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.”
“You wouldn’t dare. Just because you’re a bird, don’t think that you’ll be able to get away with anything.”
Hoki whistled and flew into the air. She executed a few fancy sideslips and tumbles before returning to Bella’s head. “That’s how I escaped the great pouakai,” she said. “By comparison, you’ll be a breeze! How’s Skylark?”
“She’s fine — and things seem to be developing between her and Arnie.”
“Oh no! Poor Skylark.”
“Poor Arnie, you mean!”
“But the good news is that she’ll be staying with me, here in Manu Valley. She wants to take over when I am gone. Meantime, you and me have to keep going on, Sister. As long as we keep paying the rates and keep a look out to repel all invaders —”
“I can be the scout for us,” Hoki said. “Nobody will know it’s me at all. Wheee!”
She did some somersaults in the air.
“Show-off,” Bella said.
“Will you get used to me like this?” Hoki asked, as she launched herself again into the air.
“No,” Bella answered, “but I suppose you can still help me in the valley even if you are a bird. And will you stop treating me as if I was an aircraft carrier?”
Whistling with delight, Hoki plummeted and circled around Bella, teasing her.
“Stop that,” Bella laughed. “If you don’t, I’ll put you in a cage.”
“This beats using walking sticks any day!”
Bella had a sudden memory of Hoki’s crutches leaning against the bedroom door. She closed her eyes with sadness.
“Don’t cry,” Hoki said. She fluttered herself against Bella’s cheeks.
“As long as you’re with me, I suppose that’s all that matters,” Bella answered.
Hoki made soft comforting noises. “Got you!” Bella yelled. She grabbed Hoki with both hands and imprisoned her, lowering her so that the two sisters were looking into each other’s eyes.
“Gee you’re cunning,” Hoki objected. She pecked at Bella’s fingers, trying to make her open her hands.
“Just so long as you know who’s going to be boss,” Bella said, giving Hoki a stern look. “Okay?”
“You were always a big bully,” Hoki answered. She cocked her head to one side and spat a seed into Bella’s face.
Startled, Bella opened her hands and Hoki flew free. “Let’s go home now,” she warbled. “I’m hungry. Got any worms for breakfast?”
Bella stood up and looked across Manu Valley. The bush clattered and sighed in anticipation of the dawn. Suddenly the thought came to her: