Read Cry of the Taniwha for Free Online

added ‘Rotorua’ which reduced it to five thousand. Browsing through those, Matt soon found that taniwha had once been considered common around Rotorua. As Hone said, they took many forms. Kataore was mentioned many times, but was not the biggest that had ever lived. That prize went to Hotu-Puku who was considered bigger than a whale. Matt felt sure that if one that big was in the Whakarewarewa forest, then people would be sure to notice.
    Hone arrived back at the house soon after Matt. He slumped down in his chair, looking sombre.
    ‘What’s the problem, dear?’ asked Nan, stretching a hand out to take his.
    ‘It’s that Jackson. He’s not going to his aunty’s during the day. He’s wandering the streets, and Mere thinks he’s getting into trouble.’ Hone turned to Matt. ‘Mere is a solo mum. She works at the hospital all day. During the holidays Jackson is meant to go to his aunty’s, but after Mere drops him off he just walks away from the place.’
    ‘What sort of trouble is he getting into?’ asked Nan.
    ‘Mere’s not sure. All she knows is that he’s got more money to spend than she gives him.’
    ‘Does she think he’s stealing it?’
    Hone shrugged. ‘How else would he get money unless he’s stealing it? I asked her if anything was missing from the house, just in case he was selling stuff. But she said no, and I believe her. They’ve got so little that you’d notice anything that had gone.’
    ‘It’s not your problem, dear,’ said Nan, gently.
    ‘If it’s not mine, then whose is it? Over the years I’ve tried to be a bit of a father to the boy, and I hate seeing this happen. If something’s not done now, then he’ll end up a criminal.’
    ‘So what are you going to do?’
    Hone was silent for some time before answering. ‘I’m wondering if Matt might be able to help.’ Another long silence followed. Then he turned to Matt. ‘I’m thinking that he could be interested in your metal detector. You could take it into the forest and search for stuff that the cyclists and runners have lost. You never know, you might find all sorts of things.’
    Matt kept quiet, unwilling to say anything that could be taken as agreement.
    ‘Tell you what, Matt. If you give it a go, then I’ll take a day or two off and we’ll go do some exciting things. Jackson can come, too. There’s lots of things, we can do. The luge, quad bikes, karts; it’ll be your choice. What do you think?’
    Matt looked at Hone and saw in the man’s eyes how important this was. Despite his earlier fears, he was beginning to like these people. They were being good to him, and he didn’t want to let them down. So he gave Hone the answer he wanted. However, later, as he lay in bed, he questioned the decision. He should have told them about seeing Jackson being bullied. Neither Hone nor Nan would have wanted their grandson exposed to that sort of thing. Jackson was into something far deeper than either of them imagined. And now chances were that Matt would become involved as well.

Chapter 6
    When Matt came out for breakfast, Hone had already been over to see Mere, arranging for Jackson to be brought over when she went to work. As yet, Jackson knew nothing about this because he was still asleep. Nobody was prepared to guess what his reaction might be.
    ‘I’ll be gone by then,’ Hone said to Nan. ‘If he doesn’t turn up by midday, check next door; and if he’s not there, give me a call.’ He turned to Matt. ‘And don’t take any nonsense from him. If you’re worried about what’s happening, leave him and come back here and tell Nan. If you can sort things out yourself, try and do so, but don’t put yourself at risk. Anything you can do to help will be appreciated.’
    Matt sat down and ate his breakfast in silence. He knew that Hone’s speech had been meant to reassure him, yet all it did was make him more nervous and think about things that could go wrong. Deep down, he wanted nothing to do with the