Nowhere Boys Read Free Page B

reached for it, he slipped on some loose rocks. Sam and Jake reached out to grab him but together they overbalanced, and before Andy knew what had happened, all three of them had disappeared down the ravine.
    Andy stood still, shocked. What had just happened? He could hear the boys yelling as they slid down, then suddenly all was quiet. He moved to the edge and peered down. He couldn’t see anything. The ravine was dense with foliage. Maybe they’d been injured. What if one of them had broken a leg? He should turn back, find the path and get Mr Bates. But what would Bear Grylls do? Would Bear leave his mates alone in the forest? All right, ‘mates’ was probably too strong a word. These boys were rude, weird and unfriendly. But they were a team. And hadn’t Mr Bates said they had to work together to solve any problems?
    ‘Andy!’ He heard a yell from below.
    They were conscious, at least. Andy hesitated. What would his family want him to do? Find the safe way home, of course. Well, maybe he wasn’t going to do that. Maybe this was his one chance at adventure. He could slide down that ravine right into the arms of a wild pig. He could fight it with sticks, defy his family and be a man of the wild!
    To truly know yourself, you had to test yourself against the elements. To survive, you had to dig deep into that catfish hole with your bare hands and pull out that four-foot fish, even if your flesh was pierced with venomous wounds.
    Andy took a running leap and careered down the slope. He skidded fast, his backside scraping against mossy rocks, his arms getting scratched on fallen twigs. It was painful but exhilarating at the same time. His pack bounced against his back, eventually catching in a tree branch as he made his descent. He landed on his back with an almighty thump.
    Andy wasn’t sure if he could move. He gingerly lifted his left leg and then his right. Seemed okay. He lifted his head.
    The other three were sitting glumly on the ground. Andy followed their gaze. The slope they’d fallen down looked almost vertical from this angle. There was no way they would be able to climb back up.
    Andy sat up. ‘Did you find the map?’
    Felix shook his head.
    An eerie silence filled the bush. Andy noticed there was no birdsong. He looked around nervously.
    ‘Okay, so we call Mr Bates. He’ll be able to track the call via GPS.’ Andy pulled out his phone and stared at it. ‘It should at least have SOS reception.’
    The others all lifted their phones to show him their screens. They’d obviously already tried. Nothing. Not one bar of reception.
    Andy stood up. Strangely, he didn’t feel sore at all.
    ‘So what do we do now, freak?’ Jake asked.
    Felix looked around, clearly unsure.
    ‘What Bear Grylls would do is find running water,’ Andy jumped in.
    ‘So he can get naked and eat a slug,’ sniped Jake.
    ‘No,’ said Andy. ‘So he can follow it back to civilisation.’
    Sam looked up at the darkening sky. ‘I don’t think running water is going to be a problem.’
    As if on cue, deep rumbles of thunder sounded above them, and a bolt of lightning flashed through the dark sky. Rain began to fall in solid grey sheets.
    The four boys stumbled through the thick undergrowth. Andy could barely see where he was going, so heavy was the downpour.
    ‘Over here,’ Felix yelled.
    Andy followed his voice, pushing his way through the scrub to a small clearing. He stopped and looked around. Through the rain he could see the trees that bordered the clearing had strange objects hanging from their branches. Andy looked closer. The objects were clearly man made. And bizarre-looking.
    Jake shuddered. ‘Where are we?’
    ‘It’s like some weird Blair Witch remake,’ muttered Sam.
    Andy touched one of the dangling objects. It was like a spider web made out of bark and wool. He’d never seen anything like it before. The sky suddenly cracked open and an angry gash of lightning lit up the boys’ scared faces.
    ‘We need to