The failed secret crossing of the Rainbow River turns a clandestine escape into a struggle for survival. With no legal passage available to them, Tiuri and Piak accept a small boat from Ferman and set out at midnight. The river’s dangerous current, hidden rocks, and the boat’s leak defeat their plan: the boat sinks, and Tiuri reaches the island with Piak, but neither has crossed to the far bank. The attempt leaves them exposed, separated from the means of escape, and still responsible for getting Tiuri’s message to the king.

Ferman’s Offer and Its Conditions

Ferman offers the possibility of crossing when he reveals that he has a boat hidden nearby. The help is illegal, and he makes clear that he could be punished for lending it. Since Tiuri and Piak have no gold coins to pay him, Ferman tosses Piak’s coin and treats the result as his decision: if it lands on one side, he will help. It does, and he gives the coin back. The gesture makes the offer both deliberate and contingent; Ferman presents his assistance not as a service owed to the travelers but as a risk he has chosen to take.

His permission is limited. Ferman tells Tiuri, who says he can row, that he may try the crossing at his own responsibility. He will show them where the boat is once darkness falls, but they must never say that it belongs to him. He has already been imprisoned twice and does not want to go back; if the two are caught, he will not help them. Their cover story must be that they happened upon the boat and took it. Ferman’s warning is not incidental: the crossing depends on keeping his aid secret, even as the hazards of the route make discovery a real risk.

Midnight Departure into the Current

Before setting out, Tiuri and Piak go to a farm, where work is promised for the following morning. They receive bread and milk and a place to sleep in an empty barn. They wait until they hear a clock strike twelve, then slip back toward the river. Ferman’s prediction has come true: it is a dark night, with little to see. The cold makes them shiver, and the darkness compounds their unease. They follow the narrow beach downstream; the river is audible, while the bridge is barely visible and a few windows in the castle still show light.

Ferman appears suddenly and leads them the last few steps to the boat, which lies partly drawn up on the shore. Its oars are inside. Piak notices how small it is and worries that it might overturn, but they proceed. Ferman advises one of them to row and the other to keep watch, while acknowledging that there is little the watcher can make out. He estimates that after roughly thirty strokes they will approach an island, where the current twists in several directions. They must keep clear of its submerged rocks, though the alternative routes are watched: a toll post lies farther on, and the bridge is also likely to expose them. Past the island, he says, the river itself should pose less danger.

Tiuri decides to go. He knows the crossing is hazardous and remembers having rowed on the Blue River before. Ferman pushes the boat away, and Tiuri takes up the oars. At first his strokes are awkward, then improve. The current is strong; the boat turns and rocks, and Tiuri concentrates on controlling it as Ferman and the shore disappear into the dark. When he pauses, the current immediately turns the boat off course, so he pulls at the oars again. A distant light appears on the shore they have left, perhaps the watch post Ferman warned them about. They can see neither the far bank nor the rocks clearly.

The Leaking Boat and the Island

Piak discovers that his feet are getting wet. Water is standing in the bottom of the boat, and the boys cannot tell whether it was there from the start or whether the hull is leaking. As the water rises, Piak finds a small bowl and begins bailing. Tiuri tells him to scoop steadily and move as calmly as possible. The boat is plainly leaking, but Tiuri hopes that they can reach the other side if Piak keeps removing the water. A wave suddenly strikes and turns the boat half around. They suspect they are near the island, just as the unstable current begins to pull at them from different directions.

Tiuri’s hands hurt from rowing, and the effort brings pain from his recently healed wound. Piak divides his attention between bailing and watching for the island, and seems to have overcome some of his fear. Then the boat hits a submerged rock with a jolt and a crack. Tiuri manages to free it, but it is filling fast. A second collision makes the boat rock violently, and Piak is thrown overboard.

Tiuri drops the oars and, for a moment, feels unable to move. He calls for Piak, swims and dives in the rough dark water, and reaches for him until he hears a faint response and finds him. Tiuri tells Piak to keep afloat and not to grab him, because that would make swimming impossible. Holding on to the struggling boy, Tiuri directs him to lie on his back and says he will pull him. The boat is probably already sunk; the island is their only chance, though the rocks could still dash them against it. Piak stops struggling, and Tiuri swims toward the island with him in tow. At last they find solid ground beneath their feet.

Stranded, Not Across

Reaching the island saves them from the immediate danger of drowning, but it does not complete the crossing. Tiuri is bruised and breathless; Piak lies very still, and Tiuri bends over him and shakes him. Piak eventually says that he is all right, though wet and angry. Their relief is qualified by their position: they are only halfway across the river, and the boat is gone.

Tiuri recognizes that daylight will bring a serious chance of discovery. Swimming the remaining distance might seem like a way forward, but it is dangerous, and he cannot take Piak with him; attempting it would mean leaving him behind. Piak objects, warning that Tiuri could drown and that the message would be lost with him. He says his own fate matters less: the toll lord might put him in prison the next day, but he has been imprisoned before and expects he would be released. Tiuri answers that if he stays, the message will not reach the king either. The crossing thus ends not in safety but in a new impasse, with the mission and the travelers’ survival bound together.