A Giant Rescue (3 page)

‘What a day!' exclaimed Terri as she sank back onto her pillow, lying on the soft grass outside her tent in the dim evening light. ‘I haven't worked this hard since … forever! And I know a thing or two about hard work!'

‘I know you do!' agreed Kate as
she slumped against her sleeping bag. ‘It's not exactly a relaxing family holiday …'

Terri sat up as she protested, ‘Hey, I'm not complaining!' She grimaced as she rubbed at her sore muscles. ‘Well, maybe I am a little bit, but it's worth it. I can't believe how much we've done in just two days!' Terri sank back down again. The effort of sitting up was too much.

‘Check out my blisters!' said Robert as he and Bindi collapsed in a heap beside their mum. Robert held up his palms to show his field workers' hands.

‘Impressive,' noted Bindi.

Terri smiled. ‘My children, out
working in the fields all day long. I'm proud of you, guys, but let's hit the hay. I'm bushed and we have to do it all over again tomorrow.'

There was a collective groan as everyone crawled into their tents. The nocturnal jungle around them was just starting to come alive. Bindi fell into a deep sleep, listening to the sounds of the gibbons calling out to each other.

Bindi was woken by Robert from a dream involving a chilli-eating
competition with an elephant. She was winning, but only just. Steam was coming out of both their ears …

‘Psst. Bindi, wake up!'

Bindi desperately tried to pull herself up from the depths of tiredness. ‘Hmmm, what? I can't eat another chilli,' she groaned.

‘What?' asked Robert, confused. He was hovering over her with a worried look on his face. ‘It's the middle of the night and someone's hanging around outside our tent!'

Bindi rolled over and tried to will herself back to sleep. ‘It's probably nothing, just your –' Suddenly there was the muffled sound of footsteps and a low voice outside their tent.
Bindi sat up with a start. She was now wide awake.

‘Were you about to say “imagination”?' asked Robert.

‘Shh! That sounds like Tri's voice. Come on, let's check it out!'

Bindi and Robert stumbled out of the tent to find Tri waiting for them. ‘I'm sorry about waking you. I just didn't know who else I could talk to.'

Bindi felt bad for her new friend. He looked upset. ‘It's no biggie. What's wrong, Tri?' she asked as she plonked herself on the grass next to him. Robert squeezed in between the two of them.

‘It's about Kret, the guy who
came to the waterhole. He's an old friend. We used to do everything together. I met up with him today to try to convince him it's not too late to turn back.'

Tri looked down at the ground. There was a pause before he continued. Robert and Bindi exchanged a look but both knew better than to rush him. He obviously needed to talk.

‘Kret has fallen in with a bad crowd. He's started turning up with money, lots of money. I feel sick when I try to work out where this money has come from. It's something bad, I know.' His voice faltered as he spoke. ‘I can't tell anyone in the
village because I don't want to get him into trouble, but I have a feeling he's –'

Bindi smiled encouragingly at Tri. ‘It's okay. You can tell us.'

Tri took a deep breath and continued. ‘I think that Kret is involved with trophy hunters.'

Robert and Bindi looked at each other, frowning. ‘Do you think he plans to hurt an elephant?' asked Bindi.

Tri looked ill. ‘Maybe.'

Bindi's eyes fired up. ‘Well then, let's make sure he doesn't!'

‘Kret is meeting with the trophy hunters tonight. I think I know where they will meet.'

Bindi looked at Robert. Here they
were in the middle of the jungle in Cambodia and their mum was fast asleep in a tent two metres away. Sneaking out didn't seem like the wisest plan. But what else could they do? The elephants needed their help.

‘Just give us a second to get dressed,' said Bindi, and the Irwin children disappeared into their tent.

In no time at all the three friends were headed out into the jungle with only the moon to light their way. The thick foliage was shrouded in a heavy mist. The blanket of mist camouflaged the usual sounds and movements of the jungle. It seemed eerily quiet as the small group made their way deeper and deeper into the wild.

Bindi and Robert picked their way slowly by moonlight, trusting Tri to guide them safely through the forest.

‘Not the best night for playing I-spy,' joked Robert. It was very dark out and the moonlight only
served to create shadows through the filters of thick tree trunks and broad leaves that made up the jungle. Bindi could tell Robert felt a little scared. She tried to convince herself that everything would be fine as she was feeling nervous herself.

Bindi stubbed her toe on a tree root, tripping over in the process. Tri half-caught her fall and he and Robert asked, ‘Are you okay?' at the same time.

‘I'm fine,' Bindi answered. However, she was beginning to have doubts about her decision to come out at night into an unknown jungle. She knew tigers as well as elephants lived in this forest and she didn't like
the idea that they might disturb any wild animals in their own habitat. Why hadn't they brought a torch?

‘How much further?' she whispered to Tri.

‘We're nearly there,' said Tri. ‘There is a good rocky area ahead where we can climb up to get a view of the meeting place. Then it's just a question of waiting.'

They clambered up the rocky outcrop and found a comfortable place to sit while they waited to see if Kret
would show. Robert snuggled up close to his sister, his head resting on Bindi's shoulder. She felt reassured by his presence and tried to calm her nerves. Tri remained wide awake, aware of every sound the jungle was making.

Just then the moon was blanketed by clouds and what little light they had to see by was gone. In the pitch blackness they all heard the throaty exhaust noise of a dirt bike approaching fast.

‘That's Kret! Stay out of sight!' Tri flattened himself on the rock and crawled up towards the edge so that he could peep over. Bindi and Robert did the same.

The cloud cover dispersed and the moonlight shone through the dense foliage. Bindi was almost certain nobody had been there before but now, just below them, stood two Chinese men. One of the men spat onto the ground. Bindi felt pretty sure that whatever these men were up to spelled bad news for Kret.

Bindi's breathing sounded too loud. She pressed herself and Robert flat against the rock, trying not to breathe. Had the men seen them?

The dirt bike pulled up with a flourish into the clearing and Kret dismounted. He looked so much
older than his seventeen years in his designer clothes and he had a tough attitude to match.

‘I've found it. Let's get going before he moves off.'

One of the men shook his head. ‘We've got better things to do, big guy. You need to deal with this on your own.'

For a moment Kret's confidence seemed to wane. ‘You're kidding? I can't do it by myself.'

The other man pulled a rifle from his bag and threw it to Kret. Kret fumbled with it in the dim light. One of the men sniggered. ‘Yes, you can. And be careful with that. It's pretty powerful. Powerful enough
to take care of an elephant!' They both laughed.

Bindi was so horrified she almost choked. Tri put a hand to her mouth to stop her from making any noise.

Kret held the gun out in front of him as if he didn't quite know what to do with it. ‘I-I can't –'

One of the men stepped forward and pushed Kret in the chest. ‘Delivery by noon tomorrow. No excuses.' Kret stumbled as he stepped back and fell onto the ground, almost colliding with the dirt bike. When he looked up again, the men had gone.

Bindi, Tri and Robert looked at each other in horror. Tri leapt down
from the rocks and landed next to Kret.

‘You've got to stop this now, Kret, before it's too late.'

Kret was shocked to see Tri and more than a little embarrassed his friend had witnessed the scene. But he was even more surprised to see Bindi and Robert make their way down to join Tri. He jumped to his feet and held onto the rifle. His big-man attitude was back.

‘This is a good thing, Tri. In case you hadn't noticed there's a rogue elephant trampling everyone's crops. I'm taking action and doing what the farmers are thinking of doing themselves. I get rid of it and
make some money in the process. It's win–win.'

Robert was outraged. ‘Killing an elephant is wrong! You need to learn to work out how you and the elephants can live in harmony together.'

Kret turned on Robert. ‘This is none of your business, little boy.'

Bindi stepped up to Kret. ‘Don't talk to my brother like that. He's right, and you know it!' Her heart was pounding in her chest and she was trying hard to stop her hands from shaking.

Kret ignored Bindi, mounted his bike and turned on the engine. The high-pitched revs broke through the
peace of the jungle. ‘Keep your new friends out of it, Tri. Those men aren't playing around. They want an elephant and I have to get one for them.'

Tri spoke firmly, ‘Remember what I said yesterday. You don't have to do this, Kret.'

Kret tossed his head. ‘Then you'll remember my answer, Tri, which was, I do! So stay out of it!' He took off on the bike, weaving and tearing his way through the foliage and into the darkness.

Tri was devastated. ‘I have to stop him but I can't tell anyone. What are we going to do?'