Cry of the Taniwha

by Des Hunt

  It was on the path that Matt finally came up with a plan. He realized that he had a huge bargaining tool. One that would ensure that no one got hurt. It was the diamonds. They would be more than enough to keep the gang happy. He might only have to offer them a few. He didn’t want to give them anything, but he’d willingly hand over all the diamonds if it would protect Eve. He’d do anything to stop her getting a beating.

  Maybe the best thing was to make the offer as soon as they reached the clearing. Skulla might take some convincing, yet he would be greedy enough to want to make sure, and the only way he could do that would be to go back to the house. That had the advantage of leaving the thermal area, which would be good—Matt didn’t like the feel of the place at all.

  His unease increased as they went past the mud pool. It was now bubbling and steaming more than ever. Ian might consider that to be a good sign, but to Matt it was proof that things were hotting up. He looked back at Eve and saw that she, too, was concerned. He gave her a smile and flicked his eyebrows, hoping that she would recognize it as a sign that he had a plan.

  Their entrance into the clearing was greeted by a raucous outburst from Old Tani. ‘Craarrk! Craarrk! Craarrk! Craarrk!’ he went on and on. Skulla stopped and looked up at the bird. For the first time, Matt saw uncertainty cloud the gang leader’s face. A glance at Diz and Croke showed that the heron had got to them as well. Maybe that was a good thing. Maybe it would make them want to leave the area and be more receptive to his offer of diamonds. Perhaps now was the time to do it.

  He was about to speak when Skulla started shouting. ‘You! Come here!’

  Matt looked up and saw that Cecil The Gawk was cowering at the edge of the scrub on the other side of the clearing. He stood like a statue, frozen in place with fear.

  Skulla indicated to Croke to go and get him. Croke had only taken a couple of steps, when Cecil came alive, ducking into the bushes and taking off. Croke moved to follow him before being called back by Skulla. ‘Leave him. We’ve more important things to do.’

  Matt had an instant change of mind. Now was not the time to start bargaining. If Cecil was about the place, then other people might be, too. Cecil might even have enough sense to go for help. It was a long shot, but Matt figured it was worth the risk. He wasn’t giving anything to the gang until he really had to.

  Chapter 22

  The clearing was a lot different than it had been the day before. Someone had been digging holes all over the place. It could’ve been Cecil, but Matt would put his money on it being Zirk. Skulla handed over the spade and ordered Matt to start digging.

  Matt turned to Eve. ‘Where do you think it was?’

  Eve moved to a spot near the edge of the bare ground. ‘Round about here, I think. What do you think Jackson?’

  Jackson shrugged. ‘There somewhere.’

  ‘Dig!’ shouted Skulla.

  Matt looked at him and saw that he was pacing around the place as if he needed to go to the toilet. He was nervous. All three of them were. Old Tani wasn’t helping. Every now and then he would let out a cry that would increase their anxiety.

  Matt’s first mission was to find the piece of glass. If they found that, they might be able to convince the man that there was no diamond. Matt knew it wasn’t buried very deep, so instead of digging he scraped at the surface. Eve and Jackson joined in by scratching around with their shoes.

  It was Jackson who found it. He picked it up and handed it to Skulla. ‘That’s what Eve found.’ He said. ‘That’s her “diamond”.’

  Skulla studied it for a while before his face twisted in anger and he hurled the thing into the bushes. Then Diz stepped up and slammed his fist into Jackson’s stomach. Jackson cried out in a mix of pain and fear, doubling over as he scrambled to get out of range.

  ‘You’d better start using that machine, Bogan,’ said Skulla, ‘or the girl starts getting the same.’

  Matt went and picked up the metal detector. It was no use trying to reason with the man while he was in this mood: nothing less than the diamond was going to satisfy him.

  But where would he scan? Somewhere he hadn’t tried before; somewhere near where the sovereigns had been would be best. They’d been blown there on the night of the explosion, so perhaps something else had as well. He selected the place and started scanning.

  For ten minutes there was nothing: not even the faintest of squeals from the headphones. Matt was beginning to think the thing was still broken. Then there was a sound, ever so faint, but still a sound. He put down the detector and picked up the spade.

  The ground was harder than usual, but Matt didn’t think he’d have to dig far. The sovereigns had been close to the surface, just below the Tarawera ash layer.

  He brought out a clod of sinter and dumped it next to the hole. Then he used the detector to verify the object was in the clod. It was. Next he crushed the sinter with his hands and was soon holding the object. When he looked up, Skulla had his hand out for it. Matt gave it to him before quickly scrambling away from the man. The object was a nail that someone had dropped many years before.

  Skulla slammed the nail into the ground. When Diz saw what it was, he stepped up to Eve, with his fist ready to strike her.

  ‘Craarrk! Craarrk!’ cried Old Tani.

  It was enough to make Diz look up.

  ‘No!’ screamed Matt. ‘Don’t hit her! I’ll find it! I’ll find it!’

  Skulla said, ‘You’d better—and it better be quick.’

  Matt returned to the scanning. Soon he would need to start bargaining with the diamonds. He knew that there wouldn’t be any diamond pendant around here. The best he could hope for was to find some more sovereigns, and then Skulla might relax a bit.

  Time seemed to go incredibly slowly, especially with Diz and Croke prowling around like lions trapped in a cage. Jackson and Eve stood at the edge of the bare ground while Skulla tracked Matt’s every move.

  Five minutes passed, ten, and still nothing happened. Skulla was now so jumpy that he was getting in the way. Annoyed with the man, Matt shifted to another place, and straight away got a signal—a loud one, perhaps loud enough to be a coin.

  With growing hope Matt went to pick up the shovel, but Skulla already had it.

  ‘Diz!’ he called. ‘You dig!

  Diz did so, digging out a sizeable clump of sinter.

  Skulla looked at Matt. ‘Test it!’

  A swipe of the scanner confirmed the object was in the clod.

  Skulla nodded to Diz to proceed. Diz lifted the spade getting ready to bash down on the sinter.

  ‘Not that way!’ screamed Skulla. ‘Use your hands!’

  Diz dropped the spade and fell to his knees. The sinter quickly crumbled to reveal a dirty oval object. Diz picked it up and handed it to Skulla.

  Skulla gave it a couple of rubs against his hoodie, before studying it in detail. A smile was beginning to form on his face. He spat at it and rubbed again, and this time when he held it up, it was plain to everyone that it was a diamond. A very large diamond. It was the Rothery Stone. The gold mount was dulled and corroded after so long in the sulphurous soil, but the stone itself was sparkling as strongly as the day it had first been cut.

  Skulla couldn’t take his eyes off the diamond. He strode around the clearing, admiring it and speculating on its worth. He’d started at a million, but had now reached ten million, and the total was still growing.

  Meanwhile, Diz had grabbed the metal detector and was greedily scanning for more things—he wanted a diamond for himself. Matt didn’t bother to tell him that the rest of them were sitting on his bedroom dresser.

  Croke was standing guard over Matt and Eve. Matt had already asked if they could leave and been told to stay where he was until Skulla made up his mind about what should happen to them.

  Jackson was standing beside Croke as if trying to make out he was one of the gang. Yet the look on his face said he didn’t want to be there. Of all the three youngsters, he looked the most frightened. Eve
looked scared, but also determined to face up to the gang if need be. Matt was trying to look cool, yet inside his body was still churning with fear. He wanted to be away from the gang and away from the area. He hadn’t forgotten that they were standing in the middle of a thermal hotspot. He wanted to be on the other side of the fence as soon as possible.

  Old Tani was still letting out a call every so often to remind them that they shouldn’t be there. Croke was the most affected by the noise. Every time the heron called, he would jump and take a quick look up into the tree. His reaction just added to Matt’s nervousness.

  As Matt watched Diz scanning, he noticed that the man was sweating heavily. Then he realized that he, too, was feeling abnormally hot, particularly his legs. He looked over to the others and saw that Jackson was shifting his weight from one foot to the other as if something on the ground was annoying him. Eve also looked uncomfortable. He leant down and touched the bare surface. It was hot! Much, much hotter than before. A whole lot hotter than it should be.

  It was at that moment that Old Tani gave out the loudest screech of all. He left his perch and dive-bombed into the clearing, crying as he went.

  ‘Get out of here!’ screamed Matt. ‘It’s going to blow!’

  Skulla turned and looked at him. ‘What the—’ he yelled, before being drowned out by Old Tani who had swung around and was now returning, screeching even louder than before.

  ‘Craarrk! Craarrk! Craarrk! Craarrk!’

  ‘Run!’ shouted Matt, turning and heading for the bush.

  Croke didn’t need telling twice—he was already on his way. Eve followed Matt’s lead. But Jackson seemed to be frozen in place. Skulla was ducking to avoid the diving heron as if the bird was after him in particular; while Diz was scanning more urgently, reluctant to leave the area until he’d found something valuable.

  ‘Jackson!’ screamed Eve. ‘Come on!’

  Just then Old Tani made a final pass, diving right beside Jackson, almost touching the boy. This time he reacted, turning to follow the others, who were now moving into the bushes.

  Matt stopped to let Eve past before turning to check on Jackson, who was almost into the scrub. Behind him, Skulla was struggling to get the diamond into a pocket, and Diz was still scanning furiously. As Matt watched, the ground began to bulge under them. They had only enough time to register that something was terribly wrong before the earth below them exploded. Diz was thrown high into the air at the head of a fountain of boiling mud. Skulla was tossed to one side, crashing down hard onto the ground. An instant later, the side of the crater lifted to fold over top of him, burying him in a mound of steaming earth.

  Then the blast reached Jackson, taking him down. Next, the heat and sound got to Matt with a roar of noise and hot air that threw him over. Bits of hot mud started falling on him, burning the places where they hit bare flesh. He curled into a ball, hoping that somehow he would be spared. Yet it did nothing to stop the mud from continuing to rain down.

  The roar of the vent was deafening, becoming so loud that it shut out everything else. The very ground below Matt vibrated with the force of it. On and on it went, as if all the steam in Whakarewarewa was being released through that one vent.

  Eventually, the flow slowed and the roar dropped to a growl and then to a quiet moan. The earth was done for the moment. It had vented its anger, and now all that was left was the sigh of relief. There was a call from on high as Old Tani returned to check on his mate who had stayed on the nest throughout. Things must have been well, for he too let out a brief cry of relief, before twisting his head to see what had happened below. That’s when his cry changed to one of anguish. For lying on the edge of what was once the clearing was the shape of a boy, now little more than a mound of mud. It was the boy who had taken so much convincing to run. The boy who Old Tani had tried so hard to save.

  Chapter 23

  Matt lifted his head. He was alive! He moved his arms and felt pain as bits of mud cracked and stretched the burnt skin beneath. There were also pinpricks of pain on his legs and a few on his face, but it could have been worse. It could have been a whole lot worse. He knew that he must’ve got off lightly compared to the three who were still in the clearing when it happened.

  ‘Are you all right?’ It was Eve, leaning over him with concern.

  ‘Mostly,’ he replied. ‘But Jackson won’t be.’

  Eve moved along to the mound that was Jackson. ‘What about the others?’ she called over her shoulder.

  Matt got to his feet. ‘They got buried, I think. All except Croke. He was in front of you.’

  By then Eve was scraping the mud from Jackson’s face. ‘Croke disappeared,’ she said.

  ‘No, I didn’t,’ called a voice.

  Matt looked up and saw Croke hiding in the bushes. ‘Then come and help us!’ yelled Matt, as he knelt down beside Jackson. ‘Come and do something useful.’

  ‘He’s alive and breathing,’ said Eve. ‘But it looks like he’s badly burnt.’ She looked around. ‘We need water.’

  ‘The stream,’ said Matt. ‘Get him to the stream.’

  Eve nodded. ‘Croke!’ she shouted. ‘Come here!’ Then to Matt. ‘Go and check on the others.’

  As Matt got up, Croke shuffled out of the bushes. ‘Help Eve get him to the stream,’ Matt ordered. ‘Then you go and get help. Contact the police.’

  ‘I’m not getting the feds,’ Croke mumbled.

  ‘Well find somebody and get them to do it,’

  ‘I’m not taking orders from you,’ Croke snarled.

  Matt moved so that he was standing right in front of him. ‘Those others are going to die unless we help them. We will, but we can’t do it by ourselves. So you’re going to have to help us. You hear me!’ He breathed angrily for a moment before adding: ‘And you can start by helping Eve with Jackson.’ Without waiting for a reply, he turned and entered the clearing to begin the search for Diz and Skulla.

  The scene looked like a bomb site. The near side of the clearing was covered in rubble and mud. The other side had been washed clean by boiling water. In the middle was the crater. It wasn’t big, yet the explosion had been enough to splatter mud halfway up the nearby pine trees. The bottom of the hole was now filled with bubbling water. There were steam vents everywhere, filling the clearing with misty rain and a strong, sulphurous smell.

  Matt saw Diz first. He was lying on the side that had been washed with boiling water. Steam was rising all around him making it too dangerous for Matt to get close. But there was no need to. Even through the veil of steam, Matt could see that the man was dead. Matt left him and turned his attention to where he thought he’d last seen Skulla.

  The spade could be the clue. Before the explosion, the spade had been stuck in the ground close to where the diamond had been found. During the eruption, Matt had seen Skulla get thrown to one side and almost fall on the spade. Then the rubble had covered him. If Skulla was lucky, the spade might still be visible.

  It was, although it took Matt a few seconds to recognize what the mud-covered object was. Finding it was one thing; getting it out of the ground was another. He pulled and it barely budged. Maybe Croke could help? However, a glance back showed that Croke was busy carrying Jackson to the stream. Eve was supporting Jackson’s head, talking to him quietly as they moved slowly through the bushes. If Skulla was going to be found, then Matt was going to have to do it himself.

  He returned to the spade. After a lot of wriggling it back and forth, he managed to get it moving. One final big pull and it was up and out of the ground. That’s when he had a stroke of luck, or at least Skulla did. For in the hole that was left Matt caught a glimpse of movement. A closer look revealed three fingers. They were not moving much—more of a twitch than a conscious movement—but it was enough. Skulla was probably still alive.

  It wasn’t easy digging. Matt was very aware that the sharp edge of a spade was likely to do more harm than good. Yet soon he had the arm and shoulder exposed. From there it was much easier,
and within seconds he had exposed the face, only to find that Skulla wasn’t breathing. Maybe he hadn’t been for some time.

  Matt looked at the lifeless man for a few seconds, sorting out what to do. Should he try to save him, or should he go back and help with Jackson—help a person who was worth saving? In the end, he made the decision without really knowing why he had made it: he knelt down and began scraping the dirt away from the man’s chest.

  Soon, he was ready to start CPR. He wiped the mud away from Skulla’s face, took a deep breath and began. Skulla’s mouth tasted nothing like the plastic dummy at school, and for a moment Matt felt sick. He forced himself to blow, hoping he was doing it right. Skulla’s chest rose and Matt relaxed a little—that’s what was meant to happen. He blew again.

  Next he had to make the heart pump. Thirty presses in the middle of the chest, right between the nipples: pump, pump, pump—just a little faster than one a second. Another two puffs and then back to the chest. As Matt got into the rhythm, he tried to work out how long it had been since the explosion. Was it as long as seven minutes? That was the key time according to his health teacher at school. Much longer than seven minutes and tissue damage would have already occurred.

  Puff, puff, pump, pump…Over and over again.

  ‘Eve!’ he yelled during one of the pumping session. ‘How’s Jackson?’

  ‘Breathing, but unconscious’ came the distant reply. ‘What about you?’

  ‘Diz is dead, and Skulla’s not breathing, but I’m working on him. I’m going to need a break soon.’

  ‘All right. We’ll swap over when you’re ready.’

  Back to the puffs again. The monotony of it was almost mesmerizing.

  Puff, puff, pump, pump…

  Behind him the steam issuing from the crater seemed to be increasing. At times Matt had to wait for it to move away before he inhaled the air that would be blown into Skulla’s lungs. The good news was that the smell of sulphur seemed to have finally gone.