Murder on Easter Island (23 page)

Daniel found his voice and asked, “And what was that?”

Paoa stared at Daniel and pointed at him. “You,” he replied. “You were the one person who had the greatest opportunity to stop me.”

Daniel was dumbfounded.

“So, together, Hitirau and I schemed to create such a channel into the future, but we chose a time when you were younger, so we could kill you well before you had a chance to interfere.”

Daniel didn’t dare show his emotions. He had made a decision — play it cool and confident.

“How long ago was that?” Paoa marveled at his own genius. “Around ten years? You see, Dan-iel, we knew we could place the exit to the time cave wherever we wished, and once we discovered where you were at that time, we put it into a place you might know. Okla-homa, I believe it is called?”

Daniel was taken aback. Oklahoma? The man knew nothing of Oklahoma. How could this be?

“I see you know exactly what I am talking about. Anyway, I came out of the cave into a river bed —”

The Illinois River?

“— and I walked for a while, hiding myself from others until I came upon a small house, the one where you lived.”

Oh, my God . . .

“No one was there, and I hid in the bushes in front, when an old man with long black-and-white hair appeared.”

Grandpa . . .

“I came up behind him, intending to cut his throat. But he fought like a wild animal and for a moment I thought he was going to overcome me. Finally I was able to put my knife to his throat and cut it. He bled to death right in front of me.”

“No . . .” Daniel’s breath had left him.

Paoa laughed his evil laugh. “How does it make you feel, knowing the old man, I’m guessing he was your grandfather, died because of you?” Daniel clenched his teeth in rage, but said nothing.

“As a shaman, I could tell he had great mana — something I needed for my quest. So, like all those on the island I have killed, I enjoyed his flesh.”

Daniel recalled how mutilated his grandpa had been. He had thought it was only the animals. Daniel couldn’t hold his loathing back any more.

“Paoa — I’ll see you dead,” he said in a voice of quiet determination

“Oh, will you now? I believe you’ve forgotten who’s tied up. No Dan-iel, soon it will be you who will die. By the way, do you recognize this?” He held up a large green flint arrowhead, one that appeared to have an engraved brown hawk in the center.

Daniel inhaled deeply. How could he forget?

“From your face I see you remember. I’ve kept it in my possession since that time.” Paoa then placed the arrowhead on the boulder beside him.

“Now to finish my story. After I killed your grandfather, I planned to wait and do the same to you. But then the oddest thing happened. I heard loud screeching and out of nowhere two large birds attacked me. Remember that scar on my head?” Paoa pointed at his scalp. “That wasn’t from any eastern warrior; that was from those birds. They hit me over and over again with their sharp talons, and I thought they were going to either kill me or at the least put my eyes out.”

Birds?

“I knew then I couldn’t stay, so I ran back to the time cave, beating the birds back as I ran. After I came back to the past, I decided to wait until you, as my vision
told me you would, came to my island. Here I wouldn’t have to worry about those vicious birds.

“So, while we were unable to move the time, it was easy enough for Hitirau and I to change the exit for the cave to the island, and it has been here ever since. But then I had to wait for ten full years for the right time to begin the murders, which I hoped would lead to our island’s independence.”

This is a mad man, Daniel decided, but he is a mad man with a purpose — and that makes him dangerous. I have to keep my wits about me.

“What about Tiare?” asked Daniel.

“The old woman?”

“Yes.”

“She was one I didn’t want you to have at your side. She knew too much about our island and its history, and was too valuable an ally for you. But since she was a fellow shaman, rather than murder her, I first tried to scare her away. When that didn’t work, I intended to kill her, when you unexpectedly showed up. When you followed me into the past, I knew there I would have the best chance to kill you.”

“Is that why you selected me for the Birdman competition?”

“It took you this long to figure it out? You saw how many died trying to bring the egg to Orongo. I couldn’t believe it when not only did you survive, but you won.”

“What about the cigarette lighter I found in Atamu’s pora?”

“I was hoping you would fall for that. Just before the competition, I gave it to Atamu. The way he looked at the flame as it came forth, I knew he would keep it in his possession at all times. While you were on Motu Nui, I was hoping you would find the chance to search his pora. I guessed it would throw you off track, and it seems it did.”

Now that Paoa was talking, he couldn’t shut up. Daniel didn’t care; every word Paoa said gave him more time to think about how to get out of this mess.

Paoa babbled on. “In our discussions Hitirau and I both reasoned that by killing and cannibalizing the outsiders on our island, we could frighten them away. Not only that, when I ate part of the victims and absorbed their mana, I would become stronger. All I had to do was call the name of Hitirau, and the magic worked.”

Gomez had written Hitirau on the card. Now it all made sense.

So what? Daniel cautioned himself. I’m still tied up.

Paoa boasted, “From what I could tell our plan was working, at least until you showed up. But I don’t believe you ever suspected me. As you may recall, soon after you set foot into the past, I tried to strike up a friendship with you, pitting us both against an unknown evil. How could you know that
I
was the evil?” He chuckled at his wit, and then sneered at Daniel. “You think you’re so clever, so strong.”

“Well, I guess I was wrong about you,” Daniel replied cautiously.

“I will be done with you soon,” Paoa said. His voice grew even more sinister. “And with you out of the way, the killings will increase. Chile will realize keeping control here won’t be worth the trouble, and we will once again be a free island.”

Daniel asked, “What about the cave?”

“The magic of the cave will exist as long as I’m alive. And who knows, once we’ve claimed the island for our own, I might just live in your time. I’d love the conveniences of modern life. But enough talking. I have a special surprise for you. Would you like to know what it is?”

Daniel said not a word.

“Well, then,” Paoa said, “Dan-iel, before I kill you, I am going to enjoy eating your living flesh. Your mana is great, and I will be even stronger than I am now.”

No, no, Daniel told himself, keep him talking — it was his only hope.

“How does it feel to kill people and eat their flesh? I want to understand,” Daniel asked.

It was as if Paoa could not hear as his eyes glazed over with an unearthly, hypnotic stare.

“Now, it is time.” His voice changed to a guttural hiss — sounding like it might have risen from the pits of hell. “Hitirau! Hitirau! I call on you!”

Paoa breathed deeply, in and out, and the muscles in his chest and arms began to bulge. His face contorted into an evil grimace, and his teeth became elongated and pointed. His ears grew and became elfin in appearance, and in the darkness of the cavern his eyes emitted a faint red glow.

The transformed Paoa then growled, “Now, Dan-iel, your mana is mine!” With those words, Paoa walked over to him, his drooling mouth opening over Daniel’s face.

Daniel could smell and feel the fetid vapor.

He closed his eyes.

Suddenly Daniel heard a loud
thump
and Paoa’s movement toward him stopped. Daniel opened his eyes and discovered a spear was protruding through Paoa’s open mouth.

Paoa let out a death gurgle as he twitched and crashed to the floor. Standing behind him was Mahina, holding her hands to her face in shock.

“Dan-iel!” she yelled as she ran past Paoa’s motionless body and dropped to her knees to hold Daniel tight.

“Mahina . . .”

A
fter Mahina removed the ropes from Daniel, they held one another for the longest time — neither wanted to pull away from each other’s embrace.

Finally Daniel asked, “Mahina — how did you find me?”

Mahina wiped the tears from her eyes saying, “There is a story to tell. Would you like to hear it?”

“I would.”

Mahina said, “After you left, I realized I couldn’t go on without you. I confessed this to my parents, and they told me to follow my heart. As I left, my father insisted that I take his spear; somehow he knew I would need it. Then I asked him to do something for me which I must keep secret for the time being.”

Daniel nodded.

“I hurried off in the direction I saw you take. For a while there were signs of your path, then, after a long stretch of rocky soil, any trace disappeared. Then the most amazing thing happened. An elderly man, not of this island, walked up to me and said, ‘Is your name Mahina?’

“I said, ‘Yes, it is.’

“He said, ‘Then I know something that is important to you.’

“‘And what is that?’ I asked.

“He said, ‘I know how to find Daniel. Follow me.’

“I’m not sure why, but I trusted him. He led me a good ways from where I was to a toromiro tree. He walked behind it and showed me the entry to a cave.

“‘Are you sure this is it?’ I asked.

“‘Oh, I’m quite sure,’ he said. ‘Now go on, Daniel will be in need of your help soon.’

“I said, ‘Won’t you tell me your name?’

“He said, ‘Daniel will know who I am. But go now! There is no time to waste.’ So I entered the cave, and you know what happened after that.”

Daniel’s curiosity was piqued. “Tell me what the man looked like.”

“Well, he was tall, a little darker than you, and had long black-and-white hair, which was tied behind his head. Oh, and one more thing: He had a strap around his waist —”

“It’s called a belt.”

“— and on it, in a silver circle, was a man with long hair like his, and that man was surrounded by six of those animals that you drew on the beach. What were they?”

“Buffalo?” he questioned.

“Yes,” Mahina confirmed. “Buffalo.”

Grandpa . . .

“Do you know who that was?”

“I do,” Daniel said, still amazed at what he had heard.

“Who?”

“Someone who keeps his word — I promise I’ll give you an explanation later.” Daniel took a deep breath, paused for a moment with the wonder of it all and finally added, “By the way, I’m sorry you had to kill another human.”

“Dan-iel, when I saw you tied up with Paoa about to harm you . . . well . . . it was an easy decision.”

“Thank you — otherwise now I’d be dead. One more thing: I had no idea you could throw a spear like that.”

Mahina said, “As time goes by you will discover more and more about me that you didn’t know before. I hope, through our lives together, I will always find ways to surprise you, in good ways of course. Now, shall we go? I’d like to see what my new world is like.”

Daniel couldn’t think of anything he would rather do.

He picked up his grandpa’s arrowhead from the boulder and sighed as he held it to his chest. Then he grabbed the flashlight, and he and Mahina walked together toward the cave exit.

It was dark when they emerged from the cave into the brisk night air. Holding hands, they picked their way across the rocky ground. Mahina inhaled deeply in surprise at the array of lights that marked the city of Hanga Roa, and
Daniel enjoyed seeing her reaction. Before long they walked up to a home built of native rock.

Daniel knocked, and a few moments later a familiar voice asked, “Who’s there?”

“Tiare,” Daniel said, “it’s an old friend of yours.”

The porch light came on, the door burst open and Tiare jumped from the threshold to hold him tightly.

“Daniel,” she said, “it’s been almost five months. I have been worried sick about you.”

Then Tiare noticed Mahina, and she gasped.

Daniel said, “Tiare, I would like to introduce you to my love, Mahina.”

Tiare looked back and forth at both of them, and at once she understood. She embraced Mahina, saying in Rapanui, “Welcome home, sister.”

Everyone was all smiles as they walked into Tiare’s home.

There was much to share, Daniel thought, but that could wait for later. For now, he just wanted a hot shower, something he desperately missed, and a soft couch on which to cuddle up with Mahina.

And Tiare had both.

D
aniel sat alone on the rim of Rano Kau at Kari Kari, overlooking the ocean. It boggled his mind to think that in 1775, two hundred and forty years ago, he had participated in and had won the Birdman competition. To him, though, it was only a little over a week ago.

As he looked over the edge, he recalled how many had died during that contest, including Ropata. Daniel closed his eyes for a few moments and silently thanked him for his friendship.

Daniel then remembered his fear of heights, which had vanished into the ethers. His aversion to sharks was a totally different matter, however. After his Birdman experience, Daniel had no plans that included sharks any time in the near future.