Adventures Old and New

[William Kaimarama]

The heavy winging of a Kereru overhead and the trickle of a nearby stream made William feel at home like nothing else. Mum and dad were a little further ahead through the bush, and William had been tasked with leading his younger siblings along to catch up. Easy. They were following the line of the stream, and the track was relatively easy going, even with camping supplies strapped to their backs. The campsite couldn't be far, and then the kids would be free to do what they pleased for the time being. It felt strange to William that this was going to be one of his last proper camping trips for a while. School was creeping ever closer, and the thought of leaving all this behind, the bush and the wilderness and his siblings seemed unthinkable.

Making his way expertly over a downed log, William turned back to offer Maddy and Seb a hand up. "Not much further to go." He reassured them, though surely Maddy was keeping better track than he was. William might be walking in front and nominally in charge, but she was doubtlessly the one leading this journey. Just like always. "Watch your step." He added as his younger sister took his hand. He started helping her over, but a flash of jealousy popped into his head and he adjusted his grip, letting her go just for long enough to slip back off the log. "Hey, be careful!" William added, holding his hand out to help her up again.

 

[Madeline Kaimarama]

Now, this was the best way to be spending your time. Maddy couldn't imagine anything better than strolling through the bush with her best friends - her brothers - by her side. Except perhaps strolling through the bush without the weight of camping supplies, she thought with a wry smile. Still, with the cool calm of the bush, the familiar trees and calls of the birds, and the cheerful chattering company, all was right with the world. And yet, all too soon, they would be losing one of their number. The thought of doing this without William was almost unthinkably strange to Maddy. They'd get him back for holidays of course, but she'd never spent so much time away from one of her siblings before, and the idea alarmed her.

Maddy took her brother's hand with a smile; of course, she could keep her balance perfectly well, but it was sweet of him to offer. And then he let go and for an awful, sliding moment she was falling. Just for a second before her foot landed back on the ground, and he was looking at her with that familiar mischievous smile. Maddy chuckled. "Oi, Wills, cut it out!" The second time she made a pantomime of avoiding his hand and navigating the log herself. Then, with a grin, she shoved him lightly out of the way and held her own hand out for Sebastian. He'd be off in his own world like always, and she didn't want him getting hurt out of lack of attention to Wills' pranks. "You good back there, Seb?"

 

[Sebastian Kaimarama]

Sebastian dawdled after his siblings, following the path absently, watching the trees. The native plants were all familiar to him, and he enjoyed his ability to recognise species, but mostly he just liked the green, and the way the dappled sunlight made certain leaves glow bright green while others were plunged into shadow. Besides, if he watched closely, he might catch a glimpse of one of the myriad birds he could hear calling all around them. He paused for a moment, hearing the song of a tui overhead and craning his neck to see if he could spot it, but there was too much foliage and he shouldn't fall behind.

Sebastian didn't think this one of Wills' practical jokes was very funny, and he rolled his eyes at the two of them. Honestly, though, he would miss this, he would miss Wills, when he was gone. And unlike Maddy, it would be so long before he got to go to Hogwarts - and the very thought of going to a school, far from home with so many people and most of them strangers, scared him. Seb took Maddy's hand and accepted her help over the log, vaguely relieved that he wouldn't have to contend with Wills' antics right now. "Yeah, I'm fine." He grinned suddenly and took a few wobbly steps along the log, arms outstretched wide for balance. It was too slippery to stay on for long, but enough for a bit of whimsy.

 

[William Kaimarama]

William rolled his eyes at Maddy - of course she would reject his gesture. "Your own fault for slipping." He commented, stepping back and waiting for the other two to make their way over the log. "Gotta be prepared for unstable terrain." William added, trying to pass the trick off as a test of wilderness prowess. Of course, while it was certainly important to be ready for anything, his action hadn't been intended as anything other than trying to make her fall over.

He watched as Sebastian wobbled his way along the log slightly, resisting the urge to roll his eyes again. "C'mon tightrope walker, the sooner we make it to mum and dad the sooner we can go explore." He insisted, and began to head further upriver again. "What do you guys wanna do when we get to the campsite?" William had a pretty good idea - Maddy would want to go wandering, Sebastian would want to play an imagination game, and William would wind up being the tiebreaker.

 

[Madeline Kaimarama]

"Bulls**t," Maddy said, taking her own turn to roll her eyes, melodramatically in recognition that the boys had rolled theirs first. "You know as well as I do that you set me up there." She began walking away along the track. "It's not like I didn't notice that it was slippery. I was prepared for you to help me." Maddy really didn't mind his teasing; she was pretending to be grumpy for show, without even trying to keep the note of humour out of her voice, knowing that he would know she was joking.

Maddy giggled at Seb's wobbling. "Don't slip," she added to him. "Gotta be prepared for unstable terrain." Maddy gave a little skip in response to Wills' question. "You said yourself, we can go explore. I'm keen for that." Maddy was always keen to explore, see new things, play new games. Though she suspected mum and dad would want them to help finish setting up the campsite first. Maybe they could sneak off, dump their bags somewhere unobtrusive and run for the trees. That would be a fun game in itself.

 

[Sebastian Kaimarama]

Sebastian ignored his older siblings' bickering, accustomed to them acting like this and not really prepared to pay it any mind. There were far more interesting things to think about than the precise nature of William's action (it was a prank. It was always a prank). Like the next Dungeons and Dragons session he had prepared for them. Sebastian went over the immediate plot in his head again - though of course, Maddy and Wills always messed it up for them in some interesting way he hadn't predicted. That was part of the fun.

He laughed when Wills called him 'tightrope walker', imagining himself for a moment to be balancing on a thin line high above the clouds, rather than a thick log not far from the ground. "I'm coming." Sebastian jumped down from the log, and set off along the track again after the others. "Yeah, I'd be happy to go exploring too." Seb was content to go along with what his siblings wanted, as he usually was.

 

[William Kaimarama]

William scoffed at Maddy's language, eyeing her. "Don't cuss, I'll tell dad." He said bluntly, moving a heavier branch aside so his siblings would be able to make it through the next thick section of bush. "You might be prepared for a branch to take your weight too, but then it breaks. Don't ever take terrain for granted." He added to Maddy, keeping the branch out of the way for her to pass. It was good advice - William had certainly taken his fair share of spills not checking before he used something for climbing.

Watching Sebastian pass by too, William was relieved he wasn't putting up a fuss about being hurried and ruffled the younger boy's hair, finally letting the branch fall back into place as he followed after his siblings. "Cool, that was easy." He commented. "We'll try to bunk off setting up tents and go see what the area's like. I think I heard a tui earlier, we might be able to spot some cool nests." He smiled, making his way back to the front of the pack and leading his younger siblings further along the stream. He could hear voices up ahead that sounded sort of like mum and dad - finally.

 

[Madeline Kaimarama]

Maddy sighed at Wills' response, knowing he was right, but also aware that he was deliberately deflecting the conversation away from his prank. And onto the fact that he was better at navigating the bush than she'd ever be - not that Maddy minded that. She was plenty good enough. "You saying you're a branch now, Wills?" she teased. Not a very good joke, but better than nothing. She eyed her big brother cautiously as he held the branch out of the way, watching for any sign that he might let go of this one too, but he seemed to have made his point. Whatever that was.

Maddy was pleased that William was already talking about bunking off setting up, and even more so that he had taken the initiative to raise the possibility before she had. She wouldn't need to convince him, that way. "Great, I'm in." As they neared the sound of their parents' voices ahead, Maddy slowed down, putting her finger to her lips to quiet her siblings. "We can probably dump the packs somewhere and run," she whispered, "but we're gonna have to be quick. Let's get off the track so they don't see us coming."

 

[Sebastian Kaimarama]

"He's definitely a branch," Sebastian joined in, as he followed Maddy past the branch William was holding out of the way for them. Sebastian didn't like the idea of skipping what they were supposed to be doing, and mum and dad wouldn't be pleased, but once his older siblings had decided on something together there wasn't much he could do to change their minds - so he didn't try.

"I nearly saw a tui before," he said, with a slight note of mournfulness, "but you two were in too much of a hurry. There are fantails around too," he added, brightening up. He had heard their telltale chirping, and fantails were usually the friendliest of the birds, even to a bunch of noisy kids. Sebastian sighed, but only quietly, as Maddy started planning to sneak off as though it was some great heist. Nevertheless, he followed her away from the path.

 

[William Kaimarama]

William stuck his tongue out at Maddy as she passed. "I'm saying, don't take the terrain for granted. Make sure you've got stable footrests before putting your weight on something." He rolled his eyes, taking back to the lead of his siblings as they approached the camp. He slowed his footsteps as mum and dad's voices drew near, keeping all of his movements feather light in hopes of not alerting them. Shushing Sebastian, he crept closer to the camp with Maddy and peered through the bushes, nodding slightly when he saw mum and dad already setting up their tent, thoroughly distracted by the logistics of setting up such a large structure.

William listened to Maddy's plan, then nodded in agreement, following her off the track with Sebastian. "If we go around to the right we'll be behind both of them, we can drop the bags nearby and sneak off without them noticing." He whispered, pointing to an area of bush near enough to the campsite but out of mum and dad's eyelines. "I reckon that's the best spot to just pop out and drop the bags."

 

[Madeline Kaimarama]

Maddy ignored William's comments - yeah, as though she didn't know how to move through unstable terrain. Now her attention was focused entirely on the view of the camp through the bushes in front of her. Their parents were already busy with the big tent, that was good. She followed William's pointing finger and nodded, then set off in that direction, skirting the campsite careful to leave a thick enough border of bush that they wouldn't be easily spotted.

Once she reched the appointed place, Maddy stopped and turned back to her brothers, putting her finger to her lips. "Now," she whispered, a broad grin on her face, "we gotta be very quiet. Run when you're in the open, drop the bags and get back into the trees. Then we just have to move as quietly as possible until we're out of earshot again." Without hesitation, Maddy followed her own advice, half-shrugging her pack off so she could dump it easily. She darted out of the trees, dropped it lightly on the grass, and sprinted back to cover. She glanced back. Mum and dad hadn't noticed a thing. Certain her brothers would follow, Maddy began moving more slowly away into the forest.

 

[Sebastian Kaimarama]

Sebastian lingered back, deeper in the bush, while his siblings peered at the campsite and planned. When they started moving again he followed them, still with some reluctance but beginning to enjoy the sneaking game. After Maddy and Wills had both dumped their bags he followed suit, taking his default place as the youngest and least confident, and therefore the last. When he made it back to the trees they were already creeping deeper into the bush.

It was difficult to move stealthily in a forest. The leaf litter rustled underfoot no matter how carefully you placed your feet, and if you spent too much time watching the ground you would blunder into a bush. The others seemed to have little trouble navigating the easiest and quietest path through the dense undergrowth, and Sebastian tried his best to follow their path. It wasn't long, though, before he blundered. Concentrating on pushing through some branches blocking his path, Sebastian placed his foot carelessly, and it landed on a stick which broke with a loud crack. Sebastian froze, straining his ears for any indication mum or dad might have heard. He smiled sheepishly, and whispered, "Guess I failed my stealth check, guys."

 

[William Kaimarama]

Peering through the bushes at mum and dad, William tried to suppress his annoyance at Maddy taking charge at once. She was right, of course she was, and her plan would work, but he was supposed to be leading this hike. Her plan made the most sense though, and he watched her start to take her bag up, following behind once she was a decent way ahead. William was always more nimble than people took him for, and had no trouble sneaking up to where Maddy had left her bag and sneaking back.

His own stealth mission done, William watched silently with Maddy as Seb made his way back after them. He groaned when he heard the branch break, knowing mum and dad would figure out what was going right away. "Damn it!" Leaping up he dashed forward and grabbed Sebastian by the wrist, dragging him deeper into the bush and trusting that Maddy would follow after them. "BYE MUM AND DAD, WE'LL BE BACK LATER, THANKS FOR SETTING UP OUR TENT FOR US!" He yelled over his shoulder as he careened through the bush with Sebastian in tow, hoping that mum and dad would at least find it funny enough that they wouldn't be too mad.

 

[Madeline Kaimarama]

Maddy ran headlong after her brothers, laughing wildly, swerving haphazardly between trees and bushes. This wasn't the best way things could have gone, but hey! It was an adventure! Things weren't supposed to go exactly according to plan. Maddy had no doubt in her mind that Sebastian was already thinking of ways to turn this into a fun story. She darted around a bush in the opposite direction to the others, and drew level with them. Most days she could just about keep up with her older brother, but when he was dragging a confused and stumbling Sebastian behind him, she could overtake him easily. She did so, grinning at him mischievously as she passed.

Maddy kept running a little way ahead, so she could help the boys avoid obstacles and scout out the easiest path for them. Every now and then she glanced back to check how they were doing. When Maddy was somewhat out of breath and Sebastian looked exhausted, she came to a halt. "I think this is probably far enough." Despite the haphazard route they had taken, Maddy was completely certain they would be able to find their way back to camp when they needed to. After all, they had done this plenty of times before. "You two doing all right?"

 

[Sebastian Kaimarama]

This was a bad idea. Sebastian had known all along that this was a bad idea, but had he said anything? Of course not. He'd kept his stupid mouth shut, like always, and now he was being dragged through the forest by his big brother. No . . . no, they were brave warriors being chased by . . . an ogre. Definitely not kids running away from their parents to escape their responsibilities. Seb imagined the ogre crashing through the bushes behind them, and felt a little better; he even put on a small burst of speed, so he was running behind and with William, rather than being towed by him.

Sebastian was panting by the time Maddy called a stop. He pulled his hand out of William's grasp, collapsed onto a fallen log, and decided the ogre had lost them, for the moment. He didn't mention this yet, because he'd only get teased by Wills for it. "I'm fine," he said, still panting slightly. "So, we going exploring now?" Sebastian looked up, past his siblings to the trees overhead, green leaves glowing against the sun. He hoped the prospect of exploring would be enough to distract Wills from ripping into him for how badly he's messed up.

 

[William Kaimarama]

William rolled his eyes as Maddy sped past him, wishing Sebastian could run a little faster. They were getting away quickly enough though, and mum and dad making them do the dishes or something later would be worth the fun of adventuring now. It was a relief when Maddy stopped running and William stopped too, catching his breath quickly and glancing back at the path they had trampled through the bush. He had a good enough sense of direction to have a rough idea of how to get back, as long as they didn't go too far out.

Looking around, William nodded in response to Maddy's question. "Fine..." He said, though his voice still sounded a little winded, even to him. William was already looking for the next thing for them to do though, nodding in response to Sebastian's question. "I wanna find something cool, like something we can eat, or a cool cave or something. Let's head that way." A mountain to the north was a good point of reference, and if they headed towards it William could keep a path back to the campsite in mind easily. Plus, it looked like the trees got a little thicker up that way. Maybe there would be an interesting stream, or a cave with glow worms or something. Definitely worth checking out.

 

[Madeline Kaimarama]

Maddy looked around as she caught her breath, enjoying the sight of the familiar native plants all around them, and making mental note of the mountain William pointed to. He was always better at setting up landmarks than Maddy; she tended to just keep going without thinking about such things. Maddy spied a horopito bush, and grinning, plucked a leaf from it which she offered to Wills. "You could eat this," she said in joking tone, knowing he wouldn't fall for it. Convincing people who didn't know better to bite off too much of the spicy leaf at once was a common prank. "A cave would be awesome," she added, "though I don't think we're gonna reach that mountain." This was, naturally, an understatement.

When she judged that Seb seemed to have recovered, Maddy helped him to his feet. Then she set off, leading the group through the forest in the direction of the mountain, as Wills had suggested. She looked around as she went, though careful to watch her feet. "Watch out for the root here." It would be great to spot some birds, like the fantail Sebastian said he'd heard, or the bellbird she could hear just now. She craned her neck, trying to spot it in the branches above her. And, at last, she did. "Look," she whispered, pointing. Hopefully this would cheer Seb up.

 

[Sebastian Kaimarama]

Sebastian stayed on the log, still breathing hard, while his siblings talked. He, too, was particularly attracted by the idea of finding a cool cave, or some other such suitably dramatic setting. Anything he could incorporate into a story was a priority for him, though even just being out here in the bush with trees all around was immensely satisfying. "Yeah, I'd love to find a cave, or just anything cool really." He chuckled at Maddy's attempted prank, and watched half-hoping that Wills would eat it anyway just to spite her. It wouldn't surprise Sebastian if he did.

Sebastian followed Maddy and Wills as the trio started to move again. He wasn't paying much attention to where he was putting his feet, more interested in staring at the trees, trying to spot birds and enjoying their surroundings. When Maddy pointed he came up beside her, craning his neck to try and see from her taller perspective. He could just barely glimpse the bellbird she had seen between two branches, but it was enough. "Awesome."

 

[William Kaimarama]

It was a relief, to be truly away from their parents, free of the heavy tramping packs and with nothing to do and nowhere to be, except for whatever adventures they could find along the way. Thinking about having to go without this freedom pained William's heart, and for what felt like the hundredth time he considered begging and pleading with his parents to homeschool him. The chance to make his own reputation without being in Maddy and Seb's shadows wasn't worth losing all this. But William was much too proud to go grovelling to his parents, to admit that school was scary and he didn't want to do it. So he took a deep breath and tried to push his worries down, focusing on navigating their way through the bush.

William was almost too distracted for a moment to recognise the leaves Maddy was trying to feed him. Once he realised what they were, William scoffed. Pranks were his job, did Maddy really think she was going to fool him that easily? He opened his mouth to mock her, then instantly realised what would really be funny. Holding Maddy's eyes with his own, William plucked the horopito from her hand, not breaking eye contact as he wordlessly put the leaves into his mouth. The burn hit as soon as he bit down but William powered through, chewing the dreadfully hot leaves for what felt like long enough to be funny. He swallowed at last, focusing entirely on not letting his eyes water as he spoke to Maddy in a much more choked voice than before. "Delicious..."

Still struggling with the burning of the leaves, William was frustrated when Maddy took the lead yet again, on the track he had pointed out. Always the way. Following quickly, William was trying to think of a way to get back at Maddy when they stopped. He followed where his sister was pointing, looking up into the trees and spotting the bellbird after a moment. Beautiful... William was sure Sebastian would be pleased to have seen that, and William quickly pulled out his phone. No service out here of course, but he snapped a couple of pictures of the bird to show Mum and Dad later.