Free The Moa Cave by Des Hunt Page A

for traces of footprints but there was no dust or mud in which they could form. When they looked back, they hadn’t formed any prints either.
    The top was a mix of brownish grass and thorny bushes that Bill said were mingimingi. He pointed them out to Tyler. ‘See the way the thorns head off at right angles to each other forming a barrier? It’s thought that these plants evolved like that to stop being eaten by moa. There are more plants like that in New Zealand than anywhere else.’
    Pushing through the bushes they reached a spot where they could see all the way down the beach. The view was fantastic. Tyler realised they must be standing almost straight above the cave. He smiled to himself: the rock seemed solid enough. There was no need to worry about the cave collapsing on him.
    They moved around calling her name. At one stage they thought they had a reply, but when they investigated it was just a young kid crying for its mother.
    As the light faded Bill decided to go back to the woolshed. ‘For all we know she’s already back there and we’re out here freezing for nothing.’
    She was not back.
    Alice was woken and the adults settled into a serious discussion. Then Hine and Tyler were quizzed.
    ‘What exactly happened back there at the sea lions?’ asked Molly. ‘Did you upset her or anything?’
    Tyler and Hine looked at each other. Tyler nodded. So Hine told them the whole story about the dare to touch the sea lion and what had happened to Mandy.
    The adults were not happy. ‘That was an incredibly stupid thing to do,’ said Molly. ‘Those are wild animals. They’re not called lions for nothing. That bull would have killed her if it had got her.’
    ‘What happened after that?’ asked Alice. ‘Did she say anything before she left?’
    Tyler told of how they had teased her before she stomped off down the beach screaming for them to get lost.
    ‘So she was angry?’ Hine and Tyler nodded. ‘Then maybe she’s still angry and not ready to come back.’ Everybody agreed that was a reasonable possibility.
    ‘Right,’ said Bill. ‘Then we wait until nine o’clock. If she’s not back then, I’ll give Jonno a call, and he can let Search and Rescue know.’
    ‘In the meantime,’ said Molly standing, ‘I suggest you all have a shower and then we’ll have dinner. It always helps to feel clean and have a full belly. Then we’ll be better able to cope with whatever happens later.’
    Dinner was a dismal affair with everyone thinking about what might have happened, yet not willing to share theirthoughts. It was with relief that Tyler escaped to the dorm to play a game.
    Yet even that didn’t work. His mind kept straying back to the events of the day. He couldn’t stop thinking that he was the cause of all the trouble. If things went wrong, they were sure to blame him. He was the one who had issued the dare and then made it impossible for the others. He’d got too involved in the stupid game. Now, if Mandy was injured or worse, the trip would be called off and he would be sent home in disgrace. He doubted he’d even get the chance to visit the cave again.
    Then he started to think about Mandy and where she might be. Slowly he realised that all his concerns had been about himself. His only thought about Mandy was how annoying it was for her to go missing. Now, as he thought about it, he was surprised to find that he cared whether she was injured or not. She might be a pain, but she was a pain with attitude. If one of his Game Boy characters was like her he would have enjoyed playing the game. She had all the tricks of a great character and was just as brave.
    So how come he would have liked her in a game but couldn’t stand her in real life? He pushed the thought from his mind—that was something best not to think about. Instead he picked up his Game Boy and tried once again to destroy the zombies guarding the elephants’ graveyard in the lava tunnels of Mt Kilimanjaro.
    He was finally having some