Chapter Six

Crossing the next seven metres was Katrin’s idea of her worst nightmare. She seemed to be moving painfully slowly, her eyes kept darting from the slightly-fraying rope which tied the planks of wood together to make the raft, to a substantial-sized gap between two of the planks which surely hadn’t been there before? But at last she reached the opposite embankment and wasted no time in springing up onto it, clutching the rope tightly in her hands. Once she had it safely secured around a tree trunk, she proceeded to unload the raft’s contents onto a spot of ground at a safe distance from the edge of the river. She worked quickly and tried to keep her mind focused; she wouldn’t let herself think about the return journey, just yet. But in no time at all, the raft was unloaded. It was time to face the inevitable journey back to the other side.

Meanwhile, Meredith waited with baited breath. There was something in Katrin’s expression she had never seen before, and it was disconcerting to see her look so... so... But fear was never a word one associated with Katrin.

The second journey went without any major, or minor for that matter, catastrophes. As Meredith carefully took her seat and was endowed, once again, with baby, of whom Katrin had been given charge whilst Meredith clambered on board, she studied the fraying rope and the widening gap between two of the planks rather dubiously. Most likely just her imagination. Or was it...?

Katrin found this journey the most difficult. Perhaps it was because she was so determined that nothing would go wrong. The oar felt like lead; the raft seemed barely to be moving at all; the baby began to whimper. Katrin felt her forehead growing moist and her grip on the oar tightening. She kept her gaze fixed straight ahead, her lips pursed. The silence was deafening. Even the birds had ceased their chorus as they regarded the raft and its passengers with much interest. Did they have some kind of sixth sense which warned them that disaster was about to strike? The air was growing thick with tension. It grew so thick that Katrin could hardly breathe.

And then, at last, they reached the embankment. Katrin used the oar to carefully draw them in along beside it. Meredith wasted no time in giving Katrin charge of the baby and springing up onto the safety of the bank. Her heart was still beating wildly. She had never really felt as terrified as she had done on the raft. Stepping onto the grass was like waking up from a nightmare. But little did she know that the nightmare was only just about to begin.

She leaned over to take the baby from Katrin. It was then that she noticed it, or rather, noticed the lack of it: a piece of rope was floating on the surface of the water, and it was only too apparent where it had come from. Several of the planks which had made up the raft were beginning to float away also, one after the other, like a procession of soldiers, with no intent in returning from whence they had come. Her heart sunk to her boots and she let out an ear-piercing scream.

Katrin whirled around but it was too late; the planks beneath her gave way, and with a desperate cry she plummeted into the murky water.