Free Way of the Wolf by Bear Grylls Page A

lake. With every step, Beck felt the ice creak beneath him. Any moment now he expected it to crack with a sound like a rifle shot and his foot to go through. They were still wearing their snowshoes, which spread the weight of their bodies, but still Beck felt the lake resented them. It knew they were foreign to these mountains; it didn’t want them here.
    But the far shore – the rocks and the rising slope that showed solid ground – was getting gradually closer. Beck didn’t get ahead of himself. Even when the shore was only a couple of metres away, he scraped away the snow to check the ice before moving forward. Even if just his foot went through the thin ice at the edge, he could end up with frostbitten toes as ice formed inside his boot.
    But finally he was standing on solid ground. He turned and beamed triumphantly at Tikaani. ‘Made it!’
    Tikaani smiled back, and took a step towards him.
    Suddenly there was a snap that echoed off the rock face, and a splash, and Tikaani vanished as if he had fallen through a trap door.

CHAPTER 20
    ‘
Tikaani!
’ Beck howled. He took a step forward to help, and checked himself. He could see what had happened immediately. He was standing on solid ground – but it was a promontory, a bit that stuck out. The lake carried on past him, and Tikaani had been standing on that bit.
    The boy had flung out his arms as he fell, and his head and shoulders hadn’t gone through. But water sloshed in and out of the dark hole in the ice and sluiced over him. The other boy opened his mouth and screamed.
    ‘
It’s co-o-old!
’
    ‘Tikaani! Get your rucksack off! Quick! And turn round . . .’
    Beck kicked off his snowshoes and scrambled as close as he dared. Every instinct screamed at him to go and pull his friend out, but if he went through the ice too then they were both stuck.
    Tikaani didn’t move. His mouth was still wide open, as if he was screaming. If he was, it had risen to a pitch Beck couldn’t hear. Now that the water had settled down, it was obvious that Tikaani was standing on the bottom of the lake. It was only about shoulder deep. That was a small bit of good news in a whole torrent of bad.
    ‘
Tikaani!
’ Beck shouted again.
    Tikaani gaped at Beck, his breath coming in agonized pants.
    ‘Tikaani. Ditch the rucksack and turn round. You know the ice is thick back there. It’ll help you climb out . . . ’
    Tikaani’s breaths were coming faster and faster. Beck could picture what was happening inside him. In many cases, the gasp reflex of the shock of freezing water made people breathe water into their lungs. At least Tikaani hadn’t done that yet. But hypothermia could set in within minutes. There was the all-consuming, mind-numbing effect of the cold. The body would lose sensation; all Tikaani’s coordination and strength would freeze at the bottom of the lake. And if he wasn’t quick, there was the risk of cardiac arrest – a heart attack, brought on by the shock.
    ‘Turn round,’ Beck said again loudly. Tikaani would be losing the ability to concentrate, to coordinate his movements. He had to be handled firmly. ‘
Turn round
.’
    Tikaani began to turn. His fingers fumbled at the buckle of his rucksack and it fell away, bobbing in the water. Beck quickly snagged it with his stick before it could sink. ‘Good, good. Now pass me your snowshoes.’
    Tikaani somehow managed to pull the snowshoes off his feet and throw them towards Beck.
    ‘That’s it! Now climb out – go on, climb out!’ Beck instructed.
    Tikaani managed to prop his elbows on the ice and work his way forward. Soon his top half was free of the water, then his waist and his thighs. He crawled painfully forward until at last he was out of the lake. Already his sodden trousers seemed to be hardening in the cold.
    ‘Here!’ Beck called. ‘Over here! Quick!’
    Tikaani crawled over to Beck’s promontory, and Beck reached out and pulled him to safety on solid ground. Tikaani’s face was