‘How is Kate?’ asked Augi as she got into the passenger seat, dropping the bag of books into the footwell beside her. ‘I hope our news didn’t shock her too much?’
‘She’s OK. Actually,’ he said as he signalled before moving out into the road. ‘Mum doesn’t show it much, but I know she’s on a knife-edge at the moment. She needs all this stuff about her family, about the house, to be settled.’
‘I’m sure. I’ve sent an email to John Kowalski’s great-niece — who appears to be his closest relative. It’s the right thing to do. Sometimes it’s best to know one way or another. It’s hard living with things you don’t understand.’
‘Hopefully Hemi will be able to shed some light on it. It’s hard to figure that Mum, who knows everyone around here, hasn’t had much to do with her relatives.’
‘Families are complicated,’ she said after a short pause.
He sighed. ‘Sure are.’
They drove in silence for a few minutes before they turned off the road and onto a rough track which took them through high stands of flax and native trees before emerging into a clearing where half a dozen houses stood around a marae.
He pulled up at the gravel parking place alongside a new Japanese car and some kind of flash 1960s American car that clearly needed repair.
‘Cool car,’ he said.
‘It belongs to Mere’s grandson,’ said Augi, clearly knowing a lot more about the families than Dan. He hoped to remedy that this morning.
They got out of the car and he shivered. The rain had lessened and had become a mist which shrouded the hills above the settlement and the marae. ‘It’s hard to think we’ll solve any mysteries here, when the whole place looks mysterious.’
‘Have you been here before?’ she asked, following his gaze.
‘Yeah. Loads of times when I was a youngster. Hadn’t a clue I was related to anyone here, then.’ He turned to her. ‘I mean look at me — blonde hair, blue eyes — I hardly look Maori.’
She shrugged. ‘We’re all a mixture of a lot of things. Superficial appearance, hair colouring, the colour of one’s skin — none of those things are good clues to where we come from.’
‘They’re all you’ve to go on when you’re seven.’ He looked back at a house from which someone had emerged. ‘Mere?’ he asked Augi quietly.
‘Aunty Mere,’ she confirmed.
Mere raised her hand in greeting as they walked towards her. Smoke curled up from a chimney and a volley of barks from the neighbouring garden was followed by a man’s stern command. The dog stopped instantly.
‘Morning, Augi! Got some kai in the oven. Scones.’ She shot them both a wide grin revealing a couple of missing teeth.
Augi gave her a warm smile. ‘Kia ora, Aunty Mere.’
Mere’s eyes moved to Dan’s in query. ‘And you’ve brought a friend along.’
‘Daniel MacLeod,’ he greeted her.
‘Danny MacLeod!’ exclaimed Mere. ‘Come here and let me look at you!’ She gripped him by the shoulders and stared short-sightedly into his face. ‘Well I never. You’re all grown up! I remember you as a wee scrap of a boy, getting up to mischief with my mokopuna.’
He grinned. ‘I had some good times with them. How are they?’ he said, as they kissed on both cheeks.
‘Doing well. Got one in Auckland and the others in Australia.’ She pulled a face. ‘They’ll come home though, when they’re ready.’ She turned to Augi and kissed her. ‘So,’ said Mere, keeping a hold of Augi’s upper arms while she searched her face for clues. ‘Tell me what’s so important it got you away from all your books. Moana said you wanted to see us, but didn’t say why. And why you bought this handsome fella with you.’
Dan grinned and shot a look at Augi who purposefully didn’t return his look.
‘I’ve got some books for Uncle Hemi. But we’re here for another reason as well. We’d like to ask him about the past. About Ngaire — Daniel’s great-grandmother.’
Mere’s eyebrows lifted and she dropped her arms, apparently satisfied now she knew the reason for Augi’s visit. ‘Ah, it’s about the cottage, then.’
‘Yes,’ said Dan in surprise.
Mere exhaled slowly and nodded. ‘Not before time. We thought your mother might have come. But I guess she’s sent you, instead.’
Dan exchanged a worried look with Augi.
