And when he had done that, he thought, he would see what they could do to upgrade their shelter into something a bit more weatherproof. And catch more food – no point in going hungry on a well-stocked island like this. And increase the signal too – make it into something that even the blindest lookout sailor couldn’t miss. Just keep busy.

  They had a supply of kindling and tinder with them, kept out of the rain. Beck used his hands to scrape the sodden heap of ashes and charred fragments out of the fire circle, then started to build a fresh pile.

  Drip, drip, drip.

  Thwack, thwack.

  He paused, his head cocked. Had he heard–

  Drip, drip, drip.

  No. He started again.

  Thwack.

  “Beck–” Ju-Long too had paused what she was doing, a bottle halfway to Jian’s lips.

  “I thought I heard–”

  Thwack, thwack, thwack.

  “It’s a helicopter!”

  Beck leapt to his feet, turning a circle where he stood as he stared up through the leaf canopy. All he could see was the grey blur of the clouds above them.

  He broke into a run, pelting his way through leaves and branches that seemed to conspire to hold him back – whipping at his face, snatching at his feet, until he had to force himself to go slower, or risk a broken ankle or poked-out eye.

  He burst out onto the beach and gazed frantically around. There was no sign of a helicopter. They had built a signal beacon before the hunt the day before. It stood where they had left it. The letters that Jian had picked out in the sand had washed away, but their outlines were still shown by the dead weed and stones. Beck made a mental note that he would have to re-mark them. But, first things first.

  Thwack, thwack…

  Had it got louder? Quieter? Nearer? Further away?

  He looked up at the clouds again. It was impossible to say how high they were. There was nothing for the eye to fix on. They could be low down, with the helicopter only just above them. Easy to see with nothing in the way, but now completely obscured.

  Was it worth lighting the fire for? He might just be wasting a good blaze. But the smoke might rise above the clouds, or the helicopter might come down lower. It might actually be looking for them, so the crew would be keeping an extra close watch.

  Put that way, there was no question. Beck pulled the protecting fronds away and struck his fire steel at the tinder.

  Come on, come on…

  The fronds had done their job – the pile was dry despite the rainstorm. Sparks settled onto the bone dry leaves at the base of the pile. Beck pouted his lips and blew gently on it. The sparks turned to little glow-worms that ran along the surface of the leaves and disappeared into the depths of the pile.

  Thwack, thwack.

  “Don’t go!” he shouted, uselessly, at the sky. “Just hang on…”

  Crack.

  Something in the pile had caught. A few moments later, the first tendrils of flame began to poke through the gaps in the pile, like shy little animals nervously emerging from their burrows, not certain if it was safe. The air above the fire began to shimmer with warmth.

  Beck ran up to the treeline and came back with a handful of wet leaves. He didn’t want the fire to burn too clearly. He wanted smoke, and in the absence of flip-flops, wet leaves were the next best thing. He dumped the leaves onto the pile and ran back for a second load.

  The flames had vanished. Had he just put the fire out? He held his hand flat above the pile, holding his breath until he felt the distinct touch of hot air on his palm. He snatched it away and waited for smoke to show.

  That was more like it! Dark grey streams began to rise up from the beacon. He added more leaves and quickly stepped aside as the wind changed direction and the smoke swung round into his face. More leaves. It was turning into a decent, dark signal.

  Thwack, thwack.

  Was it quieter? Was it going away? He desperately followed the path of the smoke upwards with his eyes.

  But then, silence. The helicopter must have gone.

  Beck screamed into the empty sky, with all his might, in desperation.

  “Aaarrrgh!”

  Chapter 37

  Beck bit his lip and slowly, deliberately, ground his heel into the sand. He felt tears welling up inside his eyes.

  Then a small movement snagged the corner of his eye and he glanced up. The helicopter had dropped below the clouds. It was square and angular, the kind Beck associated with the military, painted white with smart red and blue stripes. Before they left port on Dolphin, Beck had seen a pair of motor boats in similar colours which Jian had said belonged to the Chinese coast guard. Its landing lights were like the burning eyes of a metal dragon flying purposefully straight at the island. Now he could hear it clearly. The sound of its engine has changed from a thwack to a full-throated, steady roar that shook Beck’s bones.

  Beck whooped and ran down to the waves, waving his hands above his head.

  “Over here! Over here!”

  The helicopter drew closer. Beck could see the helmeted shapes of the pilot and co-pilot in the cockpit.

  It flew straight overhead, so close that Beck could read the numbers of its belly without difficulty. His spirits plummeted. They were flying by?

  “No!” he bellowed. “No! Come here, come down here…”

  But it was merely turning around in a wide circle. It came lower and slowed as its wheels folded down, and then it settled onto the beach between sea and trees, rotors whipping up a hurricane of sand and spray that made Beck flinch and cover his face.

  The side door slid open and a pair of men in flight kit and helmets leapt out. They ran towards Beck and he finally lowered his arms.

  The first man had a huge beam on his face as he spoke rapidly to Beck.

  “Ah. Uh. Do you speak English…?” Beck asked hopefully. But suddenly Ju-Long was at his side. She spoke quickly to them and pointed towards the trees. The men frowned and nodded, and ran on, gesturing that Ju-Long and Beck should follow.

  “He said,” Ju-Long said between breaths as they ran, picking their way through the trees, “that they caught the signal from the radar reflector…”

  Beck laughed and kept running until they were at the camp.

  The men hurried forward and knelt by Jian’s still form. One of them leaned over to lift an eyelid – and only then did he noticed the bandaged stump of Jian’s arm. Then the leader spoke a few abrupt words to the other, who turned and pelted back towards the helicopter.

  “He has gone to get the medical kit,” Ju-Long whispered. Beck nodded. The remaining man felt for Jian’s pulse in his neck, then took his hand and felt at the wrist. Beck’s blood ran cold as he let go, and Jian’s wrist flopped lifelessly to the ground.

  The man pulled his helmet off and rested an ear against Jian’s chest. Then he pulled himself up and placed the heel of one hand against Jian’s breastbone. He put the other hand on top of it, laced his fingers together, and pushed down hard with straight arms.

  Beck felt his eyes fill with tears as he stared at his friend’s still shape.

  “Oh, no… please… no…”

  The other man was back, carrying a rugged green case. He knelt and threw it open while the first man changed tactic. He tilted Jian’s head back, pinched his nose shut and breathed directly into his mouth. The second man tore a plastic package open and produced a syringe the size of a bicycle pump with a needle that looked as sharp as Beck’s knife. The first man used a pair of scissors to cut Jian’s shirt open; Beck couldn’t watch as the second man tapped the needle to clear it of bubbles, paused a moment and then plunged it into Jian’s chest.

  Chapter 38

  “Time to get you home, Beck.”

  Beck had Skyped Al, back in London. He had given Al the full account of everything that had happened since Dolphin cast off from its quay a week earlier. It had been a long call, full of emotion for both of them.

  “I am coming home, Al…” Beck mumbled meekly. He shuffled forward one more step in the queue towards the security check and the Departures lounge of Macau International Airport.

  “Will your uncle be meeting you in London?” Ju-Long asked.

  She was determined to accompany him as far as she could. She had even come with him in the taxi. He looked sadly at her – or not so much at her, as at the absence of Jian next to her. They hadn’t known each other long, but by the end they had definitely been three friends. And now back to two.

  He answered Ju-Long’s question.

  “He will. I expect he’ll have the child locks on so I can’t get out of the car, and then he’ll personally escort me up to my room and lock the door so it’s physically impossible for me to go off anywhere without him.”

  He saw the slight look of uncertainty that hovered over her face.

  “Yes, that was a Beck joke,” he said quickly. She smiled in relief. “But look at it from his point of view. He sent me to China in the first place because he thought it would keep me out of trouble. No more faking my death or anything.”

  “You did not get into trouble. Trouble came to you. The typhoon was not your fault. Everything that happened afterwards came from that. Everyone knows that.”

  The medical experts called in by Mr Zhou had been very clear that amputation had been the only way to give Jian even a ghost of a chance, and they would have done the same in Beck’s place. The older man’s understanding over what Beck had done to his son was overwhelming.

  “I hope they do.” He pursed his lips and puffed his cheeks out. That damn typhoon. It had caused the landslide that trapped Mr Zhou and the others, and it had shifted the sandbanks so that Dolphin ran aground. “I guess nature doesn’t care. It just does what it does.”

  Ju-Long nodded softly. They slid forward another couple of paces.

  “What will your uncle do then? Confine you to England?” she asked.

  He pulled a weak smile.

  “Maybe that’s the best thing.”

  “Beck! We found you!”

  The crowd parted as Jian came barrelling through, propelled aggressively in his wheelchair by his father. Both had huge smiles plastered to their faces.

  “They let you out!” Beck exclaimed in delight.

  The hospital had put up a fight, and who could blame them? They had a patient recovering from severe blood poisoning and an amateur amputation. He had just gone into cardiac arrest when the helicopter arrived. Watching the two men saving his life – compressing his chest, blowing air into his lungs, injecting adrenaline directly into his heart and then going back to CPR – had been the longest twenty minutes of Beck’s life.

  So, of course the doctors had wanted to hang onto him for as long as they could. Beck had already said goodbye to Jian at the hospital and Mr Zhou at home, so honour was satisfied – but he had really missed seeing them for this last bit.

  Jian waved the question away like it was a fly buzzing around his face.

  “If they had not, I would have walked.”

  He still looked tired, and Beck knew the wheelchair was just to keep him from overtaxing his body – nothing to do with his ability to walk. But there was colour in his face and a light in his eyes, and Beck knew his friend would be okay.

  And then he saw, to his surprise, that Jian had two hands again.

  “Oh. This.” Jian lifted the arm up and Beck could see that it was of course a prosthetic – moulded plastic, coloured to match his skin. “This is to help them get my measurements. Eventually they say I will get a new arm and hand that will respond to my thoughts. Chinese science and medicine!”

  “Waterproof, I hope?” Beck said with a grin, thinking of his friend’s passion for sailing.

  “Oh, yes! And able to pull on a rope.”

  “Well…” Beck couldn’t take the grin off his face. “You’re an amazing guy, Jian, you know that?” And the three of them hugged each other tight.

  No survivor makes easy choices; the choice he had made had been the toughest of his life. Yet he knew that people with disabilities could go on to do incredible things with great determination in their lives. Beck knew Jian would be one of those inspirations.

  The line moved a bit further forward. Another thirty seconds, and Beck would be at the barriers.

  “Well…”

  He got a final hug from Ju-Long, and shook hands with Mr Zhou once more.

  “Thank you, Beck,” Mr Zhou said sincerely. “Thank you. You will always be welcome back here.”

  “I will come back real soon,” Beck promised.

  “We will try to book some good weather,” Jian promised. Beck laughed, and turned to hand his passport and boarding pass to the security man.

  It was time to go home.

  SURVIVAL TIPS

  HOW TO STAY ALIVE ON A DESERT ISLAND

  HOW TO SPLINT A BROKEN BONE – LEG OR ARM

  Due to pollution, it seems that every coastline has at least some polystyrene on it. When you are stranded with someone who has a broken bone you can use this sad fact to your advantage. Take some polystyrene and three pieces of drift wood, big enough to support the break, and cut the polystyrene into thin, flat lengths, the same length as the driftwood.

  When a bone breaks, muscles around the bone contract to try and protect it. Unfortunately, this makes it harder to reset the bone; unless the bone is reset the broken ends could grind together and move around causing damage to the flesh, nerves and blood vessels.

  To reset the bone, cut three short lengths of rope and lay them out placing the drift wood perpendicularly on top. Lay the polystyrene on top of the driftwood and then lay the broken limb on top of the polystyrene. The polystyrene is handy as it will stop the skin chafing against the wood. Now comes the painful bit, two people must pull the limb gently in opposite directions to set the bone in place. Feel the break as you pull; you should feel a shift under the skin as the bones pop back into place. Once this happens, quickly wrap the limb in the splint, sandwiching polystyrene between the break and the driftwood, before tying it together with rope. The knots must be tight enough to hold the splint in place, but loose enough to maintain the blood flow around the break.

  FINDING DRINKING WATER

  When you’re stranded on a desert island the number one priority must be finding drinking water. It may seem like you are surrounded by the stuff, but drinking sea water is probably the worst thing you could do. The salt in the water will send your kidneys into overdrive, draw all the water out of your tissues and make you even worse than before. You should always try to find running water as water that has pooled will be stagnant and will be teeming with bacteria from animals and other debris. If you can’t find any rivers or streams, look around the cliffs as these places will often hold small rock springs. You can find these by looking for vegetation on or under the cliffs and following faults in the cliff face.

  These springs may only be a tiny trickle of water, but you can collect this water using a rope and a water bottle (or whatever vessel you can get your hands on). First, anchor the bottle into the ground. Dig a hole into the sand or gravel or if this isn’t an option prop it up with some rocks. Now, find a way to attach your rope to the trickle on the cliff face. If the stream is in a fault in the cliff you can wedge it in there, if there is a ridge on the cliff try to use stones to anchor the rope. Cut the rope so that it is just long enough to dangle inside the mouth of the water bottle. Hopefully the water should now be trickling down your rope instead of the rock face. The surface tension in the water makes it cling to the fibres and drop by drop, collect in the water bottle.

  SHELTER

  First of all, use your surroundings. Look for fallen trees or anything that could give you some shelter from the elements. Do bear in mind that if there is a thunderstorm the last place you want to be is under a tree.

  When establishing somewhere to sleep, it’s important that you don’t sleep directly on the ground. Sleeping on the cold ground will suck all the warmth from your body. You also want to keep away from any creepy-crawlies that could bite you in your sleep.

  Try to find or build some kind of platform to sleep on. Some rock types, like granite, radiate heat at the end of the day so sleeping near or on that could provide you with some much needed heat. If you can’t build a platform at least build a mattress of ferns, pines and leaves to provide a little insulation.

  MAKING A BEACON

  To improve your chances of rescue, you have to make a beacon. Find the best point of visibility on the island, it needs to be high up and close to the shore to be able to attract both ships and helicopters.

  To build the beacon, first make a tripod. Tie two planks of wood together at one end using a hitch knot and wrap the rope around the knot several times. Now wedge a third plank in between the first two and tie that in place as well.

  Stand the tripod up and make a platform about halfway up. You can do this by using shorter pieces of wood to make a triangle between the tripod legs that will enable you to lay more pieces of wood across it.

  Now you must build the fire. Use pieces of dry bark or leaves as tinder and lay the kindling on top, making sure that air can circulate around the tinder. Once you have a fire going, look for any artificial or plastic materials that may have washed up on the shore as these will create thick, acrid smoke that will easily attract attention.

  Above all, remember: never, ever give up!

  Bear Grylls has become known around the world as one of the most recognized faces of survival and outdoor adventure. His journey to this acclaim started in the UK, where his late father taught him to climb and sail.

  Trained from a young age in martial arts, Bear went on to spend three years as a soldier in the British Special Forces, serving with 21 SAS. It was here that he perfected many of the skills that his fans all over the world enjoy watching him pit against mother-nature.

  His popular survival TV shows include ‘Man Vs Wild’ and ‘Born Survivor’ which became one of the most watched programmes on the planet with an estimated audience of 1.2 billion. He has also hosted the hit adventure show ‘Running Wild’ on NBC, where he takes some of the world’s best known movie stars on incredible adventures. Most recently US President Barrack Obama asked to appear on the show for a worldwide ‘Running Wild Special’.