The four men were standing around a caved-in hole in the path — two on either side — and as they swept their flashlights over the surrounding area, it wasn’t hard to figure out what had happened. The boy had clearly come along the path — his blood-spotted trail in the snow was unmissable — and it was equally obvious from the undisturbed snow on the other side of the hole that he hadn’t gone any farther. The ground must have been weakened here for some reason — maybe a badger or a fox had burrowed in under the path — and the weak point must have given way when the boy stepped onto it. There was very little snow on the steep-sided slope of the valley, so it wasn’t quite so easy to track the boy’s descent, but there was still enough evidence to show that he’d fallen — scuffs and skid tracks in the dirt, broken branches — and besides, where else could he have gone?

“I told you not to bring your damn dog,” Davey Price said to Geoff Crocker. “Olive told us the kid’s scared of dogs.”

They were both gazing down into the valley, sweeping their flashlights around, searching for any signs of life in the darkness. Molly the dog was sitting beside Geoff Crocker, and he had her leash gripped tightly in his hand.

“What was I supposed to do?” he said to Davey. “I couldn’t just tie her up to the gate, could I? And anyway, I thought she could help us.”

“Yeah, right. She was a great help, wasn’t she?”

“I was only trying to —”

“Hey,” one of the other two said, “this isn’t the time for arguing, okay?” His name was Athel Wright. He glared at Davey and Geoff for a moment, then peered down into the valley. “There’s a young boy down there somewhere. He might be seriously hurt — in fact, I’d be surprised if he isn’t — and even if he’s not hurt, he’s scared, he’s cold, and he’s alone in the darkness.” He looked over at Davey and Geoff. “We need to find him as soon as possible.”

They both nodded.

Davey put his flashlight in his pocket, cupped his hands to his mouth, and started shouting down into the valley. “HEY! HELLO? ARE YOU DOWN THERE? CAN YOU HEAR ME?” He paused, listening. Then tried again. “IT’S OKAY, DON’T BE SCARED . . . WE JUST WANT TO HELP YOU . . .” He paused and listened again, but there was still no response.

“We need to get down there,” he said.

“It’s too steep here,” Athel observed. “We’ll either have to head back along the path and cut down one of the tracks where the slope’s not so steep, or else keep going this way, take the steps that lead down to the river, and then come back along the path through the woods.”

“Which way’s quicker?” Geoff asked.

Athel thought about it for a moment, then said, “I think it’s probably best to go back the way we came and cut down into the woods.”

“We could split up,” Davey suggested. “Two of us go back, the other two go forward.”

Athel shook his head. “We stay together. One lost soul’s enough on a night like this. We don’t want to lose anyone else.”

Before they left, Davey called down into the valley again. “WE’RE NOT LEAVING, OKAY? WE JUST NEED TO FIND A WAY DOWN. WE’LL BE WITH YOU AS SOON AS WE CAN.”