A Bear Grylls Adventure 1 Read online

  Contents

  Title Page

  The Bear Grylls Adventures series

  Dedication

  Chapter 1: A Killer Rucksack, Stupid Tent

  Chapter 2: Dens and Ducking Out

  Chapter 3: Fifth Direction

  Chapter 4: Many Ways to Die

  Chapter 5: Walking on Water

  Chapter 6: Deadly Underwear

  Chapter 7: Digging in

  Chapter 8: Snug

  Chapter 9: Two Hands, Two Feet

  Chapter 10: Teamwork!

  About the Author

  Copyright

  The BEAR GRYLLS ADVENTURES series

  The Blizzard Challenge

  The Desert Challenge

  To the young adventurer reading this book for the first time. May your eyes always be wide open to adventure, and your heart full of courage and determination to see your dreams through.

  1

  KILLER RUCKSACK, STUPID TENT

  Olly decided he wasn’t going to enjoy Camp when his rucksack tried to kill him.

  He had got a lift with his friend Jack, who’d been before. Jack’s dad pulled into the car park and Jack leapt out to go and report to one of the leaders. Olly got out more slowly while Jack’s dad popped the boot open. Olly grabbed his rucksack, and pulled.

  It didn’t budge but Olly almost fell over.

  “It’s heavy,” he protested.

  “Well, there is a lot in it,” Jack’s dad replied. He lifted it out. “I couldn’t believe everything they told Jack to bring. Sleeping bag, climbing boots, running shoes, towels, umpteen changes of clothes … didn’t you notice when you packed?”

  “My dad did it,” Olly said.

  “Oh, right.” Jack’s dad helped Olly get the rucksack onto his back. Olly almost fell over again. “It’s a shame both your parents had to work this weekend. They do work hard, don’t they?”

  “I suppose,” Olly muttered. They had said the Camp was a treat to make up for it. He would have rather just stayed at home alone, but apparently he wasn’t old enough yet. Home had everything he needed. Food, television and no one else around.

  Jack came running back.

  “We have to check in together. Then we’ll find out who we’re in a tent with.” His big smile said he was so looking forward to this.

  “Well, I’ll see you in a couple of days, then.” Jack got a hug from his dad. Olly got a friendly pat on the shoulder. “Enjoy yourselves!”

  Olly watched the car drive off. Then he turned and glumly followed Jack.

  The leader was a smiling woman with a clipboard. She took their names, and then called another boy over.

  “This is Omar,” she said. “We’re putting everyone into threes, and you’re sharing a tent together.”

  “Hi, Omar,” Jack said happily. “Pleased to meet you. I’m Jack and this is my friend Olly.”

  “Sure,” Omar said. He smiled back, but he was already turning away like he was impatient to get on. “I found where we get the tents from,” he called over his shoulder. “Let’s go!”

  “Wow, he’s keen, isn’t he?” Jack commented as they set off after him.

  So, that’s two of them, Olly thought to himself.

  They were given their tent and equipment in a huge bag that was so heavy all three had to carry it between them to a spot on the campsite.

  Then they had to put it up.

  It wasn’t a modern pop-up tent, where you threw it onto the ground and it shot up like magic. Nothing so easy.

  “Okay,” Omar said. “I’ve done this before. We have to fit these together so they stand up, then we hang the canvas on the frame. So we just have to find the bits that go together.”

  They started to rummage through the pile of poles. Olly soon found a couple that seemed to fit, and it looked like Omar had a couple that would screw into the ones he had. Olly put his poles down so that Omar could use them when he was ready, and looked through the pile to see which other ones went together.

  “Come on!” Omar said impatiently after a moment.

  Olly looked up. “What?”

  “Pass them over!” Omar pointed at the poles Olly had put down. “I’ve got a whole lot that fit here – I just need those ones.”

  “I was about to pass them to you,” Olly said. Omar got up to fetch them, rolling his eyes and muttering under his breath.

  After that they had to put the frame over the groundsheet, then drag the canvas over the whole thing and tie it on. Finally, they had to hammer pegs into the ground and attach guy ropes to them, to make sure the tent didn’t blow away in the wind.

  “Okay,” Omar said, “I know how to do the ropes.”

  Jack and Olly looked at each other.

  “You hammer in the pegs, then attach the ropes and tighten them, don’t you?” Jack asked.

  Omar shook his head.

  “Nope. It’s better than that. You make the ropes as tight as possible while you hammer the peg in. That way the peg makes them even tighter. So all three of us will have to do each rope – two of us pull and one of us hammers.”

  So Olly put the first peg through a loop at the end of the first guy rope, while Jack and Omar pulled. Olly gave the peg a thwack with a rubber mallet.

  The mallet bounced back and almost hit him in the eye. The peg didn’t budge.

  “Whoa!” he shouted.

  “You okay?” Jack asked.

  Olly tried again, but still the peg wouldn’t go in.

  “The ground’s too hard!” he moaned.

  “I’ll do it.” Omar grabbed the mallet from Olly before he could say anything. Olly took Omar’s place and pulled on the rope with Jack. Omar shifted the peg just a little to the left and hammered it in no problem. Olly turned an embarrassed red.

  “You were over a stone,” Omar said scornfully. “Let’s get the others done. Only five more to go …”

  Omar kept the mallet to do the rest.

  When all the tents were up, one of the leaders walked into the middle of the campsite and blew on a whistle.

  “Okay, everyone, now we’re all here, let’s head to the meeting place.”

  “Time to move!” Omar exclaimed. He hurried straight off, gesturing at the other two to follow. Jack started to move, then realised Olly was lagging behind.

  “Coming?” he asked. He did a little dance to show he really wanted to go.

  “Yeah,” Olly muttered. “Coming.”

  He followed them with his hands in his pockets, dragging his feet slowly.

  2

  DENS AND DUCKING OUT

  In a sandy clearing in the middle of the woods a man was shouting instructions.

  “We’re going to finish today with a barbecue, but first, this afternoon’s challenge is to build a den with your tent-mates. You have three hours. Use whatever you find in the woods, bring it back here and we’ll build our dens together.” He paused. “First team to complete their den gets a prize. And you’ll also get points for style, original thinking, how weatherproof it is … you get the idea!”

  Olly certainly got the idea, even though he couldn’t believe his ears. He nudged Jack.

  “We’re going to spend the afternoon making dens?” he asked. Just in case he had misheard.

  “Yup,” Jack replied.

  “Why are we making dens when we’ve got tents?”

  “Because it’s fun,” Jack said.

  Olly rolled his eyes. This whole Camp thing was just one pointless activity after another.

  Jack, Olly and Omar set off into the woods and before long they came to a clearing where there were piles of logs, branches and sticks just perfect for den-making. A lot of the other kids had had the same idea. There was plenty of laughing and friendly
bickering as they all tried to be the first ones to get the really good pieces of wood.

  Olly was half-heartedly tugging at a branch when an ear-splitting shriek made him jump so fast he thought he pulled a muscle. A girl the other side of the log pile was staring at something in front of her.

  “Could you scream a bit louder?” he asked sarcastically.

  She scowled and pointed.

  “There’s a massive spider!”

  Olly peered over. The spider was about an inch across, which he didn’t think was massive at all.

  “I just have a problem with creepy-crawlies,” she added apologetically.

  She looked miserable and Olly was sorry for being sarcastic. But he didn’t get a chance to say anything else because just then –

  “Olly! Stop gassing and get over here!” Omar shouted impatiently.

  It took Olly less than twenty seconds to get to where Jack and Omar were, but Omar glared at him like he had held them up for hours.

  He showed Olly the bits of wood he and Jack had pulled together.

  “These are the right length and strength,” he said. “We’ll use these for the basic structure.”

  Olly groaned to himself. It would be like putting the tent up all over again. But harder, because these branches weren’t designed to go together.

  “And then we can find smaller ones with lots of leaves,” Jack agreed, “and use them to make a roof and walls to keep the rain and wind out …”

  “Yeah, but first we need to get these back to the meeting place,” said Omar. “First team gets a prize, remember? Let’s go!”

  They each had two large branches to carry. Jack wrapped his arms around both and carried them across his chest. Omar stuck one over each shoulder and kept them steady with his hands. They both set off.

  Olly tried it Jack’s way first, but the wood felt too heavy. And the ends kept getting in the way. So he tried it Omar’s way. His shoulders weren’t used to that kind of weight, and the wood kept rolling off.

  Eventually he tried to drag his pieces on the ground. That stopped his shoulders aching, but it actually turned out to be hardest of all. The ends kept getting tangled in the undergrowth and the wood was yanked out of his hands.

  “Come on, Olly!” Omar called from up ahead. “We’ll run out of time!” So stop shouting and start building, Olly thought with gritted teeth. Eventually Olly reluctantly decided that Jack’s way was best, even though it made his arms ache. He caught up with the other two at the meeting place and dropped the logs.

  “Okay, now we need the small stuff,” Omar said, hurrying off again. “Another couple of hours and we’ll be done!”

  As Jack and Omar headed back into the woods, Olly’s heart sank. A couple more hours of making this stupid den. What was the point?

  He stopped suddenly as the thought struck him.

  That’s right. What was the point?

  Answer: there wasn’t one.

  Omar and Jack could obviously do it without him. So why didn’t he just leave them to it?

  And so Olly went slower and slower, and the others got further and further ahead of him. Then he swung off to the right and started to pick up his pace. The trees grew closer together. Where there weren’t trees, there was tall bracken.

  Soon he couldn’t see anyone else, just hear voices. A couple of times he heard a scream, so he guessed the girl from the woodpile had seen another spider. Result! Olly thought. Now he could spend the afternoon in the tent listening to music.

  It wouldn’t be as good as being at home watching TV, but it was better than this. Are you lost?” said a girl’s voice right behind him. “You’re on your own.”

  Olly almost jumped out of his skin. He hadn’t heard her come up.

  “Uh … I’m just going this way,” he said, pointing through the woods. It was true. He was going to where the tents were.

  “You don’t look like you’re enjoying Camp,” she said. It was like she could read his mind, and Olly couldn’t think of a good answer. “I think you need this.”

  She held something out and Olly took it. It was a compass. There was nothing special about it. It had a transparent plastic dial, with a needle that always swung slowly to point north. Why did he need a compass? He could find his way on his own.

  But when he looked up the girl was already walking off. So he slipped the compass into his pocket anyway and continued to head back to the tent.

  3

  FIFTH DIRECTION

  “This is stupid,” Olly muttered.

  He lay on top of his sleeping bag and stared at the canvas ceiling of the tent.

  He was finally doing what he wanted. But when he tried to focus on his book, the words just seemed to swim around in front of his eyes. He couldn’t make himself care about the story. And the music on his iPod sounded dull and flat.

  He felt guilty, and even more bored than before.

  Olly sighed. Okay, this had been a bad idea. If he had to be bored then he might as well do it with the others. Even Omar.

  He got up, and headed back to the woods.

  It took Olly a while to find Jack and Omar amongst all the other kids racing around still gathering den material. Eventually he saw Jack in the distance through the trees, carrying a heap of fern leaves. It looked like he could do with a hand. Olly set off after him.

  Omar and Jack were building their den at the edge of the meeting place. As Olly made his way through the trees he got quite close to them without their realising. Hearing their voices made him smile. He had sort of missed them. Jack was his friend and Omar was … okay, Omar wasn’t his friend. Not exactly. But he wasn’t nasty. Just a bit impatient.

  Then he heard what the boys were saying. “I don’t know why you bother with that loser Olly,” Omar said to Jack.

  “Hey, Olly’s not –”

  Jack began.

  “Well, he’s not here, is he?” Omar snapped. “We can do it without him. Here, help me tie this.”

  Olly stood where he was, stunned.

  So, he thought, now I know what Omar thinks of me.

  And what was he supposed to do now? Pretend he hadn’t heard? He turned around and went back to the tent.

  Olly lay on his sleeping bag. Again. This time he was both bored and upset. And now he came to think about it he was also hungry. It was time for the barbecue, so everyone would be noshing on lovely burgers and sausages.

  But Olly didn’t want to face Omar.

  So he just lay there alone for what felt like forever.

  * * *

  Eventually it started to get dark, and Olly heard voices getting nearer. The barbecue was over and it was time for bed. Jack and Omar pushed their way through the tent flap. Omar’s lip curled slightly when he saw Olly, like he thought Olly smelled. Jack just looked sad.

  “We built a really good den,” Jack said after a moment. “You’d have liked it.”

  “Did you win the prize?” Olly asked.

  “No,” Omar told him abruptly. “Because there were only two of us. We needed three to get everything done in time.”

  After that, no one said anything much. The boys got ready for bed and slid into their sleeping bags. Outside, the Camp was going quiet. Soon, Olly could tell from the sound of Jack and Omar’s breathing that they were asleep. He could still hear voices outside, from other tents, but one by one they went silent. He lay in his sleeping bag, feeling wide awake.

  He could still hear Omar’s words in his head. Somehow Olly had to get through the rest of the Camp knowing what Omar really thought about him. And Jack was obviously disappointed with him too.

  At least if he could sleep, Olly thought, it would be over quicker. He often fell asleep listening to music, so he felt in the dark for his iPod. The screen lit up, just in time for him to see the words connect to power source. Then it went blank.

  Olly groaned and let his hand flop back with the dead iPod. Something hard and plastic knocked against his knuckles. What was that? He held it up in front of his face
so that he could see it in the dim light. Oh yeah. The compass.

  Suddenly the compass dial lit up, as if a light had come on behind it. That was weird, because there was nowhere for a battery to go. He could make out the needle, and the four illuminated markings for North, South, East and West. They were just bright enough for him to see without being able to read. He turned it idly in his hands, watching the needle stay on North.

  But then the needle seemed to be turning on its own. Olly watched as it slowly spun through North, East, South, West and stopped on a fifth marking.

  “Huh?!” Olly said out loud. He couldn’t hide his surprise. How were there suddenly five directions?

  Jack and Omar stirred, but didn’t wake up.

  Olly looked around suspiciously. Thinking. Looking for an explanation. Then he looked back at the compass. He couldn’t see in the dim light what the fifth direction was called. But he could see the needle was pointing out of the tent. Just as he looked over at the flap, a gust of cold wind blew through and he gasped. It was so cold, it was like someone had slid a knife made of ice under his skin. Absolutely freezing.

  Olly clambered over to zip the flap properly closed. Suddenly bright sunlight shone into the tent. Olly blinked hard, paused, then slowly crawled out and stood up. He stared in astonishment at what he saw.

  He should have been in the middle of the campsite, surrounded by tents. And it should have been night-time.

  In fact, it was daylight and he was standing on rocky ground covered with bright white snow, surrounded by giant mountains.

  ‘What …?’

  It was freezing, even though the sun was shining so brightly in the blue sky that Olly had to screw his eyes to slits. He wrapped his arms tight around himself. He could feel the cold eating into his bones.

  “Hey!” A man’s voice shouted in his ear. “Quick, or you’ll freeze to death!”

  4