have to go?” asked Jack.
Fluoro looked around for some landmarks. “I don’t really know. This land is nothing like it is in our time. The eruption will cover all this with new rock.” He pointed to some hills in the distance. “I know that formation, though. If we make it there, we should be safe.”
To Jack the hills seemed a long way away. At the rate they were going it would take days to get there. Tramping great distances was not what he had in mind when he’d urged Fluoro to come back. He wanted adventure, excitement, even more earthquakes. Not boring marching. Doof, honk, doof, honk… it went on and on. Doof, honk, doof, honk, doof—
CRACK!
The noise was so close that Jack thought it was in his ear. It wasn’t. It was a rock alongside the track splitting in half. He stopped to gape at it. Why did that happen?
He soon found out why. The earthquake he’d wished for had come. But this one was more than an adventure. It was plain scary. He wanted to run the way the moho were.
The shaking became so violent that Jack had trouble standing. Then the earth gave way, right where the moho were running around like headless chickens. Everything disappeared with a whoosh.
One moment Jack was looking at the moho. The next he was dangling over the edge of a hole supported by only a few tufts of grass. Most of the moho had vanished.
“Hold on, Jack,” screamed Fluoro. “I’m here.”
Jack felt hands gripping his arms.
“Try and stay still,” said Fluoro. “I’ll pull you up.”
Bit by bit, Fluoro adjusted his position until he could exert enough force to haul Jack out of the hole. As soon as Jack felt something solid beneath his body, he scrambled clear of the edge. He found a rock and sat with his back against it, trying to calm the thumping in his chest.
By then the rumbling had stopped and the earth was quiet again. But not so the moho trapped in the bottom of the hole. Cries of panic sounded from below.
“At least some of them are still alive,” said Fluoro.
“Looks like all of them are,” said Emily, who was now hovering above the hole. “Though some are partly buried.”
“Any chance of getting them out?” asked Jack.
“I doubt it,” replied Emily. “Us animals won’t be able to. I don’t know what you humans can do.”
Fluoro turned to Jack. “Did you see what’s down there?”
“No! I was trying to stay alive.”
“If I hold your feet, you could slide forward and take a look.”
Jack wasn’t so sure that he wanted to dangle over the edge again. Reluctantly he moved forward and lay on the ground. When he was certain that Fluoro had a decent grip of his legs, he edged forward until his head was over the edge.
“Wow!” he said. “It’s a giant cave. One side of the roof has fallen in.”
“It’s a sinkhole,” said Fluoro. “You get them all over this area.”
“Can you get down?” asked Lucy who had been gathering up the other moho.
Jack studied the hole for a while. “Doubt it. There’s only one place that looks likely. There’s a dirt slide over there where Chainsaw is.”
All eyes turned to the cat who was peering into the opposite side of the hole. As they watched, Chainsaw eased himself over the edge and began sliding. Half way down he put the brakes on and stopped. He looked up at Jack and meowed, inviting him to follow.
Jack wasn’t so sure. “If I go down I’ll never get back up again.”
“Is there a stream at the bottom?” asked Fluoro.
“Yes.”
“Then once you get down all you have to do is follow that stream. You’ll get out sooner or later.”
Jack gave him an anxious look. “Will it be dark?”
“Almost sure to be.”
“You’ve got to go,” said Lucy. “We can’t leave them there.”
“I’ll come with you,” said Pat. “I can find my way around in the dark.”
“I’ll come too,” said Emily. “Then I can guide you back here.”
“No!” said Lucy. “I need you to help with the remaining moho. Chainsaw, Jack and Pat will be enough.”
Jack looked up at Pat. “Are you ready?”
“Whenever you are,” replied the bat.
“Then let’s do it.”
Jack got to his feet and moved around to the dirt slide. Only a few minutes had passed since he’d wished for some adventure to break the boredom. Now he was thinking that maybe boredom wasn’t such a bad thing after all.
Chapter 13
The screaming of the moho in the bottom of the hole was deafening. Jack cupped his hands over his ears and yelled, “Stop it!”
Instantly there was silence.
“Thanks, Jack,” said Pat. “If they make a noise like that, I won’t be able to hear my own squeaks and we’ll never get out of here.”
Morris stepped forward. “Sorry about the noise,” he said. “It’s all a bit too much for them.”
“They need to control themselves,” said Jack.
“We’ll try,” said Morris. “What do you want us to do?”
Jack looked around. Already Chainsaw and Pat were investigating where the stream disappeared into a tunnel. It looked like it would be big enough for everyone to get through. The problem was how would the moho cope with the dark? He thought back to an exercise they’d done at a school camp in Wellington. He turned to Morris. “Can you moho count?”
Morris gave him a pained look. “Of course we can.”
“Good! Then I’m going to allocate each bird a number. When we get into the tunnel we can check everyone’s with us by counting out the numbers in sequence.”
“Good idea,” said Morris. “Who do you want to be number one?”
Jack pointed to the nearest bird. “You’re number one. Call it out, please.”
“One!” said the moho.
“Very good,” said Jack. He pointed to another bird. “Now you.”
“Two!” yelled the bird.
Jack’s finger moved along the line.
“Three!” came the call.
Then the next. “Lots!”
“Lots?” said Jack.
“Yes,” said Morris. “Lots comes after three.”
“Then what comes after lots?”
Morris looked at him as if he were stupid. “Everything after three is lots.”
Jack rolled his eyes. “OK,” he said. “We’re going to have to learn a few more numbers because we’ve got to get to seven for this to work.”
Twenty minutes later Jack felt that the moho had finally learnt the new numbers. By then Pat was ready to report back.
“We can get out this way,” he said. “There are another five chambers with narrow tunnels in between.” He sized Jack up and down. “Chainsaw, me and the birds will get through, but it could be a bit tight for you. In some places the stalactites are hanging down to the ground. You might have to break some off.”
Jack nod
ded. “Are you going to lead the way?”
“Yes! I’ll be flitting around calling out directions and warnings. Chainsaw is going to help me guide people in the right direction.”
“Great,” said Jack. “Then let’s go.”
Getting through to the first chamber was easy, as there was still some light.
Before they moved on and into the darkness, Jack ran a test of the counting system.
Moho One, Two and Three were fine. Number Four started to say “Lots” before giggling and correcting himself. Five didn’t have a clue.
Jack pointed to the bird. “You’re Five!”
“Am I? It’s so hard to remember something like that.”
“Well, remember it now.”
Six got the call right, and then Jack waited for number Seven. It never came.
“Morris! You’re Seven.”
“Oh, I am too,” replied Morris. “Sorry, my mind was elsewhere.”
Jack let it go. Instead he ushered them towards the second tunnel. That was much narrower than the first, and Jack had to damage a couple of stalactites before he could fit. As he squeezed through he heard oohs and aahs of wonder from the birds in front. He soon saw the cause. The roof and walls of the chamber were covered with glow-worms.
Jack had seen glow-worms before, but never this many. And more amazingly, they kept glowing despite the noise the moho were making. He reached up and touched some. Even that didn’t turn them off. Some of the grubs got stuck to his hand. He moved his arm around making light patterns in the blackness. That brought even more oohs and aahs from the moho.
Although there were millions of glow-worms, there still wasn’t enough light to see anything.
“Where are you, Pat?” Jack called.
“I’m over by the exit tunnel.”
“Could you guide the moho towards you, please?”
“OK.” There was a break while Pat checked the situation. “Look, guys,” he went on, “you’re all facing different ways. Turn towards me.”
“Which way’s that?” asked one of them.
“You need to turn to your right,” replied Pat.
Oh,” said the moho. “I have trouble with right and left. Is this the right way?”
“No!” said Pat. He let out a heavy sigh. “Sorry, Jack, but this isn’t going to work. These birds are too… um… different.” A pause. “Ah, Chainsaw is going to—”
A loud scream filled the cavern.
“What’s the problem?” asked Jack.
“The furry thing touched me,” cried a moho.
“He has to,” said Jack, ‘so that you’ll move in the right direction.”
That brought cries from all the birds.
Morris’s voice rose above the others. “Is it true that the furry thing eats birds?”
“Yes.” said Jack.
The crying became more intense.
“But only those that make a lot of noise and act like wimps.”
That brought instant silence.
Jack smiled in the darkness. “Good! Now let’s try something different.”
He reached up his hand, swept up some glow-worms and wiped them onto the front and sleeves of his hoodie. He waved his arms.
“Right, can you see me?”
There was a chorus of yeses.
“Pat, fly over here and I’ll do the same for you.”
Soon Pat was flying around the cave glowing like a plane coming into land.
“OK,” said Jack. “Now you can see where Pat is. I’ll do the same with Chainsaw, so you’ll know where he is. Then I’ll do each of you so that I can check where you are. Any problems with that?”
There weren’t any, and after a few minutes everyone was coated with glowing worms and ready to move on.
The system worked well. By the time they reached the final chamber the moho were all happy and no longer squealed when Chainsaw gave them a helping paw.
Then they saw light from the opening to the cave. That set them off again, as if they’d never seen daylight before. They all rushed forward wanting to be first out. But Chainsaw got there first and blocked the way. He snarled viciously. The moho turned and ran, now eager to get as far away from the opening as they could.
“What’s the problem, Chainsaw?” asked Jack.
Chainsaw replied with a low growl.
“I think there’s something wrong outside,” said Pat. “I’ll go take a look.”
He was back almost as soon as he’d left. “There’s adzebills,” he said, breathlessly. “Lots of them. It’s where they camp.”
At the mention of adzebills, the moho started crying again.
“What do we do now, Jack?” asked Pat.
Everyone turned to Jack as if he would have the answer. He didn’t, but he couldn’t tell the moho that or there’d be chaos.
He turned to Pat. “Do you think the adzebills know we’re here?”
“No. They seem to be settling down for the night. It’s getting dark out there.”
Jack nodded. “Then we wait until it’s really dark and leave then.”
There was much groaning from the moho.
“All right!” said Jack, glaring at them. “Anyone got a better idea?”
No one did, so they settled down to wait.
Darkness came quickly, but still they waited. Jack knew that if he got this wrong, then the moho would be slaughtered. Chainsaw could also be in danger. The adzebills were strong birds, and the way they operated as a pack was frightening.
Finally it was time to go.
There was no need to tell the moho to be quiet, for they were already so scared they could hardly breathe.
While lots of glow-worms had fallen off the animals, there were still enough to locate each other as they filed out of the cave. Chainsaw led the way, his body low to the ground as he checked ahead for any signs of movement. There were none, but the sounds of heavy breathing suggested the adzebills were not far away.
Jack took the rear to make sure that no one strayed out of line.
Now that they were out of the cave there was enough light from the sky to make out shapes. There must’ve been thirty or more adzebills crouched on the ground in a clearing beside the stream. If any of them were awake then they were keeping quiet about it.
Chainsaw kept the group close to the rocks that surrounded the opening to the cave. Ahead of them was a forest. If they made it there, then they stood a chance of getting away.
One by one they made it into the trees until only Jack was left. As he took one last look around, the sky was lit by the volcano. It was enough to see the adzebills clearly. Enough to see that they weren’t all asleep. One was sitting to one side, looking directly at Jack. It was Boris, the leader of the pack. For a moment the red glow reflected off the animal’s eyes turning him into something evil.
Jack got the feeling that Boris had been watching all the time. The bird would know that darkness was not the time for action. He’d wait until the following day: the moho would be just as tasty in the morning.
Chapter 14
Once again Fluoro and Jack were back in Crown Park. Fluoro was lighting the kerosene lamp while Jack sat on the edge of the lounger thinking back to the land they’d just left. He was feeling guilty.
Pat had located the other group not long after leaving the adzebill camp. The reunion between the two lots of moho was noisy and tearful. You’d have thought they’d been away from each other for weeks.
When things had settled a little, Jack took Lucy to one side and told her about the adzebills.
“We can handle them,” said Lucy.
“You sure? Boris is real evil.”
Lucy tossed back her head. “Let him be evil. Good will always win over bad.”
“How?”
“It just does. It’s the way of the world.”
Not my world, thought Jack. Liam Bennett always wins.
That’s when Fluoro came over and said they should go home. Before Jack had a chance to argue, they were back in
Crown Park. And now Jack was wishing he’d tried harder to convince Lucy of the danger.
He looked up to find Fluoro was staring at him. “Did you hear what I said?” asked Fluoro.
Jack shook his head.
“I was saying,” said Fluoro, speaking each word extra carefully, “that I’ll be busy in the morning and that you are not to come around until two thirty. Then we’ll meet with the Bennetts and after that we might take a little trip back in time. How does that suit you?”
Jack said it suited him fine. He was so tired that he’d agree to anything. All he wanted was to get home and go to bed.
His mum was waiting up for him when he arrived home. She was sitting at the kitchen table with her head resting on her arms. Jack got the feeling that she’d been asleep.
“It’s late. Where have you been?” she asked.
“At a friend’s place,” he replied.
“I thought you said you had no friends.”
“I do now. Is there any food?”
His mum pointed to the fridge.
It was cold meats and salads from the deli at the supermarket. Not Jack’s favourite food. His mum watched him eat for a while before excusing herself and going to bed.
Jack picked away at the food for a while longer, thinking about his day. He was pleased with the way he’d led the group in the caves. He felt that he’d been a good leader. How many other people had led a group of moho through a cave system and survived?
Then he chuckled at himself. “Yeah, right!” he murmured. “Like all that was real?”
After that, he went to bed.
At some stage during the night he woke to go to the toilet. As he climbed out of bed he felt that something was wrong. He looked at his hoodie lying where he’d thrown it on the floor. Parts of it were still glowing with pinpricks of light.
Anzac Day.
Jack filled in the time before two thirty watching television. But he couldn’t concentrate. Today was the day when Fluoro was going to sort out the Bennett brothers, and that would be something worth seeing.