Battle of the Birds by Murray Lee

Author:Murray, Lee [Murray, Lee]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Maori, flight, democracy, Children's fiction, fantasy, New Zealand, prophecy, birds, time travel
ISBN: 9780473210526
Publisher: Oceanbooks
Published: 2012-06-01T04:00:00+00:00

Escape

‘Moana!’

Annie leaps off the basket and runs along the beach into the arms of her friend. They hug tightly, hongi, and then hug once more.

‘I knew you’d come,’ Moana whispers.

‘Hello, little cousin,’ Kahurangi calls from the shoreline, as he helps Toa drag the basket further up the beach. ‘We’ve come to rescue you.’

‘Kahurangi!’ A chubby little girl rushes out from behind the rocks and tackles Kahurangi around the legs, nearly toppling him. It’s the missing toddler from Kahurangi’s village.

‘Kakama! You found her!’ Kahurangi peels the toddler off his legs and lifts her high above his head, making her squeal with laughter.

‘Isn’t it wonderful?’ Moana exclaims. ‘She was already here when Te Hōkioi left me on the island. There were several guards — falcons — nasty mean-eyed brutes they were, including that one from the Council. Luckily, they didn’t seem too interested in guarding us closely; they spent most of their time throwing stones at each other and squabbling. They gave us scraps of food from time to time, and water. It was weird, though. They left a couple of days ago after another falcon came, and they all flew off together in a hurry. It was as if they’d forgotten we were here.’

‘Maybe they felt there was no chance of anyone rescuing you this far from the land,’ Kahurangi says, tossing Kakama one last time.

‘I guess so. Anyway, that’s when I had the idea to use my kite as a signal.’

‘It worked! We saw it,’ Annie tells her, as Kahurangi puts Kakama back down on the sand. The girl sidles close to him. Her thumb in her mouth, she snakes her other arm around one of Kahurangi’s legs.

‘After they left we explored the island a bit. It’s pretty creepy. It’s all boiling pools spewing hot smelly fumes. We’ve stayed near the beach, haven’t we, Kakama, away from the smelly air.’ Moana squats down and tickles the toddler’s tummy. ‘She’s been such a brave girl.’

Kakama wrinkles her nose. ‘Smelly,’ she says, making them all laugh.

Toa is shouting at them from the shore. The wind has changed and is now blowing inland. They should go. Taking Kakama by the hand, Moana follows Annie to the shore where Toa has secured the crumpled balloon. She fizzes with excitement as she examines the balloon.

‘I still can’t believe you flew over the water on this giant kite. At first, I thought it was a taniwha-monster rising up out of the sea. My knees knocked together so hard, my teeth rattled. Then, when the taniwha came closer, I saw it was Kahurangi waving. I thought the fumes had poisoned my brain.’

Kahurangi laughs. ‘Well, thanks very much!’

‘I didn’t mean it like that, silly,’ Moana says, pulling a face. ‘Of course, I was pleased to see you, although not as pleased as I’ll be to get off this island. So how does this giant kite work?’

‘It’s called a balloon,’ Kahurangi explains, ‘and in some ways it is like a giant kite. It floats on the shifting air currents.

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