Illustrations by Maia McIntosh

                                         The Matariki Mystery

The bright shining sun slips over the horizon of the Kahukura maunga. Rose and Te Aroha looked at the Matariki stars shining like diamonds, dancing on the glistening water. Their hair sways in time with the wind. “Can you count all of the stars?'' whispered Te aroha “Each one is a taonga” she continued. “I can see all 8 of them,'' Rose told Te Aroha, counting each star in the cluster. Te Aroha pondered this. There were supposed to be 9 stars. “Oh no this means one of them is missing but which one?!” Rose asked. Rose looked over at Te Aroha. Te Aroha was flipping frantically through her astronomy book trying to find the Matariki section. Finally she found it. She looked at the constellation of the stars, then back at the book. “It's Hiwaiitirangi the wishing star!” Te Aroha said, the sound of worry in her voice. “Nooo, we can’t make a wish!” Rose yelled, causing a flock of birds to fly out of the trees. “Should we go and look for Hiwaiitirangi?” said Rose. Te Aroha looked in her astronomy book and pointed to the stars. No matter how much she read, deep down she knew she wouldn't find Hiwaiitirangi. “Let's wait for everyone to get up then we can start looking and in the meantime we can think of where Hiwaitiirangi might be '' suggested Te Aroha. Half an hour passed but still nobody got up. “Should we go to my house and check if my parents are awake?” Rose asked. “Ok, let's go!” Te Aroha agreed.

The location of Rose’s house was in the middle of the little town next to Te Aroha’s house. They went up to the locked door and quietly knocked, when they got no answer. So, they plucked up the courage to clench their fists, pounding so hard they thought they might knock the door down demanding the attention of Rose’s parents! Finally one of Rose’s parents answered, it was Richard, Rose’s dad. “Hello Rose and Te Aroha, how was the star gazing?” Richard asked. “It was good,” They said together. They went inside and they saw Rose's mum on the couch. “Why are you here? I thought you were looking at stars,” Lydia said. “One of the stars went missing! The star is called Hiwaitirangi '' Te Aroha said. Lydia and Richard burst into laughter! Annoyed, the two slumped out of the house, more annoyed than a snail in cross country!

Te Aroha’s house was a two story house and it had a beautiful garden. There was a spare key under the front mat. Te Aroha unlocked the front door and walked inside. Ana was on the couch. Her dark glasses reflected a climate change speech. Tim was making pancakes for breakfast. The inside of the house was a cozy and comfy home. “ Do you want a pancake? Rose, you can have one too you know” Te Aroha told her mum that one of the stars was missing. Rose and Te Aroha went up stairs into Te Aroha’s room. Rose and Te Aroha discussed where Hiwaiitirangi would be. “Maybe it would be in freshwater?” Rose guessed. Te Aroha told her that the fresh water star was Waiti. Te Aroha told Rose that Hiwaiitirangi was the wishing star. They couldn't decide where to look. They thought finding Hiwaiiterangi was hopeless. “What should we do now?” Rose asked close to tears.Te Aroha felt bad for her friend. Te Aroha thought hard. Where would it be? When would they find it? There were so many questions that needed to be answered! “ Honey! Can you help me clean out the well?” Ana asked. “Ok, why not? You coming Rose?” Te Aroha asked. Rose agreed, but she wasn't very sure. Te Aroha could sense that Rose wasn't very sure and in some way this made Te Aroha think that this wouldn't end very well.

When they got to the well, Te Aroha asked, “What's that shining down there?” The girls peered over into the well to see the shining light. Te Aroha was tall enough to look over into the well, but Rose had to stand on a pile of rusty old buckets but still couldn't see. She leaned over too much and fell in. “Ouch! I think I’ve sprained my wrist and it’s really stinky down here!” Rose said. Te Aroha had an idea. She sent down the bucket and told Rose to get into the bucket with Hiwaiitirangi. As soon as they were both in the bucket Te Aroha pulled them up. “Should we take Hiwaiitirangi home?” Rose asked. Te Aroha agreed. They went back to Kahukura maunga and tried to think of a way to get Hiwaitirangi home. “Let’s use these balloons and tie them around the star so Hiwaiiterangi can find her way back to her Whanau.” Hoping this would work, the two used the pump in the bag, and added string. Rose threw the star into the air. Swoosh! Hiwaiitirangi floated up, up, up to her worried whanau. Now, the cluster of the Matariki stars were glistening, gleaming and dancing on the water once again.