Child of the Dawn (34 page)

 

Not even Stay-long could supply an answer. Tepua's problem remained unresolved as she returned to her life with the highland
manahune.

The season progressed and rain became scarcer. In the woods, many kinds of leaves turned yellow. Wild ginger and turmeric died out. In the tended groves, bananas were less abundant.
 

The
manahune
frequently went in search of wild foods. Though Tepua's belly was growing large, she joined the less strenuous expeditions, gathering chestnuts, fern roots, and wild taro. Maukiri, meanwhile, became renowned for her ability to recover straying chickens.
 

As the days passed, Tepua noticed the child growing more active within her. Sometimes it pushed out with its feet, creating a bump she could feel with her hands. Often, especially at night, it grew restless, seeming to spin around inside her like a small tempest.
 

Her body changed in other ways. A dark line developed from her navel down over the arch of her stomach. The light brown skin around her nipples grew darker, and the nipples began to leak a thin milky fluid. Eventually, her walk changed to the wide-footed strut she had seen in other heavily pregnant women. With her stomach thrust out, she balanced on her heels, leaning back to counteract the weight in front.
 

The first time Tepua felt the tightening feeling at the top of her belly, she thought she might be going into early labor. Stay-long reassured her that this wasn't so. Soon this became familiar—a pulling sensation just beneath her rib cage, spreading slowly and evenly around the sides of her bulging middle until the whole felt hard and tight. Then, just as slowly, her belly would relax.
 

Tepua frequently visited Round-pebble, a cousin of Stay-long's, who was nursing a child she had borne shortly after Tepua's arrival. Round-pebble was a devotee of dancing. When Tepua had been slimmer, she and Round-pebble had spent much time practicing together. Now Tepua could only sit and give instructions while Stay-long's cousin improved her technique.
 

Sometimes Tepua watched Round-pebble suckling her child while the women sat in a circle and talked. She had seen this countless times before, and it had never seemed extraordinary. Now, with her own breasts swelling, she could not help imagining herself in Round-pebble's place.
 

So many days had passed that her last conversation with Aitofa seemed like a distant dream. The Arioi rarely entered her thoughts anymore. Even her memories of Matopahu came less frequently. Her attention was constantly on the child within her. Before the next full moon, her time would come....
 

One afternoon Maukiri went off with a foraging party. Tepua was shuffling back from the stream alone when she heard distant shouts. Men raced by on the path that crossed hers. She saw their clubs and spears and suddenly felt alarm.
Invaders
? This was the time of year when food was scarcest. Desperate people might have come to see what they could steal.
 

Tepua had no weapon with her, nor was she in any condition to put up a fight. She put her hands to her great belly, wondering how to protect what lay within. Hurrying as well as she could, she took refuge near the headman's
marae
, under Stay-long's house of spirit figures. This was a place that most people dreaded approaching.
 

She squatted, clutching a wooden talisman that Stay-long kept suspended from a thong. Could Pig-bone's people defend themselves? she wondered. She had never seen them fight.
 

Tepua did not know how to call on the aid of the spirits who lingered in the house above her, nor would she dare attempt such a dangerous feat. Where was the
tahutahu
she wondered furiously. Tepua could only pray to her own gods, and she did not know if they would help Stay-long's people.
 

After a short while she was startled to hear voices calling her. "You have a visitor, Tepua," came several cries. "Where are you hiding?"
 

Was the danger past? These did not seem the voices of people who were under attack. She pulled herself to her feet and brushed off a few clinging leaves.
Visitor
? A hope struggled within. Perhaps Matopahu had managed to find her. She imagined his look of astonishment when he saw her huge belly....
 

No. That was not what she wanted. He would only make her problem worse. But what other visitor could she have? Aitofa? Curling-leaf? Eye-to-heaven? Or someone she would not welcome at all?
 

She made her way cautiously around the house platform. Peering from behind the cover of a bush, she saw a crowd gathered in front of Pig-bone's house. The weapons had been put aside and everyone seemed at ease. She saw small gifts—wristlets, earrings, implements made of seashells— passing from hand to hand. Men and women chattered in excited, high-pitched voices.
 

Then Tepua caught sight of the newcomer and almost fainted in surprise and dismay. She sank to her knees and gave a soft moan.
Pehu-pehu
!
 

Her thoughts raced back to the times when she had seen parties of Arioi foraging for food in the hills. Despite all her caution, she knew now that someone had spotted her. The news had reached the Blackleg.
 

In panic, Tepua clutched at her stomach, and wondered if she could escape. She recalled the cave that she and Maukiri had discovered long ago. If Maukiri helped her...Tepua tried to remember where her cousin had gone.
Gathering arrowroot.
She might be away all afternoon.
 

Her mind whirling, Tepua wondered what else she could do. Without someone to scout the way, she could not slip out of the settlement. And if she showed herself, there would be no escaping the Blackleg. Pehu-pehu already had ingratiated herself with the important people of the settlement. Now they were obliged to make her their guest.
 

But what was the Blackleg's purpose in coming here? Tepua and Aitofa had argued about Pehu-pehu's motives, never reaching a conclusion. The interloper had always claimed to be acting in the best interests of the troupe. Perhaps Pehu-pehu had no intention of harming Tepua. Perhaps she only wanted to make an end to Matopahu's heir....
 

Hoping that Maukiri might appear, Tepua remained in hiding. But voices kept calling for her; children kept poking about in the undergrowth. At last someone found her and told the others.
 

Feeling both foolish and angry, Tepua emerged, to be ushered by a boisterous crowd into Stay-long's house. "Your good friend is here," people kept telling her. "You will be so happy when you see her."
 

When Tepua stepped inside, she saw the Blackleg seated in a circle of admiring women. She bit her lip in anger and held back her words. Until now, these women had been Tepua's friends! Had they deserted her for bits of glossy shell?
 

Pehu-pehu greeted Tepua as if they had the warmest feelings for each other. Tepua tried not to flinch from the visitor's embrace. "You have filled out," the Blackleg said with a laugh. "No one can call you a skinny atoll
vahine
anymore."
 

"Your friend has agreed to stay with us," the headman's wife said excitedly. Tepua managed to mumble a few words of acknowledgment. What would Maukiri think? It did not matter. Pehu-pehu had arrived, and there was no easy way to get rid of her. If Tepua could only have a private word with Stay-long, perhaps she could explain.
 

But the headman's wife seemed entranced by the new guest, as did her many relatives and friends. The women pooled their resources and began preparing a huge meal. Tepua was astonished to see the Blackleg pitch in, gutting brook fish as if she were a common
manahune.
Never before had Tepua seen this woman at domestic labor. Pehu-pehu had always been surrounded by servants and novices who hurried to carry out her wishes.
 

While the food baked in the
umu
, the new visitor demonstrated the dances of the Arioi. Tepua recalled wistfully how she had done the same in her early days here. Now she had to watch, holding back her resentment, while the Blackleg captured the attention of everyone present. Her hand movements were perfect; her heavy legs moved with precision. And when she did rapid hip rolls, everyone shouted with glee.
 

Just as the dancing ended, Maukiri returned from her foraging trip along with several young relatives of the headman. Her face was damp with sweat, her hands and arms grimy from digging up roots. When she saw what was going on, she rushed to Tepua. "This is a nightmare, cousin," Maukiri said. "I am asleep and dreaming."
 

"Go wash yourself in the stream," Tepua answered. "The cold water will wake you up."

 

Two days later, the cousins were sitting beside the headman's house, watching the other women practice their dancing. A young drummer was striking vigorously at his slit-log drum. Pehu-pehu stood at the center of attention, a place she had commanded since her arrival.
 

"This has gone on long enough," Maukiri told Tepua in a quiet voice. "When are you going to talk to Stay-long?"

"What will I say?" Tepua answered glumly. "How can I convince her that Pehu-pehu is my enemy?"

"But she tried to—"

"All she did was take me to a practitioner. Stay-long and that claw-handed Nimble follow similar arts. Stay-long will not believe that Nimble intended to harm me."
 

Maukiri stared at the rows of dancing women and did not answer for a time. "Tepua, you must decide what you want to do about the child. If you carry out your oath, then I think the Blackleg will be satisfied. We can return to the Arioi."
 

"Is that what you want?"

"What will happen otherwise? If you leave the troupe, then how will you live? I don't want to stay up here. Every night I dream of the sea."
 

"Yes," Tepua agreed. "You are right about one thing. We two are not mountain people. At night I imagine that I hear the breakers on the reef and the old songs—" She broke off, wiping away a tear.
 

Maukiri slid closer and spoke into Tepua's ear. "I heard plenty of tales while I lived with the troupe. You must have heard them, too—about women who hid their children and returned to the Arioi. If others can—"
 

"Of course I have thought about it," Tepua snapped. "And Pehu-pehu knows that. Why do you think she is here?"

Maukiri's voice faltered. 'Then you must do what she expects. There is no reason to keep this child."

"No reason," Tepua muttered. Her arms went protectively about herself and her head slumped. She had begged the spirits for a sign, and they had offered only another cryptic vision. Perhaps Aitofa had been right—that this would be a test of Tepua's obedience to Oro. How could anyone know if the great god wanted this child to live?
 

"It will be over soon," said Maukiri. "We will forget all this. Think of the new crop of breadfruit coming in. Think of reef fish dipped in coconut sauce and salt water."
 

"Yes," Tepua agreed, though the prospect gave her no cheer. She tried to interest herself in the dancing. Stay-long and two friends were showing off one of their favorite routines....
 

Suddenly a new thought chilled Tepua. If Pehu-pehu was willing to take her back in the troupe, then she no longer viewed her as a threat. Had Aitofa already fallen?
 

 

Coming back from the stream on a bright morning, Tepua managed to catch Stay-long alone. "I must talk to you about Pehu-pehu," she tried to explain hastily. "She is not what she seems."
 

Stay-long frowned. "She is now my guest and my friend. I see no reason to distrust her."

"She is an Arioi," Tepua protested, "a skilled performer playing a role. You have not seen the true face of this woman."

"And you are also an Arioi," Stay-long replied thoughtfully. "Do you think I am fooled by appearances? I welcomed you into my house and have not regretted it. I welcomed Pehu-pehu, and she has delighted us all."
 

"Watch her," Tepua persisted. "She does not trust
you.
Have you seen how far from you she sits while she is eating? And every morning she picks the stray hairs from her sleeping mat and takes them out to be buried." Tepua knew well that food leavings or hairs or fingernail parings could be used in sorcery, though she did not understand exactly what was done with them.
 

Stay-long's eyes narrowed. "That is just ordinary caution."

Tepua sighed. "Then keep watching her, if you care for me."

Stay-long raised her eyebrows. "Tell me this, Tepua. Have you made your decision about the child? I know what Pehu-pehu expects of you."
 

Tepua opened her mouth but gave no answer.

"Then I will not interfere. This great god Oro you Arioi follow is not one I wish to anger."

That night Tepua woke in darkness and could not find sleep again. She lay listening to the wind in the high branches and the rustling of geckos under the roof. She felt huge and awkward. When would the child come? she wondered. It seemed she had been pregnant forever, and that the end would never arrive.
 

The flesh surrounding the entrance to her birthway had softened and slackened. Stay-long had told her that no matter how large the baby was, the birth passage would stretch enough to ease the child out. She had tried to believe this, but now began to doubt again. Her stomach felt as if she were carrying a baby whale.
 

And a lively one at that
, she thought, feeling the latest round of wriggles and kicks. The child no longer tumbled around inside her; it had grown too large for that.
 

Suddenly a new contraction started, similar to those she had felt many times before. She expected her belly to relax afterward, but instead it stayed tight. Another contraction began in the same place, but this one was harsher, peaking into a cramp. Soon they were coming at rhythmic intervals, like breakers washing over the reef.