CHAPTER 36
Matt eased open the room door and entered the hotel hallway. He was just about to gently tap on Aimee’s door, when she opened it.
‘Your timing is impeccable,’ Matt whispered.
‘Thanks. I wanted to make sure you didn’t have to knock.’
‘I’m sure he can’t hear us. I think he’s on the other side.’
‘Better safe than sorry.’
‘Let’s go then.’
Matt wheeled his case along the hall and out the hotel’s small back door. This place was perfect. It was a big sprawling building on two levels, with a garden courtyard in the middle. The small car park was out the back, which meant that Matt and Aimee could make their run for it without having to go through any lobbies or up and down lifts. They were as quiet as mice.
Out in the car park, their feet made crunching sounds on the fine gravel that was scattered about.
‘Shh,’ Aimee said, ‘don’t you know anything about being stealthy?’
Matt stifled a laugh. They threw their gear in the boot and climbed into the car as quietly as possible. It was ridiculous really, since early-morning noise in a city isn’t exactly unexpected. Matt started the car and crept out of the car park. When they had turned a few more corners and were on a main road south out of town, they finally let out a breath. Matt looked over at Aimee and saw her smiling. Both of them cracked up.
‘I think we’ve lost him for good now. What did you do with the GPS?’ Aimee asked.
‘I took it out of the car when I went and paid the hotel and dumped it in the skip bin out the back.’
‘How are we supposed to know where to go?’ Aimee asked, laughing.
‘There aren’t that many roads in New Zealand. I’ve no idea why anyone would need it anyway.’
‘Which road are we taking, then?’ Aimee asked as they reached an intersection with one road pointing to Dunedin and another pointing east to the Banks Peninsula.
‘It’s too dark to go and look at Warren’s bullaun bowls out at Taylors Mistake,’ Matt said, referring to yet another of the items on Warren’s list. ‘But I’m not interested anyway.’
Matt was no longer driven by his original reason for coming to New Zealand. Now, he was driven by the need to fulfil his father’s destiny. As if somehow that would make up for not finding him sooner or cancel out his death.
‘I’ve only ever heard about stones with hollows and cup marks, never seen any except for in pictures. It might be interesting,’ Aimee said.
‘I doubt it. Truth be told, after what you told me about the Clan of Truth, I’m feeling a bit stupid for not looking into Warren’s ideas more carefully before I came out here.’
‘You think Warren’s involved with the Clan?’
‘No. I doubt it. But there’s just too much speculation and not enough fact. I was naive to come here based on Warren’s word alone. After reading some of the websites that are going on about all of these places, I get the impression that if we go trotting off to all of them, we’ll get painted with the same brush that I’ve painted most of those authors with.’
‘What brush is that?’ Aimee asked.
‘The fruit-loop brush. The Clan of Truth brush. Most of these theories turn from slightly realistic into ridiculous about four hundred words in. Just as you start to get interested in some website or other, the authors decide to throw in that the alignment of rocks vaguely resembles a zodiac or something, or that they have the same measurements as the great pyramid. It’s bloody embarrassing. Even worse, running around looking at these sites of Warren’s without doing some proper research first is far beneath what any decent academic would do.’
Matt felt a bit guilty for slamming Warren’s theories, but he wasn’t directly referring to Warren of course. Rather, he meant the people behind the Clan of Truth, those responsible for creating websites about the supposed Celtic history of New Zealand. He had looked up a few now, and sure enough, as Aimee had said, the same small group of activists were behind most of the pseudo-history websites. Matt wondered how much reach they had. One thing was certain, the way they touted their theories was counter-productive. The racism, the extreme religious views; they took things too far. Matt didn’t want to believe that Warren was deceived by this foolishness or that he was consumed by the hype, but he also had to be realistic. He couldn’t afford to ruin his chance of a good reputation by getting involved in such things. Dwight Pick would love that. Matt refused to give him the satisfaction.
‘So we’ll just head straight to Dunedin then?’ Aimee asked.
‘Not quite. I’d like to stop and have a quick look at the Moeraki Boulders.’
‘Oh yeah, of course, I’d completely forgotten about them. They’re near Dunedin, right?’
‘Practically on the road there,’ Matt answered. He had studied a road atlas while he waited for 2 a.m. to roll around. ‘I think we can be there in about three hours.’
‘Should be about getting light then. Well, not long after. Could be romantic.’ Aimee said. Matt loved the way she teased.
They took the road that led south. The sky was clear, with hundreds of stars to be seen in all directions.
Hemi paid the hotel cashier and trekked off down the long halls to the rear car park exit. He looked down at his watch. 07:30. Good, he still had time before their usual 8 a.m. departure. He knew Dr. Cameron and Aimee were still in the hotel because the GPS was still in range.
‘Oh, fuck me.’ He said. He was the only person to hear it.
Hemi raced over to his car, threw his bag in the back seat, and opened his laptop. The signal was still there. Still strong. Where the hell have you got to? Hemi studied the image on the screen. According to this, you’re right… he lifted his eyes up… there. A skip bin.
He jumped out of the car and charged over to the bin, opened it, and confirmed his fear. The stupid bastards had given him the slip. It almost amused him but he was a little too pissed off for that. Ashamed for allowing two amateurs to get one over on him, Hemi grabbed the GPS and returned to his car. It was bloody obvious that they were going to Dunedin, so Hemi would too. He also knew Aimee intended to get help from her mate at the University of Otago. What better place could Hemi find to make camp and await them? He knew he could get to Dunedin in four hours. Hopefully he wouldn’t be too late.
Matt manoeuvred the car around the little gravel road and into the broad car park at the Moeraki Boulders tea rooms and souvenir shop. The buildings’ roofs were made to look like rounded boulders.
‘Kitsch.’ he said.
‘I love a bit of kitsch. Especially on Wednesday.’
They walked between the two buildings and onto the large wooden terracing that surrounded them. A path lead down to the boulders and a steel post in the middle of it invited them to donate two dollars. They obliged willingly, and started off down the short walk to the beach. A couple of minutes later they stood alone among the boulders. Matt imagined that later in the day they would be surrounded by tourists.
‘What do you think then?’ he asked.
Aimee laughed. ‘Geologists will tell you they’re spectacular examples of septarian concretions. Gavin Menzies and his followers will tell you it’s Chinese ballast.’
Matt remembered his first conversation with Aimee on the flight to New Zealand. She had mentioned Gavin Menzies then and, unbeknownst to her, he had picked up a copy of his controversial book “1421” while in Auckland. He pulled it out now.
‘Menzies refers to some geologists who took samples from the outer rims of the boulders and analyzed them. They say the material is extremely hard in constitution and consequently very difficult to break.’