35 The Bridge

35 The Bridge Rockwell looked up. The clouds were a long way above them now and, although it was still raining, It was more drizzle than stair rods. Little-Bit leaped from the bobsleigh. 'That,' she shouted, 'was the best ride I've ever been on! I can't believe you managed to surf around that snow bowl, Peanut. A genius move! It was totally radical!' 'I can't believe I forgot the brakes.' Peanut was furious

with herself. 'So irresponsible. I'm sorry, guys. They had come to rest halfway down the mountain, in a huge bowl-shaped dip. 'So now what?' Rockwell said. ' Well, I reckon we've put a fair distance between ourselves and the screaming fish,' replied Peanut, 'but, even so, we'd better get a shift on.' She looked towards the edge of the bowl. ' Wait. Is that a bridge?' Sure enough, there was a narrow and very rickety-looking rope bridge stretching out over a gorge. It sloped down, at a slightly terrifying angle, to a ridge thirty metres below them on the other side. A further thirty metres beneath that was

a huge expanse of dark water that looked like it had been painted with very thin poster paints. 'That must be Inky Lake,' said Peanut. 'Come on. There's no time to waste. They walked to the edge of the bowl where the bridge was anchored. Peanut noticed that several of the painted planks of wood that made up the decking were either rotting away or missing entirely, and at least one of the pencil ropes that the bridge was suspended from looked very straggly and worn. Peanut took a deep breath. 'OK, I'll go first. Doodle and Little-Bit can follow, and Rockwell, you bring up the rear. Gingerly she put her right foot on the first plank. It moved much more than she thought it would, dropping several inches as she put the tiniest bit of weight on it. She grasped the waist- height ropes that acted as both handrails and main source of suspension, and held tight. She carefully took another step. Again, the bridge moved more than she would have liked, but this time sideways. She felt like she was standing on a hammock. 'It-it's fine. We've just got to take it slowly. Five terrifying, wobbly steps later she realised that the others hadn't moved an inch. Doodle was now lying on his belly and looking like he wasn't going anywhere. 'Well? What are you waiting for?' she shouted. At that exact moment, a loud, snapping sound came

from somewhere in the middle of the gorge and one of the handrail ropes instantly lost all of its tension. It came flying back towards the group like a jet-propelled snake. The entire stretch of decking rotated ninety degrees and disappeared from under Peanut's feet. She grabbed the one remaining handrail. Little-Bit screamed. I'm OK, I'm OK!' shouted Peanut unconvincingly as her feet dangled over the void beneath her. 'Quick! Pull me back up!' Then there was a second snap.