Beck was ripped off his feet and flung forward a couple of metres as the weight of Jonas falling pulled him forward — and then suddenly the rope stopped, dead. At the same time Beck heard a pained “oof!” come out of the hole in the snow that had just appeared where the crust had collapsed.
Other bits of the crust crumbled away in either direction, revealing more of the crevasse that had swallowed Jonas up.
It ran at right angles to the path of the glacier, parallel to the route the boys had been taking. It had been lurking right beside Jonas, not in front of him at all, and he had stepped sideways into it.
Beck fought to shift his body round into a rough sitting position where he could hold the rope better.
Then he heard a shout. “Beck? Beck!”
Jonas’s voice came out of the hole, rising in panic, which made Beck close his eyes in relief. It didn’t sound like the voice of a boy who had been badly hurt — just frightened.
“It’s ok. Keep calm. I’ve got you!”
The rope had done its job. With the weight of Jonas at one end, the rope had cut a slice into the raw ice of the glacier, running through and then up and along to where Beck strained against the weight of his friend.
Beck dug his heels in and leant against the strain.
“Just get me out!”
The crevasse had sheer, almost vertical sides of blue-grey ice. It looked to be about thirty metres deep. Without the rope, the fall would have killed Jonas outright. Even if somehow it hadn’t, it would have broken his legs for sure, and then death would have followed with Jonas unable to move.
Jonas was dangling with his head about two metres below the level of the glacier. The loop was tight around his waist and he clutched the rope with both hands. His feet scrabbled at the side of the glacier, barely to get a purchase. He levered himself up a very short distance, his toes jammed hard into a minute crack in the side of the crevasse. His upturned face was red and frustrated.
“It’s really tight and the rope is too thin to climb.”
“Okay.” Beck could hear his laboured breathing, and it wasn’t just the effort of climbing. Hanging like he was, with the rope cutting into his torso, Beck knew Jonas would be in excruciating pain. Leave it too long and Jonas would suffocate as the rope pulled up and tight against his chest.