In the Land of the Long White Cloud (64 page)

“Davey, we don’t know anything about panning for gold,” he said gently. “We wouldn’t even know where to look. Besides, I’m not a trapper and adventurer. How are we supposed to make it out there?”

If Lucas were honest, the few hours he had spent in the jungle after fleeing from the
Pretty Peg
had been enough for him. Though the area’s unusual flora fascinated him, the possibility of getting lost made him nervous. At the time, he had still had the river to orient him. If they were to embark on a new adventure, they would have to move farther away from it. It was true that they could follow a stream, but Lucas did not share David’s optimistic notion that gold would simply come pouring down on them.

“Please, Luke, we could at least try it. We don’t have to give up everything right away. Just give it a weekend. Mr. Miller will definitely lend me a horse. We’ll ride upriver on Friday evening, look around up there on Saturday…”

“Where is ‘up there’ supposed to be, Davey?” Lucas asked mildly. “Do you have some idea already?”

“Rochford found gold in Lyell Creek and Buller Gorge. Lyell Creek is forty miles upriver.”

“And the gold panners will probably already be cheek by jowl up there,” Lucas said skeptically.

“We don’t have to look there! There’s probably gold everywhere; we need our own claim anyway. Come on, Luke, don’t be a spoilsport! One weekend.” David resorted to begging—and Lucas felt flattered. The boy could have joined up with any gold-digging troop but wanted to be with him. Nevertheless, Lucas vacillated. The adventure struck him as too risky. The dangers of a ride through the rainforest on unfamiliar paths far from the next settlement stared him too clearly in the face. He might never have agreed, but then Norman and a few other seal hunters appeared in the rental stables. They greeted Lucas good-naturedly—taking the opportunity to refresh everyone’s memory about his night with the twins at full volume. Norman clapped him on the shoulder, pleased. “Boy, and here we thought you didn’t have any spunk in ya! And what’re you doing now? Heard tell, you’re a big man on the construction site. Good for you. But you ain’t going to get rich thataway. Listen up, we’re going up the Buller to find some gold. Don’t you want to come? Try to strike it rich too?”

David, who had just been equipping the mules Norman had rented with saddles and saddlebags, looked at the old man with glowing eyes. “Have you done it before? I mean, panning for gold?” he inquired excitedly.

Norman shook his head. “Not me. But Joe here did somewhere over in Australia. He can show us. Shouldn’t be too hard. Hold the pan in the water, and the nuggets swim on in.” He laughed.

Lucas, for his part, sighed. He could already guess what was coming his way.

“You see, Luke; everyone says it’s easy,” David remarked predictably. “Let’s try it,
please
.”

Norman saw the earnest look in the boy’s eyes and laughed equally at Lucas’s and David’s expressions. “Well, the boy’s got fire! Won’t be able to hold on to him much longer, Luke. So what do you think, you two going to come with us, or do you still need to think about it?”

If there was something Lucas had not been counting on, it was a gold-seeking expedition with the whole group. On the one hand, it was certainly attractive to pass off the organization to others, or at least to share them among the group. A few of the men might even have experience as foresters. But they doubtless had no knowledge of mineralogy. If they found gold, it would be by pure chance, and then infighting was guaranteed. Lucas declined.

“We can’t just leave here whenever we want,” he explained. “But sooner or later…I’ll be seeing you, Norm!”

Norman laughed and parted with a handshake that made Lucas’s fingers ache afterward for several minutes.

“I’ll be seeing you, Luke. And who knows but maybe we’ll both be rich by then!”

They set out before first light. Mr. Miller, the owner of the rental stables, had lent David a horse, but since there had been only one available, he just tossed the saddlebags over its bare back and mounted behind Lucas. Although it slowed them down a bit, the horse was strong, and the forest of ferns was so thick that trotting or galloping was out of the question. Lucas, who had been so reluctant at first, soon began to enjoy the ride. It had rained over the last few days, but now the sun was shining. Banks of fog descended over the jungle, hiding the mountaintops and wrapping the land in a strange, surreal light. The horse was sure-footed and calm, and Lucas enjoyed feeling David’s body behind him. Forced to sit tightly pressed against him, the boy had put his arm around Lucas’s waist. Lucas could feel the movement of the boy’s muscles, and his breath on the back of Lucas’s
neck gave him pleasant goose bumps. The boy eventually dozed off, his head sinking onto Lucas’s shoulder. When the fog cleared, the river shimmered in the sunlight, sometimes reflecting on the stone walls that now rose up close to the riverbanks. Ultimately, the rocks narrowed so that it was no longer possible to continue alongside it, and Lucas had to ride back a ways to find a way up and over. Finally he discovered a sort of mule path—which may have been trampled down by Maori, or by earlier gold panners—along which he could follow the river’s course from above the cliffs. Thus they slowly made their way inland. Earlier expeditions had discovered gold and coal deposits in the area. Where and by what means, however, remained a riddle to Lucas. It all looked the same to him: a mountainous landscape, consisting mostly of hills overgrown with ferns. Here and there, rock walls led up to a high plateau, and they were frequently interrupted by streams, which occasionally emptied out into the Buller River as charming waterfalls, big and small. They occasionally came upon small strands of sand along the riverbanks, which invited them to dally. Lucas wondered whether the excursion would not have been better carried out with a canoe than on a horse. It was possible that even the sand in the strands held gold, but Lucas had to admit that he had no knowledge of these matters to fall back on. If only he had taken an interest in geology or mineralogy instead of plants and insects. No doubt the earth formations, the soil, and the types of rock could have indicated where they might find gold deposits. But
no
, he had simply had to draw wetas. Lucas gradually came to the conclusion that the people around him—Gwyneira most of all—had not been entirely wrong. Unprofitable arts had defined his interests; without the money his father made from Kiward Station, he was nothing, and his chances of managing the farm successfully himself had always been slim. Gerald had been right: Lucas had failed in every way.

While Lucas dwelled on his gloomy thoughts, David was waking up behind him.

“Hey, I think I fell asleep,” he reported cheerfully. “Oh man, Luke, what a view! Is that Buller Gorge?”

Below the mule path, the river wound its way between the rocky cliffs. The view over the river valley and the mountains around it was breathtaking.

“I suppose so,” said Lucas. “But whoever found gold here didn’t put up any signs explaining how.”

“Then it would be too easy,” David said optimistically. “And then everything would already be gone, since it took us so long to get out here. Hey, I’m hungry! Why don’t we stop for a bit?”

Lucas shrugged, though the path they were on was ill suited for a rest stop, being rocky and lacking grass for the horse. So they agreed to ride for another half hour and look for a better place.

“Doesn’t look like there’s gold here anyway,” David said. “And when we do stop, I want to look around.”

Their patience was soon rewarded. A short while later they reached a high plateau on which grew not only the omnipresent ferns but also lush grass for the horse. The Buller followed its course far below them; directly beneath their stopping place was one of the small strands of golden-yellow sand.

“Do you think anyone’s ever had the idea to pan there?” David took a bite of bread, forming the same idea Lucas had earlier. “Could be that it’s full up with nuggets.”

“Wouldn’t that be too easy?” Lucas smiled. The boy’s enthusiasm cheered him up. But David refused to give up that easily.

“Exactly! That’s why no one’s tried it yet. What do you bet, they get green eyes when we pan a couple of nuggets out of there nice and easy?”

Lucas laughed. “Try it on a strand that’s easier to reach. You’d have to be able to fly to get down to that one.”

“Another reason no one’s tried it. This is the spot where we find our gold, Luke! I’m sure of it. I’ll climb down there.”

Lucas shook his head, concerned. The boy seemed to have become possessed. “Davey, half of all the gold panners take the river. They’ve already been through here and have probably rested on that strand the same as we’re resting up here. There’s no gold, believe me.”

“Now how do you know that?” David leaped up. “I, at least, believe in my luck. I’m going to climb down and have a look!”

The boy searched for a good point of departure, and Lucas watched him, horrified, over the precipice.

“David, it’s at least fifty yards! And it gets steep near the bottom. You can’t climb down there!”

“Of course I can!” The boy disappeared over the edge of the cliff.

“David!” Lucas had the feeling his voice sounded like a screech. “David, wait! At least let me tie a rope around you.”

Lucas had no idea if the ropes they had brought along were long enough, but he pulled them out of the saddlebags, panicking.

David didn’t wait. He didn’t detect any danger; climbing was fun for him, and he didn’t experience vertigo. However, he was not an experienced mountain climber. He could not tell whether a rock ledge was secure or likely to break, and he had not counted on the soil on that seemingly secure ledge, on which grew a patch of grass, being wet and slippery from the rain when he carelessly burdened it with his whole weight.

Lucas heard the scream before he had finished gathering all the rope. His first impulse was to run to the cliff’s edge, but then he realized that David must be dead. No one could survive a fall from this height. Lucas began to shake and for several seconds leaned his forehead against the saddlebags that were draped over the patient horse. He did not know whether he could summon the courage to look down at the shattered body of his beloved.

Suddenly he heard a weak, choked voice.

“Luke…help me! Luke!”

Lucas ran. It couldn’t be true; he couldn’t…

Then he saw the boy on a rock protrusion maybe twenty yards below him. He was bleeding from a wound above his eye, and his leg was bent at a strange angle, but he was alive.

“Luke, I think I broke my leg! It hurts so bad.”

David sounded afraid; he seemed to be fighting back tears, but he was alive. And his position was, for the moment, not especially
precarious. The rock protrusion was big enough for one, maybe two people. Lucas would have to lower himself down on a rope, grab hold of the boy, and help him climb up. He considered whether he could make use of the horse, but without a saddle on whose horn the rope could be knotted, it wasn’t very promising. Besides, he didn’t know the animal. If it ran off while they were hanging on the rope, it could kill them both. So he’d have to tie it to one of the rocks. Lucas looped the rope around one. It wasn’t long enough for a descent all the way to the canyon floor, but it easily reached David’s precipice.

“I’m coming, Davey! Stay calm.” Lucas slid over the rocky ledge. His heart was beating heavily, and his shirt was damp from sweat. Lucas had never been a climber—heights scared him. But lowering himself down was easier than he had thought it would be. The rock was not smooth, and Lucas kept finding handholds on ledges, which gave him courage for the climb back up. He just couldn’t look down.

David had dragged himself to the edge of the protrusion and awaited Lucas with outstretched arms. But Lucas had not correctly estimated the distance. Though he was now at the same height as David, he had ended up to the left of the rock protrusion. He would have to get the rope swinging lightly so that the boy could grab hold of it. Lucas felt sick just thinking about it. Until then he had maintained at least a light grip on the rock, but in order to swing he would have to push himself away from the cliff.

He took a deep breath.

“I’m coming now, David! Reach for the rope, and pull me toward you. As soon as I have a foothold, scoot over to me, and I’ll grab onto you. I’ll hold onto you; don’t be afraid.”

David nodded. His face was pale and streaming with tears. But he seemed to be holding himself together, and he was very capable. He should have no trouble grabbing hold of the rope.

Lucas let go of the rock and kicked off forcefully in order to land close to Dave with as little pendulating as possible. On his first attempt, however, he swung in the wrong direction and ended up too far from the boy. He felt around for his foothold, then tried again.
This time he succeeded. David seized the rope while Lucas’s foot cast about for a hold.

But then the rope slackened. The rock above on the cliff’s edge must have moved, or Lucas’s ineptly tied knot must have slipped. At first Lucas’s body slid down only a few inches. He screamed—and then everything happened in a few seconds that stretched into an eternity. The rope above the cliff came completely loose. Lucas fell, and David clung to the rope. The boy tried desperately to halt his friend’s fall, but from his prone position, it was hopeless. The rope slipped faster and faster through his fingers. If it slipped all the way, not only would Lucas fall to the ground, but David’s last hope would be gone. With the rope, he might still be able to lower himself to the river’s edge. Without, it he would die of hunger or thirst on this rock ledge. Several thoughts raced through Lucas’s head as he fell. He had to make a decision—David could not support him, and if he landed below alive, he would in all likelihood be injured. Then the rope would be no good to either of them. Lucas decided for once in his life to do the right thing.