Rata flowers are red

by Mary Moore

  sorely tempted. I had hoped that you and Mark ...' She sighed deeply.

  ' Don't, Nan Judy's voice was sharp. Then she took a deep breath. ' I love Mark, I suppose you've guessed that, but he loves Zelda, so I must leave. I thought I'd like to tell you. It's nice to know that you would have welcomed me, but don't let us talk about it anymore, please.'

  The twins were worried about your leaving. That's why they went over to see Mac; they head for him when they feel Mark and I are not coping with their problems in a satisfactory manner. They're going to miss you terribly, and so am I. You must write to me when you leave here, I'll remember your kindness always; you've become like one of the family, and I hate to see you go.'

  Judy's eyes were bright with tears. 'I've loved it here . . ' her voice shook. I must be tired. If you don't mind I'll go to bed, I have to get up so early in the morning.' She kissed Mrs Palmer and went through to her room. Only ten more days to go. Could she stand ten more days of this stupid, self-inflicted torture? Of hoping for the impossible? Hoping that perhaps at the last minute Mark might find out that he loved her, and not Zelda ? It was a good thing that she would be away tomorrow, even one day in the mountains might give her the tranquillity that Lucky spoke of. She certainly needed something to carry her

  through these next few days.

  Judy set the alarm for four o'clock. That would give her time to have something to eat before Lucky came.

  When the alarm shrilled she quickly switched it off, jumped out of bed and washed and dressed. She wore her slacks over her shorts because it was still fairly cold. She could take them off later if she felt too hot. A feeling of exhilaration took hold of her. Today she was going to climb her mountain. She picked up her thick jersey and hurried out to the kitchen, then stopped dead at the sight of Mark by the stove.

  Come on, sit down—one breakfast coming up.' He spoke quite cheerfully. It's a long drive out to the Kopara. You'll travel all the better for eating a good meal before you start.'

  Judy felt rather bewildered. Why, thanks, Mark. You shouldn't have bothered. I could have got something for myself. You're not trying to stop me, then ?'

  The smile he gave her was warm and friendly. No, I was stupid, not you. I'm very glad you're having this trip. Lucky is a good chap in the hills, but you must be careful. Take it easy for a start, and take a rest when you need it. Don't let Lucky hurry you too much. I've done that climb many times. If I had known that you wanted to go I would have taken you myself.'

  Judy felt a pang of regret. It would have been marvellous to go there with Mark; then she remembered how he could not take a day off work for any relaxation. 'Yes, it would have been nice to go with you, Mark, but you're always so busy. You couldn't spare the time. You have to use every minute trying to save your farm.'

  Mark had a peculiar expression on his face. 'It isn't the farm that has come between us, Judy. I would chuck the farm tomorrow .. he stopped suddenly. 'Forget it, nothing has changed. Drink up your tea, I can hear Lucky's van coming down the hill.'

  Just as they were going out the door, the phone shrilled and Mark said, 'Damn, have to answer it, or it will wake the whole household. Have a good day:

  Judy walked slowly out to the truck. For a moment back there in the kitchen, for one whole heart-stopping, breathless moment, she had thought her dreams were coming true, but of course that was impossible. She had too much imagination, that was the trouble. She kept trying to read hidden meanings into Mark's words and glances, and there was nothing there at all. Snap out of it, Judy, she told herself, this is your day to climb to the sky, to pack up your troubles and throw them to the winds. She greeted Lucky with a gay smile. Hullo, I'm ready. Let's get going.'

  Good girl! You know, I could get attached to you, you never keep me waiting,' remarked Lucky as they drove off. ' It will take us about an hour to the old Mill, and then you're for it. It takes me about an hour and a half by myself to climb to the top, but dragging you with me, we should take an hour longer, maybe more. I'd like to get a shot if I can, might get some good velvet.'

  What do you mean, velvet?' queried Judy.

  ' Each year the stags shed their antlers and grow new ones. While they're soft and new they feel like velvet to touch, so the stags are said to be in the velvet. Later the antlers harden in time for the mating season, that's when the stags roar for their mates, and they need their antlers nice and sharp to fight their rivals off.'

  ' But what do you want the velvet for ?'

  `Money. They pay big money for a good set of velvet. It's exported to China, I believe they grind it up and use it for medicinal purposes, but I don't much care, just as long as they keep paying out fantastic prices for it.'

  ' Why don't you settle down, Lucky ? Don't you get sick of being in a different house every night ?'

  Now, Judy, we'll remain friends on one condition, and that is you must not try and reform me. How did we get on to this subject, anyhow ? My mother is always telling me a rolling stone gathers no moss, and who wants to gather moss ? Not me, I can assure you.'

  ' I was wondering, that's all. However, if it worries you, I can promise you I won't try and reform you. For one thing, I have only nine days left, and I'm sure reforming you would take me much longer.'

  ' True,' answered Lucky with a grin. After they had driven about twenty miles, he said, ' In a few minutes I'm going to show you something special.'

  `What is it ?'

  Wait and see.' They were driving along a narrow, gravel road, which spiralled down a steep hill, the bush so close on either side that the tall trees sometimes, met overhead, making an archway of green. Lucky stopped the car. ' Well, what do you think of that view ?'

  Judy looked out at a beautiful lake, which was as smooth and still as a mirror, reflecting the snow-capped mountains in all their glory.

  ' Oh, what a wonderful sight ! '

  `Not too bad,' replied Lucky as they drove on. Won't be long now. In about ten minutes I'll be able to show you Round Hill. We'll stop on the Bluff and you can see it clearly, then I'll take you up for a closer inspection.'

  When he stopped, he pointed. See, over there—no, not the high craggy one with the snow on, the one to the left, that's Round Hill.

  The big one is Mount Elizabeth. You need a bit of training before you could tackle that one.' He let the clutch out gently and the car moved on down the hill. They drove about three miles up a farm road and stopped by an old abandoned sawmill.

  `From here on it's Shanks' Pony,' said Lucky. ' The old van wouldn't make it far in the bush.'

  Judy noticed how much more natural and relaxed Lucky had become as they came nearer to the bush. He had lost that bored cynical expression he usually wore.

  They set sail, Lucky leading and carrying the pack, Judy behind with the rifle. The first quarter of an hour was easy, a gradual climb along an overgrown disused road, which, although little more than two ruts up the ridge, at least gave good footing and free passage for their taut, straining bodies. The second growth and rushes underfoot were still wet with the heavy overnight dew. The road petered out into a creek-bed, wide at this point and scoured with past flooding, caused by the torrential rains which fell frequently and without warning in these mountains, Lucky explained to her.

  They followed up the creek, gaining altitude until the gully began to close in and there was only just room for Lucky to squeeze through with the encumbrance of his pack. When a narrow side stream came tumbling

  in on his left Lucky turned towards the opposite face and started to climb.

  Give me the rifle, Judy, and take a breather.'

  Judy's legs were trembling and her month was parched and dry; she was only too pleased to hand over the rifle which had seemed so light when they started and now weighed a ton, by the feel of it.

  She climbed after Lucky, following in his footsteps, grasping the trees he grasped, and being determined not to be left behind. After fifteen minutes of almost vertical climb they came out on to a ridge and t
he going became easier. Below them she could still hear the creek bubbling and gurgling its way down to the river, although the sight of it was denied her by the steepness of the face they had just climbed. On either side the ridge fell steeply away to disappear into an impenetrable wall of green forest.

  Above them a brief glimpse of the sunlight could be seen, through a gap in the green canopy caused by the falling of a huge rimu tree. Lucky told Judy that these trees lived to be over one thousand years old, and she wondered what sort of life people lived in New Zealand when it had been a seedling the size of the one beside her. It was at least fifty feet tall, reaching for the sunlight, dead straight and no thicker than her wrist. Then she chided herself, there were probably no

  people living here then—after all, New Zealand was only discovered by Abel Tasman in 1642, and the Maoris had migrated here about A.D. 1350. At least she had learned that much by helping the -twins with their home-work.

  We mustn't stop for more than a couple of minutes,' said Lucky, or your muscles will stiffen up on you. Got to keep a sweat up. Come on ! '

  ' Ladies don't sweat, they perspire,' argued Judy as she scrambled to her feet.

  Same difference,' remarked Lucky. 'And you don't fool me, you're just trying to start an argument so that you can get a longer spell.'

  Ahead of them the ridge rose steadily and the footing was much better. They were walking on a carpet of leaves and moss; there was silence except for the harshness of their breathing. Twenty minutes after. their brief rest by the creek bed Lucky pointed out to Judy that they were leaving the rimu trees behind and that the birch trees were becoming smaller, and their branches nearer the ground.

  When she asked about a big tree beside the track Lucky answered, That's a rata. You. can pick them out easily from the flat when they're in flower. They have a brilliant scarlet flower. Ten years ago this hill used to be a mass of scarlet blooms in January, but a light got the trees and now only the odd one flowers. Some people say that the opossums killed the trees, but it's not so. Most of the opossums hang round the edges of the bush and eat the farmers' turnips and grass.'

  An hour and a half away from the van, after taking a two-minute rest every twenty minutes, Judy thought she must be going delirious with fatigue, because she suddenly smelt her favourite fruit—bananas.

  She stopped, wiped the perspiration out of her eyes and looked around. She noticed that they had left all the big trees behind, the ridge had broadened out and she could see for several hundred yards. Beside her grew a tree about twenty feet high from which came the delicious banana smell.

  ' Banana tree,' replied Lucky in answer to her query. ' Don't get excited, though, they don't have any fruit on them. They look like the real thing with their broad leaves, don't they ? The smell comes from the bark which they shed every year. It's saved plenty of blokes who've been bushed overnight, because the bark and limbs will burn easily even when they're wet. We're getting well up the mountain now, because they only grow around the three thousand to three thousand five hundred feet mark.'

  Judy found everything Lucky had to say of absorbing interest. He was a wonderful guide, but she did not see how he had the

  breath to talk, when she needed every ounce of strength just to keep walking.

  Same as this stuff,' continued Lucky, pointing to a scrub about a foot high. Monkey scrub. Ifs a fair cow if you get off the track. This stuff grows very thick around three thousand five hundred feet up and the snow gets on it and crushes it down. It doesn't die, just spreads out and grows up again all round. It's sometimes so thick and matted that you have to go over the top of it like a monkey would. Hurry up, we'll be out in the open in about twenty minutes.'

  Gradually the scrub became more sparse and the mountain top came into view. The track was not so steep now and almost disappeared among the flax bushes, which were no more than three feet high. Then they came to a small waterhole set in a tiny flat at the foot of a ridge, the junction of two gullies. The flax here was taller and the banana frees and monkey scrub afforded them some protection from the keen early morning breeze, still chilled by the light dew.

  Let's have a brew-up,' Lucky said. There's still a lot of mist on 'the tops, and we'll have to wait for it to lift if we want to get a good shot.'

  Judy sagged to the ground and was content to watch Lucky busy himself preparing a fire and filling a billy. How far to the top ?' she asked.

  It will take us about half an hour or a bit more, but there's quite a good view from here. Have a look when you've recovered.'

  Immediately below them they could see the lake still covered here and there with wisps of early morning mist. From the lake shore -the bush ran away into ridges and gullies rounded off and softened by the trees' leafy camouflage. Green gave way to white as the snow caps of the main divide followed through to Mount Cook, the monarch of them all, looming high even at a hundred miles away.

  Lucky showed her on the right where the green gave way to blue, the deep blue of mid-night, the turbulent Tasman Sea. Through the hills he plotted the course of the Grey River wandering on its way to the Tasman. Pockets of mist clung here and there in the valleys. Where the Grey River finished, its joining at Greymouth could be pinpointed by -the tinge of red from the red-painted roofs.

  'It's about thirty miles to Greymouth, as the crow flies,' remarked Lucky. 'Come on, finish your tea and we'll get on to the top.'

  'That was a great cup of tea, Lucky. It's given me enough strength to make it to the top, I hope. Nice to find a waterhole handy, just when I was about to die of exhaustion!'

  'Tarn, Judy, not waterhole.' He pulled her

  to her feet, 'Walk, or I'll drag you, cave man style ! '

  Judy forced her aching limbs to carry her up the last ridge, and finally she made the summit. What a grand sense of achievement she felt.

  ' Well now, I'm going to cross over to the second peak. Do you want to come with me or do you want to stay here ? There's nothing on these hills to hurt you. It's ten o'clock it will take me a couple of hours to go over and back.'

  `I'll stay here,' said Judy. ' This is the nearest I've ever been to heaven. I could sit and look at this view for hours. Why didn't you tell me to bring a camera ?'

  Lucky raised an eyebrow. ' Do you think you could have made it carrying a camera ?' he laughed. ' You did jolly well, I shouldn't tease you. You were much better than I thought possible. Well, I'm off. You're as safe as a church here provided you don't wander off. Move down by that tarn if you feel cold. We'll have venison for lunch.' He moved off with the easy tireless tread of an experienced mountaineer.

  Judy lay back in the tussocks and gazed at the blue sky, with the little white clouds scuttling across it. This was her mountain. With Lucky gone she had it all to herself, she was completely alone and filled with a strange sense of peace, and something more, a touch of

  excitement and expectancy. This was her mountain and somehow, some time before she went down it was going to give her the courage she needed to smile when Mark and Zelda announced their plans. Something would be given to her to help her hold her head high for the next nine days. She wasn't in a hurry, she just relaxed and waited. Slowly her eyes closed and she fell asleep.

  When she awoke the sun was high overhead. Lucky would be back soon. She went down to the tarn and washed her face and hands in the cool clear water. She watched the water settle and become smooth, then looked at her reflection in the water. She stiffened and stared. The water reflected the figure of a man standing behind her, and it wasn't Lucky. Nervously she turned.

  ' Mark ! ' she said incredulously. She could hardly believe her eyes. She put her hand out and touched him, just in case she was dreaming.

  Oh, I'm real enough,' Mark said, smiling that wicked teasing smile that she loved so much.

  ' What are you doing here ?' Judy could not accept the fact that he was on the mountain side with her.

  ' I came up here to ask you to marry me.'

  Judy shut her eyes. It
must be a mirage.

  She had never heard of people seeing a mirage

  in the mountains, but this sudden vision of

  Mark could not be real.

  She felt his arms enfold her and draw her close. 'Will you marry me, Judy, love ? I love you so much, I can't let you go. I won't ever let you go. Say yes, my darling.'

  For an answer she opened her eyes and put her arms around his neck, drawing his lips down to hers.

  A long time later he asked, 'Where's Lucky ?'

  `He went across to the second peak shooting. He should be back soon.'

  Mark held her tight, Oh, Judy, how I've longed to take you in my arms and call you my own. You have no idea the control I've had to keep on myself to stop me from doing so, and damning the consequences.'

  `But why, Mark, why didn't you tell me?'

  `When you left this morning as the phone was ringing, I was feeling quite desperate. I thought I'd lost you forever, and I cursed the phone. But when I answered it, it was the exchange to say that there was a call coming through from South America and to wait around for it. I had to wait over an-hour before the call came through, and it was Paul, to tell that he and Betsy were safe and returning to New Zealand by plane next week.'

  How wonderful!' Judy's eyes shone. 'Oh, dear Nan will be so relieved. At last her faith has been rewarded.'

  Yes, it's great news, in more ways than one. It meant that I could ask you to marry me. I nearly started off after you there and then, but first I had to wake Nan and tell her. She was rather overcome, so I made her stay in bed. When I told the -twins their mother and father would be home next week they went completely crazy, like a pair of lunatics, so it took me ages to get their lunches ready and feed them breakfast. I thought they were better at school, it would help them to settle down. By the time I got them on the bus I was hours late with the milking, and the more I hurried to get to you the more things went wrong.' He pulled her close and kissed her.

  As Judy drew away she asked, But why did you have to wait to hear from Paul before you could ask me to marry you ? You would have saved us both so much pain and heartache. You knew I loved the twins, and had their parents not come back, I would have loved to help you with them. Didn't you trust me that far ?' Her voice was sad.