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Antony Millen
Category:
Literary Fiction
Publisher: Maple Koru Publishing
ISBN-10: 0473285487
Type: Fiction
Pages: 240
Copyright: June 2014
ISBN-13: 9780473285487
Price: $7.79 (eBook)
In Te Kauhanga, a small town in New Zealand, a reclusive cartographer searches for the treasure of his ancestors while debate rages in the town about the future of the iconic, legendary tree of Tuamata Hill.
"Look closer." Montreal Perec is an accomplished cartographer with unusual powers of perception. He lives as a recluse in the town of Te Kauhanga, sheltered deep in the central North Island of New Zealand. Thirty years ago, he travelled from overseas and settled into his lighthouse look-off, led by his unfruitful search for the treasure of his ancestors. An online encounter with a mysterious mapping hobbyist launches Perec down a new trail of mind-bending clues.
Sharon Pellerine works for the local council in Te Kauhanga. An attractive woman, she is desired by various rural and municipal courters. But her skills and demeanour as an archivist from Wellington conceal a painful past and a shady secret that she attempts to address with the help of a peculiar visiting transient.
Another immigrant to this small town, Stanley Kowalczyk, hails from the northern city of Hamilton. Five years ago, he arrived with his own unique set of skills as an insurance adjuster and an even more specialised obsession with straight lines. His weakness for beautiful women opens him to the possibilities of wandering outside his self-imposed parameters.
These characters’ lives revolve around the apparently perishing tree of Taumata—an enormous tree, one of the legendary legs of Tane Mahuta and a taonga to local iwi Maori. As debate rages in the township about the tree’s future, Perec is led closer to his treasure by the activities of his fellow citizens.
Te Kauhanga is Antony Millen's second novel—a tale of spaces that examines our position and movement in this world and how these interchange, connect and influence others.
Excerpt
"How do you know all this?" wrote BloodyLegend.
"Research, stories, logic, intuition—I just know."
"Not very convincing," was the response.
"That's why I've gone it alone. I wouldn't expect anyone else to believe me—I wouldn't ask them to."
"And you think James Cook found this treasure?"
"Not necessarily, in fact, probably not. Cook worked for the royal navy—the treasure easily passed hands and ships. It would have been taken back to Britain and then sent with Cook to New Zealand, under the guise of other missions. I mean, really, a search for a lost continent that balances the earth? The Royal Society was filled with the pre-eminent scientists of the day. Foolishness."
There was no response from the other and Perec recognised that he must be considering the foolishness of this conversation.
Then, he read, "So, Cook took a treasure to New Zealand. For what purpose?"
"To bury it."
"In Te Kauhanga?"
"I believe so."
"But why Te Kauhanga? You said there was no need for the British to hide treasure outside of their isle."
"Unless it was something so valuable or so dangerous they wanted it far from their own people as well."
BloodyLegend did not respond for several minutes. Perec re-read his own messages, believing in their legitimacy, but wondering how he could connect the dots for his companion.
Finally, the other wrote, "There's no record of Cook traveling inland. And how would he have got there?"
Perec replied, "There's no record, but he had plenty of time. There are stories in this area, legends of white men who visited up the river, aided by the river tribes in their canoes ... and guided by a priest from Hawaiiki."
Perec was enjoying himself. He had never shared his theories with anyone. Prior to leaving Nova Scotia, he had, of course, tried to explain it to his parents, but his father had grown tired of theories, tired of hearing the fanciful stories about Oak Island or of other treasures buried by his Acadian ancestors. He had moved on, happy to enjoy beaches and harbours without any regard to history. Sometimes treasures were meant to be buried, he would say, sometimes life passes by those who have their hands on a shovel and their head in the clouds. Better to stay in this air, this place between pits and pantheons.
"You must have more than that."
"What evidence do you look for when you're following clues? There are other signs—at the same time as Cook, Jules Dumont d'Urville led a French fleet through here, narrowly missing an encounter with Cook's Endeavour. The French and English were fighting all around the globe at that time—in Europe, in North America—but there were no altercations on a grand scale in the Pacific. Yet, their presence was here. You can see it in my maps where it looks like trails have been left from a great car chase or space pursuit—French and English vessels zig-zagging all over the place—and for what? A mythical continent meant to balance the earth? More tiny islands with more species of flax trees? It was a game of cat-and-mouse."
"A game that centres on Te Kauhanga?"
"Perhaps, yes."
"And how long have you been there?"
Perec hesitated to say, but he had gone this far. He told him.
"You must be right then."
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