“What did you think of him?”
“I tried to help him but wasn’t able to.”
These academics were maddening. “You haven’t answered my question.”
He fumbled again. “He seemed to have his own agenda.”
“Why don’t you say what you think?” she flared. “What about ‘stubborn, opinionated and rude’?”
“We didn’t exactly hit it off,” he said cautiously.
“I think you ought to know something. He and Kevin Carr were both members of the Ornithological Society and they hated each other’s guts.”
“Really? Why?”
“Both political fanatics – but at opposite poles.”
“But I still don’t understand why that would be important.”
“Look at the scenario. Stan hears that Kevin has discovered a huia in his precious valley, the one he has set his heart on discovering?”
“I expect he would be a little disappointed.”
“A little!” she said scathingly.
“You would know him better.”
She snorted, but then continued. “I had news this morning about the search. One of the parties found broken branches of leatherwood on the eastern slopes of Devil’s Peak leading down towards the Waitoa.”
“Is that so? Did they follow the trail?”
“Not very far. It stopped at some bluffs and they didn’t get permission from DOC to go any further into the huia sanctuary. I think the search organisers concluded it was just a track to get water.”
“I read in the paper that Stan and Bill were going into the Waitoa originally, weren’t they? But they changed their route when they heard about the huia.”
“That’s what they said in the hut book. But they had a rope. They could have got down those bluffs.”
“I can’t see what you’re getting at.”
“John McTaggart was the leader of that party. He knew about the rope, but in the circumstances he didn’t push the point. He’s just the opposite of Stan. Never puts a foot wrong. Wouldn’t want to do anything to embarrass the search controllers. The trouble is he doesn’t really understand how his brother’s mind works.”
“Surely Stan wouldn’t write a false entry in the hut book?”
“Stan can do some pretty strange things if he gets really upset. There’s another thing that worries me. Those two have been tramping together for yonks – well – since University Tramping Club which would be at least twenty-five, thirty years. They’ve been in the toughest bush country in New Zealand. Stan never goes on tracks. He’s one of the best route-finders in the Alpine Sports Club. Bill can rustle up a fire with rata shavings even when the bush is dripping wet. They can swim down rivers, climb down bluffs and cut their way through impenetrable leatherwood and supplejack. Both are extremely fit for their age. If one had an accident, the other could always get out. They could survive where a much younger party would panic or do something crazy and die of hypothermia. They’re the people that search, not the ones who get lost. What I can’t understand is Bill. If Stan goes off the rails, Bill will always bring him back. You see, Bill is about the only person Stan ever listens to.”
“So are you saying that they changed their mind and went into the Waitoa?”
“I don’t know and I’m scared to think.”
There was something which David could not fathom. He recalled that strange, brusque meeting with Stan. Stan had insisted on knowing more about Tane, was upset because he didn’t know where Tane had gone. Why? Was it just possible that he had sensed something about Tane’s expedition?
“Why would they want to go into the Waitoa if they’d been told it was a sanctuary?” he said.
She did not answer.
“Surely Stan couldn’t be that fanatical about birds?”
“You don’t understand at all!” There was a tremble in her voice which should have warned him but didn’t.
“And if not huia, what else?”
She turned away and burst into tears.
If he were not so shy, he would have tried to comfort her. But he only found it embarrassing. He found himself edging away from her. He hated any show of emotion. This was one of the reasons he had always kept women at a distance. He felt the plane tickets in his pocket. He’d soon be out of it anyway and there would be no risk of any more involvement.
Then she turned and was looking straight at him as if she read his action and the thought behind it. The moist eyes were blazing with anger. “Why are you sliding away? I think you’re hiding something. Why did your friend go into the huia valley?”
“He was exploring,” he said defensively.
“I don’t believe you. He did discover something, didn’t he? And that’s the reason you’ve suddenly decided to look for him after three years. You’re a geologist, aren’t you? And why did you go to Charles Hawthorne to ask for advice? I believe he’s filthy rich and acts for all the multinationals who are bleeding this country to death. He’s probably hatching up some plan to get mineral exploration licences in the sanctuary.”
He was appalled. She was not only a very emotional woman but also a typical, irrational greenie. These people just couldn’t understand how vital overseas investment was to the growth of the economy. If you mentioned to them anything about development or multinationals, they could no longer see reason.
He decided to put the record straight as far as his benefactor was concerned. “I’m only interested in finding Tane. I can’t go much further with the Waitoa because it’s a huia sanctuary. Sir Charles was interested enough in Tane to suggest a lead that’s quite promising. In fact, he has just arranged a trip to Australia so that I can investigate a report of Tane’s possible sighting in the Grey Range north of Broken Hill.”
“And so you go along with everything that, er, gentleman tells you?”
“Of course. He’s a Queen’s Counsel.”
“Yes, that’s his job, to convince people.”
David found himself getting angry. “He’s a very busy man but he’s given me hours of his time. He’s doing everything he can to help me find Tane. He also values the research I’m doing.”
He immediately regretted these words. Quick as a flash she homed in. “What research?”
“Mineral exploration,” he said cautiously.
“Is he going to help you with that too?”
He decided it would be unwise to mention Dr Magnusson. “He has good contacts.”
“So you’re in partnership with him.” She put on her glasses and looked at him as if she was studying a rather repellent insect under a microscope. “How odd!”
The rain had passed over the isthmus. Already, the Manukau Harbour sparkled in the sun, and the Waitakere Ranges stood outlined against the fresh, cloudless sky of a summer afternoon. Birds twittered in the olive groves below.
As she walked back down the road, Kate didn’t know with whom she was more angry – herself or him.
She had gone to One Tree Hill to think about the disturbing news from the search. She did not normally get into cars with strange men, but he had given her shelter from the rain and she was grateful to him. At first she had listened with interest to his story because she was sorry for him. But the alarming coincidences about his colleague together with his innuendos about Stan had just got too much.
What a fool she had been to confide in a man who was so painfully unimaginative and self-centred! Look how insensitive he was to Eleanor, thinking only of his own problems. And then to give way to tears in front of him! Worse still she had done so before he revealed his true colours. She ought to have realised earlier when he couldn’t even get the Maori right – huia not huias. What else would you expect from geologists? Slimy people sneaking about with hammers and Geiger counters, agents of globalisation and lackeys of multinational mining companies who just wanted to tear the mountains apart.