Hildy's bridge

Hildy's bridge is the only crossing over The river for miles, and its position between sheer cliff edges makes it both a necessary route and a vulnerable choke point. When Todd Hewitt and Viola are pursued by Mayor Prentiss’s riders, the bridge offers them a way forward—and the possibility of using the same narrow passage to hinder their pursuers.

Setting and Strategic Position

The bridge spans The river roughly thirty or forty metres above it, joining one cliff edge to the other. On Todd and Viola’s side, the path reaches the bridge; beyond it, the route gives way to rock and dense forest. The terrain leaves them with no apparent alternative crossing.

The span is well made: its wooden planks fit so closely that Todd cannot see through the gaps between them, and crossing it feels much like continuing along the path. Yet the bridge’s sound construction also makes it a conspicuous bottleneck. Todd recognizes that it is the only place to cross for miles in either direction, while dust from the approaching riders signals how little time remains to decide what to do with that advantage.

Crossing Under Pursuit

Todd and Viola run across the bridge as the hoofbeats grow louder behind them. Once they reach the far side, Viola turns back toward Todd. He still holds his knife and sees it as a possible means of doing some good, but the bridge’s setting and the riders’ approach make escape a problem of buying time, not simply reaching the opposite bank.

Viola acts on the opportunity. She takes out a Portable firebox, chooses a sizeable rock, and smashes the box. She twists it until it cracks further and begins leaking fluid, then carries it to the bridge and flings the fluid across the knots on the nearest stake, shaking the last drops into a puddle at its base. The riders are coming up to the bridge as she works, making the preparation a race against their arrival.

The Blast and the Bridge’s Role

As the riders close in, the firebox clicks once more and detonates. The blast produces a fireball far larger than the small amount of leaking fluid seemed to promise; it sucks the air from Todd’s lungs, and the world goes quiet for a moment before another boom follows.

The scene turns the bridge from a route of escape into the focal point of a defensive attempt. Todd’s first response is to think of his knife as power; instead, Viola uses the broken Portable firebox and the bridge’s exposed stake knots to set an explosive trap. The evidence establishes the force of the blast, but does not describe the bridge’s subsequent condition.