Alice answered him, “I’m not sure we’ll make the river before nightfall anyway, so I guess it’s better to keep stopping if people are sick or tired, just to be safe, you know.”

Unspoken, but there all the same, was the suggestion that they didn’t want another needless death like Freddie’s. This time, though, no one seemed to be ill. As they began to bunch up, it became clear they’d reached a natural obstacle.

Tom and Chris put the boat case down. Others had once again collapsed onto their backpacks, taking no interest in what lay ahead but flopping down lifelessly, some of them not even bothering to slap away the insects that landed constantly on their exposed skin.

Chloe looked sick from the heat and Chris went over to sit with her. George and Alice walked up to find out what was happening and Tom followed behind, to a point where the tree canopy seemed to thin out—though with the burnt orange sky, it wasn’t much lighter there.

Almost immediately Tom saw the problem. A huge ravine cut through the jungle in front of them. He was amazed it hadn’t been visible from their vantage point above the plane.

Where they were standing was about ten feet higher than the far side, but even that was probably forty or fifty feet above the bottom, and the two sides were at least thirty feet apart. The rocky bed far below was dry, though once again, the steep banks showed signs of the water that poured down here when the rains came. As it was, it looked like a fissure, as if the earth had been ripped apart.

Tom saw Joel and Shen, and made his way toward them.

Shen said, “Tom, help me out here. I think we should scout a place where we can get down and back up the other side.”

The way the banks were overhanging in places, almost hollowed out, there was a good chance they’d collapsed here and there, offering a way down, but finding an entry point would be another thing.

“What’s the alternative?”

Shen pointed over his shoulder, past Joel. A tree had fallen to form a natural downward sloping bridge to the other side. It seemed precariously balanced, but it was obviously Joel’s choice.

Joel ignored Tom. “Shen, bro, we’re running out of time, and people are too tired to be climbing down there and back out again. We’ve got a rope, so we’ll tie it on this side. I’ll carry it across to make sure the tree’s stable and tie it over there as a guide. It’s the only way.”