by Bear Grylls
But pulling a body through turbulent water wasn’t easy!
With just one free hand to swim to safety, Mak headed towards the bank – or at least where he thought the bank was. Being so low in the river, all he could see were rolling white-capped waves around him. He pushed harder, his legs now numb from both the cold water and extreme effort.
Then Mak struck something he thought was a rock.
A familiar bellow assured him that it was Hathi. Mak reached out blindly, searching for the elephant’s head. Water stung his eyes, but he managed to cling on to Hathi’s neck.
With a final grunt of effort, he swung Diya around. She clambered up on to Hathi’s back. The elephant grumbled, but the additional weight didn’t seem to bother him. Diya spread herself flat, gasping for breath.
Mak slipped further into the river – only just grabbing Diya’s boot before he could be swept away. Too exhausted to fight the current any longer, Mak floated and allowed the elephant to pull them along.
It seemed like an eternity before Mak felt the firm ground suddenly slap his backside as Hathi lumbered ashore. Mak rolled to his feet and crawled on to the rocks, gasping for breath. His legs felt like jelly, but his first concern was for his friends.
Hathi didn’t look any worse for wear as he shook himself, sending a fine spray of water in the air. Diya had already slid from his back and was bent over, hands on knees, as she caught her breath.
‘Are you OK?’ Mak asked with concern.
They both looked back at the river. It was an undulating mass of frothing waves. They had crossed it while being swept along at a fast pace. The far bank was now a sheer wall of limestone, as tall as a tower block.
Further downstream, the river disappeared in a tight gorge. If Hathi hadn’t made it to shore when he had, they wouldn’t have survived.
Mak decided not to share that with Diya; he didn’t see the point in frightening her. He expected her to be upset or afraid. Instead she looked at him with a broad smile and laughed out loud.
‘That was amazing!’
Mak looked at her in confusion.
‘It was exactly how I imagined whitewater rafting was going to be!’
Mak snorted with laughter, and with it coughed up a little of the river he’d accidentally swallowed. ‘I think there are safer ways of doing it than riding on the back of an elephant!’
He looked upstream in the direction they’d travelled. Nothing looked familiar.
‘We could have been carried half a kilometre. Maybe more,’ he said.
Turning back to the jungle, he could just see distant slopes of limestone hills.
‘We can use the sat phone to check our position,’ Diya said, indicating Mak’s belt.
He grabbed the pouch on his belt and opened it, relieved to see the phone was still safe in the sealed rice bag. He dried his hands by wiping them on tufts of grass before pulling the phone out and turning it on.
‘It still works!’ he said with relief as the display lit up.
And then he saw the battery icon. Last time they’d called his sister, it had been half charged, and now there was only a tiny fraction remaining.
‘I think the water may have damaged the battery. We might only have enough power left for one more call.’
They exchanged a worried look. They knew now wasn’t the time to waste their last chance.
Mak turned the phone off.
‘The more distance we put between Buldeo and Hathi, the better. We have no idea how long it will take them to find a way across.’
They stared at the jungle ahead. Maybe it was because of their recent near-death experience, but the trees seemed darker, intimidating, as if they held secrets Mak and Diya should never try to discover.
They had no choice but to go through them.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
The ominous jungle was getting more challenging with every step. There were no animal trails to follow now, meaning Mak and Diya were forced to carve their own way through the vegetation, which was more difficult without their axe. The ground began to rise, becoming increasingly rocky, with sharp limestone protrusions poking out from the earth.
Diya stood on the rocks, convinced that having something firm underfoot would make her progress easier. But they were slick with moisture and moss, and her boots were unable to grip.
She slipped twice, ripping her trouser leg and grazing her knee so badly it brought tears to her eyes. Mak rolled up the material so he could inspect the injury. It wasn’t deep, but Mak could tell it hurt.
She began to lower her trouser leg. ‘I’ll be OK.’
Mak stopped her. ‘I know, but we still need to clean it.’ He could see Diya was about to argue, so he quickly continued. ‘If it gets infected, it could lead to a whole host of serious problems.’ He paused. ‘Although, typical. I brought a first-aid kit all the way from London, and when we actually need it we’ve lost it.’
Diya looked around at the plants. ‘I know what we can use. Pick some leaves off that plant there.’
Mak moved to the small weed to which she was pointing. ‘This? Are you sure?’
Diya nodded. ‘It’s plantago. Quite common.’
Mak passed her several leaves, which she chewed. She then spat out the mulch and kneaded it between her fingers, pausing only when she saw Mak’s look of utter disgust.
‘It’s an antiseptic,’ she said. She winced as she rubbed the oozy paste over the injury.
‘It looks like it will kill anything,’ Mak said, lips twisted in distaste.
He placed a leaf over the chewed gunk on her leg and secured it with a thin strand of vine. ‘As good as new,’ he said with a grin.
They studied the path ahead. The jungle canopy overhead was so thick that at times the ground seemed to be in perpetual night. Swarms of mosquitoes danced in the occasional shaft of sunlight that made it through. The rocks underfoot were so slick and jagged that nothing larger than moss could grow on them.
‘There’s no way Hathi can walk over that,’ Diya said warily. ‘Maybe we should turn round?’
‘And head back to what?’ Mak shook his head. ‘This is the only way forward. We’re trapped by the river behind and every moment we waste—’
‘Buldeo catches up,’ Diya finished.
It was enough of a threat to force them onwards in silence. This time they allowed Hathi to lead. The elephant found the easiest path between the rocks as each step drew them gradually higher.
Through the trees they occasionally caught glimpses of a distant valley. Mak was starting to feel confident that they’d reached the start of Spiny Ridge.
‘Are you sure you’re remembering the map correctly?’ Diya asked as they trudged behind Hathi.
Mak shrugged. ‘I think so.’ He paused, thinking. ‘But then I get a bit nervous about how right I am. There weren’t that many features on it, but the ones that were marked stood out. I’m hoping that once we reach the end of that ridge, it’s downhill straight to the village.’ He paused once more. ‘The thing we don’t know is whether or not we’ll reach the herd before the farmers get to them.’
‘We’re running out of time. And if we get lost between here and there . . .’ Diya didn’t want to finish that thought. If they got lost, took the wrong direction or became stuck, then there would be no way they could intercept the herd before they reached the village full of hostile farmers.
Mak knew that all too well, which was why he was insisting they press on with minimal breaks now. That in turn meant they hadn’t eaten or drunk enough and were beginning to feel weak.
A short break in the trees offered them a sky that was a perfect orange as the sun set. The few clouds rippled with a red glow as if burning from the inside. It looked spectacular. Even Hathi gave a bellow of excitement.
They soaked up the sight for a moment, knowing that they would have to camp soon.
Mak then looked around and frowned when he spotted something in a tree.
‘Hey. Look at that,’ he said, ta
king a step closer. ‘What is it?’
It looked like a large fruit hanging from the high branches – brown in colour, with a leathery skin that vaguely resembled a coconut. His stomach rumbled in anticipation. He stepped closer and realized the trees were full of them. He picked up a stone, intending to knock one down.
‘Mak—!’
Diya’s warning came too late. The stone was already out of his hand. It thumped hard into the branch just above his target.
The fruit didn’t fall. Instead, it opened its wings and gave a high-pitched screech. It was a bat. The biggest bat Mak had ever seen.
Unfolded, its wingspan was almost as wide as the children were tall. Beneath was a skinny golden-furred body.
‘Flying foxes!’ Diya exclaimed as she tackled Makto the ground – and not a moment too soon.
The first bat launched itself from the tree and swooped low over their heads. Its sudden action startled the whole colony, which took to the air in a mass of screeching. Within seconds, the sky was black as hundreds of giant bats soared overhead, their leathery wings passing inches from the children lying on the ground with their arms covering their heads.
Hathi bleated in terror as the bats swarmed around him, his trunk waving frantically to swat them aside. The creatures were quick, but had no intention of attacking. They were fruit bats, disturbed by Mak, but searching for nothing more than a mango. Moments later, the air fell silent as the bats dispersed. Diya and Mak watched them soar like a smoke cloud, which then slowly vanished as the animals spread out to begin their nightly hunting.
Diya punched Mak in the shoulder. ‘Maybe be a little more careful next time, eh, Mak?’
‘Yes. Sorry,’ he said sheepishly. ‘I suppose I’d better prepare camp.’
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
With the dense canopy smothering the light, night came quickly – and, with it, plunging temperatures. Mak and Diya sat together shivering against the chill and eating the few mushrooms they’d foraged along the way. There was nothing else to eat except a few insects, which Diya declined, but which Mak wolfed down.
‘You really are becoming more jungle with every moment out here, Mak,’ Diya said, wrapping her arms round her knees for warmth. ‘Tell me those taste disgusting!’
‘They taste disgusting!’
They both laughed.
Diya continued. ‘We must be close to the herd by now.’
‘Hopefully we’ll find them by the end of tomorrow,’ Mak said as he toyed with the sat phone. ‘We can call my sister to check, if you like? But it will be the only call we’ll be able to make. What if she doesn’t answer? Should we maybe save it for an emergency?’
‘Well, in most people’s books, this is an emergency,’ she replied. Then Diya gestured to the branches above them. ‘Although we won’t have a good signal under this. I think we’d better save the battery.’
Mak nodded and put the phone back in the rice bag. He was wondering if their parents had found out they were missing yet. Anula was a good liar, and he had no doubt she would say anything to get out of trouble, but . . .
‘I don’t know,’ Diya said, as if reading his mind. ‘We’ve been gone for two days already – my father will be worried.’
That had been weighing on Mak’s mind too. ‘I think I’m going to be grounded until I’m a pensioner,’ he said shivering. ‘I wish we had a fire,’ he added, desperate to change the subject.
‘I can make one,’ said Diya.
Mak shook his head. ‘We can’t risk drawing attention to ourselves.’
Diya smiled and stood up, gathering dry twigs from the floor. ‘Oh, Little Wolf. You still have so much to learn out here. The jungle has many more secrets to give. Let me show you my magic trick: a covert fire.’ She winked, giggling at the puzzled look on Mak’s face. ‘I will need you to dig a hole.’
She refused to answer any further questions, so Mak was left digging a half-metre-square hole in the ground as Diya gathered dry moss and kindling. Once she’d decided the hole was deep enough, Diya instructed him to dig a second, shallower hole about two paces away from the first. Cracking a sturdy branch from a tree, she used it to drive a tunnel in the ground between the two holes.
She leaned all her weight on the stick, pushing it through the bottom of the smaller hole at an angle, until the tip finally poked out into the bigger one.
‘An underground chimney?’ Mak asked puzzled.
‘Kind of. But in reverse. When the kindling is lit at the bottom of this hole, oxygen will be sucked through here –’ she indicated the tunnel – ‘keeping it going longer.’
Mak watched in fascination.
‘And because the fire is at the bottom of the hole, the flames are shielded from view. All you get is a bit of smoke out of the top.’
Using one of the waterproof matches from Mak’s bag, she lit the fire. Sure enough, only a fine cloud of smoke rose from the pit. From where Mak was sitting, he couldn’t even see the flames.
‘That is awesome,’ Mak said, impressed. ‘Hathi, isn’t that amazing?’
The elephant stood next to a tree, trying to sleep. He wagged his ears, totally unimpressed.
‘That’s not the impressive part,’ Diya said proudly. ‘Check this out.’
She stood up, reached past Mak for a small thorny shrub, and used Mak’s penknife to cut the bark. A thick resin oozed out, which she caught in her hand.
‘It’s a guggul plant,’ she explained. ‘They use it in my village, if they can find it. It’s getting quite rare, unless you are in deep jungle. The resin has amazing medicinal properties, and it also makes a very refreshing tea.’
The rest of the evening passed soaking up the warmth from the fire and enjoying the resin tea, which they heated in Mak’s metal mug from his water bottle.
They were both left with a warm, fuzzy feeling in their stomachs.
Mak then had an idea and poured the open pack of rice into the boiling water. The food filled them up and sent a warm glow coursing through them.
They soon fell into a deep and restful sleep.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
They woke before the sun had risen. The sky cast a shadowless golden light over the landscape, giving a sense of peace. It was moments like this that reminded Mak just how beautiful the jungle could be.
They were both still full from the rice the night before and felt energized.
‘This is it,’ said Mak. ‘This is the day we get you home.’ He rubbed Hathi’s trunk. He turned to Diya. ‘Do you think we should try to call my sister now?’
Diya looked thoughtful. ‘It’s your decision, Little Wolf. But we might need her to guide us to the herd when we are closer. Don’t forget that elephants are surprisingly stealthy. They could walk past us without us ever knowing.’
‘She will go berserk that we haven’t been in touch. That’s going to waste a lot of battery life.’ In his mind’s eye, Mak could see his parents blowing their fuses as they searched for him. His idea to stay in touch every day had been a sensible one, but the jungle hadn’t taken much notice of any of his best-laid plans.
Agreeing to leave the dreaded phone call until the very last moment, they continued along, reaching the edge of a clifftop.
The views were breathtaking. The mighty trees far below looked like nothing more than a canvas of broccoli, punctuated by columns of greyish limestone that rose out of the canopy like sentinels.
Mak pointed to a far ridge. ‘I’m pretty sure that’s Spiny Ridge . . .’
Diya raised an eyebrow. ‘Pretty sure?’
Mak ignored her. ‘And there’s the end of it, the V-shaped valley.’
Diya frowned. ‘Are you sure that’s the right direction?’
Mak pointed to the sun, then to the ridge. ‘Look, according the sun’s shadow, that is west-north-west. And that means over there should be the river.’ He gently spun Diya round and was relieved to see a line meandering in the distant landscape. They were now high up enough to see not the river itself but j
ust the dark gaps between the trees on either bank.
Diya nodded, impressed. ‘Not bad.’
‘They don’t call me Big Wolf for nothing,’ Mak joked.
‘Correction. That’s why we call you Little Wolf.’ She smirked and continued walking on with Hathi.
The trees grew right up close to the edge of the cliffs. Some sprouted almost horizontally from the forest and hung precariously over the drop. That forced them to walk back into the denser jungle. The going was not as difficult as it had been, however, and after a couple of hours the path started to slope gently downwards.
The trees began to thin, and by the time they stopped for lunch, feasting on papaya and jackfruit, they’d reached a plateau offering a magnificent view ahead. They were still quite high up. Spiny Ridge was closer now, and the trail ahead wound through the rocks beyond. It was obviously man-made, a straight path forged through the dense undergrowth growing back over it.
Mak couldn’t hide the disappointment in his voice. ‘It looks like somebody has been here before us.’ He’d imagined them as pioneers, treading the unknown, but here was a clear sign they were not the first.
‘The villagers would probably venture out this far,’ Diya said quietly. ‘Even miners have travelled through this region in the past. They come out here searching for rare gems or minerals like coltan.’
‘Coltan?’
Diya nodded. ‘It’s found mainly beneath jungles around the world, and it’s worth more than gold. Tiny amounts are used in electronics. Your computers, televisions, games consoles – even the drone flying above our elephants – all use coltan in their components. The modern world may be a clever place, but unfortunately we are digging up the jungles like this to make it work.’
Mak felt sad at the thought that there was so much richness in the jungle that people were greedy for. It made him even more determined to stay and protect the jungle. It was worth fighting for.