Tamehana Tito

by Doug Ashby

CHAPTER 5

  A Friend Indeed

  The boys had every reason to feel all was well in their world. The police had called to their house the previous evening to tell the family that the pilot the boys had rescued a few weeks ago after his Cessna crashed deep in the bush was well on the way to a full recovery and that Bill had died immediately after confessing to the murder of Tamehana Tito. That case was closed. Maybe now Tamehana’s ghost could rest.

  Their contribution to the solving of the mystery of Tamehana’s disappearance quickly spread throughout the community with many expressing surprise that three boys could trace the killer, mainly by interpreting an obscure clue etched into a rock.

  So with lighter than usual steps, the boys were making another excursion up to the newly discovered part of their valley. They were nearing the goat shelter – normally this area would have made them feel quite uneasy – when Roscoe stopped abruptly.

  “Can you smell that?” he asked, looking around him and sniffing the air. Dan-Dan and Simione halted beside him. The acrid smell of smoke drifted to them on a gentle breeze.

  “It’s coming from the goat shelter,” decided Dan-Dan, and he started running. “Someone must be up there. Come on!”

  With that the trio hurriedly pushed on toward the increasingly pungent odour of burning brushwood. Soon they could see the smoke wafting through the trees and drifting slowly up through the forest canopy. Their playground was being invaded by irresponsible interlopers and how dare they light a fire and put the whole area at risk.

  But on reaching the shelter they saw a figure crouched over the old fireplace. The goat shelter was a relatively safe place to light a fire so there was little to no risk of the bush catching alight. Even though they knew goat hunters used the shelter, the boys felt they had some sort of claim over the valley and especially this particular spot. They couldn’t help but feel a bit put out to find a stranger making himself at home. All they could see of this hunched over person was his brown back and black tousled hair; he was barefooted and wearing only black football shorts.

  Sensing their presence, the stranger quickly straightened up and turned to face them. For a fleeting moment the boys saw an old man with the full mask of a tattooed face! The shock stopped them dead in their tracks and they stared, open mouthed. But the face suddenly burst into a huge smile and the three brothers found themselves staring at the broad grin of a boy not much older than themselves. Their minds must have been playing tricks on them … surely.

  A jovial, “What are you fullas up to?” jolted them fully back to reality. Without waiting for a reply, the young man returned his attention to his fire. “Thought I’d see if it still works, eh? Pretty good after all this time.”

  With Dan-Dan, Roscoe and Simione still subdued by the old tattooed face they’d first glimpsed and searching for words, the young man launched into an introduction.

  “I’m Tamehana.”

  The boys’ eyes widened.

  “No, it’s not what you’re thinking – I’m Tamehana’s grandson. My old grandfather used to live here.”

  He gave a nervous laugh. He stood up and turned to face the boys again. Reaching out, he shook each boy by the hand and as he did so he looked them straight in the eye. His handshake was firm and strong, like the handshake of an older man, mature in its grip with strength and toughness.

  “I’ve been told all about you fullas, ka pai, e hoa. My grandfather would have been proud to know you.”

  Realising the three boys before him were still tongue tied, he prattled on, “Gee, really good you found all those things out and got that confession. I know grandad will now be at peace.”

  Tamehana carried on to a mute audience. “My mother won’t come up here, you know,” and after a small giggly laugh, he continued, “She thinks it’s too spooky!” He laughed again and the boys relaxed a little – they could relate to that kind of thinking.

  The boy poked at the hot embers in the fireplace. “I come up here now and again, just to be with grandad.”

  “What!” exclaimed the boys in unison.

  “Nuh, just teasing,” said the young Tamehana. “My mother believes he was taken by the fairy people but still lives here. That’s why it’s only me who comes up to see him. She too scared!”

  He put down the stick he’d used to stir the embers and turned to face the boys.

  “As you know, he’s well dead and gone but you know what I mean. I come up to spend time where he was living and to think about him. It’s nice and peaceful. I’m sure if he was around he’d still be hanging out here, that’s for sure!”

  Tamehana poked at the fire again, his silence making it clear it was now the boys’ turn to say something.

  All the odd happenings of the last few years were swimming around in Simione’s head, events that the brothers had trouble understanding and that had never been satisfactorily explained. Here, perhaps, was the opportunity to get some answers.

  He spoke up, quietly and deliberately, with a question that had long troubled the three brothers. “You weren’t here during the big flood, were you?”

  The young Tamehana knew exactly what flood he was referring to. “Nuh, tucked up in my bed that night,” he said.

  He didn’t look at the three brothers this time; just kept prodding the fire. “That was a pig of a night, eh?” He laughed again.

  “What about the plane crash?” blurted out Roscoe.

  For some strange reason the boys felt they could fire questions at this person, even though they had never met him before. It was almost as though they believed he had all the answers they desperately wanted. They knew they were ignoring convention and etiquette when meeting someone for the first time – the first rule being to be polite – but this was different. Tamehana didn’t feel like a stranger to them.

  “You fullas have had a pretty exciting time, haven’t you?” said Tamehana, avoiding a direct answer to Roscoe’s query.

  Again he avoided the boys’ eyes, but then he quickly made contact again as if to let them know he wasn’t trying to be evasive.

  “Not out at Waitahi Beach either, I suppose?” added Dan-Dan with a relaxed, almost cheeky manner.

  He was smiling at Tamehana, enjoying the interaction. For an unknown reason he had taken an instant liking to this stranger and felt in a way that they had met somewhere before. He also felt Tamehana knew more than he was letting on and that he was light heartedly teasing, playing a bit of a game with the three brothers.

  “Nup,” was the boy’s reply.

  With those burning questions out of the way, the brothers now suddenly felt at ease. They were none the wiser but in a strange way they felt satisfied that this was how it was meant to be. How it was meant to stay. The strange happenings encountered by the three of them were suddenly of little importance as they settled down to talk to their new found friend. Lunch from the backpack was shared and for several hours the four boys talked about their interests and bush experiences, the banter non-stop as they chatted about all aspects of their lives. They had a common love for the bush and all the birds and creatures they knew there. The outdoors was where they were happiest and Tamehana shared their passion.

  Time flashed by and soon they had to leave. A powerful bond had been established between themselves and Tamehana, a friendship they felt was here to stay, and so with promises to meet again the four young lads shook hands in farewell. Tamehana asked the boys to look after the few hot embers, knowing they would be doused with water before the brothers left. Tamehana walked out of the shelter and off into the bush.

  With their friend’s departure came a strange emptiness. Quiet and reflective the boys prepared to leave too. Dan-Dan found the base of a nikau frond and scooped up enough water from the stream to put out the last of the embers. As he stood there looking into the circle of stones and watching the sudden eruption of steam and smoke, he spotted an object almost hidden in the debris on the cave floor. He reached down to pick it up. His wide eyed loo
k of wonder attracted his brothers and they crowded around him as he wiped off the dust. Beneath the grime was the deep green of pounamu, the beautiful texture of the greenstone almost glowing in the gloomy light of the shelter. The form of the stone was that of an adze, small enough to be a pendant, threaded with finely plaited flax to make a necklace. For a minute the brothers just stood there admiring the object, when without warning Roscoe grabbed the pendant and rushed outside. He burst out into the bush, calling for Tamehana.

  “Tamehana,” he shouted. “Tameh… “

  He stopped mid word, struck by the stillness and eerie silence of the bush. No bird calls, no breeze in the trees. It was as though they were completely alone and Tamehana had never been here with them at all. Even the sense of his presence had vanished.

  Neither Dan-Dan nor Simione moved as Roscoe came back under the overhang. The understanding of what he had just experienced required no words.

  “It’s a gift,” muttered Simione, taking hold of the greenstone. “Looks really old to me.”

  He closely examined the fine flax work. Having himself made bone pendants and strung them on a flax thread he knew this craftsmanship was something special, a quality he had never seen before, in both the carving of the stone and the braided necklace thread. The pendant was passed from hand to hand, turned and examined in its every detail. The dust from the floor of the cave was polished off on their shirts so they could see the full beauty of the stone. They didn’t say much as they handled the gift – it was simply a case of experiencing the joy of holding a well crafted object, and accepting the fact that they’d been thanked in a particularly special way. With their very precious gift wrapped in soft leaves and tucked in their backpack, the brothers headed back down the valley.

  Walking through the bush they saw anew the shifting patterns of the sand and rocks strewn all around them. They clearly heard the calling of the birds, especially those of the fantails that followed them down the track. They wondered if the fantail that had identified the stone with Tanehana’s etching on it now trailed them and whether it understood that Tamehana Tito’s spirit could now be at peace. Or were these birds the spirit of Tamehana himself?

  They padded along the familiar bush path that led to the farmland and then on to their backyard. As soon as they were within calling distance of the house, they heralded their return by whooping and hollering loudly enough for their voices to echo down the valley. There was neither code nor meaning to these communications; it was simply a greeting to say where they were and that they would be home soon. Their mother read it as meaning What’s there to eat? but she also knew it was much more than that. Her familiar acknowledgement meant all was well on the home front.

  The three adventurous young Kiwis were almost back home with another exciting tale to tell.

  THE END

  Further adventure stories by D.R.H.Ashby.

  If you liked this story, there are five more action packed adventures in the Three out of Three series by D.R.H. Ashby.

  The main characters, Roscoe, Simione and Dan-Dan, are 12 year old triplet brothers who live in rural New Zealand. A forest park and coastal waters are their play ground, an environment that has taught them survival skills and tests them to their limits. The special bond between the brothers is an all important ingredient in their adventures. A mysterious person appears in all six stories, a figure who the boys doubt they even saw at all.

  Story one, Out and About, sees the boys confronted by a lone wild boar in the bush. With no-one to help them, they will need to bring into effect all their skills of survival if they are to outsmart this huge angry animal.

  Story two, A Day at the Beach, is set on the coast. A sudden storm blows up, and as the three boys hurry towards safety, they spy two children with a small dog on the increasingly dangerous beach. Huge waves sweep the dog out to sea. The boy and girl – will they be next?

  Story three, The Top-dresser: A Cessna top-dressing plane comes down in an area in the bush with which the boys are unfamiliar. They track the path of the plane by following the fertiliser trail. The smell of aviation fuel becomes their only lead when the trail stops.

  Story four, Tamehana Tito: The ghost of a mysterious old character is believed to roam the Waitai valley, waiting for someone to find his murderer. The triplet brothers decide to investigate the cold case. They find two vital clues, including a cryptic message from four decades ago.

  Story five, The Cave: On holiday at the top of the South Island, the triplet brothers discover fossils in a limestone cave. Exciting discoveries are made but unexpected natural forces have tragic results. A chance meeting with Katrina proves to be a life saver, and their friendship has a brand new start.

  Story six, Waitai Revisited: Rata, a German Shepherd puppy, joins the family and brings new challenges to the boys’ lives. A drama of dogs, guns and drugs coincides with Katrina’s visit. Their old friend Tamehana Tito, ghost or real, arrives just in time.