Witi Ihimaera - Sky Dancer

The rainbow created a current in the air. Sensing an upward thermal, a convection current heading towards the Antarctic, Arnie sidled up, made some fancy rolls into its jet stream, and stabilised when he reached the centre.

What a show-off, Skylark thought. She wasn’t about to let Arnie think he was king of the air, so she copied what he had done and came in behind him, riding his slipstream.

“You’re learning fast,” Arnie said, and winked. He was really proud of her.

“It’s easy once you get used to it,” Skylark sniffed.

Arnie grinned at her answer. He must be getting through to her. She had accepted his compliment without biting his head off.

They were over the South Island, and down below was the Great Forest of Tane. Nothing had prepared Skylark for that first sight.

“It’s even more stunning than Hoki described,” she said.

Close up, the Great Forest was luminous, an emerald sparkling and glittering in the sun. Like Eden, the lush growing trees, palms and shrubs flowered underneath. The titan kauri were tall, triumphant. No less grand, other trees like totara, karaka and kahikatea added their majesty to the mosaic. Stitched among them were the flowering trees, the pohutukawa reds, kowhai yellows and many others, splashing the Great Forest with colours.

It truly was the wonder of the southern world. And it was breathing like a living thing. At every inhalation it rippled with life. When it breathed out, it released its heady fragrances upon the air.

Sensing they had finally arrived at their destination, the birds began to spin away in their thousands down into the Great Forest. As they descended they sang hymnals to Tane, praises to the Lord of Birds. “Thank you, Lord, for your great gift.”

Skylark and Arnie continued southward, following in the wake of the swans with their giant moa cargoes. With the thrill of excitement, Skylark saw that straight ahead were snow-capped mountains. They were like the palisades of a pah, wedged there to keep Earth and Sky apart so that there could be space for all living creatures between.

“The sacred mountains,” Skylark whispered. She would have recognised those southern alps anywhere. Excited, she flipped down, and Arnie followed her. Soon they were skimming the snow and following the contours of the mountains. “Catch me if you can,” Skylark called.

Laughing, Arnie played tag with Skylark over the alpine peaks. They rode elevator winds and skimmed the downward escalator currents. He could have caught up with her any time, and maybe given her a playful nip, but wiser counsel prevailed. Skylark was having fun and thought she was still the leader, and while she was happy there was peace on the planet.

Skylark saw a river valley cutting a pathway through the mountains.

“This is where I can give Arnie the slip,” she said to herself.

She caught a swift current pouring through it. The river ended at the lip of a giant waterfall and, all of a sudden, the ground dropped away.

“Arnie we’re here,” Skylark yelled. Her voice echoed through the well of the sky. Behind her were the twin mountains themselves, the closest point between the Earth and the moon. Below was Manu Valley. Thousands of years later, a small town called Tuapa would be built in its shadows. Ahead was the glistening sea. Somewhere to the left would be the ancestral paepae for the landbirds, the first tree that Tane had planted in his Great Forest. When Arnie stilled beside her, he pointed it out.

There it was, like a huge candelabra. And above, the rainbow.

Then something shifted, changed. It was as if the defensive system of the world, the shield that had kept everything in place, had come down. The forcefield that had been this world’s protection flickered and died. Skylark thought of the Garden of Eden: the Angel guarding the garden had walked away and left it defenceless.

Something physical slammed into Skylark and Arnie. Flailing, their heads spinning, they found themselves falling out of control. For a moment Skylark blacked out completely. Quickly, Arnie flew beneath her and managed to stabilise her until she regained consciousness.

“What the heck was that?” Arnie asked.

“I’m sorry, Arnie, I don’t know. I —” She looked up. The rainbow was on fire. The ash flaking from it, was falling from the sky. The rainbow turned ghastly white, like an after-image, and warped out of existence. In the blink of an eye, everything had altered. A sick feeling punched Skylark in the chest.

“Time has finally caught up on us,” Skylark said. “It has accelerated and passed us. Although we’ve arrived before the invasion of the seabirds, very soon the time will come when the sacred tree will catch on fire, the sky rip apart and the seabirds from the future come through the ripped sky. We must warn the Runanga a Manu.”

Arnie caught the panic in Skylark’s voice. She had spilled the air from her wings and was gliding down towards Manu Valley. They had reached the Runanga a Manu, the Parliament of Birds. Far ahead she could see the sacred tree and, yes, on every branch were the bird elders of the Great Forest. More forest birds were gathered at the base of the trunk.

Well here goes nothing, Skylark thought. She took a deep breath, hoped she could remember all the words that Lottie had taught her, and began her karanga.

“E nga manu whenua, karanga mai, karanga mai, karanga mai …”

As soon as she returned to Manu Valley, Bella made morning smoko for Hoki, Mitch and Francis, and took it up to the cliff face. She was late with it, so when Francis saw her coming he breathed an audible sigh of relief. “You’ve arrived just in time, Auntie! If I was in town I’d have had two KFCs by now.”

“Please, Francis,” Hoki shuddered, “don’t mention fried chicken in Manu Valley.” She unpacked the food, and Francis was soon hoeing into the sausages, corned beef and tomato sandwiches, salad, cordial and, to wash it all down, plenty of tea. Hoki and Mitch, a few metres away, maintained shotgun duty, pulling the trigger every now and then. The seabirds wheeled away, enraged.

Bella gave Hoki a drink of cordial. “Thank you, Sister,” Hoki said. “It’s hot, standing out here in the sun. Did you get more ammunition?”

“Yes,” Bella answered. “I also went to see Cora in hospital. There’s something I have to tell you —”

“Oh no. Has she? Is she —”

“Nothing like that,” Bella answered. “She’s okay. But I’ve discovered something.”

“Why do I always want to duck for cover when you say that?” Hoki asked.

Bella ignored Hoki’s scepticism. “A few visits ago,” she went on, “I noticed from Cora’s medical chart that her middle name was Agnes.”

Hoki frowned, trying to make the connection. Sometimes Bella could be so difficult to follow.

“Her full name is Cora Agnes Wipani and she was born in Christchurch in 1960,” Bella continued impatiently. “Oh come on, Sister, I know you’re slow but not that slow. Our eldest sister Agnes, she was in Christchurch at the same time —”

“So?”Hoki asked.

“Agnes was pregnant from her boyfriend Darren. Remember?”

She watched Hoki’s face. What do you know, a light went on in her brain as Sister dear made the connection.

“But we were told that the baby died,” Hoki gasped. Sometimes she doubted Bella’s cognitive faculties, but this time she didn’t need Polyfilla to fill in the gaps.

“I know, but the coincidence of Cora being born in 1960, and having the same middle name as our sister — it’s not a common one, you know. It nagged at me, and I couldn’t let it go. Today, when I was at the hospital, I saw some roses that had been delivered to Cora. They had been sent from Christchurch by somebody called Florence Wipani, Cora’s godmother. So I telephoned her.”