We stood for a few seconds. Still nothing. A couple of pukeko paced along by the river on their skinny legs. Whina shrugged. ‘Too much imagining, eh?’ We moved on, the sugar-bag heavy between us.

At the water’s edge, we squatted down and began washing the poo-ey fruit, while the pukekos watched. A couple of Whina’s plums began floating away in the current, and she had to go splashing after them. We started giggling again.

I raised my head, and blinked in the sunshine. This was so great. Being with my best friend, here by our river. Everything is so … so precious, I thought. I’m going to do something really exciting in my life. I’m going to do amazing things. I raised my head to tell Whina.

The riverbank gave a little shiver. The water nearby trembled. Behind us in the orchard, the magpies fell silent. The pukeko stopped moving.

Nothing else happened. After a few seconds, the pukeko stepped on. Whina stood up, slowly. Very quietly, she murmured, ‘I’m scared, Florence. Something’s coming.’

My heart gave a jump. I straightened up, too. The bridge was still empty; the world was warm and calm. ‘What—’ I began.

The pukeko took off suddenly, wings whacking the air, red legs trailing. We both jerked; I heard myself cry out.

We stared around. Everything looked ordinary. Nobody was hiding in the trees. Nothing moved on the riverbed or the bridge. Was it swaying again, just a little? I couldn’t tell. Upstream, the pukeko landed, started pacing and pecking again. Stupid birds, giving us a fright like that.

Whina hadn’t moved. She seemed to be listening. I couldn’t hear anything. I moved a step closer to my friend. ‘Shall we start heading back?’

Whina nodded. We bent to pick up the sugar-bag, where it lay on the stones. As we reached for it, the bag quivered. A tremor seemed to ripple through the air and ground. Little eddies appeared in the river beside the bank. Sand at the edges collapsed into the water.

We gaped at each other. I took another step towards Whina. Beneath my foot something shifted sideways, and I staggered. Whina reached out a hand. Then she was reeling backwards, too, as the world tore open.

A growling sound swelled upwards, deep within the ground. The whole riverbed jumped, as if a huge fist had rammed it from beneath. A thrashing, splintering noise erupted behind us, and I spun around. Whina did the same, arms stretched out as she fought to stay upright. I lurched from side to side.

The trees of the orchard tossed and flailed. Magpies exploded from them, shrieking. Leaves and twigs flew in the air. Plums rained down on the ground. We won’t have to climb up to get those ones, a silly edge of my mind told me.

‘Earthquake!’ Whina gasped. ‘Earthquake!’