Witi Ihimaera - Sky Dancer

“Tell me what?”

“You can’t trust her to do anything properly,” Skylark said crossly. “I told her she’s on her own now. I’ve got my own life to get on with. Do you remember what Lottie said? There are some things that you have no choice about. When Bella goes, who will look after Manu Valley? It’s going to have to be me. And you know what?” Skylark’s heart was beating fast.

“What?” Arnie asked.

Boy, he wasn’t making this easier. “After all we’d been through,” Skylark continued, “I was kind of hoping that —” She took a deep breath. How could she get it through his thick head! Then she thought she heard Te Arikinui Kotuku’s voice: This would be a good time to pretend, Skylark . Rolling her eyes with irritation, Skylark struck a pose and said in a girly voice:

“Arnie! Save me, save me, I’m so helpless!”

Arnie couldn’t help it, he burst out laughing. “What did you say? I didn’t hear you!”

Skylark put her hands on her hips and wagged a finger at him. “You heard me. I’m not saying it again.”

“So is this the part where the hero gets the heroine?” Arnie asked. He strode over to her and took her in his arms.

“When who gets what ?” Skylark was still trying to get over the shock of Arnie’s arms around her.

“Oops, I’ll rephrase that. When the heroine is lucky enough to get the hero?” He pulled her in to him. Tighter. Tighter.

“That’s better. Maybe.” Hmm. Arnie felt more muscly as a boy than as a bird.

“Good, that means we can — uh —”

“Uh? Can what?” Arnie’s eyes were confusing her, but Skylark wasn’t about to give up everything.

“You can kiss me, and now that we’ve destroyed the evil avian empire, we can ride off into the sunset.”

Skylark pursed her lips. “I wouldn’t push my luck if I was you,” she said.

Three days later, Bella awoke at 3 a.m. The curtains were billowing across her face like gossamer in the darkness. She knew something wonderful was going to happen.

She had been coming home in the afternoons to find berries on the floor and window sills. One night she dreamt of fluttering wings and feathers caressing her cheek.

“Uh oh,” Bella said. “Time to stop drinking and destroy the evidence.”

Over the following days, Bella tidied all the rooms, swept the floors, did the dishes, cleaned the kitchen and washed the clothes. Most important of all, she made two trips to the dump to get rid of the vodka bottles. She bought some household deodorant and went around spraying it so that not one hint of alcohol lingered.

The seventh day.

Two in the morning. Bella couldn’t sleep. She put on her dressing gown, said her usual morning prayers, went down the hallway and looked accusingly at the kitchen. Hoki had always been the first to rise, make the breakfast and to call, “Sister? It’s time to get up.” Bella missed hearing her thump down to the kitchen on her walking sticks, thump, thump, thump.

Her eyes glistened at the memory. The house was so silent now.

Bella made a cup of tea and took it back to the bedroom. She was just about to get back into bed when she saw something strange lying on her pillow.

A feather.

Bella gave a gasp. She looked around the room. Went to the open window and looked out. She thought she saw a shape flitting its way up from the house, along the pathway to the clifftop.

“This is it,” Bella said. “The time has come.”

Heart beating fast, she pulled the quilt over her shoulders, shuffled her feet into her slippers until her big toes stuck out the holes in the front, and walked through the house and out the door.

The stars were sparkling like the eyes of Heaven. The moon was a crescent of beauty. The valley was rustling and sighing with the wind, alive and free from the caprice of man.

“Is anybody out here?” Bella called.

The wind was cold as she left the house and walked up the cliff path. She thought she heard someone chuckling, but realised it was only the distant sound of the waterfall. When she got to the halfway point where the old bench was, she sat down to rest. There, she saw another feather.

With a smile, Bella picked it up and continued up to the cliff top. She looked up at the night sky, and understood the enormity of the universe. She felt even lonelier, closed her eyes and fell asleep.

How long she slept, Bella never knew. It must have been at least an hour because her bones felt stiff. But she was woken by something falling on her head. At first she thought it was a twig; then she felt something else go plop and bounce off her hair.

Bella kept her eyes closed, not daring to hope. She could hear warbling and whistling in the air above her. When she could resist it no longer, she opened her eyes to see that the ground all around her was covered with berries.

“Are you awake now?” a voice said. “I’ve been using you for target practice for ages. You can sure sleep, Sister.”

Bella’s heart was really pounding now, and she had to take a deep breath to regain her composure. “So you’ve finally decided to come home, have you?” she asked.

“Yes,” the voice said. “I thought I’d better see how you were doing without me.”

“I knew it was you. Berries on the kitchen floor. Bird droppings all over the house.”

“Now there’s a thought.”

With that, there was a soft whirring of wings as a dark-plumaged bird flew out of the crimsoning sky and tried to settle on Bella’s head.

“Ouch!” Bella exclaimed.

“Oops,” Hoki said. “I’m still trying to get the hang of this.”

“So I can see.”

“My withered claw doesn’t help either.”

Bella put her hands up to steady her sister and, at the touch of feathers, her tears flowed like a stream.

“There, there, Sister,” Hoki warbled. “There, there.”

She hopped down onto Bella’s shoulder and nestled herself close to the crook of her neck, softly preening her sister’s hair and crooning a comforting song.

“Me he manu rere, aue,

Kua rere ti to moenga …”

“Just as well I’m waterproof,” Hoki said.

“I’ve missed you, Sister,” Bella answered.

“I’m sure,” Hoki said. “Nobody to order you around.”

“Nobody to growl.”

“Nobody to make breakfast for you.”

“Nobody to break any plates.”

“Nobody to talk to.”

“Nobody to dress you either, by the looks of it,” Hoki whistled. “You look dreadful.”

“You would too, if you had to do all the work by yourself. The place has been going to the dogs since you left.”

“I’ll say,” Hoki said. “You’ve been on a drinking binge, haven’t you! You were never good at cleaning up your vodka bottles. No amount of deodorant is going to get rid of the smell that quickly.”

“At least I tried to tidy up for you.”

“You should have spent more time on yourself! Look inside your ears! Atrocious. When was the last time you washed them? Forget about growing spuds in the paddock. In your ears would be better.”

Bella felt Hoki pecking her ears and then, hop, Hoki was back on top of her head again.

“The manu Atua were compassionate, Sister. They asked the Lord Tane to have mercy on me and he heard their plea. He allowed me to come back.”

“But as a bird?” Bella asked. “Did that have to be the price?”

“Be careful, Sister,” Hoki said. “One should never question the compassion of the gods.”

Bella nodded. “I’d much rather have you in my life, Hoki, than not in my life at all.”

There was a pause. “Are you sure?” She had a wicked gleam in her eyes. “This is going to be so much fun! I can sit here on your head all day while you work. I can perch on your shoulder whenever you go around the farm. And instead of breaking dishes when I’m mad at you, I’ll poop on you instead.”