Return to the Jungle by Bear Grylls

Author:Bear Grylls
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Pan Macmillan UK

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

By dawn, the mist had left every leaf in the forest dripping with dew, which Mak and Diya licked eagerly.

Mak smiled to himself – they were beginning to live like the animals of the jungle: surviving moment to moment, and using what nature provided.

Breakfast was formed of wild fungi and the few berries they found that Hathi hadn’t yet eaten. Diya was particularly skilled at identifying the poisonous ones – plucking a berry or a mushroom out of Mak’s fingers just as he was about to eat it.

The sun warmed the forest, and Mak, with a spring in his step, led the party towards the sound of roaring water. After a few hundred metres, their trail led straight to the top of a gorge where white water frothed fifteen metres below.

‘Lucky we didn’t stumble this way in the dark,’ Mak said, looking down.

The pathway wound along the gorge and rapidly descended to the waterline. They took care as Hathi was clearly agitated by the height, and the last thing they needed was for the elephant to panic.

They were soon on a broad rocky shore that stretched away from the gorge. Here the water was no longer frothing and white, but it flowed quickly and disappeared round a bend where the dense jungle hung over the banks of the river.

Hathi trumpeted with delight and waded knee-deep into the water, splashing himself, then squirting water at the children.

‘Cut it out!’ said Mak, laughing hard.

Diya wasn’t so amused. She was looking downstream. ‘That terrain is going to slow us down,’ she said.

Mak pointed directly across the river where the flat shore continued.

‘We need to cross this river at some point, Diya.’ He pointed. ‘The village lies that way. I’m sure of it.’

‘But how are we going to cross this? It’s way too wide to make any form of bridge.’ Diya kicked a piece of driftwood at her feet. ‘Perhaps we could build a raft?’

Mak gave her a worried look. ‘Last time I built a raft, I ended up nearly drowning. Trust me, it’s not as easy as it looks. And building one to take the weight of an elephant . . .’ He trailed off as he glanced upstream.

Diya followed his gaze and gripped his shoulder in alarm.

‘Mak!’

In the distance, they could see three figures at the very top of the gorge. They were too far away for them to make out any details, but in Mak’s mind there was no doubt that it was Buldeo, Lalu and Girish.

The pair watched as the three figures hurried across the horizon, and were then lost from view behind the rocks.

‘Do you think they saw us?’ Diya asked in a low voice.

‘Two kids and an elephant on a beach?’ said Mak drily. ‘I think it’s likely. Even if they didn’t, they’ll be down here in less than an hour. My booby trap obviously didn’t slow them down enough.’

They looked back at the river. It was an enormous obstacle. Diya started to walk downstream. ‘We don’t have time to waste.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.