Eritopia

River Rescue

They pushed it down the bank and into the river. Martin retrieved the rope and tied one end onto a metal ring on the side of the boat. He threw the other end to Tom, who wrapped it round the trunk of a small alder. 

Martin climbed in as Tom gave instructions. 'You'll need to use the oar to keep the boat steady when the river takes it. The current will force you downstream away from the bridge. Hold the oar with the blade against the flow to keep it in place. Then row. When you get to a bit of the bridge use your hands to get to the next gap.'

Martin began to edge along the first section. The rope coiled out behind. As he came to the first gap the current caught the boat and pushed it away from the bridge. He thrust the oar into the water. With slow, deliberate strokes he pulled against the flow.

'Turn the blade flat against the current. Use your shoulders, heave!' Tom shouted from the bank.
Martin grimaced as he tried to hold the oar down in the water. It was taking all his strength to keep it in position. He began to drift downstream.

'I can't hold it, the current's too strong!' he shouted back to Tom.

Tom picked up the rope and started winding it in. 'I'll bring you back,' he shouted.

'No!' Martin wasn't going to give up. It was almost as if he had his father in the boat with him. 'I knew you couldn't do it,' he imagined him saying. 'Send a boy to do a man's job.'

He strained with every sinew to turn the boat toward the middle section of the bridge. His efforts began to have an effect. The boat edged toward the bridge again.

Martin pulled the oar through the water, again and again, and the boat responded. As he reached the next section he grabbed hold of the bridge. His arms ached and his hands were cold. He sat there trying to get his breath back. He looked up and could see the wolf, rabbit and little man ahead of him.

He pulled himself to the next gap. He was more than halfway across now. He picked up the oar and the current took the boat again. He used the oar to steady it, and this time it didn't drift. There was one section left to aim for. By holding the oar against the side of the boat he found he could get more leverage, and he reached the last part of the bridge.

There was only the gap to the bank to negotiate now. But when the river took the boat again, he didn't have the strength to hold it. It drifted away from the three onlookers. He was fifty paces downstream and still it kept drifting. He pushed with the oar, summoning one last effort, and finally touched land. He crawled out, pulled the boat onto the bank and lay breathless on the grass.

Then he picked himself up and ran towards the others. Not-Bear instinctively stepped in front of Jod and Map.

'Don't worry,' the youth panted, 'I mean no harm. I'm a friend of Tom's.' He moved past them, pushed his arm into the hole, and began pulling the handle. Out in the river a familiar gushing began, then the missing parts of the bridge rose into view.

'Well, well,' said Jod.

'You go across,' the boy said. 'I'll stay here to release the bridge afterwards. I have so much to ask you. Are you all from the Inside? Tom has told me about you but I never thought I would see the like.'

'I'm from the Inside,' said Not-Bear. 'I'm a wolf.'

'I can see that. I recognise you from picture books at school.'

'I'm Map. From here and there.'

'Jod, from the Forest,' and the little man shook Martin's hand.

'Martin, of the City. Now go, before we are discovered.'

Not-Bear led the way to the bridge, which creaked as they stepped on to it. It creaked and shuddered as they edged forward.

'Keep to the middle,' Jod said as he held on to Not-Bear's tail.

Map slipped and slid after them. They could see Tom Tall on the far side, hand raised. He was shouting but they couldn't hear anything above the rushing river. Step after step they moved forward. The bridge swayed from side to side. The pole above them groaned and the wires that connected the sections with it pinged. In the middle the movement seemed to settle. As they neared the other side it began to swing again.

Ahead of them Tom shouted encouragement. Time seemed to slow, until they reached the last section and Tom shepherded them off the bridge. They sat in the damp grass on the side of the river.

Tom then waved across to Martin and after a few moments the bridge began to shudder, creak and separate again. First three sections disappeared under the foaming water. Then Tom moved over to a metal box by the side of the section he had been standing on. He pushed an identical handle to the one they had seen on the other bank, and the other half of the bridge started to collapse. Martin had retrieved the boat and was in the water. Tom began to pull him back across. At first the boat veered wildly across the river, heading at pace downstream. Then, slowly, with Martin paddling and Tom heaving at the rope, it came towards them.

'You made it,' Tom said to the others, when Martin finally stepped onto the grass. 'I will admit, for a while there I was worried. We heard you were coming, but these things are always hard to predict.'

'How did you know...?' Not-Bear started, but Tom raised his hand.

'I'm sure you have many questions, but now is not the time. Here on the river we are very exposed. My home is only a short distance away, I suggest we go there. I'll try to answer all your questions when we are safe. Agreed?'

The others nodded. They had come too far to argue now.