Way of the Wolf by Bear Grylls Read Free Book Online Page A

prepared to let up . . . a little. It wasn’t Tikaani’s uncle who was slowly dying in a shelter by a rock, waiting for rescue. But Tikaani, once he had found his stride, had kept up all the way.
    And then this. Beck stared in frustration at the river, and bit his lip, and then kicked a nearby stone.
    ‘Hey.’ Tikaani looked at him sideways. ‘You knew the river was here, right?’
    ‘Yeah, I knew,’ Beck said dully. ‘The map and the GPS both have it.’
    ‘And . . . ?’
    ‘They don’t show how big it is. I was really hoping for something smaller . . . and if it wasn’t spring, it would be.’
    The river was swollen with meltwater from the mountains. During the winter it would be frozen. During the summer it would be an idly trickling stream. Right here, right now, it was the biggest it got all year.
    And it was going to be much harder to cross than he had expected. It wasn’t exactly a raging torrent. It wasn’t foaming white water. But there was still so much of it. Calm, implacable and ready to sweep unwary travellers away at a moment’s notice.
    ‘So . . .’ Tikaani raised an eyebrow at the river. ‘We go along it?’
    ‘I wish.’ Beck scowled at the water. ‘Yes, if we were lost, then following the river would be exactly right. Rivers go somewhere. You find towns and people if you follow them.’
    ‘But,’ Tikaani pointed out, ‘we’re not lost.’
    ‘Nope.’ Beck agreed. ‘We know exactly where we are.’ He took out the GPS and reached into his pants.
    Tikaani looked on, frowning in puzzlement. ‘And rummaging in our underpants will help us
how
exactly?’ he demanded.
    Beck grinned and showed his friend the batteries he’d retrieved. ‘These need to be kept warm,’ he explained. ‘The colder they are, the quicker they lose their juice, you see.’ He slotted the batteries into place, switched on the GPS and examined the screen. ‘This river cuts along the foot of the mountains for miles before it heads for the sea,’ he remarked. ‘If we followed it until we got somewhere, it would take us so long that we might as well just go back to Uncle Al and wait.’
    ‘So we . . . what? Wade?’ asked Tikaani.
    ‘’S right,’ Beck confirmed as he disassembled the GPS again. He walked right down to the water’s edge and paced slowly along it, hands on hips. His scowl swept up and down the river. He wanted exactly the right spot. ‘We wade.’
    ‘Hey!’ Tikaani yelped. ‘I was joking!’
    ‘Unfortunately, I wasn’t . . .’
    With a gentler river, Beck thought, he might have tried to build a raft. But even if he did build one now, it would just be swept away in the current. Wading was the only answer. Beck could already see it would be more than a paddle. Rolling their trousers up to their knees and just walking across didn’t quite cover it.
    ‘So . . .’ Tikaani watched him pace along the bank. ‘Exactly what are you doing now?’
    ‘Looking for somewhere to cross.’
    It was going to be touch and go – something Beck
didn’t
say out loud. Cold water took your strength – and there was the danger of underwater obstacles . . . They should give themselves the advantage of finding the best place to cross.
    But it didn’t take long for Beck to conclude that every point on the bank had pluses and minuses that cancelled each other out. He could choose a nice narrow bit, but there the current was strong and the water came thundering through. Then again, he could choose a wider bit where the current was gentler, but it would take longer to cross. He didn’t want to go too far up- or downstream because that would just take them off course.
    Finally Beck sat down on a rock and started to unlace his boots. ‘We’ll do it from here,’ he announced. ‘I’ll go first. Make sure the way’s safe.’
    ‘’Kay,’ Tikaani grumbled. ‘And if you get swept away I’ll dive in and make sure you don’t end up as seal food floating out to sea.’
    Beck shrugged, then grinned. ‘Or