Monster!
Page 3
The sky had grown darker. The wind beat against them as they clambered over the rocks. Bertie was out in front and hauled himself up. If this was the path, it was obviously made for mountain goats! Not that he minded. Climbing Craggy Peak was more exciting than he’d expected. Bertie imagined he was a famous explorer trekking through snow and watching out for polar bears. He stopped to wait for the others. After a few minutes, Suzy and Mum appeared.
“This is fun!” said Bertie.
“You think so?” panted Mum.
“It’s an adventure!” said Bertie. “Are we climbing those massive rocks up there?”
Mum squinted at them and frowned.
“This can’t be right,” she said. “And where’s your dad got to?”
“I thought he was with you,” said Bertie.
They all looked round. A moment later a voice reached them, echoing from below.
“HEEEEEEEELP!”
Mum groaned. “I knew this would happen!” she said.
“What? He hasn’t lost the sandwiches, has he?” asked Bertie.
“No,” said Mum. “We’d better go back and help.”
They found Dad further down on the rocks. He was standing on a narrow ledge, gripping the rock he was facing. He seemed to be hanging on for dear life, even though the drop below was only a couple of metres.
“You all right, Dad?” asked Bertie, looking down on him.
“Do I look all right? I CAN’T MOVE!” moaned Dad.
“Yes, you can,” said Bertie. “You just have to let go of the rock.”
“I CAN’T!” wailed Dad. “I’ll fall!”
Bertie and Suzy looked puzzled.
“He’s got vertigo,” explained Mum. “He’s scared of heights. Don’t you remember the time he went on the big wheel at the funfair?”
Bertie had forgotten. Dad had kept his eyes shut the whole time.
“I warned you,” said Mum. “I said this was a bad idea.”
“Never mind that, just get me down!” cried Dad.
Bertie couldn’t see what Dad was making such a fuss about. He climbed down to the ledge, treading on his hand.
“OWW!” howled Dad.
“Give me your hand, I can pull you up,” said Bertie.
Dad shook his head. There was no way he was letting go of the rock. He needed both hands to hang on.
“I know, what if Mum gives you a piggyback?” suggested Bertie.
Suzy gave him a withering look. “Can’t we just go back down?” she asked.
“NO! That’s even worse!” said Dad.
“Well, what do you want us to do?” asked Mum. “We can’t stay here forever!”
Dad shook his head helplessly.
“If we’re stopping, can we have our sandwiches?” asked Bertie.
“NO!” shouted everyone at once.
Bertie shrugged. He was only asking. There was no point in going hungry.
Mum tried to ring the youth hostel on her mobile, but there was no signal. Someone would have to go and get help.
“Suzy, you and Bertie go back down while I stay here with Dad,” she said.
“I don’t mind staying!” offered Bertie. After all, the food was in Dad’s rucksack.
“No, you go with Suzy,” ordered Mum. “As soon as you find someone, explain to them what’s happened. And be careful!”
“Okay!” sighed Bertie. “Then can we have lunch?”
No one answered. Everyone seemed to be in a bad mood. He sighed. This never would have happened if they’d gone to Go Wild! It was difficult to get stuck if you were whizzing down a zip wire.
Bertie followed Suzy as they made their way back down the mountain. Before long they reached the stone wall where they had rested coming up. Further on, they came to the spot where the paths divided. Bertie spotted a group of ramblers coming up the slope.
“Leave the talking to me,” said Suzy as they went to meet them.
“Excuse me!” she said. “Our dad’s back there and he’s got sort of stuck.”
“Oh dear!” said one of the women. “Where is he?”
“On the rocks! He’s hanging on by his fingernails!” said Bertie dramatically.
Suzy glared at him to shut up. “He’s stuck on a sort of ledge,” she said. “But we can’t get him to move.”
“Mum says he’s got lurgy toes!” added Bertie.
“Good heavens!” gasped the woman.
Suzy sighed. “He means vertigo. But we’re not sure what to do – Mum sent us to get help.”
“Is he in any danger?” asked one of the men.
“Well, not really,” said Suzy.
“He could be,” said Bertie. “His legs have gone wobbly so he could fall.”
The ramblers looked alarmed. The woman took out her phone.
“I think we’d better call Mountain Rescue,” she said. “They’ll know what to do. Let’s see if I can get a signal.”
Mountain Rescue? Bertie thought that sounded fantastic. He didn’t even know there was a Mountain Rescue!
Bertie and Suzy climbed back up the mountain to their parents.
“Help’s on the way,” said Suzy.
Half an hour later they heard a loud whirring noise overhead. A blast of wind kicked up the dust. Dad looked up in surprise.
“Oh, you’re kidding!” he groaned.
“Why have they sent a helicopter?” cried Mum.
“You told us to get help!” said Bertie.
“Yes, but I didn’t mean Mountain Rescue!” said Mum. “Your dad’s just scared of heights.”
“It’s not my fault,” said Suzy. “It was Bertie. He made it sound as if Dad was hanging off a cliff!”
Bertie couldn’t see why they were complaining. They’d asked for help and what could be better than Mountain Rescue? Besides, he’d always wanted to go in a helicopter!
The rescue team jumped out. They climbed down to the ledge, bringing ropes, a stretcher and a first-aid kit.
“Are you hurt?” asked the team leader. “Did you fall?”
Dad shook his head.
“Any broken bones?”
“I don’t think so,” muttered Dad.
“So what’s the problem?” asked the woman.
Dad had gone bright pink. He mumbled something about getting stuck.
“He’s scared of heights,” Mum explained. “He gets vertigo.”
“I see,” said the team leader. “Maybe you should have thought of that before you climbed a mountain.”
They strapped Dad on to the stretcher since he was too shaky to walk. Then the rescue team hauled him up off the ledge and carried him to the helicopter. Mum, Suzy and Bertie followed behind.
“Well, are you coming with us?” asked the rescue team leader.
“Wicked!” said Bertie, peering inside. “Can I sit at the front?”
With a whirr of blades the helicopter lifted into the sky. Bertie was given some sweet tea and a biscuit. He gazed down as they pulled away from the mountain. Wait till he told Darren and Eugene about this!
Minutes later he could see rows of tiny cars in the car park. Further on he spotted a wood with rope bridges, walkways and zip wires. Bertie pointed excitedly.
“Look, there’s Go Wild! Can we go tomorrow?” he begged. “Can we, pleeeease?”
Mum groaned. “ANYTHING!” she said. “Just as long as it doesn’t involve mountains.”
Copyright
STRIPES PUBLISHING
An imprint of Little Tiger Press
1 The Coda Centre, 189 Munster Road,
London SW6 6AW
First published as an ebook by Stripes Publishing in 2016Characters created
by David Roberts
Text copyright © Alan MacDonald, 2016
Illustrations copyright © David Roberts, 2016
eISBN: 978-1-84715-753-9
The right of Alan MacDonald and David Roberts to be identified as the author and illustrator of this work respectively has been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyr
ight, Designs and Patents Act, 1988.
All rights reserved.
Apart from any use permitted under UK copyright law, this publication may only be reproduced, stored, or transmitted, in any forms, or by any means, with prior permission in writing of the publishers or, in the case of reprographic production, in accordance with the terms of licences issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency.
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
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