With the chain and hook, they dragged the four chosen logs up the hill, where the warriors got to work planing the logs to roughly the same thickness with their shovels.
It wasn’t the most precise use of tools ever, but the logs split well enough when the enchanted tools hit them, and Sister Betty had managed to pick out four that were long enough to span the gap between the two hills without the need for any fancy joinery or a brace in the middle.
They were well over a metre around, which the driver assured them would be enough to drive the bus over, as long as he was careful not to give them too much of a jolt. But he had plenty of practice at that, since not everywhere that he had to go to recover teams was on a proper and improved road.
Karl worked to get the far bank ready as they worked, creating a ramp out of a spare log to roll the bridge deck into place. The plan was simple. Once they finished working the logs, they would attach a chain to either end and toss the other end to Karl, who would pull the log across the river, and let it float to the foot of the road.
Then, with Thor on his side and the warriors on the other, they would pull the log up and into place. Repeat that with all four logs and it would be done.
In theory, it was simple, and they could have it done in an hour or two.
“Ready for the fun part?” Dana called once the warriors had the first log chained up and ready to move.
“Toss it over, and we will see if the plan is good. Just remember, send it a bit upstream so that we don’t have to drag it against the current.” Karl called back.
The chain came sailing over to his side of the river, and Karl pulled it tight, with the eager help of Thor. The log slid smoothly into the river, and the two of them moved a bit further upstream, keeping it on course until they had their end on the shore, and they were ready to pull it up their makeshift ramp.
“Alright, shift positions, and we will pull together. We have to keep it squared up between the two sides, or it will fall back into the river.” Karl called as he prepared to shift the log up the freshly created hill.
“Got it. We will adjust to match your side, just keep it nice and smooth.” Dana called back.
The warriors had nominated her to be the spokesperson for the team, since her Golems were the strongest and would be doing the majority of the work.
The two sides moved, and the chains pulled tight again, moving the heavy log into place, then dragging it across the footing that they had designed into the gravel ramps.
The log was about four metres longer than necessary, but with a bit of adjustment and some digging, they had it in place, and they were ready to do the second one.
“This one will be easier. We can just take a short chain and pull it across the other log. I recommend the Golems do it, in case something goes wrong, and they fall in the river.” Karl suggested.
“That should be fine. With my two, and then the gravel Golem, we should have plenty of power to get the log moved. We measured them all when they were here, so they’re all the same length. Is the other side ready for it?” Dana replied.
“It will be before they get here.”
The three Golems easily dragged the log over and dropped it in place, then assisted Karl in getting it rotated with the flat side up and level with the other log.
Now, they had a foot bridge two metres wide, and the third and fourth logs went into place with ease.
All that was left was to bury the ends and drive a few posts into the road base at either end so that they didn’t shift apart when the bus drove across it.
They didn’t have any spare rope, nails or anything else to fasten them, but with the flat of the shovel, Karl had plenty of strength to hammer a fence post sized log into the ground on either side of the bridge deck. That would have to be enough to hold them, at least until a crew with more equipment could come and make a better bridge, or fix the main road.
The driver walked down to admire the handiwork once Karl was finished the process, and whistled in appreciation.
“You know, for such an amateur endeavour, you lot actually built one of the better field bridges I have ever seen. Just the fact that you had the strength to move those huge logs instead of using smaller trees makes all the difference.” He informed them with a pleased smile.
“Well, Hawk and Thor say that the ground on the other side is pretty good, how does it look up there? Can we start moving the bus?” Karl asked.
“Yeah, we can. I will ask that all the students take their bags and cross first, then I will drive the bus across with the tow cable attached to the front.
Even if the bridge collapses, Thor and the Golems should have the strength to pull the bus back to shore, and we might be able to drive home.” The driver explained.
“Good enough for me. The Gravel Golem says the base is sturdy, and I’m choosing to trust its expertise. We will see you on the other side. Then, we will hook Thor to the tow cable, and he will walk in front of the bus until we’re back on a proper road bed.
That will give you warning if the ground is soft, and he can give you some extra forward motion when needed.”
It would also help tire out the Cerro a bit more. He didn’t get outside nearly enough, and the beast space was refreshing. So even if he played with the bashing pillar in there, he didn’t really get tired.
Keeping Thor exhausted from play was good for his development, or so Thor insisted. His logic was that you had to work muscles constantly to make them grow big and strong. Now, that sort of logic also held true for humans, but with the Serum, they were all growing big and strong without the extra help, so it likely wouldn’t stop Thor from growing if he didn’t put in the work.
Hawk, on the other hand, believed that you just needed to stay active to avoid being lazy, and Rae maintained that just waiting in your web for prey to play with was better than wearing yourself out for no good reason.
So, Hawk floated in the sky overhead, Thor got ready to pull the bus around all day, and Rae cut up pieces of the lizards that she had caught in her web last night to see if she could find out how they managed to inject venom into things without making everything they ate taste like poison.
For purely scientific reasons, of course.
Karl went back to the bus and grabbed his gear to rejoin Thor on the far side of the river where the other students were waiting, and the driver began to make his way down the rocky slope.
The ground was still a bit soft beneath his tires as the bus made its way over, but the thick mat of roots was enough that the bus wasn’t going to get bogged down, and the rocky decline provided ample traction, though it couldn’t be good for the tires.
The driver stopped when he reached the bridge, and the recovery cable was run out to be held by Dana’s Golems and Thor.
He carefully moved forward, but the sturdy tree trunks didn’t budge at all as the bus rolled onto them. There was a slight flex as the back end reached the middle, but Karl thought he might be the only one who could see well enough to tell.
It was no threat to the bridge’s integrity, and the driver had no problem making it back up out of the river valley to the high ground to reload the students and begin their trip back to the road.
“That’s the hard part done. Everyone, please get back on the bus and settle your luggage, I will be ready to go in five minutes.” The driver instructed once he was parked on level ground again.
“Is having Thor out front going to slow you down? I know the Lightning Cerro isn’t renowned for their walking speed.” Karl asked.
“We don’t want to be going at a high speed anyhow. With a bus full of people, even five or ten kilometres an hour is enough that it will be a rough ride in here over the open fields. We should be just fine with him as our guide.” The driver assured Karl, with a thumbs up for Thor, who had the chain from the tow cable looped around his chest and in front of his legs like the walking harnesses that people put on small dogs.
Karl took a seat near the front so he could communicate with Thor, and the small procession began its crawl across the fields, with Dana’s two golems flanking the bus to help keep away stray monsters.
Hawk keened out a relieved cry as they were finally moving again. He had circled from the bus to the bridge four times already, and checked for every sign of soft dirt that he knew. There were some signs that the rodent tunnels had flooded in some areas, and he was ready to lead them around those spots, but they would be on top of the ridge the whole way to the second bridge.
