'I need more men!' Asayaga shouted.

Dennis grabbed one of his soldiers and sent him up the hill to get those working on the barricade to come down. The women and children who had been watching from the mill instinctively came out and Asayaga directed them to the cables.

'We need to hoist the log, and push the root-end forward at the same time!' Asayaga shouted.

Kingdom troops came swarming down the road. Dennis had suggested that horses be used but Asayaga had refused because the ground was too slippery and if only one of them balked, or worse yet took off in the wrong direction, the whole enterprise would be lost.

Asayaga detailed men off to the two ropes and waited for a moment as several of them brought up a short length of log and set it across the butt of the span so that more men could press in on it.

A Tsurani, showing remarkable bravery, clawed his way up the inverted V, carrying a small bucket of butter carried out from Wolfgar's. It was all they had to use for grease where the ropes crossed over the top of the V. Dennis could see that with proper equipment like a simple block and tackle, the entire job could be done by a dozen men. Now it would have to be brute strength and a prayer that the ropes did not snap under the strain, that the log didn't hang up in the sling, and that the Tsurani had indeed made it long enough.

The men struggled on the ropes and gradually hoisted the front end higher, while at the other end the Tsurani pushed the span forward. The next twenty feet gained came fairly easily but there was still another eight to ten feet to go. A precarious balance was reached when the log was high at the far end, but was now so steeply angled that no more forward purchase could be gained.

'Another hour, damn it, and I could have made a pivoting sling and swung the whole damn thing over with twenty men!' Asayaga cried, looking over angrily at Dennis.

'We don't have an hour.'

Asayaga held up both hands. 'No one move!'

All fell silent.

'Men on the ropes, the angle is too steep now. As we push on the log, slowly give way and lower it back down.'

The men still leaning into the rope nodded. Asayaga slowly motioned with his hands and a few feet were surrendered. Then he barked a command and those pushing on the root-end gained a bit of ground. The log suddenly stopped and Dennis could see where one of the slings had slipped backwards several feet.

Asayaga saw it as well and cursed under his breath.

'Cut the supports for the hoist,' Dennis said, 'As it pitches forward run the log out.'

Asayaga looked over at Dennis with an icy glare. 'I'm running this.'

Dennis was ready to flare back but saw that all around the men were watching them, the tension ready to explode. He sensed that if the log tumbled over and went into the river a blood-bath would ensue.

He slowly extended his hands. 'You are the engineer, Asayaga, but if we are to save those children we have to do this now.'

Asayaga looked at the children manning the ropes and then back at the sling. He quickly stepped up to the edge, studied the log and the hoist, then stepped back. 'Get off from up there!' he shouted, and the man with the butter threw the bucket aside and slipped back down.

'All right, Hartraft, but if it all goes over the edge it's your decision.'

'Our decision, Tsurani.'

Dennis picked up an axe and went to one side of the hoist, Asayaga doing the same at the other side. Both ends of the hoist were resting on the bridge. If they cut them loose at the same time, he reasoned, the entire affair should pitch forward, dropping the log on the far side.

'Get ready,' Asayaga cried and raised his axe. 'When it starts to let go, you men on the log push forward. On the ropes, let go when you can't hold it any longer and don't get tangled.'

He looked over at Hartraft, then nodded and brought his axe down.

Dennis struck at nearly the same instant and the ropes snapped free, parting with an audible crack. Groaning, the hoist began to pitch forward, slowly at first and then in an instant crashing over.

The men on the end of the log shouted and ran forward, throwing their weight in.

Dennis looked up and saw the far end of the log slam down on the opposite span, bounce, hold precariously and then roll, as if about to go over the edge. A groan rose up even as the men on the root-end continued to strain, driving forward. The log snagged against the side railing of the bridge, barely a foot of its length secured to the other side.

No one moved for a moment, as if all feared that an errant step, even a word spoken, would cause the log to roll and fall. The hoist, like a crudely-fashioned necklace hung to either side.

'We need a man across there,' Asayaga hissed. 'Someone light. Get Osami.'

The boy stepped forward, nodding as Asayaga explained what had to be done. He pulled off his cloak and tunic, looked at the log, then sat down and yanked off his boots as well. Barefoot, he took a long coil of rope and slung it over his shoulder while Asayaga tied another rope around his waist. Asayaga grasped the boy by the shoulders, then let him go.

The boy stepped up onto the log and everyone fell silent. He swallowed hard and looked over at Dennis. 'I save Richard friends,' he said calmly, and then he was out over the chasm, walking slowly, upright, arms extended.

No one spoke as he placed one foot in front of another. The log sagged in the middle and it shifted slightly and a gasp went up as the boy seemed to sway, then regained his footing. Reaching the middle, he climbed over the ends of the hoist, advanced half a dozen feet then stopped. The rope trailing behind him had snagged on the hoist. Gingerly he reached down and started to untie the rope around his waist.

'Go back and unsnag it, Osami!'

Osami shook his head, untied the safety line and let it drop.

Dennis looked over at Asayaga and could see the tension in him – not just for what had to be done, but for the boy. Loosened from the tether, Osami started up the final length, the angle of his climb steepening so that he had to lean forward. Again he almost lost his footing and this time a cry went up from everyone watching.

Regaining his balance, he scrambled up the last six feet and flung himself onto the far side.

A wild cheer went up, and Dennis looked back to see more than one of his men slapping a Tsurani on the back, exclaiming over the bravery of the boy.

Osami did not hesitate. He deftly wrapped an end of rope over the log, moved back a way and flung it around a stone abutment, then ran the rope back, weaving half a dozen lengths back and forth, throwing what little weight he had into each weave then finally tying it off. Then he slid back down the log and grabbed hold of the end of the rope snagged on the hoist. Turning, he started back up, the men cheering him on.

He started to look back, smiling, and his feet slipped out from under him. Before Dennis could even react the boy plummeted, swinging in a long arc downward, desperately trying to hold on to the rope.

Asayaga braced himself, holding the other end, coiling it up over his shoulders and stepping back, screaming for Osami to hang on.

Still holding the rope, the boy swung down like a pendulum, arcing under the stone span until the rope snapped taut, nearly dragging Asayaga over the side. Dennis leapt on top of Asayaga as he lost his footing on the icy pavement and the two of them crashed down together, Dennis grabbing the rope as well.

He heard the sickening thump of the boy hitting the rocky slope under the bridge and then Osami swung back into view.

Half a dozen men were now on top of the two commanders, grabbing hold, helping to pull the boy up, and at last Dennis was able to reach over the side and grab Osami under the armpits even as the boy started to lose his grip. Other hands reached out, pulling Osami up over the side, a couple of men nearly plunging over into the precipice in their eagerness to help.