‘Mmm,’ I say, gently trying to shake her off.
Then we’re in front of them. Two faces smiling anxiously, one as familiar as my own, the other unknown. Mum rushes at me and throws her arms round me. ‘Oh, Bel,’ she says, half-crying, ‘I missed you so much.’ Then she steps back and looks at the man beside her. ‘This is Bel,’ she says to him with pride in her voice. She turns to me. ‘Bel, this is Reuben.’
‘Gidday,’ he says, holding out his hand. I shake it. A big warm hand, a firm but careful pressure.
‘Hello,’ I say, my other hand grasping the dolphin inside my pocket. Give me strength, dolphin.
Tracey’s right. He’s not as handsome as my father but he does look reasonably nice. Nice enough to live with? Nice enough to be my stepfather? We’ll see.
‘Your mother’s told me an awful lot about you,’ he says.
‘Not too much bad stuff, I hope.’
‘Nope.’ His eyes twinkle. ‘Except that you keep on getting mixed up with men with guns. Sounds like quite an adventure you had.’
At least he’s got enough sense to keep things low-key. ‘Well, I don’t know anything about you,’ I say, ‘but I really hope you can cook. She can’t cook for peanuts.’
‘I know that,’ he says, ‘I’m learning fast.’ We smile at each other. Only small tentative smiles, but it’s a start. The dolphin is warm and smooth and strong in my palm, soaring out of the water, leaping across time.
AUTHOR’S NOTE
None of the characters in this book are intended to portray real people, either living or dead. The exception is Te Rauparaha, whose stormy relationship with the Marlborough Sounds shore whalers is well documented. The confrontation between Jack Dawson and Te Rauparaha in Chapter 11 is based on an actual event that took place involving John Guard and Te Rauparaha, although I have changed a few details to fit the plot.
The characters and the setting were, however, inspired by history. John Guard, an ex-convict from Sydney, set up the first shore whaling station in the Marlborough Sounds, based at Te Awaiti on Arapawa Island. Popular tradition says this probably happened in 1829. He brought his 16-year-old bride, Betty Guard, from Sydney to live at Te Awaiti. Betty led a long adventurous life and produced nine children. Descendants of the Guards still live in the Marlborough area.
The most comprehensive book about the Te Awaiti shore whalers is Guards of the Sea, by Don Grady (Christchurch, Whitcoulls, 1978). For books about present-day life on Arapawa Island, read Weather Permitting (Cape Catley, 1996) and Flood Tide (Cape Catley, 1997), both by Heather Heberley, whose husband is a descendant of one of John Guard’s shore whaling crew.
Lorraine Orman
About the Author
LORRAINE ORMAN developed a taste for children’s and teenagers’ books when she was a librarian at a secondary school and then at a college of education. She even created a personal website called Story-Go-Round to promote top-quality children’s books to teachers and young readers. The next logical step was to try writing. She has had numerous short stories published (for all ages) but Cross Tides is her first novel. Two shorter novels for primary-aged children will be released in 2005.
Lorraine lives temporarily in Auckland. She would rather be enjoying her house close to the sea at Omaha Beach, east of Warkworth. She feels most at home on the edges of the land and the sea.
Copyright
This book was written with the support of the Mentor Programme run by the New Zealand Society of Authors (PEN NZ Inc) and sponsored by Creative New Zealand.
Published with the assistance of
This book is copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study, research, criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright Act, no part may be reproduced by any process without the written permission of Longacre Press.
Lorraine Orman asserts her moral right to be identified as the author of this work.
© Lorraine Orman
ISBN 9781775531425
First published by Longacre Press 2004
30 Moray Place, Dunedin, New Zealand
Book and cover design by Christine Buess
Printed by McPherson’s Printing Group, Australia
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