Tauhou by Kōtuku Titihuia Nuttall

Author:Kōtuku Titihuia Nuttall [Nuttall, Kōtuku Titihuia]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: House of Anansi Press Inc
Published: 2023-03-27T14:50:47+00:00

ĆENQÁLES

Hot Earth

Maunganuioteao

They’re driving to visit a city up the island. They pass the old volcanoes — two, if not three, of them — on the way up. The land falls away to sparse space rock and tussock and middling road. Lumps of widow-makers perch atop trees, which start to look quite unlike the ones they’re used to back home. The whole stretch of road is different. They make the journey due north until they see a sign for the national park and turn off. The trees start to change after fifteen minutes, firs and milled pines turning into red or silver or mountain beech. They show their age, even from far away. The car is following the road, which is following the railway line. They pull over at the Last Spike. They park and get out, embraced by the cold and fresh. This earth is volcanic rock and ash with heather growing through. The air around their ears feels different — the atmosphere, the altitude, the feeling like maybe they aren’t even on earth anymore.

They decide to follow some tracks left by a car through some broom, back towards the ravine they passed on the way. The track is gravelled mud with pūkeko tracks running through. The bird’s toes are so long and sharp — perfect for bullying juvenile mallard ducklings, rending breast and down, ripping off beaks. The tire tracks end at a picnic table, a small clearing, an empty fuel canister, a pile of rotting sheep worn down to the wool, trash dumped from the nearby farms. They stop at the carcass, say sorry, and pass it on their way towards the lip of the cliff. The train tracks sit beside them, coloured with rust and built on wood and jagged stones. They hear the faint sound of water running, and then they’re at the edge of the earth.

The stone wall on the opposite side of the ravine is dripping with kiokio, green ferns tumbling all the way into the river. Trees are unsure of the bank and sudden drop; a few brave ngaio and tī kōuka make a go of vertical rock. Several mamaku wind up and down, following sunlight and mists.

They stare down to the river moving between the rocks. The railway track moves across each side of the earth and the air in between.

• • •

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