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    Deadly Feathers
    Deadly Feathers
    Deadly Feathers
    Ebook97 pages1 hour

    Deadly Feathers

    By Des Hunt

    ()

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    About this ebook

    Noah Larsen lives in the big city, enjoying fast-foods, movies, and heaps of mates. That’s until his parents decide to move to Stewart Island. Looking at a map, Noah sees the island as the most desolate place on earth, stuck way down south, almost at the bottom of the world. The reality, when he gets there, is even worse: no fast-food chains, no cinema complex, and not a single boy of his age at the tiny school. But there is a girl, who lives next door: Hailey North, a bossy know-it-all who has a passion for the outdoors and the island’s special wildlife.

    Then Noah sees a spectacular parrot flying over the bush, a South American macaw, a bird that should never be in the New Zealand forest. Soon afterwards he starts seeing sick and dying native parrots, particularly kaka. He and Hailey put the two events together and come up with a theory, linking them to an American lone-sailor whose yacht is anchored in a nearby bay. But without physical evidence nobody believes them.

    Enter Sirocco, the celebrity icon for the world’s rarest parrot – the flightless kakapo. He’s returning to the island of his ancestors to promote environmental care over the coming tourist season. Everybody is thrilled about it, except for Noah and Hailey, who fear the special parrot will die, just like the kaka. What’s more, almost all of the world’s population of kakapo live on neighbouring Codfish Island, three kilometres off the coast – just a short flying trip for any bird, healthy or diseased.

    As increasingly more birds die, Hailey and Noah must battle against both time and weather to capture the macaw. All the while knowing that if they fail, they will have aided the extinction of one of the world’s truly special creatures.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherDes Hunt
    Release dateSep 6, 2016
    ISBN9780994122605
    Deadly Feathers
    Author

    Des Hunt

    Des Hunt is a well respected educationalist and teacher, responsible for writing the national primary schools science curriculum. He has written a series of successful environmental adventures for 9-12 year olds. He lives in Whitianga, NZ and teaches at the Mercury Bay Area School.

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      Book preview

      Deadly Feathers - Des Hunt

      Deadly Feathers

      Des Hunt

      Copyright

      First published 2016 by Torea Press

      107 Miro Place, RD2 Whitianga 3592, New Zealand

      © Des Hunt 2015

      ISBN 978-0-9941226-0-5

      Des Hunt asserts his moral right to be identified as the author of this work under the terms of Section 96 of the Copyright Act of 1994 (New Zealand.) All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be produced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher.

      Editor: Kate Stone

      Print edition printed by Pacific Asia Offset

      Kaka on cover: © ChameleonsEye | Shutterstock.com

      Feather on cover: © Matt Benoit | Shutterstock.com

      Contents

      Copyright

      1 Big Moggy

      2 Wind Bird

      3 Ulva Island

      4 Chuck

      5 Rumours

      6 A Special Visitor

      7 Shopping

      8 Hope

      9 Marky

      10 Cleaning Up

      Acknowledgements

      About Des Hunt

      Other Books by Des Hunt

      1 Big Moggy

      When Noah Larsen first heard his family was moving to Stewart Island he went straight to his mum’s tablet and brought up Google Earth. As usual, the globe rotated until the familiar shape of New Zealand was centre-screen. A single yellow marker sat part-way down from the top of North Island. That was where he lived: Manurewa, South Auckland, his home for all eleven years of his life. Next, he entered Stewart Island and tapped Find.

      As the app began zooming, a red dot appeared way down the bottom of New Zealand. Within seconds, a triangular-shaped island filled the screen. Alongside the red dot was the name Stewart Island / Rakiura. Straightaway he pinched the screen so that the whole of New Zealand was visible once more. No matter how he looked at it, Stewart Island was a long way from Manurewa, thousands of kays from his friends, his school and everything else. His heart sank, for he knew then that this was a major shift.

      Zooming back in on the island, he studied the other labels. There was only one town — Oban. The rest were smaller islands, dotted around the edges: Mutton Bird Islands, Codfish Island, Pearl Island, and Big Moggy Island. He brightened a little at that last one, and reached across to stroke the cat that was sleeping alongside him on the sofa.

      How about that, Moggy? he said. They’ve named an island after you.

      Moggy replied with a small meow, and stretched to expose her tummy for a rub. She was nothing special as cats went, which is why Noah’s dad, Simon, had named her Moggy, the general label for a cat of no particular breed. While Noah guessed they’d be living in Oban and not on tiny Big Moggy Island, the idea of living near a place named after his cat made him feel a touch happier.

      Maybe I can take you to that island? Show you what a really big moggy looks like.

      Alas, when the time came, that was not to be. Without consulting him, Noah’s parents decided that the cat should be left behind. They claimed they had little choice. Oban and the surrounding area were in the process of becoming a predator-free zone. Cats and dogs were still allowed as pets, but new ones from the mainland were not encouraged. Instead, Moggy would be left with the next-door neighbours, which was no hardship for the cat, as she lived there half the time anyway. For Noah, though, it was heart-breaking. To him, it seemed as though he was leaving his whole life behind to go live in a desolate place stuck right at the bottom of the world.

      * * *

      Three weeks into his new life, Noah didn’t feel any better. Oban was much smaller than his parents had claimed. There were hardly any shops — just a general store, a garage, and several tourist places that were of no interest to Noah; the cinema showed the same movie three times a day; and the nearest thing to a fast-food joint was a cabin selling fish and chips.

      If you wanted anything more than Oban offered, then it was a one-hour ferry trip across Foveaux Strait, one of the roughest stretches of water in the world. But that only got you to Bluff, which didn’t have much more than Oban. Invercargill, the only decent-sized town in the region, was still another hour away. Four hours’ travel, there and back, just to eat at a hamburger restaurant.

      However, Noah’s biggest concerns were school-related. Not the school itself, which seemed okay — so far, anyway. Nor his teacher, Ms Ogle, who was just as new as Noah: she was relieving for term four while the usual teacher was on leave. It wasn’t the other kids, either. They were all friendly enough, even though they talked a bit funny, especially when saying words like work and farm. No, the kids were all right. The problem was that there were so few of them, scarcely enough for two classes. Back in Manurewa, his old school had four classes at his level, Year Six; here, there were just four students. And, not one of the others was a boy.

      That’s why, on his third Saturday, a girl was with him as he walked along a track searching for the predator-proof fence that everyone was talking about. Hailey North was her name, and she lived a couple of hundred metres from the Larsens’ house in Thule Bay. Without encouragement, she had appointed herself as Noah’s guide to the wilds of Stewart Island. Noah could’ve said no when she’d suggested this expedition, but he was keen to get away from his parents, and any company was better than none. To tell the truth, he would have gone alone except he was a little scared of heading off along an unknown track by himself.

      The route skirted the water of a large inlet, and was part of a much longer network that stretched 160 kilometres around half the island. If you wanted to go anywhere outside of Oban, then walking was the only option, as the longest road went no more than five kays from the centre of town. According to Hailey, an hour along this track would take them to the predator fence.

      See that down there? said Hailey, pointing to the rocky shore. That’s called Cow and Calf Point.

      Why? asked Noah.

      Hailey shrugged. I dunno. I just like the name.

      Maybe a cow had a calf there, a long time ago.

      Doubt it. Not a milk cow, anyway. More likely a whale had a calf.

      Do whales come in here?

      Yes, said Hailey, rather proudly. Paterson Inlet has whales. But there are more dolphins. We often see them from our house.

      Noah moved off the track, closer to the

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