11:03 A.M.
AFTER WYATT RETURNED TO the bridge, a wave of dizziness crested over Natalia. She braced her hands on her knees to keep from tipping over. Her breathing was too fast. But she couldn’t tease out how much was from crossing the bridge—and how much from Wyatt’s kiss.
By the time she finally gathered herself enough to straighten up, Wyatt was already halfway back with AJ. Even though crossing the bridge had felt endless, she realized it couldn’t have taken more than a minute or two. Once AJ was on the other side, he gave her a sweaty hug that lifted her off her feet.
After AJ, Wyatt brought over Zion and then Darryl. Each was greeted with more hugs. Next was Trask. Because he was in the child carrier, it took even less time.
As he undid the carrier’s waist strap, Wyatt came over to Natalia.
“Can you watch him while I take back the carrier to see if Blue will fit in it? Beatriz and Marco won’t let me bring them over until they’re sure Blue can go, too.” He made a face. “And I’m going to bring Jason last. I don’t want him scampering off without us again.”
Natalia helped Wyatt set the carrier down and then undid the chest strap. As she did, Trask startled awake. He began to fuss, rubbing his screwed-up eyes with his fists. She pulled him free. The bottom of his overalls bulged alarmingly, and he smelled strongly of pee. When they made it back to civilization, he would probably have one hell of a diaper rash.
“It’s okay, Trask.” Setting him on her hip, she began lightly bouncing him up and down, ignoring the squishy sounds it created. Through some alchemy it was no longer painful to look at him. To hold him. He still reminded her of Conner, but the pain had been leached away.
Twisting up his face, Trask stiff-armed her. Pretty much everything was wrong in his universe. No food, bee stings, little sleep, a wet diaper, being carted around by strangers. He had been remarkably resilient, but everyone reached a breaking point.
On the other side of the bridge, Beatriz and Marco, with some assistance from Lisa, were already stuffing Blue into Trask’s child carrier. They managed to get him more or less into it, but as soon as they attempted to hoist him onto Marco’s back, his rear legs started to scrabble. They pulled him free.
Meanwhile, Wyatt was guiding Susan across. Her eyes were darting around, her lips moving, but Natalia couldn’t hear what she was saying. Wyatt kept up a quiet string of assurances.
They were two-thirds of the way across when Susan abruptly stopped. Instead of sliding along, her right foot stepped back from the bottom chord and found only air. She started to tip sideways. The leash pulled taut.
With a shout that echoed back from the steep sides of the canyon, Wyatt grabbed Susan’s upper arm with his left hand while his right arm hooked over the handrail.
Natalia watched, frozen. She wasn’t breathing. It felt like even her heart stopped beating.
But somehow Wyatt got Susan to shift her body until both her feet were on the bottom chord. At his urging, they began moving again. Still, Natalia didn’t take a full breath until the two of them were safe on her side.
Wyatt began to unwind the dog leash from Susan’s waist. Susan made no effort to help him, her hands dangling at her sides. She seemed lost. Not in her own thoughts, but lost even to herself. Afterward, she let the others hug her, but it was clear by her expression she didn’t understand why, or even who they were.
Before Wyatt went back, his eyes briefly met Natalia’s. The look they exchanged said more than words could have. Her look said she was afraid, and his reassured her, and both of them acknowledged they couldn’t stand to lose the other.
And then Wyatt stepped back up. On the other side, Marco and Beatriz were emptying out Susan’s pack.
Natalia was the last to hug Susan, an awkward sideways hug because she was holding Trask. Releasing the older woman, she said, “Are you okay, Susan?”
“I guess so.” Her brow creasing, Susan looked down at her forearms, dotted with scabs. “What happened to my arms?”
As Natalia explained for the dozenth time, Marco and Beatriz managed to fit the bottom half of Blue inside Susan’s pack. He seemed calmer now that his feet had purchase. Beatriz and Lisa helped Marco lift the pack onto his back. Half curled up, Blue faced forward, both front feet resting on Marco’s right shoulder.
By then, Wyatt was waiting for Beatriz. After hugging Marco, she let Wyatt wrap the leash around her waist. In ninety seconds, she was on the other side greeting the ones who had crossed before her.
Back with Marco, Wyatt threaded the leash under the backpack and around Marco’s waist as everyone fell silent. What if Blue freaked out mid-span? Wyatt had been strong enough to pull Susan back up, but could he pull the weight of a man and a dog? Or what if Blue decided he needed to be free of the pack and leapt?
As they started across, Beatriz pressed her fist against her mouth, biting the side of her index finger. But Blue never shifted on Marco’s back. He didn’t look anxious, just resigned. Even once Marco was on the other side of the bridge, Blue waited patiently to be freed from the backpack.
Carrying Susan’s empty pack, Wyatt made his way back once more. Only Lisa, Ryan, and Jason were left. Ryan and Lisa were pointing at each other. It was clear Ryan wanted his wife to go first, while she was arguing the opposite. Natalia’s stomach growled. She let herself think ahead. In two hours, they could be back in civilization. In two hours, they could be eating. Even the thought of stale hospital saltines filled her mouth with water.
Ryan won the argument. While Jason started refilling Susan’s pack after Wyatt pointed at it, Wyatt put on the empty child carrier with the trekking pole dangling from it, and then began to shepherd Lisa over, more slowly than he had any of the others. She grimaced each time she had to put full weight on her right knee.
Trask had been sunk is his own miserable torpor, but suddenly he stiffened in Natalia’s arms.
“Mama! Mama!” Screaming, he started to thrash. “Mama!”
It was like trying to hold a live eel. He began to slide from Natalia’s grasp and down her leg. She tried to shift her grip, but he just slipped free, landing on his butt with a wet plop. He turned over, pushed himself to his feet, and began to run toward the bridge as fast as his short legs allowed …
Already off-balance, Natalia desperately lunged for him. But Trask was a moving target and she fell short. The tips of her fingers only brushed him before she hit the ground hard.
Trask kept running straight toward his mother, arms outstretched. Lisa was just behind Wyatt, about ten feet from the end of the bridge.
“Mama!” he wailed. “Mama!”
“No, Trask!” Lisa shouted. “No!”
Everyone was now screaming at him to stop, but Trask’s only goal was to reach his mother. Arms reaching for her, he ran the length of the first diagonal, which was about six inches wide. He took two steps on the second before he realized where he was. He looked down. And froze.
He stood teetering. Everyone else had also gone silent and rigid. They only had eyes for the toddler, and the deadly drop below his feet.
Natalia screamed, but only inside her head. In reality, she didn’t make a sound. If she startled Trask and he turned, he would surely slip and fall to his death.
Which he was going to do anyway. It was just a matter of time.
Without making a decision, Natalia jumped to her feet. She started to sprint.
Trask took a step back, away from the drop he could see in front of him. A step back into the empty air.
Natalia’s feet danced over the first diagonal.
Just as Trask began to drop like a stone from the second.
For an odd, warped moment time stretched out. Then it began to tear.
And in that moment, Natalia launched herself into a dive.