They did have to go the long way around, but eventually they got to where the bridge had been. There were lots of kids standing around and some adults too. There were big orange painted barrels blocking the road, so people wouldn't drive their cars too close. Mrs. Jackson had to park her car down the block. They got out of the car and went over to look. Baartock thought he saw Jason, but he wasn't sure. Besides, seeing the bridge was more important, right then.
The water hadn't really gotten that high, though the stream was moving very quickly. It was easy to see what had happened. The water had washed away the dirt around the supports, and then the supports had started to move, and the span had fallen down. It was lying, broken and twisted, in the rushing water.
Baartock's mother was interested, but she could see what she wanted from where she was standing. Baartock and his father walked right to the edge to examine the wreckage.
"Don't get so close to the edge!" a man in uniform shouted at them. He started to come over to tell them to move back.
"I look at bridge," Baartock's father growled at the man.
"Yes sir," said the man, backing away. Most of the other humans nearby backed away also.
His father looked at the way the bridge had been built from where he was standing, then suddenly, he jumped into the stream.
"Hey! Help him! Get a rope, somebody!" the man in uniform was shouting. He came rushing to the edge to find Baartock's father standing, quite calmly, waist deep in the rushing water, examining where the supports had been.
"Hey! Catch this," the man shouted, starting to throw the rope.
"Stop!" Baartock's mother had come over. "He working. You stop or he get angry."