“No word of love, Sister? No word of good wishes?”
“Why should I waste my time wishing you well,” Bella shouted, “when all the odds about Skylark being alive and your chance to get her and return are so slim? She can’t have lasted this long. You’re going on a fool’s errand —”
“I’m not giving up until I see Skylark’s body,” Hoki answered. “If you won’t give me your blessing, I’ll go without it. Goodbye, Sister.”
She began to walk towards the cliff path. Bella turned her back and folded her arms.
“Aren’t you going to see her off?” Arnie asked.
“And condone this madness? No.”
“Hoki will be all right, won’t she?” Arnie persisted. “She and Skylark will get back, won’t they?” Waiting was a torture to his loving heart.
His question went right to the crux of the matter. Bella began to shake with emotion.
“Although the Great Book of Birds prophecies this flight,” she wept, “it ends at the point where Hoki begins her journey. It doesn’t tell us what happens next —”
“That settles it! I’m going, not her. Damn it, I’ll take her place.”
Bella slapped him hard. The welt reddened his cheeks. “Wake up, Nephew,” she screamed. “Nobody should go back there! Not even Hoki.”
Hoki was halfway up the cliff face. All around her the sky was deepening into crimson.
“Oh, how’s she going to get on?” Bella wailed. “I’m the one who has always done the dangerous stuff. I’m the one with the legs. She’s always been the scaredy-cat. And her sense of direction is hopeless! Even when there are signposts she often takes the wrong turning. I tell her to go left and she turns right. Sister! Sister! Wait!” Bella and Arnie started to run. Up and up they raced. The sun was going down into the sea. The dusk chorus was beginning. They were going to be too late. “Sister,” Bella cried again.
Hoki was standing at the edge of the cliff. She was chanting an incantation.
“E nga manu Atua o Te Wao Nui o Tane
Homai ki ahau te mana, te ihi, te wehi
Oh God birds of the Great Forest of Tane,
give me your strength, your dread, your powers …”
At her words, the manu whenua responded with a frenzied song. It came strange and wild from the north, south, east and west. It seemed to swirl around Hoki like a whirlwind.
“Equip me with strong wings for my journey
fighting claws, a fierce beak, acknowledge me
Let the Hokioi’s voice be heard again in the skies
The Spirit Messenger of the Gods themselves …”
The whirlwind and the birds’ chorus reached a crescendo. Bella and Arnie put their hands to their ears. Far to the north Birdy clutched her heart with anticipation, knowing something profound was happening. In the east, Joe felt the wind begin to blow and realised that the time had indeed come for the flight of the Hokioi. Down in the south, an image came into Lottie’s head of an old woman ready to embark on her last journey.
“For the last time,” Bella wept, “please don’t go, Sister.”
The birdsong stopped. Just like that.
In the Manu Valley, nothing except the wind. The sunset blossomed red and glorious, like a benediction.
“You’re such a softy,” Hoki said to Bella. “I knew you would come to say goodbye.” She gave a brave smile. Leaned forward. Gulped at the sight of the valley far below. “It’s sure a long way down,” she said.
Before Bella and Arnie could stop her Hoki stepped over the cliff and was falling. The wind was flapping at her black gown. Her black scarf came loose and fluttered away like a ribbon. She was holding on to her walking sticks for dear life.
“She’s going to kill herself,” Arnie cried out, alarmed.
The ground was rushing forward. “Heeelp —” Hoki screamed.
“Oh my giddy aunt!” Bella sighed. She cupped her hands to her mouth and shouted. “Open your wings, you stupid idiot!”
Arnie saw Hoki spread her arms. And that’s when it happened. All that was falling was Hoki’s clothes, shoes, scarf and walking sticks. But where was Hoki? Arnie heard a screech of triumph, and flying out of the neck of Hoki’s black gown came a gorgeous dark bird. The bird whistled and sang and soared in the morning currents.
“Is that Hoki?” Arnie asked.
“Yes,” Bella said. “Can’t you recognise her?”
Sure enough, when Arnie took a closer look he saw that one of the bird’s legs was withered.
Hoki began to dive bomb her audience, whistling and giggling at every pass. “I could get used to this!” She came in for a landing on Bella’s right shoulder, stalled, made contact, almost slipped off but managed to steady herself on her good foot. She began to preen Bella’s hair.
“Hmmn,” Hoki said. “Guess who didn’t wash behind her ears this morning.”
Bella reached up to Hoki and enclosed her in both hands. She brought Hoki face to face so that they were looking at each other eye to eye.
“Oh what’s the use,” Bella sighed. “You always do exactly what you want to! Are you ready for your great journey, Sister?”
“Yes,” Hoki warbled.
Bella was weeping, rubbing her cheeks against Hoki. “I love you, Sister.”
“Stop crying or else I’ll get too waterlogged to fly,” Hoki said.
Bella smiled sadly. “Now there’s an idea.” She kissed Hoki on the beak, took a deep breath, opened her arms and, shouting to split the sky, launched Hoki into the air. “Go now.”
Hoki flew up to the ripped sky, stilled, waited for her moment, then went in — and vanished.
Yes, darlings, the mother pouakai said, pudding.
Cheeping, stumbling, cawing and slashing at each other, the pouakai’s three chicks advanced on Skylark. But they were hesitant, because unlike the blindworms this strange bait darted across to the other side of the nest. “You bite me,” Skylark threatened, “and I’ll bite you right back.” The baby chicks looked up at the mother pouakai, puzzled. She purred to them.
Food is like that, children. Sometimes you have to catch it on the wing.
Reassured, they started to hunt Skylark again. “Stay away from me you skinheads,” she said. The baby chicks were thrilled at the fun of it all, especially when the strange bait again leapt over their heads and flew out of their reach. And when the strange bait did it a third time, they chortled with glee. What a great game this was.
It wasn’t a game to Skylark. Whimpering, with heart pounding, she resumed sawing at the tether. Another strand gave way. Three left. But how much time did she have left? In desperation, Skylark looked up at the mother pouakai. “If I promise not to eat another Kentucky fried chicken,” she asked, “will you let me go?”
The pouakai roared with anger.
“I didn’t think you would,” Skylark said.
Skylark wiped at her tear-stained face with a wing. The baby chicks were right on top of her now, glaring down. One of them made a sharp jab with its beak and Skylark yelled in pain.
“Do that again and I’ll sock you in the eye,” she yelled. The pouakai pushed the chicks forward irritably.
Why are you afraid, babies? It’s just a little brown bird.
The chicks advanced once more. Skylark tried to get away. The tether would not stretch any further. “This is it,” Skylark said to herself. “Bye bye world. Goodbye Mum.” She closed her eyes tight. Who wants to see Death approaching? As she did so, however, she seemed to see Cora tossing and turning in her hospital bed. And what was Cora saying to her?
“Skylark O’Shea, you’ve forgotten everything I’ve told you, haven’t you! A girl should never leave home without a Broadway tune in her purse. A show tune is just the thing when you’re in a jam! Whenever that happens, sing, Skylark, sing.”