by Bear Grylls
“Sure.”
Jack quickly ran off back to Camp.
While Chloe watched over the chick and waited, she thought about Jack. She felt a bit sorry for him – having friends push him like that, yet also missing out on all the fun he could have if he could swim.
Chloe wondered what Bear would say to Jack, if he was here.
Jack came back after a couple of minutes with the woman who ran the Camp’s Wildlife Welfare course. She was carrying a folding ladder and other bits of kit.
Chloe showed her the chick on the ground.
“Now, let’s see this nest.”
The woman unfolded the ladder and attached it to the branch where the nest was. Then she carefully climbed the ladder, whilst Chloe gently picked the chick up. Chloe passed it up to the lady, who tipped it back into the nest. Then she smiled down at Chloe.
“Well done! There’s three of them up here. The mother might come back, so we’ll leave them where it’s safe and not interfere too much. Sometimes humans can make things worse not better. But we’ll keep an eye on them in case she doesn’t return.”
The woman climbed back down again and folded up the ladder. She gave Chloe a smile.
“You’re not in my Wildlife Welfare group, are you? Well, I think you’ve earned a badge anyway. I’ll see you get one.”
Chloe blinked. She really hadn’t expected to get a badge. She had just been doing what was right. Making a difference in the small things.
The woman headed off back to Camp. Chloe and Jack walked after her.
“Well done,” Jack said with a smile.
“Thanks. I wasn’t expecting a badge! What’s really weird is, this morning I wouldn’t have cared.”
Jack looked interested at her honesty.
“So what changed?”
Chloe laughed nervously.
“I met …” She stopped, and bit her tongue. She had been going to tell Jack about Bear, but how could she? He’d think she was mad.
But then suddenly Chloe was absolutely certain Bear could help Jack with his fear of water. After all, he had helped her, and she hadn’t even realised she had a problem until then.
She still had the compass in her pocket. She took it out and looked thoughtfully at it. She remembered she had seen five directions on it, but now it just had four. But she was sure it had something to do with meeting Bear.
“Oh, cool,” Jack said. “A compass. Can I see?”
“Sure.”
She passed the compass over to Jack.
“Actually, you can keep it,” she said. “Just consider it a gift.”
The End
Bear Grylls got the taste for adventure at a young age from his father, a former Royal Marine. After school, Bear joined the Reserve SAS, then went on to become one of the youngest ever people to climb Mount Everest, just two years after breaking his back in three places during a parachute jump.
Amongst other adventures he has led expeditions to the Arctic and the Antarctic, crossed oceans and set world records in skydiving and paragliding.
Bear is also a bestselling author and the host of television programmes such as Survival School and The Island.
He has shared his survival skills with people all over the world, and has taken many famous movie stars and sports stars on adventures – and even President Barack Obama!
Bear Grylls is Chief Scout to the UK Scouting Association, encouraging young people to have great adventures, follow their dreams and to look after their friends. Bear is also honorary Colonel to the Royal Marine Commandos.
When Bear’s not travelling the world, he lives with his wife and three sons on a barge in London, or on an island off the coast of Wales.
When Bear’s not travelling the world, he lives with his wife and three sons on a barge in London, or on an island off the coast of Wales.
Find out more at www.beargrylls.com
First published in Great Britain in 2017 by
80-81 Wimpole Street, London, W1G 9RE
Text and illustrations copyright © Bear Grylls Ventures, 2017
Illustrations by Emma McCann
All rights reserved.
No part of this publication should be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise, without the written permission of the publisher.
The right of Bear Grylls to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988
This is a work of fiction. Names, places, events and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events, is purely coincidental.
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN: 978-1-7869-6021-4
Bear Grylls is an imprint of Bonnier Zaffre,
a Bonnier Publishing Company
www.bonnierpublishing.com