starboard the right side of a ship looking ahead
staysail (stays’l) triangular sail set inside the jib
stow your gab shut up!
stringers tree trunks used as main bearers for a bridge
tack to change the direction of a sailing ship
taihoa hold on, take it easy, in a while
tally on take or catch hold of a rope
Tamihana, Wiremu a great 19th Century Maori leader of Ngati Haua (see The Dictionary of New Zealand Biography; www.dnzb.govt.nz/dnzb/)
tampion a plug in the mouth of a cannon, to keep it clean and dry
tawa a New Zealand tree
tea-tree a New Zealand scrub with sharp-tasting berries and leaves “It might be called tea-tree, but it tastes like yuk!” —Casey.
thigh waders very long gumboots
transom part of the stern
truncheon a policeman’s short cudgel
wad a disc of cloth or paper that holds the charge and the cannonball in the barrel
waipiro stinking water, swamp water, or alcohol
weather helm a ship’s tendency to come up into the wind
wharfinger somebody in charge of a wharf
whim a bush winch or windlass like a capstan, used to haul logs and heavy loads
wideawake a broad-brimmed, low-crowned felt hat
Wind in the Willows, The “If you want to know more of messing about in boats, and driving magnificent cars, read The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame.” —Jessie.
Zeppelin a German-designed airship “I’m going to fly a Zeppelin when I grow up.” —Lizzie.
The Deaf Old Author
Before I went deaf, I used to talk about my writing to kids in schools, and they always asked, “Where do you get your ideas from?” But I was too cunning for them. I knew that if I told those kids my secret, they’d write their own books, and they wouldn’t buy mine.
If you promise not to tell, here’s my secret: I used to pinch my ideas from things kids said. Now I’m deaf and can’t hear the kids, I have to climb in the school windows after dark and read their stories on the wall. That way, I can still steal their ideas.
Here’s another Aunt Effie story. Every idea in it, I stole off some kid. But don’t tell them, or they’ll start hiding their stories, and I’ll run out of ideas for another book.
—Jack Lasenby
Also by Jack Lasenby
Charlie the Cheeky Kea 1976
Rewi the Red Deer 1976
The Lake 1987
The Mangrove Summer 1989
Uncle Trev 1991
Uncle Trev and the Treaty of Waitangi 1992
The Conjuror 1992
Harry Wakatipu 1993
Dead Man’s Head 1994
The Waterfall 1995
The Battle of Pook Island 1996
Because We Were the Travellers 1997
Uncle Trev’s Teeth 1997
Taur 1998
The Shaman and the Droll 1999
The Lies of Harry Wakatipu 2000
Kalik 2001
Aunt Effie 2002
Harry Wakatipu Comes the Mong 2003
Aunt Affie’s Ark 2003
Copyright
I am grateful for the assistance of Creative N.Z. — the Arts Council of New Zealand. Their grant in 2002 helped me complete work on this book.
This book is copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study, research, criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright Act, no part may be reproduced by any process without prior permission of Longacre Press and the author.
Jack Lasenby asserts his moral right to be identified as the author of this work.
© Jack Lasenby
ISBN 978 1 77553 124 1
First published by Longacre Press 2004
30 Moray Chambers, Dunedin, New Zealand.
Book and cover design by Christine Buess
Map on page 8 by Katy Buess
Cover illustrations by David Elliot
Printed by McPherson’s Printing Group, Australia