by Bindi Irwin
The man laughed. ‘Better keep a close eye on her then!’ The man in the driver’s seat joined in. ‘If you see Kret, tell him we’re looking for him. And we don’t like being kept waiting.’
The window rolled back up and the car pulled away. The three kids looked at each other. These were bad men. They would think nothing of killing an elephant, let alone a person.
Tri sprung into action. ‘We’ve got to find Kret! He’s behaving badly but he was once a good person.’
Bindi gave her Cambodian friend a hug. ‘Don’t worry, we’ll find him, Tri.’ Although she quietly wondered where he’d disappeared to.
By late afternoon Bindi was beginning to wonder if they would ever find Kret. Bindi, Tri and Robert had been traipsing through the jungle for hours with Tri doing his best to track the rogue elephant’s movements in the hope that if they found the elephant, then they would find Kret. They were now making their way around the site of an old mine.
‘I can’t believe you’re friends with this guy, Tri,’ said Robert. ‘What kind of person would shoot an elephant?’
‘He’s my oldest friend,’ replied Tri. ‘When we were younger, it was Kret who was closer to the elephants than I was. Kret’s father died and now he has a great responsibility to look after his brothers and sisters. It has changed him.’
Bindi and Robert walked on in silence. They were both thinking about the arrogant Kret they had met and imagining a younger, happier version.
‘I’m sorry for Kret,’ said Bindi, ‘but that’s no excuse for hurting an innocent animal. We’ve got to find him before he does something terrible.’
‘Hey, did you hear that?’ asked Bindi.
‘Hear what?’ answered Robert.
‘I thought I heard someone calling out!’
They all stood still and listened. There were echoes of a voice calling out but it seemed like it was coming from a long way away.
‘There it is again!’
‘Ssh.’ Tri held his fingers to his lips as he listened. ‘It sounds like someone’s in trouble!’
They found Kret’s dirt bike parked just off the trail. As it was green it blended in, but the large exhaust gave it away. The calls for help had stopped.
Tri called out, ‘Kret? Where are you?’
‘Tri?’ came a muffled reply.
The three friends followed the call to a large hole. Kret had fallen into an almost hidden, disused mine shaft. You would hardly have noticed it was even there as it was covered over by vines and leaves.
This vertical shaft looked to be several metres deep. When Tri, Robert and Bindi looked down, they couldn’t even see Kret, let alone the bottom. But his forlorn voice cemented the fact that he was down there.
‘Are you okay?’ asked Bindi.
‘No. I think my leg’s broken,’ Kret gave a muffled reply. ‘And my ribs don’t feel so good either.’
Tri and Robert looked around for some rope with which to pull Kret out.
‘It’s no good,’ said Bindi. ‘Even if we find some rope, we’re not strong enough to pull him out and then carry him back through the jungle.’
Tri looked up at the sky. ‘And it will be dark soon.’
They stared at each other, completely stumped. Suddenly Bindi had an idea.
‘I’m not sure if it will work but we have to try. It will take a leap of faith on Kret’s part.’ She leaned in closer to Tri and Robert and whispered, ‘Here’s the plan …’
It took a while to make their way back to the elephant enclosure and find Chenda. She seemed to sense their urgency and briskly followed them through the jungle as they led her back towards the mine. Bindi couldn’t help but admire the elephant’s sheer size as she watched Tri attach the harness, used to pull the plough, to Chenda’s chest. Tri and Bindi then attached a long rope to the harness.
‘Here goes,’ said Robert as he threw the length of rope down into the mine shaft.
There was silence as they listened for the sound of the rope hitting the bottom of the shaft. They waited for Kret to grab the rope. The three friends peered down anxiously into the hole.
‘Kret? Can you reach the rope?’ called Bindi.
‘I think so.’ There was the faint sound of scuffling and then, ‘Got it.’
‘Okay.’ Bindi motioned for Tri to take Chenda by the harness and lead her away from the hole. ‘We’re going to pull you up now, Kret. You’re going to have to hold on really tightly.’
‘Ready?’ asked Tri.
‘Ready!’ called Kret.
‘Go!’ Bindi called. She and Robert monitored the rope and crouched by the hole, ready to grab Kret. Chenda took a few steps and slowly the rope began to move.
‘Go, Chenda, you can do it!’ encouraged Robert.
Chenda braced herself against the strain and continued to walk away. The rope inched further and further until Bindi could see the top of Kret’s head.
‘Nearly there. Hang on, Kret!’
Kret looked up and with amazement saw that he was being pulled up by Chenda. He looked dazed and confused, and it took all of his strength to hold on as he scraped against the sides of the wall.
‘One more step!’ cried Robert.
Robert and Bindi reached down and grabbed Kret’s arms. They slowly pulled him up onto the jungle floor. He was covered in scratches and streaked with dirt, but he was safe.
Bindi and Robert sank back onto the ground. Both breathed heavy sighs of relief.
Kret lay on his back and looked up at the elephant. She looked even bigger and more powerful from so low down at ground level. And boy, did Kret feel low. ‘I can’t thank you enough.’ He turned to Bindi and Robert, looking humble – quite different from the overconfident youth they had seen last night.
Bindi shook her head. ‘We’re just the hired help.’ She pointed to Tri and Chenda. ‘They’re the brains and brawn of the operation.’ Bindi held out her hand and helped Kret to his feet.
Kret limped over towards Tri. The old friends nodded to one another and held eye contact. They were still awkward with each other. Words could come later.
Kret turned his attention to the gentle giant of an elephant and leaned against her wrinkled neck. As he stroked her rough skin, he breathed in her smell. She smelled like home. ‘Thank you, Chenda,’ he whispered, quickly wiping away tears of relief.
Back at the village, Kret received medical attention for his injuries. Tri, Bindi and Robert kept his secret, and it was assumed his broken leg was a result of a dirt bike accident.
Kret held one more meeting with his former business partners, returning the bike and mobile phone they had given him. He made it very clear to them that he was no longer in the business of trophy hunting and would alert the police if they caused any trouble in the area.
Bindi was sad to say goodbye when the time came for them to leave Mondulkiri two weeks later. She was amazed by how welcome they felt at the little village and how quickly she had made so many friends.
Kret visited Bindi the morning the Irwins were due to leave. He was waiting for Bindi when she stepped out of her tent in the early morning.
Kret held out his hand to Bindi. ‘I wanted to say goodbye in person before I head off to work.’
Bindi was touched. ‘Thanks, Kret. I’m glad you did.’ They shook hands. ‘How are you feeling?’
Kret tapped the cast on his leg. ‘It’s driving me mad, it’s so itchy! But it could have been so much worse. I hope I never get in over my head again.’
Bindi looked thoughtful. She could imagine the lure to make money for his family would be very tempting for Kret. ‘Just remember to run it past Tri and Chenda next time. They’ll help you sort out what’s really important – or Chenda will just hose you down!’
Kret laughed. ‘It’s true. Thanks again, Bindi.’
Kate sent Terri, Bindi and Robert regular updates about the Bunong people and their friend Tri. In the weeks that followed after the Irwins left, Kret worked the land with his community and helped to champion the
changes Kate had recommended. His friendship with Tri and Chenda grew strong again. Bindi understood Kret’s new-found passion for his land and the elephants that coexisted with his people. A flame had been lit that would burn brightly for the rest of his life. She knew all about it!
ANIMAL FACT FILE
THE ASIAN ELEPHANT
The Asian elephant is an endangered species with only 30,000 to 40,000 individuals left in the wild.
They are found in fourteen different countries throughout South-East Asia and surrounds.
Asian elephants can live to sixty years old in the wild and up to eighty years in captivity. They can stand anywhere from 2–3 metres high and weigh a whopping 2–5 tonnes.
Asian elephants are large mammals that inhabit a variety of tropical forest habitats, adjoining grasslands and scrub in Southern and South-East Asia.
Among the largest herbivores in the world, Asian elephants’ dexterous trunks and large molars enable them to gather and process up to 150 kilograms of vegetation per day, including grasses, leaves, bark, fruit and farm crops.
Elephants do not drink with their trunks; they use them as ‘tools’ to drink with. Consuming up to 200 litres of water each day, an Asian elephant will fill its trunk with water and then pour the water into its mouth.
The gestation period for an Asian elephant is 22 months. At birth, an Asian elephant calf weighs approximately 100 kilograms. The calf remains with its mother for five years.
Asian elephants hate eggplant, but African elephants love it!
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