The Moa Cave Read online

  Tyler took the bone. She was right; it would make a great weapon—another fact to file away in his mind.

  With the bone firmly stuck in the hole, they took a last look around before returning to the penguin cave and the warmth of their sleeping bags.

  No sooner had they settled than Hine said, ‘Where’s Teddy? Did you take Teddy?’

  ‘No! I haven’t been near your bed.’

  ‘He’s gone.’

  ‘He must have fallen out when you got up.’ He turned on the torch and got out of bed. Yet though he searched all around her area, there was no Teddy. ‘You sure he’s not down the bottom of your sleeping bag?’

  ‘He is not in my sleeping bag. He has gone.’

  ‘Well, he could hardly walk out of here, could he?’

  Hine was not amused. ‘Someone’s stolen him.’

  ‘Hine, there’s only us. Us and the…’

  Slowly, he turned the torch to the penguin nest. Hopi and Mopsie were snuggled into each other. They were over the trauma of the stoat attack, and it was easy to see why. Two glass eyes, a lopsided nose and two well-chewed ears poked from under Mopsie’s wing. She had gone looking for her chick and—when that had failed—she had taken Teddy as a replacement.

  ‘Do you want me to get him back?’ Tyler asked.

  ‘No,’ replied Hine, smiling. ‘He looks so cute.’ Then after a pause, ‘Anyway I’m getting too old to need a Teddy. Auntie always said that sooner or later I’d find someone to give him to. And I have, though she’ll be surprised I gave him to a penguin.’

  Chapter 19

  First thing in the morning Tyler went back to the moa cave, using the excuse that he wanted to see if the stoat had returned.

  Once again he felt the thrill of discovery as he crawled into the chamber. It was a fantastic find, almost too good to be real. Scientists from all over the country would scramble to see this when it became known.

  And now he was going to destroy it before they ever got to see it.

  He didn’t want to, but he needed to borrow some of the thigh bones. If he was in a game he wouldn’t leave weapons like that behind. He would always add them to his inventory—they were items and you never knew when they would become useful. If you didn’t pick them up, some other character might, and use them against you. His golden rule was to collect all the items you could.

  The problem was, this was no electronic game. These things were real and impossible to carry around all the time. The thing to do was place them in strategic positions so they would be at hand if needed.

  He started by taking photos of each bird. Then, one by one he removed the thigh bones keeping well clear of the one with the egg—that was too good to disturb. On each bone he wrote its original location using his invisible ink pen—this was what it was designed for. Breathing on the ink to make it visible was only a temporary feature to check what you’d written. It was normally viewed under ultraviolet light where the ink glowed bright yellow.

  He hid one of the bones on a ledge near the entrance. Another three were stockpiled ready to be taken through to the other chamber.

  Before leaving he checked the dead chick. It hadn’t been disturbed and there were no signs that the stoat had somehow returned. He pulled the bone out of the rabbit hole and peered down it. There was daylight glowing at the bend. It was bright enough to suggest that the opening was not far away. He added the rabbit hole to his inventory.

  Hine was surprised to see him carrying the bones when he returned. She was even more surprised when he hid two of them near the passage to the cove. He put the last one by his gear.

  ‘What are they for?’

  ‘They’re items. Some games call them assets. Things we might need.’ He went on to explain about items and inventories.

  When he’d finished Hine said, ‘This is not a game, Tyler.’

  ‘I know that. But if we think the right way, we’ll get out. In a way it’s no different to a game.’

  Hine thought about that for a while. ‘You think Shifty and Grunty will come back, don’t you?’

  ‘Maybe. They could be one of the bosses.’

  Hine rolled her eyes. ‘And what would bosses be?’

  Tyler grinned. ‘Bosses are characters or things you have to beat. You can’t avoid them if you want to win. But they’re not just ordinary things you can shoot down. Usually you have to attack them in a special way. It’s very easy to be beaten by a boss.’ He thought for a moment. ‘We’ve already met two bosses. The cave-in was one and you beat that because you knew what to do. The other was the dolphins in the cove. Something like that could easily have made us give up.’

  ‘It did with me for a while,’ said Hine quietly, ‘but you knew how to beat it. You helped me talk about them and it worked. We make a good team, we do.’

  Tyler said nothing.

  ‘So you think we’ll have to beat Shifty and Grunty to get out?’

  Tyler shrugged. ‘I don’t know. There could be other bosses. I don’t think we’re going to get out if we just wait to be rescued. Even getting rescued could be a boss. We might have to do something to make it happen.’

  ‘So what other things do we have in our inventory?’

  ‘Well, there’s all my things.’

  ‘Gadgets,’ put in Hine.

  ‘Yeah, and there’s the rabbit hole. I don’t know what else. What have you got in your bag?’

  Hine opened her bag and started unloading things. ‘Lots of clothes, some lip gel, my useless phone, a box of tissues, some scent, and…ah…some girl things you don’t want to know about.’

  Tyler went bright red. She was right; he didn’t want to know about them. To divert attention from himself he turned the torch towards the nest. Only Hopi was there. Mopsie had already gone. It was time for them to go too. Yet he wasn’t sure that Hine would agree.

  ‘You ready to go back out to the cove? I think we need to be there if we want to be rescued.’

  Hine nodded. ‘You want any of these things?’

  ‘Yeah. Bring the tissues. Oh, and the phone. You never know, the reception might be better now.’

  They emerged onto the ledge into the glare of bright sunlight. When their eyes adjusted to the light, they could see the beach had been rearranged by the tide during the night. Their help message was almost unreadable and several of the dolphins had floated into the middle of it.

  The sea was a lot calmer. Tyler could see a gap above the water in the tunnel. With the right timing it would be possible to bring a boat through, though he wouldn’t want to be on it.

  Hine rushed off to the far end of the beach for a toilet break while Tyler sorted the message out. Shifting the dead dolphins was no more pleasant than the previous day, except he no longer had to worry about Hine’s reaction. She was now as determined as he was to get out of the place…

  ‘Tyler! Come here.’ There was an urgency to her call that made him drop the dolphin and run.

  She was standing with her back to the rocks, hands to her mouth, staring at the base of a flax bush. ‘What is it?’

  Hine just continued to stare. All he could see was part of a yellow cylinder. She grabbed his arm and pulled him alongside. Then he could see it clearly. The cylinder was a diving tank, one of two. There were other bits of diving gear as well. But the thing that Hine was focused on was a net. It was obviously the one used to catch the dolphins. Bits of dried flesh were still stuck to knots in the thick nylon strands: an eye, several fins and a piece of a tail.

  He reached out with his hand and squeezed her arm. She was shaking. ‘Don’t worry, Hine, we’ll make them pay for this. Come away from it now.’

  She grabbed his hand. ‘No! I want it destroyed. I want you to cut it up. I want it so they can never use it again.’

  He gave her another reassuring squeeze before taking out his Swiss army knife and moving to the net. It was not a pleasant job, yet he had to stop Hine going into shock again. They both needed to be thinking straight if they were ever to get ou
t of the place.

  When he was finished there was no piece bigger than a dinner plate. He’d slashed and cut until he saw Hine starting to relax. Then he moved to the air tanks. For a moment he thought they might be an asset, but he didn’t know how to use them so it was best to make sure nobody else could. He emptied the air and then smashed the connectors against a rock until they were beyond repair.

  Finally he stood in front of her and smiled. ‘Is that what you wanted?’

  She moved forward and gave him a hug. ‘Thanks, Ty. I feel a whole lot better now.’

  Tyler had been hugged by girls before and always been embarrassed by it. But this time it was different—it felt wonderful. His arms moved around her and for a moment their cheeks touched. Unfortunately it was over far too soon; Hine released him and moved towards the beach. He followed, hoping that maybe it would happen again sometime.

  For half an hour or so Tyler tried to light a fire. It would have been easy with his magnifier, however he’d lost that somewhere. Instead he tried creating sparks by bashing stones together. He got sparks all right but none of them would set fire to the small pile of tissues and dead flax. Rubbing sticks was out because all the driftwood was too wet.

  He wanted to create smoke, thinking it was sure to attract rescuers. It would have been perfect in the still air—the smoke would have been seen for kilometres.

  Hine was sitting on a rock plaiting a cord out of flax. He moved alongside her. ‘What’s that for?’

  She looked up and smiled. ‘For you, Ty. For the pendant. So you can wear it around your neck where it belongs. It has to be close to your heart and head, not in your pocket by your bum and other things.’

  He looked away, not wanting her to see his face. He was really starting to like this girl. She was so different to the others. After a while he put his hand in his pocket and said, ‘Do you want it now?’

  She looked at him knowingly. ‘No. Best to keep it there until I’m finished. You never know, you might need it.’

  He was saved from replying by the distant throb of an engine. It was a plane. They looked at each other hopefully, then rushed to the middle of the beach where they could see in the direction of the sound.

  Gradually the noise got louder. It sounded like a small plane travelling close to the ground at slow speed, just as a search plane would. The good thing was that it seemed to be travelling directly towards them.

  It took ages before it came into view. If it continued its present path it would travel right over the top of them. They had to make sure they were seen. He began running around the beach waving his arms frantically. Hine caught on and joined him.

  Then, when it was almost over the top of them, the noise of the engine changed. They stopped and stared as it banked sharply into a turn.

  ‘They’ve seen us,’ shouted Hine. ‘They’ve seen us.’ She began dancing around again.

  Tyler wasn’t so sure. He’d caught a glimpse of the pilot and he wasn’t looking in their direction.

  The plane moved out of view and Hine stopped dancing. They stood searching the sky and listening as the sound moved further away. Then it changed pitch again, increasing in volume. It was coming back. For a moment it was visible, turning in a tight circle, but not around them. Tyler started waving his arms again, shouting. ‘Help! Help!’ he cried. Why couldn’t they see him? They had to see him, they had to.

  But they didn’t.

  Shortly afterwards the sound moved further away getting softer and softer until they could only hear it in their minds. Still they stood there, staring into the blue sky, hoping it would return, yet knowing it never would.

  Chapter 20

  Mandy’s morning had been a disaster. It all started with the phone call to home. She had made sure she rang long before her parents left for the shop so there was time to talk. Her father had answered and he’d been pleasant enough until she asked them to come down and help with the search. Then he quickly handed the phone to her mother.

  ‘Mandy! What day is it?’

  Mandy had no idea—she’d lost count.

  ‘It’s Saturday. The busiest day of the week. And you’re asking us to close the shop and come down to be with you. I don’t understand why you’re being so selfish. You know we’ve got a business to run.’

  ‘But the other parents are coming down.’

  ‘So would we, if it was you that was missing. You know that.’

  ‘But they’re my friends, Mum.’

  ‘Yes, we know. And we hope they’re all right. But I’m sure the police are doing an excellent job. We’d only get in the way.’

  ‘I’d just like to talk to you about it.’

  ‘Do you want to come home? I’m sure we could arrange for someone to bring you back.’

  ‘No. I must stay until they’re found. I just want to talk.’

  ‘I’m sure there’ll be plenty of time for that after they’re found. But if you really need to talk then give us a call tonight. Make sure it’s before seven, though. We’ve got guests coming for dinner.’

  Mandy was silent.

  ‘Well, if there’s nothing else…then try to keep calm. I’m sure they’ll be found, all safe and well. Remember, we both love you. Bye.’

  After that she stayed on her bed for ages thinking about things. When Alice and Richard returned from the airport with the families she joined them in the community room. After the introductions Hine’s auntie took her in an enormous hug. She was a big woman and her body almost swallowed Mandy whole. Then Jack—Hine’s big brother—repeated the performance. Mrs Matthews was more reserved, giving Mandy a brief peck on the cheek. Mr Matthews simply said, ‘Hello’.

  Soon she was forgotten. The families were naturally more interested in the search for Hine and Tyler. They gathered around the table for a briefing from Jonno. Mandy wandered outside where the TotalCom technicians were erecting the temporary aerial. It seemed that the job was just finished and they were testing the system. One of them saw Mandy and asked, ‘Do you have a mobile phone?’

  She nodded.

  ‘Good. Go and get it and we’ll test it for you.’

  Soon Mandy was back with her phone. She gave the technician her number and a moment later her phone was ringing. They had a brief conversation even though they were standing next to each other.

  After hanging up she moved to a quiet place in the old sheep yards to wait for her text messages to download. Five minutes later she decided there weren’t any so she sent off a couple. Another wait, but still no reply—her friends must be busy doing other things.

  She was about to move away when she had a thought: maybe Hine’s phone was working now. A moment later she located the number and pressed OK. Her hand was shaking as she held it to her ear, waiting for the ring tone to come. But it never did. There was a long pause and then Hine’s voice asking her to leave a message. Quickly, she disconnected. The sound of Hine’s voice was distressing enough, but the thought of leaving a message that might never be received…

  After that she simply wandered off. If anybody saw her go they didn’t seem to care if she stayed or went, for nobody called after her.

  At first there was no plan to her movements. Later, when she found herself by the cliffs, she decided to check the spot where she had kept out of sight when she was ‘lost’—maybe the searchers had overlooked it.

  The top of the cliff was empty of people; even the goats seemed to have gone. She quickly found the spot where she had hidden from Tyler and Bill. It was a dusty shelter under a large thorny bush that could have been called a cave. At the back was a clay cliff with a rabbit hole close to the ground. The only sign that anything had been there recently were some animal tracks leading to and from the burrow. She assumed it was the rabbit.

  After that she walked around with no set purpose other than to think about things, and she didn’t really want to do that. For she couldn’t help but think that something horrible had happened to Hine and Tyler and somehow she was the cause. She knew othe
r people thought that, even her parents.

  That’s when she heard the approaching plane. She moved so she could see it clearly, knowing that it must be the search plane. Yet it didn’t occur to her to get out of view until it was too late. By then the plane had swerved towards her. It passed and then banked to make a return sweep. She tried to send a signal of ‘No’ by shaking her head and waving her arms sideways.

  It didn’t work. The pilot made another sweeping turn, obviously thinking he had found Hine. Then as it swung round in a circle, the phone in her pocket rang.

  It was Jonno and he wasn’t happy. ‘Where are you, Mandy?’

  She told him.

  ‘Is there a plane flying overhead?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Stay on the phone. I’ll talk to you in a moment.’

  She could hear him talking to someone else. ‘It’s not the girl we’re looking for…no, no, it’s not her…it’s a stupid girl who should know better…yes…yes…okay, you need to continue with the search.’

  Then he was talking to her again. ‘Right, Mandy, you’d better get yourself back here immediately. If you can’t stay out of the way then you can go home. I’m not having you jeopardise our search. You can go in one of the police cars tonight. But get back here now! Do you hear me?’

  Mandy heard him.

  As she watched the plane disappear she heard a gull call overhead. It sounded remarkably like a human yelling for help, and she remembered hearing a similar call while the plane had circled. That had come from below the cliff. Maybe she should investigate. Then she thought of Jonno’s orders and turned towards the track down to the beach. She’d better get back. If she stayed around here she’d only cause more trouble.

  Chapter 21

  Hine was back on the rock finishing the cord for the pendant. Tyler was playing The Bones of Kilimanjaro without much success. His mind was on other things. It was useless waiting to be rescued. They had to do something or it wouldn’t happen. The plane passing by was proof of that.