Phantom of Terawhiti
Page 19
Zac shook his head, trying to make sense of what he was hearing.
The old man grabbed a couple of bottles out of his arms. ‘Here, put those things down so I can thank you properly.’
With the help of the daughter all the groceries were soon stacked on the counter. Then the old man took both of Zac’s hands in his. He looked Zac in the eyes as his whole body shook with emotion. Then the tears flowed. But unlike the previous encounter, this time they were tears of joy.
The three in the ute were silent as they travelled over Makara Hill. Zac’s thoughts were mainly on his father who, judging from the phone call Jenny had taken as they’d left the supermarket, was probably not far behind them. Although he was unlikely to show it, Crawford would be elated. Almost a year of being labelled a criminal was over. They could now resume normal life, whatever that might be.
Jess must have been having similar thoughts. ‘What happens now?’ she asked. ‘Will you be going back to Auckland soon?’
Zac didn’t answer straight away. He thought back to the conversation over breakfast that morning. His father had been so excited about The Book that he couldn’t wait to get on with writing it. Would that change now?
‘No,’ he said, as much to himself as Jess. ‘Dad will want to finish The Book.’
‘Has he decided what he’s writing about?’ asked Jenny.
‘Yeah, he has.’
‘Well, go on! Tell us!’ demanded Jess.
‘It’s about a shipwreck along the southern coast.’
‘That sounds familiar,’ said Jenny.
‘Yeah, it is a bit.’
‘What happens?’
‘Well, the people get safely ashore, but their pet goes missing.’
‘What sort of pet?’ asked Jess, her voice rising with excitement.
‘At first people aren’t too sure. They think it might be a dog. Then two kids find that it’s a large African cat.’
Jess’s hand went to her mouth. ‘He’s writing about us?’
‘Yeah.’
‘Oh my god! That’s so cool.’
Zac chuckled. ‘I don’t think it will be exactly the same story, though. There are some things he doesn’t know about.’
‘We could tell him.’
‘I don’t think so,’ said Zac, slowly. ‘Let’s make him sort out some things for himself.’
Jess was quiet for a while before asking, ‘How long will it take to write?’
‘The rest of the year, he thinks.’
In reply Jess sighed: a sound remarkably similar to Tasha’s purring.
‘That’s good,’ she said, wriggling closer to Zac. ‘In fact, it’s better than good. It’s perfect!’
Although he didn’t say so, that was pretty much what Zac thought too. Eight months of daily contact with Jess certainly had possibilities. For one thing, there was Jenny’s cooking and the chance of many more helpings of lemon meringue pie — all of them smothered with cream. And, perhaps, there could be other benefits too …
Acknowledgements
The idea for a story set on Wellington’s southwest coast came from Meg Baucke whom I met at the 2010 Wellington Storylines Family Day. She suggested there were things around Makara that would make a great setting for one of my books. Thank you, Meg — you were right.
The idea gained momentum when Ruth Paul, author, illustrator and one of Makara’s notable residents, organized my visit to the area to meet the children at the school and visit places of interest. In the course of three days I gathered more ideas than I could ever use in one book. Thank you, Ruth, for your organization, enthusiasm and encouragement.
Particular thanks must go to Guy Parkinson, who showed me around Terawhiti Station and, along with his wife, Carolyn, gave me some idea of what it was like to farm so close to a metropolitan area. Thanks also to Carly Anderson of Meridian Energy, who showed me around the northern part of West Wind, including the gun emplacements. Then there are the staff and children at Makara Model School, especially Gail Dewar, the principal — thank you all for your suggestions.
Thanks also to Christine Grace and Debbie Delaney for sharing their knowledge of the area and pointing me in the direction of some useful resource books, namely:
Terawhiti and the Goldfields by James Brodie, Karori Historical Society, Wellington, 1986.
The Ghosts of Makara by Bernard Diederich, Xlibris Corporation, Philadelphia, 2002.
New Zealand Shipwrecks by Charles W. N. Ingram, Hodder Moa, Auckland, 2007.
Forbidden Gold, a novel by Will Lawson, Oswald-Sealy, Auckland, 1946.
Terawhiti by Catherine Morrison, Arty Books, Wellington, 2003.
Des Hunt
March 2012
About the Author
Des Hunt is the author of thirteen novels, including the acclaimed Cry of the Taniwha. After forty years working in education, he is now a full-time writer, using novels to share his fascination with science, technology and the world around us. For more information visit www.deshunt.com.
Copyright
This is a work of fiction. While many places are real, the events and incidents are products of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to the behaviour or appearance of actual persons holding positions similar to characters in the story is coincidental and unintentional.
HarperCollinsPublishers
First published 2013
This edition published in 2013
HarperCollinsPublishers (New Zealand) Limited
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Copyright © Des Hunt 2013
Des Hunt asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publishers.
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National Library of New Zealand Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
Hunt, Des, 1941-
Phantom of Terawhiti / Des Hunt.
ISBN 978-1-86950-954-5
[1. Shipwrecks — Fiction. 2. Phantom cats — Fiction. 3. Mystery
and detective stories. 4. Adventure and adventurers — Fiction.
5. Wellington (N.Z.) — Fiction.] I. Title.
NZ823.3 — dc 23
ISBN: 978 1 8695 0954 5 (pbk)
ISBN: 978 1 7754 9047 0 (epub)
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