Bears Beware! Read Free Page A

fellas.’
    â€˜Have you ever seen one?’ asked Bindi.
    Joey shook his head.
    â€˜Neither have I,’ said Bindi, and then couldn’t help but add, ‘People say it’s a life-changing experience.’
    Bindi was about to continue chattering away when Joey abruptly demanded, ‘You don’t know the first thing about hunting, do you? If you did, you’d know to keep your trap shut. Stop talking!’
    This gave Bindi an idea. She walked on ahead of Joey.
    â€˜Aaaa-choooo!’ Bindi let out a loud sneeze.
    The others swung around and glared at her.
    â€˜Sorry. Must be allergic to the … aaaa-choo!’ She sneezed again.
    â€˜Thanks for alerting every bearwithin miles,’ growled Hank. He sighed and shook his head.
    Bindi smiled to herself. They walked on in silence. Daylight was beginning to fade. Bindi hoped that soon they’d give up on seeing any bears.
    Hank checked his watch. ‘It’s getting late. I think we’ll call it a day and make our way to the cabin for the night.’
    â€˜Not so fast,’ called Ted in a low voice. ‘No sudden moves but take a look between the two large trees at 4 o’clock.’
    Everyone turned their heads very slowly in the direction Ted was looking. There in the shadowsstood a large and very shaggy male Kodiak bear. He was quite calm and still. He watched them passively as if he was curious to see what they were up to in his neck of the woods.
    â€˜What a beauty!’ said Joey and Bindi at the same time, although Bindi knew he saw the beauty in a very different way to the way she did. Bindi grimaced as she watched Joey position his rifle to shoot. Ted and Hank did the same.
    â€˜He’s all yours, son,’ said Ted to Joey. ‘We’re just here as backup.’
    Joey had the boar in his sights. ‘Don’t worry, Dad, I’ve got the perfect shot.’
    There was nothing Bindi and Katrina could do as Joey lined up the position of the rifle and pulled the trigger.

To Joey’s surprise and confusion, when he pulled the trigger his weapon didn’t fire. There was the small sound of the click of metal against metal.
    â€˜What is wrong with you?’ called Ted, annoyed at his son’sincompetence. ‘You had the perfect shot lined up.’
    â€˜There’s something wrong. The ammo’s sticking,’ Joey called out.
    Hank shook his head. ‘Nothing wrong with those rifles. I checked them thoroughly and loaded the bullets this morning.’
    Bindi and Katrina gave each other a knowing look.
    â€˜Take another shot, Joey,’ called Hank.
    The bear was intent on something in the distance and didn’t notice the humans’ interest in him. Joey took aim again and pulled the trigger. Again nothing happened.
    Ted grew impatient and tookaim. ‘Let a real man take care of this.’ He lined up his rifle and pulled the trigger. The same thing happened. The soft click of the trigger against his finger, but no bullet was fired.
    â€˜These guns aren’t loaded,’ Ted growled at Hank as he checked the barrel of the rifle. Sure enough, it was empty of bullets.
    â€˜That’s not possible!’ called Hank as he approached to take a look. While the bear watched on, the men inspected the three rifles.
    â€˜I don’t understand.’ Hank shook his head.
    Ted glanced at the bear. ‘Our target’s not going to stand around waiting all day.’
    â€˜Not to worry, I always carry extra ammunition.’ Hank grappled inside his shoulder bag, becoming more and more angry as he did so. ‘Hang on a minute.’ He turned to Katrina and Bindi, who were watching anxiously. ‘Have you girls touched these guns?’
    Nobody spoke but Katrina went bright red for the second time that day and started to stutter. Bindi realised it was time to come clean.
    â€˜We, ah, took the bullets out of the guns.’
    Three pairs of disbelieving eyes turned