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Keri
As soon as I saw the look on Chloe’s face I knew I had said the wrong thing. But she looked so graceful, slicing through the wave like a dolphin. I’ve always wanted to be able to bodysurf properly, but I’d never really got the hang of it. Not like that. Mereana managed to get her to come back into the water, but she wasn’t smiling much after that.
We walked back home, and Jess got stuck into me about being insensitive. Boy, she had a nerve. I’d been on the end of her insensitivity. Not to mention the way she was on the marae. Barely being courteous. And flirting with a boy because he whistled at her. Didn’t she know how that looked? We argued all the way home, while Mereana and Chloe walked behind us.
Dinner was subdued on our part, but Nanny was full of chatter and smiles and stories about who she’d spoken to that day, what had gone on behind the scenes and some funny stories about some of the visitors. Thankfully she was very complimentary about our efforts. Auntie Trina must have said something to her.
After dinner we went for a walk around town and stopped to talk to some of the locals we now recognised. We felt like we were part of the community. We also called in to see a relative of Nanny’s so Mereana could use the phone and make arrangements for us to go horse riding the next day. We’d talked about it together and as Mereana and I were fairly good riders after our last summer holiday and a few treks we’d done the following year, we said we’d teach Jess what to do. She’d never been on a horse before. I wondered, yet again, if bringing Jess along had been the right thing to do. She and I seemed to have grown apart more than I could have imagined.
Mereana came back to where we were sitting on the wall outside.
“Okay, all fixed. Uncle Mohi will have three horses ready for us at about nine tomorrow morning. I said we’d be better with saddles, and that’s okay with him. We can take them for the day, so we’ll take lunch, togs and drink bottles in some saddle bags.”
“How are we going to swim, if we’ve got horses with us?” Jess asked.
“We can take the horses into the water for a swim or leave them tied up somewhere along the beach and go for a swim. It’s no problem. It’s a long beach and we can ride along it as far as we want. Or we can take them through the river if we want, too.”
“What about your little shadow, Chloe?”
“No, I asked her,” Mereana said, “But she’s going with her family for a day trip to somewhere her dad wants to re-visit. Maybe another day.”
At home, with instructions from Nanny about which food we could take, we put together a picnic lunch and some snacks and drinks. Then we packed up a couple of backpacks with everything else we’d need and we were set for the morning. It would be an early rise, as we had a way to walk.
We got up about seven the next morning, had a quick breakfast and set off, after doing a few chores for Nanny. It was an overcast morning, but Nanny said the sun would burn off the cloud, so we’d better take lots of sunscreen.
“It’s in my bag, Nanny,” Mereana said. “Plus, we’ve got hats and long sleeve-tops to put on.”
“No way I’m putting a long sleeve top on,” Jess muttered to me. “I intend to get tanned this holiday. I’m fed up looking so white.”
“Just make sure you don’t get burnt. One of the teachers from our school got a melanoma last year and she’s only got a few months to live. Thought she’d dealt with it, but it was too late, it had spread. She gave us all a good talking to before the end of the year.”
“Huh! Too bad. I’ll worry about it if it happens.”
But I noticed she put more sunscreen on before we left.
We walked down towards the beach and then headed off north along an unpaved rutted road that ran beside the beach, about five hundred metres inland. Between the beach and the road were undulating sanddunes covered in marram grass and lupins. At times we couldn’t see the water, and other times it was right there, tempting us in.
Mereana said. “We can’t stop now. But as soon as we get the horses we can go down and have a swim. It’s not too far now.”
As it turned out, we could have had a swim. The horses weren’t ready, and the family looked as though they’d only just got up.
Uncle Mohi came out rubbing his chin when Mereana knocked on the door.
“Ooh, sorry. Yous girls are a bit early. Had a big night last night after the hui. Forgot yous were coming. Go in and have a bit of a fry up with the whānau, and I’ll get them horses ready.”
Inside the kitchen the rest of the family was in various states of dressed and undressed. No one seemed bothered by us arriving. Mereana introduced us to the family, and her Auntie Judy made us sit down and have eggs, baked beans, fried bread and bacon. There was no chance to refuse. By now it was around nine thirty, and we’d walked a long way so it was easy not only to eat it but to really enjoy it.
“I’m so full,” I groaned. “That was so good. Thank you.”
“That’s a big thank you to you for the work you did yesterday on the marae. Now, have a cup of tea before you go. Uncle is nearly ready with the horses but you’ve got time for a chat and tea.”
Before we could say no, the milky tea was plonked in front of us. I was starting to get a taste for it.
“Yous are Mereana’s friends from Auckland?” one of her cousins asked. It was Walter, Wiremu’s friend.
“Yes. Not from the city, but outside the city in a suburb,” I said.
He looked envious. “Is there heaps of stuff to do there? Like movies and skate parks and laser strike and stuff?”
“Yes, but ... none near us. They are quite expensive. Not the skate park, that’s free but you’d have to get your mum or dad to take you. They don’t always want to. I reckon you’ve got more things to do here.”
“See, Walter, you don’t want to go down there,” his mum said.
“Yeah, I do. It’s boring here.”
“How can it be boring? You’ve got the beach and the river, and the horses and boats and fishing and heaps and heaps of family. You are lucky having a big family,” I said to him.
He scowled. “They’re all annoying. And nosey, and stink to me.”
“That’s because you’re stink to us!” A little cousin had come in from outside, about six or seven, and so cute. She had on a pair of pink shorts and a floral top, and her dark curly hair made a halo around her head.
“Well, you and that stupid Lily better not upset me today,” Walter growled. “Or I’ll give you what for.”
“Lily can’t come today, she’s gone out with her mum and dad.”
Walter got a devious look on his face. “And that dumb girl, with the ginger hair? Has she gone too?”
“I don’t know, I suppose so.”
Walter gave a little nod and slid off his chair. He slunk out the kitchen door, but not before Auntie called him back.
“Where are you going?” she yelled at him from the stove, where she was stirring something in a pot.
“Nowhere,” he said sullenly.
“Well you make sure that nowhere is far away from your cousins. You and Wiremu and Hemi have been getting up to no good lately. Stay away from them today, and then we’ll see after that. Go and help your father. He needs to get some more firewood for the New Year hāngi. Go on, I told him you would help.”
He turned away with a mutinous look on his face and headed over to where his father was finishing up with the horses.
We finished our tea and took the plates to the sink which was full of hot soapy water. I washed, Jess dried, and Mereana wiped down the table.
“You girls can come again!” Auntie Trina said. “Have a good ride and we’ll see you when you get back.”
Smiling broadly, she shooed us away from doing any more work, and we stepped out into the sunshine again.
Walter was holding the horses when we came out. He wasn’t happy with us. I guess I had stirred up his discontent by telling him he was better living here. At twelve years old, I could understand his fascination with the big city.
We each took our horse’s reins and headed to a stump close by to climb on. Jess had a bit of trouble as it was her first time, and Walter sniggered at her behind her back. She turned and glowered at him until he turned away, dropping his eyes.
“Grab the mane and the reins together in your right hand and hop on your left leg till you’ve got the bounce right to throw your right leg over. Keep low to the horse’s neck until you can sit up. That’s it!” Mereana said as Jess sat upright on her horse. “Now, keep the reins short and low down and pull right to go right and left to go left. I’ll lead and Keri can stay behind you until we get to the beach. Okay?”
Jess gave a brave smile, and we made our way out of the property and along the track beside the beach. It had been a while since I had ridden, and I was struck again at how powerful the animal was, moving to my commands.
“How are you feeling, Jess?” I asked.
“A bit woggly,” she said with a wobble in her voice.
“Use your legs to grip around the horse and you’ll feel more secure.”
At the beach, we rode the horses quietly along the sands in a walk, and soon the beach, the sun and the horses worked their spell and Jess was smiling.
“This is so cool!” she said. “Can we go in the water now?”
“Not here,” Mereana said. “It’s not too safe, but further along where the sand flattens out we can. It’s not far. But if you are up for it, we can do a little trot here?”
Jess looked dubious, until Mereana showed her how to rise to the movement of the horse. It wasn’t very tidy but she got it after a little while. We rode along the beach side by side and then Mereana showed us the best place to walk the horses in the water. We didn’t go in very deep, just enough to enjoy the splashing of the horses’ legs in the waves. Then we walked them up the beach to a pōhutukawa tree growing over the sand and tied the horses up. We unloaded the saddle bags and sat down in the shade for a drink.
“This is incredible!” Jess said. “How amazing to be able to do this.”
“It is pretty good, isn’t it,” I grinned at her. “Is this the kind of holiday you were hoping for?”
“Well, yesterday was a bit too much for me, but this is amazing!”
“Ready for a swim?” Mereana asked. “Just us, not the horses, we’d be better swimming the horses in the river.”
“Let’s do it.” I whipped off my sneakers, T-shirt and shorts and only just beat the others into the water. We lazed in the surf for a while, cooling off and letting the waves wash us up and down. Then we headed back to the horses, loaded up the bags and rode a bit further along the beach before having a late lunch.