A Bear Grylls Adventure 12
Page 4
“Ah, right. Time out while I get you a new one.”
The umpire went over to the pile of unused tubes by the side.
“And, Mia?” Mia’s friend Suki gave her arm a gentle poke. “It might help if you follow the rules?”
Suki was being friendly, and smiling, so it didn’t sound like she was being told off. But Mia still remembered that her team, the Yellows, had just lost a point because of her ignoring the right way to play, and doing her own thing.
She thought of Bear, and Ursula. They had only kept afloat, and reached the island, by working together and doing it right.
So, Mia just said, “No problem.”
The game started again, with much splashing as the ball was chucked around the pool. A few minutes later, Mia and her new tube were right at the end of the pool. The ball smacked into her hands. The goal was next to her, and it was undefended. But from this angle, she couldn’t actually get the ball into it.
It was so tempting! All Mia had to do was give the edge of the pool a hefty kick with both feet. She would go shooting backwards, and then she would be able to get at the goal.
But that would mean the ball was moving, in her possession. It would be the same as carrying.
All this went through Mia’s head in about half a second. The game was still going on, and the only Yellow in range was Suki. So Mia chucked the ball over to her first, and then she gave the end a kick. Her tube zipped away from the edge. Now Mia was in range of the goal, but with no ball.
Meanwhile Suki had caught the ball, but she didn’t have anyone clear to pass it to. Except Mia, who now had a clear shot at an empty goal.
“Take it!” Suki shouted, at the same time that she passed the ball back. Mia grabbed it and threw it into the goal, all in one movement. The umpire blew her whistle and the Yellows had equalised!
It felt good to score the goal, but it felt even better when Mia thought how she had done it. By working with the rest of her team.
The next goal came very quickly, and it was the Yellows again. This time Mia was at the other end of the pool and she didn’t have much to do with it. She was happy that her other team mates got their own chance. Then the last whistle went, and the Yellows had won.
After the game, Mia got changed and trotted down the track to the tents. There was just time to hang her gear and towel up to dry, then get to the next activity. She found herself alongside Sophie, who was in the next tent.
“Oh, yeah, I thought about doing Tube Polo,” Sophie said when she learnt what Mia had been doing. “I’m okay with swimming, but not floating. I feel seasick straight away.”
Mia smiled. “I know a great way to fight sea sickness,” she said. She held up her wrist to demonstrate. “You press on your wrist, and …”
Her voice trailed off in amazement.
There was something on her wrist. A strip of cloth.
It was the motion sickness bracelet that Bear had made for her. She could feel the wad inside it.
“Yes?” Sophie asked politely. Mia remembered what she had been saying.
“Oh. Um. Yes. You press on your wrist, and that stimulates the nerves and stops your brain getting confused, so you don’t feel sick.”
“Okay. Maybe I’ll give it a try.” Sophie looked doubtful, but she went off to her tent, and left Mia staring at her wrist again. She was still wearing that bracelet! How was that possible?
There was only one way it could be possible.
The whole sailing challenge with Bear really had happened.
Mia’s mind was still whirling as she slowly made her way back to the next activity, with her hands in her pockets. She felt herself touch the compass – the one Joe had given her. When she checked it, it just had the normal four directions. She looked but couldn’t see a fifth point anywhere.
How could her memories of her adventure with Bear be so real?
Two impossible things had both happened in a very short time.
Hmm, Mia wondered. Were the two things connected? Had the compass somehow taken her to Bear?
She walked on more thoughtfully. Then she became aware of raised voices. Two boys were arguing.
“Oh, honestly, you’re always doing that!”
Mia couldn’t see what the problem was, but one of them stormed away. The other boy was left alone, looking unhappy. Whatever their problem was, it sounded like something the boy was doing was making him and his friends unhappy.
Like Mia used to do.
Mia looked at the bracelet again. And then at the compass.
Could it do its thing again, for someone who really needed it?
There was only one way to find out.
The boy was moping off. Mia hurried over to catch him up.
“Hi!” She realised she didn’t know his name. “Um – how’s it going?”
“It’s rubbish,” the boy grumbled. “Camp’s rubbish. I’m rubbish. Everything’s rubbish.”
“Well, you know …” Mia couldn’t really think of anything helpful to say. “Here. Maybe you’d like this?”
She held the compass out. The boy gazed suspiciously at it.
“Why?” he asked.
“Just try it,” Mia said confidently. “It’s for you. 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.
Find out more at www.beargrylls.com
First published in Great Britain in 2019 by
80-81 Wimpole Street, London, W1G 9RE
Text and illustrations copyright © Bear Grylls Ventures, 2019
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: 978-1-786-96082-5
Bear Grylls is an imprint of Bonnier Books UK
www.bonnierbooks.co.uk