Escape from the icehouse

Escape from the icehouse is the children’s escape from an immediate attack by the Hollowgast, made possible by Bronwyn’s strength and her refusal to leave the danger behind. The rescue unfolds in two forceful blows: an ice trough crashes onto the creature, and the icehouse itself collapses around it.

The Hollowgast and the Ice Trough

With the Hollowgast’s tongues reaching the children, Enoch cries that they will never make it; one tongue touches his cheek, and he screams. Emma starts to count them into motion, but Bronwyn acts before they can run. She launches herself at the creature, drawing its attention, then rams Martin’s ice trough with her full weight and wedges her arms beneath it. As it tips, she heaves the enormous trough—with its ice, fish, and Martin’s body—through the air and down onto the Hollowgast. The crash interrupts the creature’s attack and creates the opening the others need.

Through the Wall

Bronwyn spins back toward the group and shouts for them to move. She collides with the wall beside Jacob, kicking a hole through its rotten planks. Enoch dives through first, followed by Emma; before Jacob can object, Bronwyn grabs him by the shoulders and throws him outside. He lands chest-first in a puddle, but the cold is welcome after the Hollowgast’s tongue had threatened to close around his throat. Emma and Enoch haul him upright, and the three run from the icehouse.

Bronwyn Brings Down the Building

The escape is not complete: Emma stops and calls Bronwyn’s name when she realizes Bronwyn has not followed. The children scan the darkness, reluctant to run back, until Enoch spots her leaning against a corner of the icehouse. At first she appears to be hugging the building. Instead, she steps back, takes a running start, and rams her shoulder into its corner support. The structure collapses like a house of matchsticks, sending pulverized ice and splintered wood blowing down the street.

Aftermath and Reversal

Bronwyn runs back with a manic grin, and the children cheer, hug her, and laugh in the pelting rain. Their relief gives way to shock as they absorb what has happened. Emma then asks Jacob how the wight knew so much about him and the group. The immediate danger has passed, but the escape leaves a larger threat in view: their attacker’s knowledge was not random, and the children must now confront how much it knows about them.