“We’ll head back into the trees,” the president said as I helped him out of the freezer. “They won’t be able to find us in there, right? You can use your skills and —”

“It’s too far.” I glanced back at the forest on the other side of the wide, muddy bank, and remembered how the men had slipped down from the helicopter on ropes. If they saw us running across the mud, it would be easy for them to drop down at the tree line and stop us. They would shoot me and capture the president.

“It’s our only chance,” the president said, starting in that direction. “Come on.”

“No.” I stopped him. “Help me with this.” I grabbed his jacket and tugged at him, encouraging him to help me push the freezer toward the raging river. The froth was boiling at the banks, kicking cold spray into our faces.

He resisted, looking back at the trees, then turning to search the mist for the return of the helicopter.

“They’re too close,” I shouted. “We’ll never make it before they get here.”

Always the helicopter. Always coming at us like a nightmare that wouldn’t give up.

“But —”

“You said you believed in me! I’ve fought for you, tooth and nail, just like I’m supposed to. Like Hamara said. You have to help me with this. You’re mine and I know what to do. Haven’t I got you this far?”

He looked at me, grimacing with pain and doubt, then glanced back at the sky as the familiar thud of the helicopter grew louder and louder.

“All right,” he said. “I’m in your hands.”

“Then push this into the water.” I put my shoulder to the freezer chest and dug my toes into the mud.

“My God, you want to use it like a boat?”

“No way,” I said. “We’d never survive the waterfall in this. I have a better idea.”

“Waterfall?”

“Just help me get this in the river,” I shouted. “It’ll make us harder to find.”

Now the president seemed to understand what I wanted to do. If we left the freezer chest on the bank, Hazar and Morris might spot it from above — a white box lying in the dark mud — and it would make their job easier. If we put it in the river, it would disappear forever.

It only took a couple of good shoves for us to get it right to the edge and tip it into the raging torrent. As soon as the water touched it, it skewed the box and snatched it away, dragging it into the main current. The freezer bobbed and spun as it raced along in the white water of the river, then it was gone.

“What now?” the president asked. “Bury ourselves in the mud? Jump in?”

“Close,” I said. “Come with me. I have a plan.”

We were both in a bad way, aching and hurt, but we supported each other as we stumbled along the riverbank, moving in the direction of the flowing water. Above, the helicopter circled, buzzing this way and that as it searched for us.

“We’re lucky to have the mist,” the president said.

“The forest sent it,” I told him as we came off the mud onto a more solid part of the bank. There was thin grass here, and large rocks that funneled the water toward the falls.

“You really think so?”

“Of course.” I had to shout over the noise of the river. It was getting louder all the time now, drowning out the searching helicopter, but the president didn’t seem to notice, he was so deep in thought.

“Well, it’s the only thing keeping us safe at the moment, but …” He shook his head and stopped.

“But what, President?” I encouraged him to keep going, moving forward to our escape.

“Nothing.”

“Tell me,” I shouted.

“They have access to satellite feeds. I saw it on Morris’s phone when we were on the mountain. It was right there on his screen, an aerial picture of him and me and the helicopter. If they have that, then they’ll have access to thermal imaging, too. That means —”

“It means they can see our body heat, right? I’ve seen it on a video game.”

“Yeah, of course you have. Well, it means the mist won’t help us, and that … oh my God.” The president stopped. “This is your plan?”

Just ahead, the riverbank disappeared. It fell away as if we had come to the end of the world and there was nothing more beyond it. Nowhere else to go. Squinting into the patchy mist, though, we could just about make out the surface of Lake Tuonela more than a hundred feet below.

“We’re going to jump,” I shouted.

“No way!” The president tensed and started to turn back. “No way!”

“It’s fine.” I grabbed him and made him come with me to the edge and look down. There wasn’t much to see, though, because the water spilled from the river, cascading over the black rocks, and disappeared into the sheet of mist that swirled below us.

“We can’t jump over there, Oskari. We’ll die.”

“No, we won’t,” I said. “I promise.”

I kept hold of his jacket and led him farther along the cliff top, telling him to be careful not to slip on the rocks. We kept on, moving away from the main spout of the waterfall, until we came to a rocky ledge that jutted out across the lake, to the left of the place where the bulk of the river smashed into the surface below.

“It’s safe to jump here,” I told him. “Take off your jacket.”

“No way.” The president shook his head and limped back. “I’d rather take my chances back there with them.”

“They’ll kill you.” The noise of the water was like thunder, my voice almost lost to it.

“This will kill me. If they wanted to kill me, they would have done it already. I’ll take my chances.”

“They’ll kill me,” I shouted. As we spoke, I took the bow and quiver from my back before unfastening my camouflage netting and shrugging it off to the ground. I removed my jacket and took the fire kit from the pocket before throwing it to one side.

“They don’t want you,” he said. “They want me. If they get me, they’ll forget about you.”

“They’re not getting you,” I shouted at him as I secured the fire kit in the zip-up pocket of my hoodie. “They’re NOT getting you!” Crouching, I took out my knife and cut strips from my camouflage netting, twisting them into cords. “Take off your jacket.”

“This is not a good idea, Oskari,” the president shouted in my ear.

“Trust me. I first jumped over these falls when I was five years old.” I put one of the cords around his waist and fastened it with a tight knot.

“What?” He looked stunned.

“I jumped with my dad. I’ve done it many times since.” I put a second cord around my own waist and secured it. “Now, take off your jacket.”

“Many times?”

“Well … twice. But I know it’s safe. I’ve seen lots of people do it. We all do it when we are five.”

“Are you people mad?”

“No! I told you — we have to be tough.”

“Well, you’re right about that.”

I took the third cord and looped it around the one I had put on the president, slipping it under his belt for extra security.

“When my dad and I jumped,” I explained, “we tied ourselves together like this so we couldn’t be separated.” I put the other end of the third cord around my own and secured it with a good knot. “If you don’t take off your jacket, it will be more difficult for you.”

The president swallowed hard and fixed his eyes on mine. “Well, I guess if you could do it when you were five …”

I jammed my knife back into the sheath on my belt and clipped the fastener before putting a hand on my pocket to check that my fire kit was still there. With that done, I collected the bow and quiver, making sure they were secure. I had everything I needed to survive.

“And you really did this when you were five?” he asked, slipping out of his jacket and throwing it down into the lake where it wouldn’t be found.

“Yes, really. Now jump!”

With that, I shoved him hard over the edge, and threw myself after him.