Han led a small team to the lower ford while the relief volunteers moved water barrels across by hand. The stream had risen since the scouts tested it, so she sent them out again before bringing Pell’s squad back. Ning stayed on the near bank with the families and counted each load as it moved. She had the volunteers stack the small water barrels above the high-water mark, where a wave could not pull them back into the river. One resident offered to carry two at once. Ning gave her only one; the footing was too narrow to risk a fall. The families watched the crossing without crowding the bank.
Pell’s soldiers were visible on the far side, gathered behind a fallen marker stone. The loyalists still held the bridge. The ford was the only way to retrieve the trapped squad without marching civilians into the span.
The scouts tested the shallow channel with poles. One found a loose rock and marked it with a strip of cloth. The second crossed to Pell, checked the path behind the marker, and came back. The stones held. The current pushed hard against their legs, but it did not sweep them off their feet.
