Rage of the Rhino by Bear Grylls

Author:Bear Grylls
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781448157648
Publisher: RHCP

Chapter 29

Making it quick was easy to say – not so easy to do.

‘We can’t just tear the meat off with our fingers,’ Samora pointed out. ‘Or teeth,’ she added.

Beck had a brief vision of them sticking their faces into the mess of the zebra’s guts like the vultures, and chewing.

‘We have an improvised knife right here.’

‘We do?’

‘Kind of.’

Beck pulled the chair leg from his belt and considered it. It made a useful club but it had no sharp edge. He could break it in two, and the wood would splinter and that might work. But the edge wouldn’t be as sharp as he wanted it, and he would have broken his club.

Then he looked thoughtfully at the zebra’s bloodstained ribs. They would be perfect.

‘We just have to think a bit smart,’ he said. ‘Can you grab me a rock? Something heavy that you can just lift. And keep an eye out for any dogs.’

While Samora did that, Beck braced himself with his feet apart. He gripped the chair leg with both hands and jammed it in between two of the zebra’s ribs, right at the base where they joined the animal’s spine. Then he heaved.

He felt something shift, and then, with a loud crack, one of the ribs broke away. It was still joined to the zebra’s breastbone at the other end, but now Beck could hold it in both hands and twist it to work it loose.

After a few attempts the entire rib came away in his hands. It was slender and curved, the length of his arm.

‘Will this do?’ Samora asked. She had found a lump of stone the size of a small football. Bits of earth still clung to it from where she had levered it out of the ground.

‘Perfect. Hang on . . .’

‘Oh, thanks!’ she replied, struggling under the weight.

Beck jammed one end of the curved rib into the ground, then the other, so that it formed a small arch.

‘I’ll just take that . . .’

With a bit of fumbling he managed to take the rock from her. He stood over the rib, aimed, and let go.

The rock hit the rib and bounced off. The rib fell over, still intact. They both looked at it for a moment.

‘OK, that was a trial run . . .’

‘Bones are pretty strong, Beck,’ Samora pointed out. ‘Otherwise they’d break every time the zebra fell over.’

‘So let’s apply a bit more force. Hold it steady?’

This time Samora took the rib and held it against the ground, both hands wrapped around one end. Beck wasn’t going to rely on gravity again. He lifted the rock and brought it down with all his strength.

The rib shattered into three pieces.

‘Yes!’

Beck picked up the middle bit. It was about ten centimetres long and both ends were sharp and jagged. ‘That’s better!’

He fingered one of the ends. The bone made a sharp point.

‘Pointy,’ said Samora.

‘Pointy, but not cutty. It needs sharpening.’

At least he now had something to work with. He placed the tip of the piece of rib against the rock that lay on the ground, and dragged the bone back towards him.

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