Tom had to accept Joel’s reasoning—they were in no shape as a group to get down into that ravine and back, and if he’d been alone he would have crossed the fallen tree without a second thought. But he wasn’t alone, and the thought of trying to get everyone across it filled him with foreboding, especially when he thought of the kids who had sprains or were sick and suffering from the heat and hunger. It was at least a forty-foot drop, and if someone fell, the best they could hope for out here was that it would be a sudden death.

CHAPTER 28

It was another half hour before the group was assembled near the base of the tree, muscular roots twisting up into the air and out in all directions. And now that they were standing beside it, the challenge looked more intimidating: the tree sloped down to the other side of the ravine at more of an angle than they’d at first realized, and although the trunk was four or five feet across in diameter, the narrow path they’d have to take along the top of it looked hazardous.

It took Joel a couple of attempts to climb up onto it, but he looked unfazed when he turned to face them then and said, “See the foothold there, that’s how you need to climb up—it’s not hard once you know how.”

Tom glanced at the people standing there, not convinced some of them would find it all that easy. Chloe in particular looked slightly dazed and he wondered if she’d picked up some kind of bug.

Joel tied one end of the rope to a huge, gnarled root, then set off along the trunk. He seemed to mask his own trepidation pretty well, though Tom could see how fiercely Joel was gripping the rope. It was also impossible not to notice that small clods of earth fell from the far edge of the ravine as Joel got nearer, dirt and stones clattering down into the void below.

Joel ran out of rope and tied it to one of the broken branches on the fallen tree itself before hopping the final couple of steps onto the other side. He jumped down, and as he landed he set off another small but noticeable landslide.

Mila, leaning heavily on her metal pole, stared down at the drop below them and said almost to herself, “I’m not sure I like the way the edge keeps crumbling like that.”

Chris started to reply but the words never quite formed before Joel called over to them. “Okay, everyone, it’s completely solid, and believe me, once you’re on the tree, it’s so wide, you don’t even notice how high up you are.” There was a murmur in response, what sounded like nerves rather than skepticism. “Shen, you come across first, then Nick and Sandeep with the first boat.”