Cameron, 8

Cameron woke in the morning, no earlier than usual, and dashed into the bathroom for a pee. ('Oh, the relief!')

Back in the room, he opened the drapes and, choice! The rain had stopped. There was still a bit of cloud around, but at least it wasn't raining. The view up the valley had improved, there was a mountain up at the end. He still couldn't see the top of it though, the cloud was too low.

He got dressed and went downstairs. Gabriel was sitting at the computer, he looked around and grinned. "Morning, Cam. Sleep well?"

"I did. I slept like a log. Good morning to you and what's the time?"

"It's, ah, 5 past 7. I've been up for hours. There's coffee in the kitchen if you want some."

"Thanks. I will. Want some?"

"No, not for me. I've had enough."

He made a coffee and returned. Gabriel had shut down and was sitting by the fire.

"It's still a bit cold, but it'll warm up. Weather's improving, so we'll go for a short walk later, if you want to."

"Yeah, of course I want to. Not too far though, I'm probably not as fit as you are."

"You think? You biked all the way out here, didn't you?"

"Yeah, well. That's different. Damm near killed me too."

"Didn't though."

Garth came down and made breakfast for everyone - bacon, eggs and sausages. Gabriel put the sausages aside.

"Not hungry this morning, Gabe?"

"I'm hungry enough. I'm just saving these for later."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, you'll see, later."

The sun was out before they were. Cameron stopped and put his sneakers on at the back-door. Gabriel went barefoot. The mountain up the valley was fully visible now.

"Hey, wow. Is that snow up there?"

"Sure it is, a little bit," Gabriel replied. "It never melts away completely. Even in the middle of summer there's little pockets of snow in the valleys, nooks and crannies. Great when you're all hot and sweaty from climbing up to the tops, to flop down in it and cool off."

"That's fun, is it?"

"It is when you're all overheated. We'll go down here first."

He led the way down a little gully under the trees. They could hear the water before they saw it. They came out into a clearing and there was a big pool of still water with a waterfall tumbling into it.

"Wow! Looks good."

"Yeah, it is. This is one of my favourite places. It's a great swimming-hole."

"You swim in there?" Cameron looked down at the dark-brown water. It almost looked like tea. "It's dirty water, isn't it?"

"No, it's not," Gabriel laughed. "It's clean. It's just stained by the beech trees. It's all mountain beeches around here, mostly. Watch this."

He stood ankle deep on the stones at the edge of the water, bent down and slapped it a few times with an open plam. The pool was suddenly stirred-up and a big, sleek and silvery-gray head burst through the surface. It was gone as soon as it appeared, but something was swirling around by Gabriel's feet.

"What the hell was that?" Cameron stepped back.

"Cameron Black," Gabriel grinned. "Meet my friend, Teddy."

"Teddy?"

"Teddy Tuna. He's an old-man eel and he lives here."

He took a sausage from his pocket, broke it up and dropped the bits into the water, feeding the eel.

"I'm not sure how old Teddy is, but he's 3 meters long, so he pretty old - probably more than you and I put together. He should've gone out to sea to breed and die by now, but he's too fat and lazy. Aren't you, Old Boy? Teddy hangs around here and I feed him. If he's lucky, I'll get him a possum tonight."

"A possum?" Cameron came down for a closer look, but he wasn't standing in the water. No way!

"Yeah, a possum. They're a pest. Introduced by stupid people, of course. They were brought here from Australia to start a fur industry, but they liked NewZealand too much. Their population exploded and there's millions of them out there. They're murder on the native bush. They eat the young growth and kill the trees, so killing them is a good thing. Teddy loves them, he thinks they're very tasty."

"Do you eat them?"

"Sometimes, not often. They taste a bit like rabbit. You have to be really careful because they're often riddled with TB. Doesn't worry Teddy though. He's got a cast-iron stomach and he'll eat anything. Won't you, Garbage-Guts?" He knelt down, stroking the massive eel that was half-out of the water at times.

"You actually swim with that monster in there with you?"

"Of course, it's fun. Teddy wouldn't hurt me, he's my friend."

There was a screech in the air above them somewhere. Gabriel looked up and grinned.

"Another friend, but she's getting jealous. We'd better go out into the open and see Molly now. She's got no patience at all. 'Bye Teddy. See you later."

Walking back up the track, Gabriel said, "Rabbits were introduced as well. Every problem in the country was brought here deliberately, including people. We don't get many rabbits up here, the ground's too stony for them, but down in the river valleys and on farmland, there's millions of them too. They're a pest."

"You really don't like the pests, do you?"

"I hate them. I hate every one of them. They're plagues on our beautiful country and I'd kill every last one of them if I could."

"Umm, okay. I hope you don't think that I'm a pest."

"You? No, you're not. I like you."

"Oh, good. I like you too, Gabriel. I like you a lot."

"That's good. You're the best friend I've got you know. The best human one anyway."

They came out into the wide clearing below the house. With a screech and a flurry of feathers, a big, white-speckled brown bird swooped down and settled on the road by them. It stood about half a meter tall and the vicious looking, hooked, beak opened wide.

"Here's my Beautiful Girl!" Grinning widely, Gabriel dropped to his knees. "Hello, Gorgeous! Stay where you are, Cameron, and don't make any sudden moves. Let her get used to you."

"This is Molly? Is it dangerous?"

"Very dangerous. She could kill you if she really wanted to. But she won't hurt you if you're my friend."

"I'm very glad I am then. What sort of bird is she?"

"A very short-tempered grumpy one, aren't you, My Darling?" Here you go then." Gabriel held out the other sausage.

She plucked it from his fingers, and then held it on the ground with one talon while her beak tore it to shreds and gulped it down hungrily.

"Not so fast, Old Girl. You'll get indigestion."

"You feed her pork sausages?"

"Just sometimes. They're probably not that good for her, but it's a treat and she loves them. Molly is a Karearea, a New Zealand Falcon - the same one that's on the $20 note."

"Oh? I always thought that was a Kea."

"Well, it's not, it's the Karearea. New Zealand had no land-based animals, apart from bats, so birds ruled and the Karearea is top of the heap."

"I didn't know that we had native falcons. I thought they were European or something."

"You thought wrong then. We've got lots of birds that are predators - Keas, Moreporks, all sorts. The biggest eagle in the world was a New Zealand native."

"The biggest? Really?"

"Yes, really. The Haast's Eagle were the biggest ever. They're extinct now, they died out, hundreds of years ago, when the Moa were wiped out. Moa were a huge bird. They were about 15 times the size of the eagles, but they were their primary food source."

"Fifteen times! They were killers then."

"Very much. But now they've gone so Molly's family are the top birds."

"Very cool. Why do you call her Molly?"

"'Cos that's her name!" Gabriel grinned, and then shrugged. "No, actually, it's a bit embarrassing. She was an orphaned chick when I found her. I thought she was a hawk, so I named her Molly Hawk. I was just a little kid, I knew nothing."

"Then you were a kid. How old are you now?"

"I'm 15."

"Me too! So Molly's an old girl then?"

"She is. She's really old for a bird, but she's doing well. Aren't you, My Darling?"

Gabriel held his bare arm out and the falcon hopped up on to it. He stood up.

"Molly, this is my friend, Cameron. You be nice to him."

"Hello Molly and I hope you are. Gabriel, shouldn't you have a leather glove or something on? Those are big claws."

"They are. Sharp ones too. I don't need a glove, Molly wouldn't hurt me."

"None of your friends would hurt you."

"I hope not, because they could! Okay, we'll go for a walk up the valley now."

They stopped under the carport around at the back of the house and Gabriel stripped his clothes off, leaving just brief denim shorts. Cameron stood staring and Gabriel grinned. "I like to feel the air on my skin."

He put a belt, with a hunting knife on it, around his slender waist. "Okay, I'm ready. Let's go."

"Right. You not bringing the bow and arrows?"

"No, we're not hunting, just walking."

"What's the knife for then?"

"Just in case. I might want to kill something."

"Don't mind killing, do you? Ever killed a human ?"

"Not yet," Gabriel grinned. "Come up this way."

He led the way up the valley. There was no track, they just made their way up the rocks in the bed of the small stream. Cameron kept up with him, but it wasn't easy - mostly because he wasn't looking where he was going. Gabriel was such a nice sight to see, he couldn't take his eyes off him.

He looked magnificent, and hot! A wild Boy in his home territory. And hot. Cameron had always had 'a roaming eye', he appreciated beauty, especially in boys, but he'd seen anyone who looked as good as Gabriel. They were getting on fine as friends, and that was good, but he wanted more. He SO wanted more, but didn't know how to make that happen. Damm.

For a while, it looked like fate was arranging things his way.

They didn't go far up the valley. Didn't even go up above the tree-line, but they were walking for several hours. Gabriel seemed like he could keep the pace up all day. Cameron certainly didn't feel he could, so he was glad when they turned around and headed back down again.

It was much easier going back down. He enjoyed the walk, despite the effort it took. Gabriel was good company and he was delighting in showing Cameron his world. He was very well informed about the flora and fauna around them. A couple of times, he voiced his disgust at what the possums had done. Cameron couldn't see the difference, but Gabriel did and it upset him. "Vermin!"

When they got back to the house, an old van and 2 strange cars were parked outside and the place was full of people, there were little kids everywhere.

"Damm!" Gabriel exclaimed. "There goes the neighbourhood."

Garth met them at the door and stopped them from going in. "You're here at last. Come back here, I want a word with you two."

They followed him a few paces away from the house, he stopped, shrugged and grimaced. "Well, Boys, I'm sorry, but as you can see, we've got a problem."

"A problem?" Cameron worried.

"Yes. The tribe has descended on us. They've got a mob of kids and my sister is pregnant. She looks like she's going to pop any minute now."

"Another one!" Gabriel exclaimed.

"Yes, another one. She says it was a mistake. You'd think they'd know better by now."

Cameron said, "Shouldn't they be near a hospital if they're about to have a baby?"

"They don't use hospitals, don't believe in them. All of their kids have been home-births and they've got Carly with them. She's a midwife. The thing is, Cameron, I'm sorry but we need the space and we're going to have to kick you out of your room. They've already moved in there."

"I see. Can't be helped, I guess. Could I bunk-down in Gabriel's room? I could sleep on the floor."

"You'd get walked all over," Gabriel said. He wasn't happy either. "They'll be taking my room as well, they always do."

"Oh. Oh well, time I was going then. I'll load up and get started on my way to Granddad's."

"There's no need for you to go. We've just got to find somewhere for you to sleep. It won't worry Gabe, he'll sleep in a tree or somerthing, he often does."

"You're not going anywhere, Cameron," Gabriel stressed. "You're my guest here and you're a lot more welcome than they are!"

Garth said, "Be nice, Gabe. They're family you know."

"Some family! Thanks for them, Garth. Thanks a lot. Cameron's got a tent. We'll put that up and we'll sleep in there."

"Together?" Cameron liked the sound of that idea.

"Yes, together. Why not? There's room enough, isn't there?"

"Yes, of course there is. That's cool, we'll sleep in the tent."

"Yeah. We'll put it up near Teddy's place, he won't mind."

Garth shook his head. "The eel won't mind? Gabe . . .oh, nevermind. Come and eat before you set-up camp."

They went back to the house. Gabriel's dad was busy in the kitchen. "Hey, Boys. Sorry about this, it's just bad timing. Help yourselves here, but just have a sandwich. I've got a big meal coming. We're having roast venison with all the trimmings."

Cameron said, "You can roast venison? I didn't know that."

"Yes, of course you can, if you know what you're doing. This is the last of that stag you got, last winter, Gabe. Time you got us another one."

"Okay, when I've got time, I will. It'll be a stag though. The hinds have still got young at this time of year and I don't kill mothers."

"You kill fathers though?"

"Yeah, no problems, Dad."

"Watch it, Boy! Cameron, I'm sorry we're turning you out of your room."

"That's okay, their need is greater than mine. I don't mind." (He REALLY didn't mind, didn't mind at all - he'd get to sleep with Gabriel and that was GOOD!)

"That's good," he replied. "I like your friend, Gabe. You've got a good one here."

"Thanks, Dad. I like him too."

"Sheesh!" Cameron blushed. (But it was nice really).

They made a sandwich, got a coke and went through to the living area to look at the new arrivals. Cameron didn't mind their being there at all. He'd happily sleep up in a tree too, if he could be with Gabriel. But he'd soon be having second thoughts - not about the sleeping arrangements, which were good, but about being happy that they were there. Gabriel was not happy at all and he didn't change his mind.

There were not nice people. It was hard to believe that they were Garth's relations, and hard to see why they put up with them, but they did. The adults weren't so bad, there were 2 men and 3 women. They were loud, pushy and sarcastic, but nothing unusual.

The kids were something else. There was a horde of them and they were selfish undisciplined brats. Some of them were teenagers. The oldest one was about 16 and he was the worst of the lot of them.

"So, Weird Boy," he greeted them. "Found yourself a playmate, have you? He suck your dick?"

"Eat shit, Graeme." Gabriel walked straight past him.

Whoah! There was no love lost there at all. Cameron was, of course, firmly on Gabriel's side. He hated the creep instantly. It was mutual, the creep didn't like them either. He kept up a barrage of insults while they tried to ignore him. It was hard, it was impossible, not to respond and they did, but sparingly.