Creeeak.

Even amidst the sound of rain and the roaring current, the creaking of the bridge pierced their ears.

The bridge was leaning slightly to the right. Though it hadn’t completely collapsed yet, a large boulder from above was poised to crash down; if it hit just once, the bridge would fall instantly.

Eloise stared at the bridge in dismay, then heard Richard shouting from the opposite side.

“What? A rope?”

Looking around at the front of the bridge, she saw a rope stretched out to their side.

If there had been trees on both banks, they could have tied the rope between them, but there was only a tree on Richard’s side.

Richard must have prepared the rope ahead of time, just in case, before the two arrived.

Meanwhile, Ryan inspected the bridge. It was already starting to tilt, and so weakened that it looked like it would collapse under the weight of an adult.

But they couldn’t just stand by and do nothing.

Ryan set Andrew down. The lamb in Andrew’s arms couldn’t even cry, soaked and shivering in the rain.

“Andrew!”

“M-mom!”

At that moment, Mrs. Ogilvy appeared on the other side. She tried to cross, but people hurriedly held her back.

“Ma’am, calm down!”

“Andrew! Andrew!”

When Mrs. Ogilvy called his name, Andrew tried to run across the bridge to her.

Ryan caught him and began tying the rope Richard had prepared securely around the boy’s body.

“What are you doing?” Eloise asked in surprise.

“We can’t cross, but Andrew might make it before the bridge collapses.”

“But what if it collapses while he’s crossing…?”

“If that happens, they’ll have to pull him across from that side as fast as possible.”

Eloise’s face turned pale at Ryan’s words. He was planning to send Andrew across the collapsing bridge.

What if it gave way while he was crossing?

Eloise looked down at the raging current beneath the bridge. All sorts of debris swept down from above were swirling in the water. Even if they pulled quickly, Andrew could still get seriously hurt.

“Wouldn’t it be better to climb up the hill and wait for the rain to stop…?”

“It’s not that I haven’t thought of that. But what if the rain gets worse? If the embankment fully collapses, even the hill won’t be safe. If we get caught up in that, our chances of survival are very slim.”

“….”

Eloise couldn’t argue, because he was right.

Ryan finished tying the rope tightly around Andrew’s body.

He knelt down and spoke to Andrew.

“Andrew, you’re going to run to your mother now. Can you do it?”

Andrew looked at the bridge with fearful eyes. He was young, but he knew the bridge was dangerous.

At that moment, one of the sheep the villagers had brought from the village approached the bridge and began to bleat.

As if answering, the lamb in Andrew’s arms bleated too. It was clearly the mother.

Hearing the mother’s cry, Ryan looked at Andrew again.

“Can you take this lamb to its mother?”

Andrew hugged the lamb even tighter. Realizing someone was depending on him, a determined look appeared in his eyes.

“…I’ll try.”

At Andrew’s answer, Ryan immediately led him to the front of the bridge.

“No, no! I’ll go! Let me go!” Mrs. Ogilvy cried out.

“I can do it!” Andrew shouted, shaking his head.

“Don’t hesitate—run straight across in one go. Remember the race in Blissbury’s garden?”

Before the party, Ryan had watched over the children playing in the garden, even while greeting guests.

He’d held a running race with candy as prizes. Andrew had won.

Perhaps recalling that happy memory, Andrew’s face brightened for the first time since the ordeal began.

“You were faster than anyone. You can do it.”

Encouraged by Ryan, Andrew found his courage and stepped up to the bridge. Richard shouted from the other side.

“If you fall in, we’ll rescue you right away! Just run!”

There was no time to hesitate. As if starting a race, Ryan counted behind Andrew.

“One, two, three! Run!”

At Ryan’s call, Andrew dashed across the bridge. The slanted bridge was difficult to run on.

He stumbled a bit, but made it across without incident. Just as everyone thought he was nearly there—

Crash!

A boulder slammed into the bridge below with a loud noise.

“Ah, ah!”

Andrew wobbled. At that moment, Richard realized what was happening and shouted.

“Pull!”

The villagers, gripping the rope, yanked with all their might. As Richard reached out and grabbed Andrew, the bridge finally gave way and collapsed completely. At the same moment, Andrew landed safely in Richard’s arms.

“He’s safe!”

“Andrew!”

Richard handed Andrew into Mrs. Ogilvy’s embrace.

Mrs. Ogilvy sobbed as she hugged her child, and only then did Andrew, truly back in his mother’s arms, relax and begin to cry.

The mother sheep bleated, searching for her lamb, and Andrew joined in crying.

Watching from the other side, Eloise also shed tears of relief. But the real problem was just beginning.

“We’re isolated now,” Ryan said, his voice a mix of relief and anxiety. Eloise felt the same.

Andrew had safely returned to his family, but not Ryan and Eloise. Now they were stranded with no way out.

Eloise looked at the stream below the bridge, now swept away. It had once barely reached the children’s knees, but now it was a raging torrent.

Had the end of the embankment started to collapse too? Even beneath the darkening sky, she could clearly see red mud flowing down with rocks.

It wasn’t water anymore, but thick, fast-moving mud.

Rumble.

A deep tremor shook the ground from above, and the mud began to sweep toward where people were standing.

“Back! Move back!”

People screamed and retreated.

Eloise and Ryan did the same. Ryan grabbed her hand and hurriedly pulled her up the hill.

The red mud chased after them, as if trying to catch up.

Rumble!

The sound grew even louder. Even without seeing it, everyone knew—the embankment had completely collapsed.

The rumbling of boulders shook the earth. With the sun setting, the light was fading. The pouring rain rendered all the lanterns and candles people had brought useless.

Only the faint white of people’s clothes in the distance marked where anyone was.

Ryan and Eloise reached the top of the hill.

Gasping for breath, Eloise looked at the house.

“I never thought I’d come home like this.”

Her house, the highest in Feltham, was now their refuge.

But they couldn’t bring themselves to go inside. If the mud pouring down from the embankment buried the house, they’d be trapped and die.

Yet being outside wasn’t much safer.

The two of them leaned against the wall of the house, listening to the sound of the mud sliding down.

Is this the sound of the world collapsing? Eloise shivered at the deafening noise she’d never heard before.

At that moment, Ryan squeezed her hand tightly. The warmth of his grip let Eloise know she wasn’t alone in this darkness.

She squeezed his hand in return.

In the pouring rain and encroaching darkness, the only thing they could feel was the warmth of each other’s hands.

The sound of the world collapsing continued.

How much time passed like that?

The endless roar finally began to fade. Blinking her eyes, now accustomed to the dark, Eloise looked down the hill.

The mud had stopped advancing just about ten paces from Surberton’s house.

Ten paces.

Death had given up its pursuit, leaving the two of them with that distance to spare.