by Baker Chris
This time the results were spectacular. From a few feet inside the hole they concentrated on the spot and watched while a section of the wall vaporised. Then they felt a disturbance behind them and turned to see most of the wall opposite and a large section of the roof collapsing, boulders seeming to float lazily down through the water.
Move! yelled Paki in his head. He seized Hoheria and pulled her through the opening. Swiftly they swam to where Wilf was lying, and turned, just in time to see the whole top of the hill collapsing inwards. As they watched, the sides began to crumble and inside half a minute they were looking at a massive jumbled pile of boulders, clouds of sea-floor debris settling on the rocks.
Hoheria felt Paki’s relief. That’s the end of that lot, she thought. Let’s get home.
16
This Doesn’t Feel Real
‘There they are!’ shrieked Lydia, the first to see the trio when they emerged from the water. Well, not really emerged, observed Sean. To everyone’s amazement they saw what looked like three bodies float to the surface in the shallows, then dive back under the water as soon as they felt the air.
‘Pull them out,’ said Kevin. ‘They can’t make it on their own.’ He remembered Wilf talking about his underwater adventures. ‘They don’t want to come out. It’s like drowning in reverse.’
They waded into waist-deep water and carried the three bodies, two of them struggling, into the shallows and up onto dry sand. Hoheria and Paki immediately started puking up pints of seawater. They threshed, flopped and gasped like freshly landed fish. But not Wilf. He just lay there, unmoving. Sean moved to him just as Kevin spoke. ‘The old guy needs some help. And look at his leg!’
Sean wrapped his arms around Wilf below his chest, lifted him and squeezed. An enormous jet of water shot out and he drew a shuddering breath. His eyelids fluttered and his hands moved weakly. Kevin didn’t see. He was kneeling by Hoheria, holding her as she threw up the last of the seawater in her stomach, emptied her lungs, and began drawing ragged, shallow breaths.
Paki was the first to recover, helped by Cheryl, weeping with relief and delight. ‘You came back!’ she kept crying.
‘I thought you’d gone!’
Paki managed a feeble smile. ‘This doesn’t feel real.’ Then he turned his head to look at Wilf. The old man was breathing with difficulty. ‘I think he had a stroke.’ He stretched out his arm and grasped Hoheria’s hand. ‘Good on you, girl. You saved all of us.’ He hesitated. ‘I hope I’m not dreaming. I hope we are where I think we are.’
‘You’re not dreaming,’ Cheryl said. ‘You’re here! You’re safe!’ She tightened her arms around him and showered him with kisses.
Eric stared at Wilf’s leg. He tugged at Cheryl’s knitted poncho. ‘Look at that. Where’s his leg?’
They carried Wilf to Kevin and Hoheria’s house, cleaned by Kevin in hopeful readiness. In the sunroom they stripped off his wet clothes, wrapped him in blankets, and started discussing how to deal with his amputation.
‘Seal it with flax juice,’ Bill said. ‘It always worked for me when a pig ripped my leg open. Cobwebs too.’
Alex gave him a look. ‘We’re not in the bush now. We can do a bit better than that.’
‘Honey,’ Marama said. ‘Pack the wound in honey.’
Pita snorted. ‘Then I suppose you bury your neighbour’s dishcloth by the light of the full moon.’
Sean settled the argument. ‘Marama’s right about the honey. It’ll seal the wound and help it heal. We just have to keep the old guy pumped full of natural antibiotics.’ He looked at Kevin. ‘You know about those. All those drinks that Marianne kept pouring into you when you were crook.’
‘Yeah, they worked too. But what about the stroke?’
Frangipani lifted Wilf’s wrists and started taking his pulse. After a minute she lowered his arms and turned to everyone. ‘No major organ damage and his heart’s okay. He’s stuffed though. He’ll need a few weeks of complete rest.’
♦
Later that day Dr Kamisese Prakesh spoke to Beatriz. ‘She’s right, you know.’ He shook his head. ‘In the Old Times we’d have tested everything, not just felt his pulse.’
‘Do you want a hot bath?’ Kevin asked Hoheria.
She shuddered. ‘No water, please. Just lots of blankets.’ She snuggled down in the bed. Kevin moved the candle closer so that shadows danced on the high, ornate, plaster ceiling, birds fluttering amid bunches of grapes. A wave of relief passed over Hoheria. ‘It’s good to know I’ve got a home. It’s good to know who I am. I don’t feel the best, though.’ She reached for Kevin’s hand and squeezed it. ‘I lost myself for a while. Paki even had to tell me who you were.’
‘I nearly drowned diving in the river looking for you,’ Kevin said. ‘Wilf saved me.’
Hoheria had a sudden vision of Wilf lying stricken on the sand, then helping her to defeat Meremere. ‘He saved me too. He saved us all. Wonder what we can do for him?’
Cheryl made Paki get straight into bed in the house she and Eric had been living in. ‘I think we might have to stay here,’ she said.
Paki agreed instantly. ‘No reason to live in Kahuika any more. The trouble should be finished now.’ He gave a mischievous grin. ‘Maybe we can go back to the markets one day. Be all knowing and mysterious when people ask what happened.’
‘Sure, and maybe they’re not laughing either. Don’t forget, people got killed.’
Paki reached for Cheryl and pulled her close. ‘I’ll never forget anything that happened, especially not drowning. But we need to tell those folk they’re safe now.’
♦
Late that night Wilf regained consciousness. Kevin’s dog, Jaws, who’d been keeping watch beside the bed, barked a warning, and Kevin came running.
‘I can’t move,’ Wilf said, lying on his back in bed. Kevin used a flint and steel to light a candle. ‘I think I had a stroke when I was underwater.’
‘Hang on, Uncle. I’ll get Hoheria. She might be able to help.’
Hoheria pulled up a chair beside Wilf. She felt empty herself, but the sight of the old man lying helpless in the bed awoke her determination to do him some good. Despite her weakness she plunged deep inside herself, searching for the source of her energy, wondering how things would be back on dry land.
She found the fire, dormant, nestled deep in her gut. Hesitantly she drew it upwards, directing it into her limbs and allowing it to suffuse her mind. Her hands tingled, and as she looked at Wilf she saw his frailty, the pain in his leg, his strained muscles, and the thin and weakened walls of his heart, still pumping faithfully but the merest shade away from bursting. She could try anyway.
She visualised the fire pouring from her forehead and into Wilf’s body. It wasn’t blue any more. It was a stream of sparkling, coruscating white light that wrapped around his heart and coursed through his limbs, washing his tired muscles. She could feel his stress lifting. Even the pain in his leg was going. His eyes closed. His breathing became deep and even. Hoheria started relaxing, and withdrew into herself.
Kevin caught her as she swayed and suddenly toppled from the chair, falling sideways. He helped her back to bed and was shocked at her lightness when he lifted her. Her eyes opened as he was pulling the duvet up.
‘I feel like I’m barely here,’ she said. ‘I knew there’d be a price for all this.’
Kevin went back to check on Wilf, who was sleeping deeply and easily, and returned to Hoheria.
‘Come to bed with me,’ she said. ‘Just hold me.’
In the morning, Hoheria was too weak to get up. Frangipani checked her pulses and gave Kevin a severe look. ‘She needs looking after. I’ve no idea what happened, but she feels drained, like there isn’t much left. So don’t even let her talk. Nothing. She’s very close to the edge.’
Kevin felt like he was on a roller-coaster. He’d lost Hoheria, then she’d come back. Now she was going again and as he looked at her head on the pillow, the paper-thin skin of her eyelids, the vein
s standing out on the backs of her hands, he felt the danger greater than ever.
The next day Paki walked in with Cheryl and Alex.
‘How’s Hoheria?’ Alex asked Kevin. ‘How’s the old man?’
‘He’s okay. Hoheria isn’t.’
‘Not surprised,’ Paki said. ‘You wouldn’t believe what she did down there. She took on all the Ponaturi. Beat the buggers too. Can I see her?’
‘Not yet. No visitors. Frangipani reckons she’s stuffed. Be a couple of days at least.’ Kevin looked worried. ‘I’m scared shitless. I don’t want to lose her.’
‘Give her this, then.’ Paki held out the taniwha manaia. ‘Tell her I picked it up from inside the cavern before we left. It sure helped us, and it might help her.’
After they left, promising to call back later, Kevin looked at the manaia. It sat in his hand, inscrutable. ‘What’s with you, I wonder?’ he said to himself. ‘How can you do any good?’ He was just about to put the bone carving with the coloured glass inlays in his pocket when something about it caught his eye. Maybe it was the jewelled tiara, maybe it was the creature’s coiled tail. Maybe he saw something in its eye. He stopped, and looked at Hoheria, taking shallow breaths in her sleep, her spark very fragile. She seemed to be hovering on the brink of something awful. He bent down, put Tinirau in the palm of her hand, and closed her fingers over the manaia.
Kevin pulled an armchair close to Hoheria’s bedhead, and settled down to wait. Nothing happened for about two hours. She slept fitfully, sometimes struggling for breath, trying to turn but lacking the strength. Then, just as Kevin was starting to nod off, she gave a particularly ragged sigh and her breathing all but stopped. This is dreadful, he thought. What’s happening?
Greetings to you, girl, said the voice in Hoheria’s head. Maybe it was her delirium or her weakness, but it sounded tiny and faraway, fading in and out like a poor radio signal. There was no doubt who it was. She had a clear picture of a great dragon head atop a sinuous body, with folded wings and sparkling jewellery.
You’ve done well.
But the voice was so distant. Where was it coming from?
Where are you? she asked.
Nagaland. Burma to you – Myanmar, I believe humans call the place now.
What on earth was Tinirau doing there? He was speaking again. She put aside her question.
You’re dying, he said.
What?
You don’t have to, you know. You can heal yourself. He sounded irritated.
How?
You can use the fire. I suppose I can help you. Just try it on your own first.
Okay.
Tinirau faded while she sent her consciousness deep within herself, searching for the fire. But she was fading too. Her will was now a feeble thing. All she could see was darkness. The more she tried, the weaker she felt. There was no fire, no matter how she searched. It just wasn’t there.
Kevin watched her slipping, distraught with helplessness. Should he go for Frangipani? No way. He couldn’t leave Hoheria, not now. He seized her hand, his mind full of wild pleas and promises. Hoheria opened her eyes and smiled at him, then closed them again. It felt like she was saying goodbye. A wave of despair washed over him.
‘You can’t, can you?’
Silence.
‘Never mind, I’ll try.’
The first thing Hoheria felt was warmth. It started with her feet, travelled up her legs, stirred her insides, filled her mind, and woke her up. Someone was talking. The voice was annoyed. You shouldn’t have got like this in the first place.
Hoheria heard a noise like hmmph!
Too busy helping other people, that’s your trouble. You let yourself slip.
It felt like a telling off. As Hoheria’s thoughts cleared she realised she was glad Tinirau was on the other side of the world.
Glad? She must be feeling things again. She opened her eyes and there was Kevin. He was holding her hand to his lips, about to burst into tears.
‘C’mon,’ she said. ‘No dramatics, please. You’ve got the job!’
‘You’re okay! What happened?’
‘Tinirau. He did the business.’
Kevin flung his arms around Hoheria. ‘I really thought I’d lost you this time.’ He grimaced, thinking back to his desperate dives in the river. ‘Hope this is the last time.’
Hoheria gave a little laugh. ‘For a while, anyway.’
In the morning Sean and Alex tiptoed in. Hoheria was sitting up in bed eating a five-centimetre-thick roast lamb sandwich, spilling meat and crumbs everywhere.
‘I didn’t realise how hungry I was,’ she said. ‘I’ve had nothing to eat for days!’
‘You sure you’re okay?’ asked Alex.
‘I must be if I’m this hungry.’ She turned to Sean and held out the manaia. ‘By the way, do you have any idea what Tinirau might be doing in Burma?’
Sean laughed. ‘Taniwha get around. He was probably visiting some cuzzies. They call them naga over there.’
‘He saved me. He saved all of us.’
‘Then he’s an exception. I understand they’re selfish buggers.’ He handed the manaia back to Hoheria. ‘You keep this. I think you earned it.’
Hoheria spent a fortnight in bed, protesting at the inaction but really enjoying the rest, and especially being waited on. Then they went to Kahuika, to the markets.
‘You don’t have to go,’ said Paki. ‘But I do. I have to tell those people they’ve got no more worries.’
‘I should go too,’ said Hoheria. ‘Just to make peace with the family of that boy I killed. Jim’s people too.’
‘You’re probably right. But we’d best take some protection, just in case.’
Manu went with them, complete with his jail-cell moko, possum-skin jacket and carved bone patu.
‘Nobody’s going to mess with you,’ commented Cheryl. ‘You’re so good at not smiling.’
Hoheria and Kevin rode side by side, and Eric sat behind Cheryl. Paki rode in front, one arm in a sling, his island shirt like a banner. Sean and Manu took their places in the rear, chatting about the Old Times. Wilf’s words rang in their ears.
‘You be careful in there,’ the old man had said. ‘That’s a small town and those folk are probably frightened.’ He heaved himself up in the bed. ‘By the way, if you get a chance could you feed my chooks?’
The market started buzzing as soon as they rode into the old pub carpark, dismounted and tied their horses to the roadside trees. Hoheria could see Jim’s people, their jaws dropping, reaching for weapons.
‘Keep your cool,’ Sean said softly. ‘No sudden movements.’
They walked together between the tents and stalls, conversation dying as they passed. Paki headed the group. He nodded to folk he knew, but said nothing. They stopped when they reached Jim’s people. Everyone stared at each other, frozen in place, nobody wanting to make the first move. Then Paki spoke. Hoheria almost giggled with the sudden release of tension.
‘How about a cup of tea?’ he said. ‘We’ve got a lot to talk about.’
The woman who had denounced Hoheria spoke first.
‘Did you kill Jim?’
Kevin gave Hoheria’s hand a squeeze.
‘I did,’ he said. ‘Self defence.’
The woman grunted. ‘I’m not really surprised.’ Then she faced Hoheria. ‘It’s you he was after. You’re the monster.’
‘Not any more,’ said Paki. ‘She stopped the monsters. D’you want to hear about it?’
They watched warring within the woman a love of a dramatic scene and a desire to know what was going on.
‘Cup of tea,’ repeated Paki. ‘Tell you all about it.’
They could see the woman’s entourage relaxing. Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad. Manu and Sean stood with arms folded, inscrutable.
‘This is really about magic,’ Paki said, when they were seated around two trestle tables pushed together. He was trying hard to ignore the mouth-watering smell of spit-roasted pork coming from the f
ire-pit next to them. Cheryl could see his attention slipping sideways. She gave him a discreet elbow in the ribs. He winced, as a newly healed break gave a painful twinge.
‘I guess we all owe Jim a big one,’ Paki said. ‘He made Hoheria jump in the river, and if it hadn’t been for that she wouldn’t have found out how to live underwater.’
‘Live underwater?’ The woman was clearly sceptical. Paki nodded at Hoheria, who held out her hands, ringed with blue fire. She smiled at the woman who was wide-eyed with wonderment. Then Paki did the same thing. The men around the table gaped.
‘Those Ponaturi are demons. We found where they were living, went there, and fought them. At least Hoheria fought them. She won, too. You won’t have any more trouble.’
‘No more monsters in the night?’
‘Not a one. You’re safe now.’
The woman looked around at her followers, bristling with knives and crossbows. Then she looked at the Kokopu Waters people. After a moment she spoke.
‘It’s a hard story to believe, but if we’re safe now…’
Hoheria leaned forward and took the woman’s hands. She stiffened and looked downwards, expecting to be burnt.
‘I’m sorry about that young man in your household,’ Hoheria said. ‘But that wasn’t me. I was possessed, but I beat the creature in the end and nothing like that’ll happen again.’
The woman looked into Hoheria’s eyes. Everyone held their breath. Finally she spoke. ‘I believe you. And I can see it wasn’t easy.’ She cleared her throat and looked around the table at everyone. ‘Thanks for coming here, too. That can’t have been easy either.’
Paki laughed. ‘No, it wasn’t. But we’re here now, in one piece.’ He hesitated. ‘Except for that old guy, Wilf. He lost a leg and had a stroke.’ Paki thought of the shark biting off Wilf’s leg. Somehow that seemed like the worst thing that happened. He shook his head to clear it, and looked around. The smell of roasting pork brought him back into the moment. ‘Let’s have some food and drink. I’ll tell you all about it.’