Nowhere Boys Read Free Page A

looked nervously at them. ‘Just basic essentials.’
    ‘At least there’s food.’ Sam opened one side of Andy’s lunch box, which was full of xiaolongbao . He poked at the dumplings suspiciously and then opened the other compartment and pulled out a chicken’s foot. ‘Oh man, even I’m not eating that .’
    Jake held up the poncho. ‘What’s with the girly blanket with the hole?’
    Andy felt the sweat trickling down his sides. He silently cursed his nai nai . ‘It’s a poncho. For when temperatures drop.’
    He was relieved when Jake threw it into the bush without further comment.
    Jake grabbed a thermos of herbs from Sam.
    ‘Wait! They’re from my nai nai ,’ said Andy. ‘They keep the blood temperature steady.’ But Jake had tipped them out.
    Jake thrust the almost-empty backpack at Andy. ‘Come on. We can still win.’
    Andy slung the backpack over his shoulder. So light! His shoulders almost sighed with relief. They still had another three hours to walk. It would be much more enjoyable this way. After all, Bear Grylls always travelled light. He looked uncertainly at his belongings lying on the path.
    ‘Come on,’ yelled Jake. ‘They’re probably at the second checkpoint already.’
    Andy hesitated.
    ‘We can probably pick it all up on the way back,’ said Felix. ‘It’s really better if we all stay together.’
    Andy looked at him curiously. That was the second time Felix had said that. Pretty odd, coming from someone who was always on his own or with his equally strange friend.
    Andy took one last look at his supplies and then, grabbing a can of insect spray and a bottle of water, headed after the others. He felt guilty but strangely liberated.
    Jake was at the first checkpoint when he caught up.
    ‘Okay,’ said Jake. ‘Here’s the thing: we’re going to have to sprint to the next checkpoint to catch up.’
    Felix held up the map. ‘There’s a shortcut we could take.’
    Jake clapped Felix on the back. ‘Good one, Dracula. Lead the way.’
    Andy didn’t like that idea one bit. ‘Wait. Mr Bates stressed that it was very important we follow the prescribed route.’
    Jake rolled his eyes. ‘Enough with the Mr Bates routine. The guy wears pink polo shirts, for Christ’s sake.’
    Andy looked at the map Felix was holding. It looked hand-drawn. He was sure the ones Mr Bates had were printed out. ‘Maybe if I could have a look at the map?’ he suggested.
    Felix stuffed it quickly in his pocket and headed off the path into the bush. Sam and Jake followed him.
    Andy considered his options. Something didn’t feel right. Surely you should never leave the path when you were in the wilderness. Wasn’t that Bush Survival 101?
    But three against one meant he didn’t really have a choice, and if Mr Bates got cross Andy could argue that the majority ruled. He looked around at the unfamiliar bush. The wind rustled the eucalypts. He took a deep breath and stepped gingerly off the path. He made his way through the undergrowth after the others. The bush closed in around him. He looked back but the path had already disappeared. He felt a small shiver of excitement as he pushed his way through the trees.
    When he caught up with the others, they’d arrived at a small clearing. Directly in front of them was a steep drop, and they were surrounded on all other sides by dense, inhospitable bush. The wind had picked up and the branches swayed overhead.
    Jake’s mood had not improved, but now his anger was directed solely at Felix. ‘Where are we, freak?’
    Felix was looking at the map, concerned.
    Andy moved in quickly to help. ‘I can check the coordinates if you like.’
    Felix stepped away, quickly hiding the map from view. ‘It’s all good. We just need to go a bit further east and then we should hit a stream, which –’
    The map suddenly blew out of Felix’s hand. It spun and whirled across the clearing towards the drop. Then everything happened at once: Felix chased after the map, but as he