His father nodded, giving him a grim look. "No, we can't. You lead, I'll follow."
He was oddly touched by his father's trust in him. He hadn't felt that trust in a long time, maybe not ever. There had been no respect between them since he'd been seventeen years old. But now they would need to work together in order to survive and to get to Hannah and Kelly. God knew what was going on with them. But he couldn't think about them. He couldn't let fear or worry get in the way. He had to focus on one step at a time.
Using the knife at times, he was able to cut their way through some of the brush. They finally came out on the other side and made their way down the road. As they went around the next curve, they stopped abruptly. His heart sank. The bridge over the Whisper River had cracked and broken away, half of it now submerged in the icy water below. It wasn't a long bridge, just twenty feet across, but that twenty feet now seemed almost insurmountable.
"Damn," his father said, giving him a troubled look. "We're trapped."
"Not trapped," he said decisively. "We'll just have to cross over at another spot."
"There's no other spot, Jake. We can't cross the river. The ice isn't solid enough."
"Don't tell me what we can't do. Tell me what we can do," he snapped, angry at the situation more than at his father, but he was the closest target.
"Why don't you tell me?" his father countered.
"I'm thinking," he grumbled. "We're not giving up. We just have to figure it out. There has to be a way." His mind raced with possibilities, but each one seemed impossible. They couldn't cross the river for the reason his father had given. They could follow the river in either direction and possibly find a narrower place in which to climb across, but he didn't know this area that well, and they could waste far too much time, only to end up exactly where they were.
"We need something to get us across the river," his dad said. "Something long and sturdy enough to take our weight."
"Like a huge branch of a huge tree?"
His dad smiled. "Think we know where to find that?"
They were both so excited to have a possible solution that they practically flew down the snowy road. The wind had eased, which was helpful as the snow wasn't so blinding. After searching for the right branch, they found one they thought was long enough. He cut through some extraneous thinner branches to release the one they needed, and then they dragged it toward the river.
It took more than a little effort to get back down that road, but adrenaline was giving them the push they needed.
Then came the most difficult part: getting the branch across the river. It took them several tries, and Jake groaned in frustration more than once. Finally, they were able to span the distance. The branch was still somewhat precarious, but it was probably the best they were going to be able to do.
"I'll go first," he said.
"Be careful," his father said, worry in his eyes. "Even if it doesn't break, if it gets dislodged, you could end up in the river."
"I know. Once I get to the other side, I'll be able to secure it better so you can cross." As he took one step onto the thick branch, he felt like he was about to walk the high wire. He wasn't as worried for himself as he was for everyone else. There was no way an ambulance or the police could get past that tree in the road, not without some heavy-duty equipment to clear the way. There was no help coming, and if they didn't get somewhere warmer, they could freeze to death before they had a chance to help Hannah. There was a lot riding on this high wire. But he was up to the challenge.
Every fearless thing he'd ever done in his life had prepared him for this moment. He had the agility and he had the confidence. He could not be stopped.
He lowered himself close to the branch as he made his way across the makeshift bridge. It creaked and groaned at times, and the wind whipping up the branches didn't help, as it sometimes blinded his gaze with snow. He didn't look back. He put his focus on the hilly incline in front of him. He could hear his dad shouting words of encouragement, which felt more than a little surreal, but he had to admit it was nice to have the support.
He was almost to the end when the branch suddenly shifted and slid three feet down the opposite embankment. He held on, not breathing, until it came to a stop against a rock. How long that rock would hold was anyone's guess. He moved once more as carefully as he could. Finally, he was able to step off the branch, his feet hitting the ground.
He took a few breaths, then looked around for some rocks to bolster the stability of the branch. He set them around the bottom of the branch and positioned himself in a way that would hopefully prevent the branch from sliding again. Once that was done, he motioned for his dad to cross.
He'd never really thought of his father as an athlete, even though he'd heard about some of his athletic accomplishments as a kid. But all the while he'd been growing up, his father's expertise had been in science and medicine. His brilliant brain had been his most impressive quality.
Now, watching his sixty-two-year-old father cross the river on a narrow branch without much more trepidation than Jake had had was quite an eye-opener. Maybe he'd gotten more from his dad than he'd realized. He might not be following him into the world of medicine like his brother, Paul, but they both had a cocky confidence and enough athletic skills to overcome some
