Guardian of the Dead (46 page)

Mark flicked the end of his tail. It tapered into delicate membranes that flashed greens and yellows through the sand. ‘What was she like?'

My memories of the guardian of the dead were mostly mist by now. I'd been shocked and injured, and the mask had been whispering in my head. And I wasn't sure if humans were supposed to remember the gods too clearly. But I remembered the fury of her breath, the anger in her eyes, the glad rush of Te-Ika-a-M
ui to her embrace. I didn't know if her guardianship extended to me, but if it did, I might see her again, one hopefully far-off day. It wasn't an unwelcome thought. ‘She was beautiful. Beautiful, and scary, and strong.'

‘Sounds like this girl I know,' he said, and didn't even have the courtesy to pretend my mock-punch hurt.

I rubbed my cheek against his neck. ‘Summer will be here in six months, and I'll be home for Christmas. Lots of long, bright days. Barbecues. Walks on the beach.'

There was guarded hope in his voice. ‘So I guess we'll see what happens?'

‘I guess we will.' I leaned against his cool weight and, smiling, closed my eyes.

I was thinking about happy endings.

AFTERWORD

M
ORI MYTHOLOGY AND
cosmology are infinitely richer and more complex than could be presented in this novel. The Polynesian peoples who settled New Zealand (also called Aotearoa, or Aotea) brought with them the faith, myths, and family legends of their origin lands. Over time, some of the original stories altered to accommodate New Zealand's unique ecology, landscape, and culture, and some entirely new stories were created. Old, adapted, and new stories were handed down through artwork and oral storytelling for centuries, and some were eventually recorded by the new technology of writing brought by the European settlers, generally accompanied by translations and publicised to a mostly European audience. Especially in their earliest written recordings, these stories were often substantially altered in their translation for an English-reading audience, while being presented as ‘genuine' M
ori legends.

Guardian of the Dead
is obviously not a ‘genuine' M
ori legend, but because those original stories were adapted and the adaptations went unnoted for an uninformed audience, I think it's important to point out where I have stuck to the translations and traditions I had available, and where I have, to the best of my knowledge, altered or extrapolated. (I also took some liberties with history and geography: most notably, Mansfield College does not exist, and there are no stone steps up the cliffs at Te-Kauae-o-M
ui/Cape Kidnappers.) When Mark tells the legends of Papa-tuanuku, Rangi-nui, and their children, the deeds of M
ui, the story of Hine-nui-te-p
, and the story of Pania of the Reef, he is telling stories based on those popular translations. When Ellie goes through the library stacks looking for information on patupaiarehe, she finds a lot of what I did researching for this novel. However, Mark, Reka, and Mark's grandfather, while representing real mythological creatures, are themselves invented, and I have wandered a little from the popular portrayals of patupaiarehe and taniwha.

The legendary patupaiarehe (or
turehu
or
tiramaka
, or other names, depending on the region the story comes from) are sometimes depicted as dangerous kidnappers or otherworldly and threatening figures. They are also said to be attractive tricksters, or a shy and beautiful people who make excellent spouses for humans, provided certain requirements are met. For consistency of narrative, I have gone with the scarier versions, but the other stories exist. That the patupaiarehe have eyes of
pounamu
(greenstone) is my invention, and while they are often depicted as beautiful and persuasive, as far as I know, the idea that they can be magically so is another stretch on my part, although the power of the spoken or chanted word is emphasised in M
ori culture. Eyes, and the head in general, are
tapu
(sacred) in the M
ori tradition. Food is
noa
, or unsacred. To despoil the head or eyes, especially by associating them with food, is an act of grotesque disrespect for the previous owner, and eating portions of the head was considered a consumption of the knowledge and
mana
(power) of the dead.

Although considered by many people to be purely mythological, taniwha are also said to be tangible physical and spiritual presences. Whether you believe this or not, taniwha have a real impact on New Zealand life; in 2002, for example, road works in the Waikato region were halted while transit authorities consulted with local M
ori over the location of several taniwha near the route. In the stories, some taniwha can take many shapes to look like floating logs or driftwood, whales, eels, giant tuatara, or toothy water-serpents, and some taniwha are formerly dead humans, returned to protect their people and land. As far as I'm aware, the possibility of those taniwha taking their former human shape is my own twist on the tale, although other M
ori monsters (such as the giant lizard-like
ngarara
) have demonstrated that ability. My descriptions of Mark and his grandfather are based on the more serpent-like taniwha depictions, especially bone and marae post carvings, which often show taniwha with sinuous curves and inset eyes of paua shell.