MR LACY
Why hadn’t you called the police before now?
WITNESS
I had been thinking about it, but didn’t have anything concrete up till then. I was right shitting myself at that point too.
MR LACY
Meaning?
WITNESS
I thought something bad had happened to Egan.
MR LACY
You refused to give your name to the triple one operator. Why?
WITNESS
I didn’t refuse sir. I just didn’t have time. I gave them the address, told them about the blood and hung up. Jack was already racing off into the bush.
MR LACY
I believe your words were “There’s blood bloody everywhere.”
WITNESS
If you say so. I don’t remember.
MR LACY
What happened next?
WITNESS
I tried to keep up with Jack. He was really motoring, despite his bad leg.
We went off the path right quick. He took me through a rough bit, where he squeezed through under some undergrowth, but I had to bust my way through.
MR LACY
And then?
WITNESS
We found Ray in a small clearing, he was ranting and raving and swearing at Egan who was up in a tree – climbed up there to hide when he couldn’t get away, I reckon.
MR MILTON
Move to strike. Opinion.
JUDGE SLAYDON
Overruled, Mr Milton. It seems a fair assumption given the circumstances.
MR LACY
We have previously heard evidence that Egan was very experienced in the bush. Why do you think it was that he couldn’t evade his father, who was much larger and had little bush experience?
WITNESS
You want my opinion, sir?
JUDGE SLAYDON
I will allow it. Mr Milton, please sit down.
WITNESS
Egan’s leg was spraying out blood like a leaky faucet. A blind man could have followed the blood trail.
MR LACY
Please tell us precisely what you saw when you got to the clearing.
WITNESS
Crackerjack, the dog, was snarling and growling, but he wouldn’t go near Ray … the defendant, I mean. When I got there, the defendant was aiming the crossbow up in the tree. I yelled out and he looked around, but I was half a second too late. He had already fired. I was pretty sure he had missed, despite it being a close range, but it was dark and he was firing into a tree. But then Egan hit the ground in front of us. The end of the crossbow bolt was sticking out from underneath his left arm. He would have been unconscious before he hit the ground.
MR LACY
What grounds do you have to make that assumption?
WITNESS
He didn’t do anything to save himself, sir. Didn’t put his arms out. Nothing.
MR LACY
And then?
WITNESS
The defendant was still going mental, shouting at Egan that it was all his fault that he had to shoot him and he picked up the crossbow and was going to bash Egan with it. But I got there just in time. He swung at me with the crossbow but I ducked underneath and put him on the ground with a ju-jitsu move. He was thumping away at me so I had to knock him out.
MR LACY
The defendant, Raymond Tucker, is a former front row forward who played rugby at the highest international level. He is a keen amateur body builder. He is indeed a very big, powerful man. Yet doctors at the hospital that the defendant was taken to, described his injuries as looking like he had been in a car accident. Do you have any comment on that?
WITNESS
No sir.
MR LACY
How do you think those injuries might have happened?
WITNESS
Maybe when he hit the ground, sir.
MR LACY
Please understand that you are not on trial here, Mr Hunter. The defendant has already confessed to this crime. We are just trying to establish all the facts surrounding this matter. So I will ask you again, how do you think those injuries might have happened?
WITNESS
I really couldn’t say. I don’t remember much about what happened after Egan fell out of the tree.
MR LACY
I am sure my learned colleague will want to pursue this matter further under cross-examination, but for now let us continue.
WITNESS
After that I picked up Egan.
MR LACY
You didn’t think to remove the crossbow bolt?
WITNESS
Definitely not. That would have been likely to have done more harm than good. Might have killed him on the spot.
MR LACY
Continue.
WITNESS
I remember carrying Egan back out of the forest. Jack came at my heels, whimpering up at Egan. The first police cars were just arriving. They called the ambulance for me, and I told them where to find the defendant.
MR LACY
Thank you, Mr Hunter.
NZ Herald Article, april 2nd
Egan ‘Bush’ Tucker is a remarkable young man. The son of rugby international Ray Tucker, Egan has spent almost his entire life isolated from the outside world.
When he finally emerged from the bush hideout in which he lived, he found a world far beyond anything he could have imagined from the books and the occasional magazine that were his only contact with the rest of the world.
Perhaps it is his innocence, or his wide-eyed wonderment at the world he found, but there is something about Egan that has struck a chord with people, not only in New Zealand, but around the world.
His belief that the world would be a better place if people just lived according to a basic code of honour made him famous around the world, and gained him millions of followers; let it be said much to his horror. Egan has no desire for fame or fortune, and the responsibility heaped on his innocent young shoulders would have crushed most people of his age.
He had his detractors too, that goes without saying. Critics who said that his much publicised ‘Code of Honour’ was merely a rehash of things that had been said many times, in better ways, by far greater thinkers than this simple bush philosopher.
And yet something about Egan inspired people to do more than just think about things: to actually take action in their own lives.
One of the fundamental tenets of his ‘Code’ was to bring no harm to others, so it is a cruel irony that the purveyor of this message should himself be subject to such terrible harm at the hand of someone who should have been his protector: his own father.
Today we pray for Egan as he lies critically injured in North Shore Hospital.
And while we all hold our breath waiting for his recovery, we might take a moment to reflect on the message Egan brought us. Perhaps, if the world will look again at his ideas, we might find that all it takes to change our own lives is to follow the simple philosophy of the boy from the bush.
Get well soon, Egan. We miss you.
HELEN DegRASSI Show April 6th
Transcript
HELEN: It’s called Egan’s Code, and it’s a set of guidelines for living life. Nothing we haven’t heard before, and arguably better, but something about Egan’s code has captured the imagination of the world. Who could argue that the world would not be a better place if we lived our lives according to a code of conduct, if we obeyed certain unimpeachable rules about how we treat other people, and how we treat ourselves.
That’s what Egan’s Code is. It’s not advice. It’s a set of rules.
People say to me: if I live by this code, what do I get?
You know what? You don’t get anything. That’s right. Nothing. You don’t get rich
and you don’t get famous. You don’t get a hot new boyfriend or girlfriend. You don’t get slim and you might not even get happy. You don’t get – you give.
And if that doesn’t work for you, then this code is not for you.
But you know, maybe I’m wrong. If you follow Egan’s Code, you do get something. You get to live a good life. You get memories that you can be proud of when you’re old. You get respect. Mine, if nobody else’s.
We had planned to have Egan Tucker, from New Zealand, as a guest on this week’s show. An invitation was sent and airfares were booked, after Egan reluctantly agreed to appear. I say reluctantly because Egan was not a publicity seeker. He did not seek to profit in any way from his ‘code’. He was a simple boy from the bush, who had something very special instilled in him, by his mother, a courageous and inspiring woman.
Sadly, Egan will not be on the show this week. Viciously attacked by a brute of a man, who cannot be named due to current police investigations, Egan died in hospital two nights ago.
You know, I’ve been staring up at the sky the last couple of days, looking for that canoe cloud, but I guess I must have missed it.
Anyway, now with the release of selected extracts from Egan’s private diary, we are starting to get a glimpse of Egan the young man, the person behind this wonderful guide to life. Reading his stories – and what a wonderful writer he was – we get a sense of his personal view of the world.
Instead of the interview, today we are going to do something a little different. I’ve invited a bunch of my friends, people you know, to contribute. Movie stars, pop stars, celebrities. Each will read one of the items on Egan’s code. Listen. See if you too can learn from this simple and pure human being.
Rest in Peace, Egan. You really were a shooting star.
So wonderful. So bright. For such a short time.
MOMA’S CODE OF HONOUR
What follows is Egan’s code of honour, as given to him by his mother.
It is clear that Moana did not make this stuff up. She borrowed the thirty rules from a variety of sources and tried to write them in a way that Egan would understand. It was intended to be a way of making decisions when he was unsure.
Egan told me that I could use his code if I wanted. But if I chose to live by this code of honour then I must live every day, and make every decision, everything I do, according to the code.
It was an easy choice, but there was one rule that I think his mother forgot. It’s the one I now live my life by:#31 Live your life to the full because you never know how long you’re going to get. And if your life is not what you were expecting it to be, be okay with that. Make the best of it. Your future was never set in stone.
—J.T. Hunter
#1 Never break the code.
Ever. Under any circumstances.
These are not suggestions. These are rules for living your life.
#2 Live with honour.
Be a person you’d be proud to tell your grandkids about. Don’t be someone you’d be ashamed to tell them about. Make great memories for when you are old.
#3 Live with love.
Allow yourself to love other people.
Allow them the freedom to love you.
If you are ever in doubt about how to act, ask yourself what the most loving thing to do would be.
#4 Never tell a lie.
The consequences of telling a lie are always worse than those of telling the truth.
#5 Be happy sometimes.
It’s okay not to be happy all the time.
There is more to life than happiness. Life has its ups and downs.
Trying to be constantly happy will only make you unhappy.
#6 Treat other people the way you’d like them to treat you.
Whenever you are confused about how to act, ask yourself: how would I want them to act towards me?
Show them the same respect you want them to show you.
#7 Never, ever hurt another person, unless it is to stop them hurting you.
And even then, only if you have to.
#8 Do not allow other people to get hurt.
Do not look the other way.
All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good people to do nothing.
Do not let evil triumph. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act.
Do this whatever it costs you.
#9 Never assume meanness.
If you don’t know why a person did a bad thing, assume they did it for good, loving reasons.
Then assume they did it out of ignorance or forgetfulness.
Then assume that you misunderstood what they did.
Then ask them why they did it.
Never assume they did it to be mean.
Maybe they did, but don’t assume that.
#10 Forgive people when they do bad stuff to you.
They will. Not everyone lives by a code of honour.
Forgive them, not for their sake, but for yours. It will eat you up inside otherwise.
#11 Get over it.
No matter what bad thing happens to you, get over it. Move on. Don’t ruin the rest of your life thinking about it. Don’t hold grudges against others, against yourself, or against the world.
Don’t forget it. But don’t dwell on it. Get over it.
#12 Listen.
Listen to what other people have to say. You will learn stuff you didn’t know.
Never think about something else while you are listening.
#13 Be a giver not a getter.
The happiness you gain from giving is strong and lasts longer than the happiness you gain from getting stuff.
Give things, money, your time, your sympathy; you always have something to give.
#14 Never take what is not yours.
Never steal. You would not want other people to steal from you.
#15 Cheating is stealing.
If you cheat at cards, you are stealing money.
If you cheat at a game, you are stealing the win.
If you cheat on an exam, you are stealing the result.
If you cheat on a relationship, you are stealing someone’s love.
#16 Be open to new experiences.
Some of them may change your life.
But be smart enough to recognise those that may ruin your life.
#17 Always keep your promises.
Or you will turn friends into enemies.
#18 Be honest about what you feel.
People cannot deal openly with you if what is in your words and what is on your face is not what is in your heart.
#19 Don’t judge other people.
You don’t have that right. And they don’t have the right to judge you.
#20 Confront your fears and problems.
Things you are afraid of will not go away if you ignore them.
Problems will remain problems if you avoid them.
Worry is wasted energy.
#21 Never despair.
The night is always darkest just before the dawn.
If things are really dark, that means dawn is on its way.
#22 Do at least one nice thing for someone else every day.
If they don’t know you did it, do not tell them.
Do not expect a reward or even thanks.
A good deed with an expectation of a reward is not a good deed. It is a job.
If you haven’t done at least one good thing today, go and find one to do.
#23 Benefit others first.
If in doubt about which course of action to take, take the one that will benefit others before the one that will benefit you.
#24 Don’t be wasteful.
Not with food, not with money, not with your affections.
Not with anything. There will always be tim
es when you wish you had been more frugal.
#25 Respect your elders.
They know more than you think they know, but they’ll let you make the same mistakes they made if you don’t want to listen.
#26 Always be kind and generous to people less fortunate than you.
Help them in any way you can.
#27 Learn.
Learn new stuff. Every day if you can.
Challenge yourself. Improve yourself.
Every little bit helps. You run a mile one step at a time.
#28 Talk your problems through calmly.
Reasonable people work out their problems without resorting to shouting or violence.
#29 Don’t complain, act.
If something is wrong, put it right, or shut up about it.
Don’t waste your energy, and other people’s time, complaining about it.
#30 Live your own life whatever that brings you.
You are who you are.
You have what you’ve got.
You can’t have someone else’s life so live your own, be happy with it (or at least accepting of it) and never compare your life to someone else’s.
Brian Falkner
Brian Falkner wanted to be an author ever since he was a child. It only took him thirty years to realise that dream. Along the way he worked as a reporter, advertising copywriter, radio announcer, graphic designer, and Internet developer. Now an award-winning author, Brian has had more than fourteen novels published internationally. He is also an internationally acclaimed writing coach, running workshops and writing camps around Australia, New Zealand and the USA. He lives in Queensland, Australia.
www.brianfalkner.com
First published in 2016 by Scholastic New Zealand Limited Private Bag 94407, Botany, Auckland 2163, New Zealand
Scholastic Australia Pty Limited PO Box 579, Gosford, NSW 2250, Australia
Text © Brian Falkner, 2016
ISBN 978-1-77543-360-6
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical or digital, including photocopying, recording, storage in any information retrieval system, or otherwise, without prior written permission of the publisher.
Shooting Stars Page 21