Cry of the Taniwha Read Free Page B

its wings and taking to the air. Twice more it called before disappearing: strident, scary sounds that had Jack wondering if he should leave the area as well. Instead, he put the diamond on the ground and began working on the handcuffs. He’d get rid of them first, and then he’d be on his way.

Chapter 3
    The present day
    Matt Logan was enjoying his first-ever flight. He had a window seat, and the weather had been fine all the way from Dunedin. In the past hour, he’d seen more of New Zealand than he had in all his previous thirteen years. That was mostly because he’d never been to the North Island before: never seen Wellington harbour, the volcanoes on the Central Plateau, Lake Taupo, nor the lakes around Rotorua which were now coming into view.
    He studied the scene, knowing that somewhere down there would be his home for the next few weeks; a thought that dampened some of the joy of the flight. Three weeks staying with old people whom he hardly knew was not his idea of a fun summer. But there’d been nothing he could do about it. His mother had just come out of hospital, and everyone thought it would be better if he was out of the way. So, when his grandmother, Nan, had said he could stay with her, his parents had thought it was a great idea, especially when she offered to pay for the air fares.
    The speaker above his head chimed, indicating an announcement. ‘We are now making our final approach into Rotorua airport. This will take us over Mount Tarawera, giving those on the port side of the aircraft a view of the craters left after the 1886 eruption. As you can see, the weather in Rotorua is beautifully fine, with the temperature a pleasant—’
    Matt blocked out the sound to concentrate on the view through window. Almost directly below he saw steam rising from small lakes. Then they were over Mount Tarawera itself. There was no mistaking that this was a volcano. A chain of craters stretched from the lakes into the heart of the mountain. The eruption had almost ripped the mountain in half.
    Soon they were passing over several lakes, each of them sitting in its own eruption crater. Finally, they turned and moved towards the largest one—Lake Rotorua. As the plane dropped down to the runway, Matt began to have horrible thoughts. What if he and Nan didn’t recognize each other? He’d been only six when they’d last met. He could remember the yummy biscuits and cakes she’d baked, but not her. He had a vague image of Pop, but that wouldn’t be any help, as he’d died three years back. She had a new husband now. A Maori man: a bus driver she’d met on a tour around the North Island. The marriage had been the subject of much heated discussion within the family, and Matt suspected he was being used to repair the damage, which was another reason for being fearful. Why should he have to be the first to meet this person?
    As the plane taxied towards the terminal, Matt’s fears increased. What if they weren’t there; what if her husband was working today; what if they were so old that they’d forgotten he was coming; what if…?
    Fifteen minutes later he walked out into the concourse, and discovered that all his fears were groundless. A man and a woman moved forward, and soon the woman was taking him in a hug so huge that she almost engulfed him.
    ‘Hello, Matt,’ said Nan as she released him, steppingback to look him up and down. ‘It’s good to see you again. You’ve grown so much.’ She turned and grabbed hold of the man’s hand, pulling him forward. ‘This is my husband, Hone. No need to call him Pop or Grandad, or anything like that, just Hone will do.’
    The smiling man stepped forward and took Matt’s hand. ‘Kia ora, Matt. Welcome to Rotorua.’ Matt nervously nodded in reply. As they led him towards the luggage pickup, he had the chance to study the pair. They were an unlikely combination. Whereas Nan was large, Hone was slight, much smaller than the few Maori men Matt had come in contact with