Chapter 15 - On the Road

The three set off with heavy bags and heavy hearts, but knew deep inside themselves that they must move on. Due to a severe oversight in their planning, they also set off with no map. Consequently, they had not been travelling two hours when they had to pull up short. A faint roaring sounded in the distance, as a flooded river sounds when it pours through a ravine several kilometres away. And indeed, that was exactly what was causing the noise.
A sudden and treacherous ravine was carved through the rocky landscape, and through it a river hurled itself, dark and fierce, tossed into white peaks where jagged rocks stood in its path. Silence fell over our group of intrepid travellers, as they stared down with awe. The river seemed omnipotent. There was no hope of crossing.
“We can’t cross that,” said Barney, sitting down on a convenient rock.
“Maybe if we follow it upstream we can find a place to cross,” suggested Celia, in her annoyingly sensible way.
“We can swim it,” said Sammy, who had forgotten briefly that he was not yet immortal. This was ignored.
Celia pulled Barney up, holding his hand. Barney’s heart fluttered. He decided he would have to sit more often in future. And so they set off upstream, alongside the top of the ravine. Celia marched a little grumpily. If her suspicions were correct, their failure to cross the river here would add at least a week to their journey. Sammy also marched a little grumpily. He was annoyed that his brilliant idea had been ignored so completely. Also, he didn’t feel entirely comfortable walking along the cliff-edge. He wasn’t afraid, though. Sameus Rufus Pegasus wasn’t afraid of heights. Sameus Rufus Pegasus wasn’t afraid of anything. Barney alone walked with a spring in his step. In this harsh landscape, so bare of plant-life, the tree demons had not bothered him for days. And Celia had touched him. Maybe she was growing to love him back. He smiled.
They walked for hours in silence. Their path began to climb. Celia wished she had remembered to ask for a map. Barney was tired and growing discouraged. Celia had not touched him again, or even spoken to him all morning. He was so tired – his wonky limbs were not meant for so much exercise. Sammy was becoming more comfortable with walking along the ravine-edge, until he missed his footing and slid perilously close to the edge. He didn’t say anything, but his legs trembled and his heart thudded in his chest. He moved away from the edge.
When it began to grow dark, they stopped and set up camp. Sammy surreptitiously herded his friends away from the edge. He congratulated himself on persuading them to move without them noticing his fear of heights. Not that he was afraid.
They supped on fish left over from the wedding feasts, and bundled themselves in furs. It was cold at night in this part of the land.
They rose early, after a night of shivering and little sleep. After packing up their bundles, they continued along the precipitous path. It was a clear path now, but narrow and flanked on the right by a steep and shaky slope rising out of sight above them, and on the left by a sheer cliff stretching down to white water. It began to rain. By mid-morning, Barney was too tired to fear falling, and Celia was too cold. Sammy was too scared to notice the cold or how tired he was. He had remembered that he was not immortal. He forced himself to put one foot in front of the other, sticking like glue to the right of the path.
There was nowhere to stop on the path, so they did not eat lunch. The path led them up, until the water was so far below that its roar faded beneath the sound of the rain on the rock faces. The rain poured, stinging faces, soaking skin and slicking stone. Several times, a foot slipped, and breath was caught in throats. But each time, they regained their footing and carried on without a backward glance. It was all Sammy could do to stop himself taking Celia in his arms and holding her still, huddling against the wall and refusing to move. But he didn’t. He was Sameus Rufus Pegasus, and he was not afraid of anything.
And then it happened. Celia’s foot slipped, as it had twice before. But this time, though she waved her arms wildly and grabbed at the rock wall with desperate hands, the weight of her pack was too much. It pulled her across the slippery path. She felt Sammy clutching at her arm. Then there was nothing under her feet.