“Yes, Tane often talked about Prof Carson. They seemed to have a lot in common. Tane said they would sometimes go off together to the Grey Range. He showed me photos of those great red peaks rising right out of the Sturt Desert.”
“The professor rang me and expressed the opinion that if things went wrong in New Zealand, Tane might well return there. I mentioned Tane’s trouble. He said he could imagine Tane in those mountains shutting himself off from the world, part hermit, part explorer and part prospector. He also mentioned Tane’s unusual rapport with the Aboriginal people.”
“You mean he would see that place as a bolthole?”
“That’s my intuition. It says in the Bible that Cain went away and lived in a land called ‘Wandering’. Look it up in Genesis 4:16. If ever there’s a land of wandering, it’s the Australian outback.”
He was surprised at the great man’s biblical knowledge, but he did not think he would be looking it up. “I suppose it’s a possibility,” he said hesitantly.
“I can’t guarantee my theory, but it would do no harm to investigate.”
“But what about the report for Dr Magnusson?”
“No problem. I’ll arrange with him that you’ll start on it when you are free or when you return in a fortnight’s time.”
“Thank you,” he said. “I wouldn’t like to let him down.”
“Now as to Tane, I have contacts in the mining companies who are exploring in the Broken Hill area, and they always have an eye open for genuine bush prospectors. If he’s in the mountains, some one will know and there are always the Aboriginal trackers.”
“It’s good of you to take so much trouble.”
“I’ve asked them especially to check the Aboriginal contacts.”
“Do you think he might have gone bush?”
“It’s a not uncommon reaction to disappointment. However, I think you’ll agree that we must do all we can to ensure that this brilliant mind is brought back into the community.”
“I don’t know how to thank you.”
“Not at all. Just part of my job on the Council.”
Sir Charles Hawthorne was as good as his word. A telegram was delivered later that afternoon.
MINING COMPANY MANAGER BROKEN HILL RANG STOP APPARENTLY GEOLOGIST LIVING WITH ABORIGINALS GREY RANGE. STOP NEVER APPEARS THEREFORE NOT IDENTIFIED STOP CARSON SAYS ABORIGINAL CLAIMS HAVE MARKS OF NGATA THESIS. STOP YOU MIGHT LIKE FLY OVER CHECK OUT SITUATION STOP REGARDS HAWTHORNE.
That evening a special courier called with two return tickets, one Air New Zealand to Sydney and the other Qantas to Broken Hill. The Sydney plane left at 6 p.m. on Friday. A little note was attached to the tickets. Courtesy of the Anglo-American Consolidated Mines.
CHAPTER 13
A shy man has problems which he cannot share.
David had his own bolthole.
The steep, narrow road which led to the summit of One Tree Hill was lined with the terraces and trenches of the old Maori fortifications. Life was much simpler then. You knew who were your friends and who were enemies. David almost envied the Maori defenders. As their attackers breasted the stockades, they would leap up and strike at them with their meres.
He had got on uncommonly well with Sir Charles and Dr Magnusson, and the openings were huge. But something jarred. Did Sir Charles really understand Tane? Was Tane’s disappointment at not being able to use his discovery the reason for his acting like Cain? And those last words, “…we must do all we can to ensure that this brilliant mind is brought back into the community.”
Dammit! Was that what Tane really wanted?
He left his car in the parking area and walked moodily up the steps leading to the obelisk. Suddenly he realised that the sky had grown dark and it was cold. A great black cloud had rolled up from the Tasman. Driving rain was lashing the Manukau Harbour. Soon it was sweeping up the slopes. In a moment it was upon him. He retreated to the car.
A young woman in walking shorts had dashed down the summit road and was trying to keep dry in the shelter of the wall. He opened the car door and yelled out, “Get in!”
She was a tall, rather attractive person with glasses and short, straight brown hair. She looked at him searchingly before she slid in, then smiled. “Thanks.”
The rain appeared to have set in.
The legs were disconcerting, especially at such close quarters in his Honda.
“I’m David,” he said, determined to keep to the social niceties.
“Hi, I’m Kate.”
“Taking a walk?”
“Just a quickie. I decided I needed some fresh air. I’ve been at two school holiday programmes this morning and the kids can be a pain.”
“Are you a teacher?”
“Yuk, no! I only talk about the huia.”
It came out involuntarily. A little groan quickly suppressed.
She noticed. “What’s up? Do they bug you?”
“It’s just that I’ve been hearing a lot about huias lately.”
“Huia,” she said just like a schoolteacher. “It’s a Maori word. They don’t have s’s. What’s the problem?”
“Well – I guess there’s more than one way of looking at things.”
She stiffened perceptibly. “I don’t think I understand you.”
“I have a colleague who’s a geologist.”
“Really,” she said in such a way that there was no doubt what she thought about that occupation. “So you’re against the sanctuary?”
“No, it’s not that. He may have visited that valley.”
There was an edge to her voice. “And why would he want to do that?”
“I don’t know. He never told me. And now he’s disappeared.” He turned and looked at her for the first time. “You see, he was my friend and I need to find him.”
She took off her glasses and looked at him. He was surprised to see that her eyes were warm and sparkling. “That’s different. I’m sorry.” The city below was invisible in the mist, and the storm and the rain had made them prisoners. “Tell me about him.”
Kate knew almost immediately who David was because she was a friend of the McTaggarts, they all being members of the Alpine Sports Club.
Small city, Auckland!
Eleanor had told her all about David’s visit to the church and was concerned about Tane, but Leone had thought he was unbalanced. Kate decided to listen and form her own opinion. His sincerity was convincing and as he spoke she was drawn into the story. In the meantime the rain gradually increased in intensity, drumming on the roof, and the light outside grew dimmer. The thundering of the water and the increasing darkness had an unusual and disturbing effect upon Kate. She found herself imagining a deep, dark gorge with precipitous bluffs and tumultuous white waters.
Suddenly she was afraid. There was something about that valley that Eleanor had sensed. When the storm subsided a little so she could talk she looked at him uncertainly. “I have not been quite honest with you. I’ve already heard some of this from Eleanor McTaggart.”
“I’m sorry,” he said. “They told me about the search. I hope they find her husband.”
She paused. “It’s not that simple. I haven’t told anyone else, but I think there’s something wrong with that search.”
“But surely they’re being very thorough?”
“Only if you go on what Stan wrote in the hut book at the Upper Waiwawa Hut.”
“I’m afraid you’ve lost me.”
“They haven’t really thought about what sort of person he was.”
“I met him once,” he said. “He came to our Department before Christmas.”