Witi Ihimaera - Sky Dancer

“What’s he doing?” Skylark laughed.

“He’s brought you a present,” Joe answered.

Flash Harry regurgitated some berries into Skylark’s hands.

Go well, Skylark. Fly well.

“You must have really made an impression on him,” Joe said. “They’re a gift. Some food for your journey.” She started the motor. The dinghy headed away from the island.

At the same time as Skylark and Arnie were leaving Joe’s island, Mitch Mahana and his son Francis, acting on Hoki’s summons, arrived in Manu Valley. The sun was setting when Mitch stepped out of the truck. He looked up at the ripped sky and the seabirds hovering around it, and gaped like a stunned mullet. Francis’s reaction was simpler.

“Holy shit,” he said.

“That’s our problem, our nemesis,” Hoki said. “Sunup to sundown the seabirds try to get through to the other side. They only break off their attacks when night comes.”

“The other side?” Mitch asked, his face wan with horror. “In God’s name, what’s on the other side?”

“The past,” Bella answered enigmatically, “and the future —”

“I don’t think I want to know,” Mitch shuddered. “It sounds like one of those movies Arnie likes. I watched Aliens with him once and I couldn’t sleep for weeks.”

“Dad only likes westerns,” Francis confided to Bella.

“Well, where do you want us to put our gear?” Mitch continued. “What time do you want me and Francis up there to do our job?” He had always been a straightforward man, preferring to live without knowing of life’s complexities.

“Could you move into the bach?” Bella asked. “You brought your rifles? If you two could take the first shift tomorrow that would give me and Hoki a chance to have a break. We’re really glad you’re here. With you two with us, the task of guarding the sky will be easier.”

Bella cooked dinner — a lovely piece of cod which Mitch and Francis had netted that very day. Soon after dinner, both men excused themselves. They had brought a portable television set with them and wanted to watch the All Blacks playing South Africa.

“I’ll do the dishes,” Hoki told Bella. “Why don’t you go with the men? It’ll do you good.”

When Bella returned a couple of hours later, she was very grumpy. Not only that, but some pretty interesting fumes, somewhere in the vicinity of vodka and whisky, were coming off of her.

“The All Blacks lost,” Bella said. “Me and Mitch placed some bets on them, but Francis won and cleaned us out.”

“Oh no,” Hoki answered. “How much did you lose?”

“Fifty matchsticks. It’s put me off my sleep.”

“You big spender,” Hoki said. “Well, you’ll just have to make the fire tomorrow by rubbing two sticks together.”

That night, however, Bella wasn’t the only one to toss and turn. Hoki knelt by her bed and said her prayers — she thought that her karakia would calm her, but it took a long time for her to get to sleep. Even when sleep finally came, somewhere in the dark morning hours, it brought with it a disturbing dream.

In her dream, Hoki seemed to be way above the earth. She was frightened at first but, when she began to float down, she was relieved. Gradually, she was able to touch the mountain tops with her toes and that made her feel much better. But what was that? Far ahead, two lights were piercing the darkness. She decided to take a closer look. She swooped down and saw that the lights were the headlights of a ute. She looked inside and, with delight, saw Skylark and Arnie.

Hello, you two , Hoki said. She tapped on the windows and then flew around to the windscreen. Arnie was driving. She yelled out a greeting but he didn’t seem to hear her, so she poked her tongue at him. Couldn’t he see her? She noticed he had bruises and stitches on his face.

Suddenly, Hoki heard the sounds of loud and menacing twittering. She stood on the bonnet of the ute, balancing herself on her walking sticks to see where the noise was coming from. Uh oh, the dawn had come up and, in the distance, she could see black shapes against the sky. They reminded her of the nasty flying monkeys in The Wizard of Oz .

I’d better take a look. Hoki braced and launched herself into the air. Over the ute’s roof she went, soaring up to the flying monkeys. As she got closer, the monkeys transformed themselves into black seashags. Kawanatanga was leading them, his eyes as red as a devil’s. With a scream, she went to attack him, but something strange happened. He didn’t seem to know she was there. Instead, Kawanatanga and his fleet flew straight through her as if she were a ghost. It was a weird feeling, and Hoki examined her body, looking for holes in herself.

Hoki turned and saw the night had ended. The sun was burning a line on the horizon, marking the coming of a new day. Arnie was way ahead but the black squad of seashags was closing in.

Oh no, this can’t be happening, Hoki thought. She saw that Kawanatanga had been joined by all the seabirds of the world. For as far as she could see, seabirds had come to block the way to Wellington. They had come across the sea, white feathers across blue ocean. They were sitting on the telegraph poles, fences, everywhere.

Gasping with fear, Hoki realised that Skylark and Arnie needed reinforcements. But where from? She concentrated very hard, and the answer came to her.

Come, manu whenua, Hoki called . Cleave a path for Skylark so that she might fulfil her destiny.

The wind began to stir. There was a cyclone as birds of the land heeded Hoki’s call: pigeons, thrushes, ducks, swans, quails, pheasants, waterfowls, parrots, stilts, kingfishers, cuckoos, doves, rollers all. Above the main body of birds, swifts volleyed across the sky on long scimitar-shaped wings. They were joined in their aerial acrobatics by the high-flying hawks and falcons. But their numbers were so small compared to the seabirds. Hoki’s heart went out to them as, with a great shrilling and whistling, they joined in battle with the seabirds. Even the humble sparrow was there, trying in his own way to help. The clamour shook Heaven, and Hoki put her hands up to her ears because of the din and closed her eyes because she was afraid to witness the outcome.

When Hoki opened her eyes, the dream had transformed itself. Well done, birds of the forest . The manu whenua had created enough of a diversion to allow Skylark and Arnie to pass through to Wellington. But not for long. As the ute approached Wellington Harbour, Hoki saw that Kawanatanga had resumed his relentless pursuit.

Skylark, beware the outstretched necks of the seashags.

Hoki’s dream exploded. She sat up, her heart pumping hard. She was so worried that it took her a long time to calm down. She went to the kitchen to make a cup of tea. The pot was still warm, so Hoki knew Mitch and Bella had already left for the morning shift on the cliff top. There, Mitch was talking to Bella about the seabirds, the ripped sky — and Skylark. Sometimes he had an uncanny knack of asking the right question, of moving a piece of jigsaw puzzle into a place where it might fit.

“There’s one thing about Skylark I don‘t understand,” he said to Bella. “How come she’s the chick? She doesn’t even come from here.”

Bella didn’t take much notice of Mitch’s question at first. She aimed her shotgun at the sky and let off the first shot of the day. Bang . And the jigsaw piece clicked into place: Cora’s hospital chart.

Middle name Agnes. Born Christchurch 1960.

What was it about 1960 that bothered her? Then she realised: 1960 was the same year that her sister, Agnes, had left Tuapa.