Witi Ihimaera - Sky Dancer

“Ow! What was that for!”

“No wonder you can’t get a girlfriend,” Bella said.

“Are you belted in?” Hoki asked.

Skylark would have preferred to take the station-wagon, so that she could be in the driver’s seat. However, Hoki assumed they would go in her car, which had been specially configured so that she could drive with her withered leg. Hoki floored the accelerator with her good foot.

“Well, you want to get to Tuapa quick and smart, don’t you?”

“Yes, but I’ve never been driven before by a —” Oops.

“That’s the trouble with you and Arnie,” Hoki said. “Always shooting from the lip without thinking before you let fly.”

They left the homestead behind and drove down Manu Valley. Watching Hoki’s hands and feet flicking expertly from gear shift to accelerator pedal and clutch, Skylark marvelled yet again at this old woman who often appeared to be so fragile but was in reality stubborn, strong-minded and resourceful. Hoki seemed to know exactly what Skylark was thinking.

“People have always thought Bella was the stronger sister,” Hoki said, “just because she’s older than me. They look at me and all they see is that I’m smaller and I have a bad leg. But, you know, when you grow up with a leg like mine it makes you strong, not weak. Even Bella thinks she’s the stronger one, and sometimes it’s best for me to go along with her. But, you know, my sister cries at the drop of a hat, especially over her birds. They come to her with their broken wings or legs, and by the time she’s finished blubbering over them, they can’t fly because they’re so waterlogged. Bella’s the pushover, not me.”

Hoki pushed the car around an S-bend. Changed gear. Decelerated. Not even a tap of the brake to do it. Put her foot back on the accelerator. Eased the car back onto the straight.

“I’m really sorry,” Skylark began, “for what Mum did, causing that rip in the sky. She didn’t mean it.”

Hoki slammed on the brakes. They were at a break in the forest, where the trees thinned, and the road curved outwards. Skylark could see Tuapa below and the sparkling sea beyond. Above, like a disturbing dream, seabirds were ascending into the valley.

“You were supposed to stop it,” Hoki said to her. “You were supposed to stop the sky from opening. You didn’t even need to wave a wand or say abracadabra. All you had to do was stop your mother going up to the ancient tree and smoking a cigarette. Why didn’t you?”

Skylark stared at Hoki, angry. “Get out of my face,” she said. “Every time I say I’m sorry about something you or Bella take it as an excuse to get at me again.”

“I refuse to believe you’re not the chick,” Hoki said, pressing her attack. Her eyes were glowing, looking into Skylark, slipping into her brain searching for something. The old lady went from one memory to the next, opening one door after another, peering into the darkness of each memory. Trying to find something she could recognise. Skylark closed her eyes, pushed — and Hoki found herself being thrown out.

“Don’t do that again without asking my permission,” she glared. “Don’t blame me for what you’ve failed to do. If you want to stop what’s happening, go find a magic needle and sew the sky back together. You and Bella have been coming at me out of left field, throwing one whammy after another at me, and I’ve made it clear to you to back off.”

Hoki was so angry. She was angry at Skylark for talking to her like that. She was also angry with herself for choosing the wrong time and place to bring up the matter of who Skylark was supposed to be. How stupid, when the girl was so concerned about her mother.

“All right, Skylark dear,” Hoki said, patting her shoulder. “But I have to say this —”

“Give me a break —”

“You may not have any option, Skylark.” Hoki was hardhearted, for Skylark had to be confronted with it. “You may be between a rock and a hard place. We now have a new situation. You’re part of it, whether you like it or not.”

“You always talk in circles, Hoki.”

“The two events — the ripped sky and your mother’s hospitalisation — may be connected.”

“How!”

“You’ll have to figure that one out for yourself.”

Half an hour later, Skylark and Hoki arrived at the hospital. Skylark was dreading the worst. Why had Dr Goodwin called her so urgently?

“You go on, Skylark,” Hoki said as she parked the car, making a bigger space by pushing the car in front like Mr Bean.

Skylark walked quickly into the hospital, along the passageway to Cora’s suite. Cora’s bed was empty. Heart beating, Skylark ran back down the passage.

“Where’s my mother?” she asked.

The receptionist looked puzzled. She pursed her lips doubtfully at the badge Skylark was wearing: Why Should I Tidy My Bedroom When The Whole World’s A Mess?

“Oh, you mean Miss Edwards? She’s been taken to emergency.”

The receptionist pointed the way, and even though the signs on the door read Keep Out, Skylark barged right on in. She saw Cora and knew something was terribly wrong.

Cora was jerking like a puppet on strings. She was snapping her head backwards and forwards. The doctor and his nurses were holding her down.

“At last you’re here,” Dr Goodwin said when he saw Skylark. “We’ve been trying to get you all morning. Do you hold Power of Attorney?”

“Yes,” Skylark said. “What’s happening to my mother?” She was shivering. Trying not to show she was scared out of her wits.

“She’s in a critical condition,” Dr Goodwin said. “Her body is in overload. All the drugs she’s taken have pushed her to the point where her life signs are spiking. We’ve taken the temporary measure of stabilising her with sedatives that we hope won’t be adding to the problem. But what we really need to do is to induce a coma —”

At that moment, Cora gave a loud groan. Her eyelids flickered open, showing the whites of her eyes. The life systems supporting her went crazy. The whole room transformed itself into a frenzy of movement as the medical team tried to re-stabilise her.

“We’re losing her,” one of the nurses said.

“Do we have your permission?” Dr Goodwin asked. “We need to act now and put your mother under before she has another attack.”

“Isn’t that dangerous? No, I won’t let you do it.”

Doctor Goodwin gave Skylark a firm look. Like Hoki, he was brutal. “It’s your mother’s only chance. If you want her to live, consent. If you don’t … Either way, it’s your call.”

Was this what Hoki had meant about being between a rock and a hard place? Things were moving too quickly. But Skylark had to make a decision fast.

“If I do consent, will you be able to wake her up?”

“With your mother in a controlled sleep we’ll have a better chance of sorting out what the drugs she took are doing to her. Right now, they’re working on all her life-support systems and putting pressure on her heart.”

This wasn’t fair. It wasn’t fair at all. Skylark closed her eyes, hoped she was doing the right thing and made the call.

“Okay, I give my consent. Do it.”

After that, putting Cora into a deep sleep didn’t take long. When she saw how peacefully her mother rested, Skylark’s distress fell away. She stroked Cora’s hair. “In all the world, it’s just you and me,” she said.

Then it happened. A thought popped into Skylark’s head. One minute it was there, next minute it had gone. Her mouth dropped open and she looked across at Hoki.

“You’ve known all along, haven’t you?” she said.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Hoki answered, puzzled.

“The two events — the ripped sky and Cora’s coma — are related. Saving one will save the other.”