The Moa Cave (13 page)

Tyler and Hine walked along silently, getting further behind. They both knew this would be the last quiet time they would have together. When they reached the woolshed there would be chaos for a while. Then afterwards, there might even be blame. They needed this time: who knew when they could be alone together again?

It was Hine who spoke first. She moved in front and put her hands on his chest. ‘It’s my dare, isn’t it, Ty?’ she said nervously. Tyler gave a little nod. ‘Okay, this is it.’

She moved to wrap her arms around him. For a moment she looked into his eyes, before leaning forward, until her lips met his.

Tyler closed his eyes and held tight. He couldn’t believe what was happening to his body. All the aches and pains melted away. The cold was replaced by a beautiful warmth. It was so wonderful; if only it would last for ever.

Eventually they came up for air. They stood holding each other. Hine smiled and said, ‘Now it’s your turn. You’ve got to do it too.’

So he did. If anything it was even better than before. This time he could feel Ata’s pendant pressed between their beating hearts. It felt like it was beating too.

Workmen were putting the finishing touches to the gardens in the car park. In the paddock alongside was the huge marquee for the opening ceremony at dawn the next day. A carved gate framed the wooden walkway that led to the cave. A sign welcomed visitors to ‘Te Tomo Moa—a tribute to the moa and those who hunted them’. Below in smaller print was ‘Resident curator Bill Withers’.

It was Bill who had said they could have a sneak preview if they wandered down this afternoon. Tyler had welcomed the chance. He wanted to see the place without a lot of people around. Just him and Hine would have been good, but he didn’t mind Mandy coming as well—she was part of it too.

Hine pointed to the logo on the sign and gave him a questioning look. He returned with a little smile—he wouldn’t tell her yet. She would find out soon enough.

The walkway threaded its way through flax bushes and cabbage trees behind the yellow-eyed penguin colony. At the stream, the path rose to cross a wooden bridge built high enough to cope with the worst of floods. On the other side the path turned right along the bottom of the cliff.

There they found Bill painting a railing. He was wearing
official white overalls carrying the logo and the word ‘Curator’ embroidered below. He looked nervous.

‘Mind the wet paint,’ he warned. ‘This should have been done days ago. I don’t know what’s happened to my workers.’

‘Don’t worry,’ said Hine. ‘Nobody will mind if a bit of paint is missing.’

‘Yeah, maybe. I just want it to be right.’ His face brightened. ‘Anyway it’s all finished inside. The door’s unlocked and the lights are on. Go take a look.’

The entrance was enclosed in a large glass foyer that would protect it should the sea come that high. A wooden doorway was set into the rock. Tyler found himself shaking as he opened it. Hine touched his arm in support.

Inside was a short, dim passage, long enough for their eyes to adjust to the dark. Then they were in the cave. Instantly they stopped. Mandy gasped with surprise.

In front of them was the ledge on which Ata lay, protected by a glass wall. He was in the same place as always, yet this was Ata as Tyler had never seen him. The bones had been cleaned and the rock polished, making him seem even more ancient than before.

Then there were the three things highlighted by spotlights: the yellowed moa bone, the gem-like gizzard stones, and the fossil pendant.

Tyler felt Hine’s hand find his. ‘When did you give it back?’

‘When I heard they were turning the cave into a museum I knew I had to give it back. He wouldn’t be right without it.’

‘Do you miss it?’

‘A bit. I’ve still got your cord and that works. But whenever I need the pendant, I just think of Ata and he helps me. Now that I’ve seen this it will be even easier.’

She touched the logo on the sign in front of them. ‘It makes a lovely symbol, doesn’t it?’

With a few simple curves the designer had captured the age and beauty of the pendant. It was a wonderful combination of the arts of nature, moa hunter and computerised man.

They looked in silence for a while, each recalling parts of their experience from more than a year before, and what it now meant for them.

The spell was broken by Mandy. ‘Hey look, Hine,’ she called. ‘Here’s your teddy.’

Along in the place where Hopi and Mopsie had so patiently hatched their eggs was a new nest. This one had two stuffed little blue penguins sitting much the same as the live ones had. And poking out from between them was the same well-loved face of Teddy.

Hine knew he was there. Bill had written asking permission. He’d also said there was a possibility they would make copies of him to sell in a souvenir shop they hoped to open soon.

Next there were displays showing the geology of the area and how the cave had formed. On the opposite side were the artefacts from under the sand and in the cove outside: bones, adzes, blades, and ornaments. Tyler only glanced at them. He could take a closer look some other time. Right now he wanted to see the moa cave.

Instead of a tight cleft and a steep climb, steps had been cut into the rock. While it was a much easier entrance, the effect hadn’t changed. Nobody could enter that cave without standing in awe for a while.

The bones were sealed behind a glass wall. All the thigh bones were back in place as if they’d never been anywhere else. The highlight of the display was the large egg—it glowed as if lit from within.

‘It’s fantastic,’ said Mandy, who hadn’t seen the cave before.

Tyler grinned and said, ‘Aw, Mandy. They’re just boring old bones.’ She turned and poked her tongue at him.

Another short tunnel led through the earth slide into the bright sunlight. From there a walkway threaded through the mingimingi to several viewing platforms. It was at the last of these that they paused the longest—the one that overlooked the little cove.

There were few changes from the time Tyler had last seen it. The most obvious were the five penguin boxes arranged behind the flax bushes. He knew that one of those housed either Hopi or Mopsie, whichever hadn’t gone fishing today. Tonight he would return to find out who it was.

‘Look,’ called Hine, pointing down into the water near the gap. ‘Look, they’re back.’ A pod of dolphins had just entered. They swam into the calmer part and began to swim slowly in circles. They were clearly taking a rest from the surges and currents of the Southern Ocean beyond. For them, the cove was a place where they could relax for a while, a refuge that had been cruelly shattered by the greed of man. At least Shifty and Grunty wouldn’t be able to hurt them any more. It would be many years before they were released from prison.

The three friends watched the dolphins circling. It took each of them back to the time when they had swum with the beautiful animals. That had been the start of the game—the start of it all. So much had happened since: some of it bad, but mostly good.

After a while they turned and walked away.

‘Hey,’ said Mandy. ‘Did you two ever finish that dare game we played?’

‘No,’ said Tyler as he linked arms with Hine. ‘But we’re still working on it.’