Bears Beware! by Bindi Irwin Page B

here you became used to it.
    â€˜Hummmmmf!’ Bindi let out a long sigh. It felt as if tomorrow would never come. Bindi was itching to get out the next day and see a bear in the wild!
    She looked over to see Katrinatossing on her bed on the other side of the room.
    â€˜Are you awake?’ Bindi asked her friend.
    Katrina rubbed her eyes. ‘That sigh was loud enough to wake my parents!’ She laughed and sat up. ‘Only joking. I can’t sleep either.’
    Bindi grimaced. ‘I can’t stop thinking about that horrible family and their bear hunt.’
    Katrina felt exactly the same way. ‘I just don’t understand. Bears are endangered all over the world, but here on Kodiak, the Kodiak bear population is actually healthy. So they allow bear hunting! How does that make sense?’
    Bindi was so agitated that she leapt from her bed and began pacing the room. ‘They want to make a rug out of one!’
    Katrina nodded and sighed. ‘My parents are petitioning to try to get hunting banned. And we think the hunters have retaliated by badmouthing us on tourism web-sites, which has hurt our business.’
    â€˜That’s terrible!’ exclaimed Bindi. It made her even madder about the hunters. ‘Is there anything we can do?’
    Katrina shook her head sadly and shrugged. ‘There is a certain amount of permits issued each year to hunt a Kodiak bear. It costs thousands ofdollars, but it’s completely legal if you can afford it. And hunters like Hank Robbins are ruthless. They’ll do anything to get results.’
    Bindi shuddered. ‘There has to be a way. That awful father and son should not be allowed to get their “trophy”. Ugh, I hate that word.’
    Suddenly Katrina had an idea. She hesitated as she spoke. ‘There might be something we can do.’
    Bindi was all ears.
    Katrina looked anxiously at her friend. ‘But we could get into heaps of trouble.’
    Bindi met her friend’s eyes. ‘Not as much trouble as the bear, though!’
    Katrina made up her mind. ‘You’re right.’ She sprang out of bed to begin dressing. ‘We’ll need to make some preparations while Mum and Dad are asleep. Are you in?’
    Bindi couldn’t get her clothes on quickly enough. ‘If it saves a bear’s life, you bet I’m in!’

The next morning Bindi and Katrina were washing up their breakfast dishes when Tony and Mia arrived downstairs in the kitchen.
    â€˜You’re up early,’ commented Mia as she helped herself to a cup of coffee.
    â€˜We … we wanted to get a head start on sightseeing. Bindi’s really excited about checking out the island,’ Katrina hastily explained. She blushed bright red and hid her face as she energetically dried a plate with a tea towel. It was obvious to Bindi that lying to her parents didn’t come easily to Katrina and she felt bad for her friend.
    â€˜What did you have in mind?’ beamed Tony as he joined his wife at the table. ‘We could give you a lift.’
    â€˜Oh no, it’s okay,’ broke in Katrina. ‘We’ll use the bikes.’
    The girls nearly tripped over each other in their hurry to finish the dishes and get out of the kitchen.
    â€˜See you, Tony, see you, Mia!’ Bindi gave them a wave and the two girls rushed out of the kitchen.

    Bindi and Katrina were gathering their gear together out in the shed beside the house. The family owned a few bikes that they used for their ecotours so it was no problem for Bindi to find a bike and a helmet that fitted. During the night the two friends had filled two daypacks with food, water and various supplies, which they now slung over their backs.
    â€˜Let’s hit the road,’ whispered Katrina with a furtive glance towards the house. ‘We want to catch the hunters as they head out or we won’t know where they’re going. Hank lives outside of town, so it’s a bit