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I started down the steep bank, and despite , I slid most of the way I had tried to pick a spot on the bank that ell coated with snow Even so, there was mud up the back of my trousers before I reached the bottom, where my boots sank into the ooze, but only a few inches "Spink, Caleb Co to watch theh the shallow ice at every step I scrarass as handholds By the time I stood on the other side, I was filthy Spink, to ht behind nored him, he crossed He had to use the rope to pull hiht but no real muscle on his frame We reached down, hauled hi off our hands I realized that Captain Maatching us, a peculiar smile on his face I wondered if this was his idea of a practical joke on all of us I grinned back at hiave a wave to show I could take it Then I turned back to our task

I had never built a rope bridge, but I’d seen pictures of theo for the si across to walk on and another line above it to hang on to as we crossed I saw the other three patrols immediately halt in their efforts and look at one another as if trying to decide if that was the plan they should have pursued

Half an hour later I had proved to e The saplings that grew close to the edge would not take our weight; we had torn three of them up by the roots The ones that were further back were too far ae didn’t have enough rope I had made at least four trips back and forth across theto find a way to anchor the rope to the bank itself Trist, to my surprise, had turned to it with a will He had not ventured into the muddy creek, but he was al the rope to various shrubs that we then uprooted Gord had served e by his oeight; it hadn’t worked Oron had fallen in the creek once and Rory twice Our ti out The only consolation we had was that the other patrols were faring just as badly as ere If I had not spoken ht have been able to trade our long board for another patrol’s coil of line, but it was too late to do so now

I sat down for afourboard as a balancing pole, we hadn’t been able to get Spink across That was ignoring the probleer probleer act as an anchorlanced at Maw He was bundled on his bench, reading his book and s us I was tired, cold, and muddy, but the frustration was the worst I did not think Maould give us a task with no solution I tried to think back over all our constructions in his class, trying to co that would be a clue to the solution

"We’re running out of time!" Trist announced

"Does anyone have any ideas?" Spink begged I heard hi it open to anyone to take the command from me and save our patrol That felt like a knife indown from the sky above, shed from some unseen bird that had flown overhead, was a perfect black wing plume It spun as it came down, shaft first, and neatly twisted itself into sohtly in the chill wind

The e of the abyss What had anchored those flies? Only feathers driven into the sand, and twists of spiderweb I had wood for stakes, athee to the earth itself There ed across the creek one more time to whisper my plan to my fellows If it succeeded, I wanted the success to be ours

We worked feverishly, cutting our stakes and sharpening the our lines Our limited supply of toolstools back and forth We ended up with two parallel lines that barely spanned the divide We had untwisted our short piece of re rope into the twine and used it to fasten the crosspieces we had cut fro piece as a balancing pole I stood back and looked at our "bridge" and wondered if even a rabbit could cross it safely We had barely finished it when Captain Maw stood, took out his pocket watch, looked at it, and shook his head "Five entlemen!" he announced to us There were shouts of dismay and frustration from the other patrols