The Bridge at Ketterby

What it looks like, and what it does

An old humpbacked stone bridge over a brown river in mist. A traveller on the crown, standing very still, the far end impossibly far off. Moss on the parapet in the shape of two open hands.

Passive until someone steps on. Lengthens, silently, as needed. Returns to fourteen metres the moment the traveller sets down what they brought.

What is known

The bridge at Ketterby is fourteen metres long. Walkers who carry resentment find it takes them hours.

It lets through all who are willing. Locals say you cannot lie to it. A man who crossed in four minutes and said he held no grudge was believed. Another who said the same took six hours and wept at the middle.

What it can do

• Lengthens itself for anyone who crosses with a grudge
• Shortens for those who have put it down

Where it stops

• Cannot stop anyone from turning back
• Has no effect on vehicles

An encounter

Whitlock started across at nine and was at the middle at ten. He sat down on the parapet and took out a letter he had been carrying for four years. He did not read it. He tore it small and let it go. The far bank was close enough to touch. He looked at his watch. It was nine-oh-six.

Jonah Whitlock, rambler, Ketterby footbridge, A misty morning, October

What is established, and what is only said

• established: The ledger has 6,400 entries. Crossing times range from nought to nineteen hours.
• rumor: That the bridge has been crossed in no time at all by one person, once.
• interpretation: It may not be judging. It may only be keeping the distance honest.

Still unresolved

A ledger of crossing times is kept in a tin box on the parapet by an unknown hand. The fastest recorded time is 0:00, signed by the bridge.

Where it has been recorded

• Ketterby (confirmed) — Recorded by Jonah Whitlock, rambler.

Connected entities

• The Interpreter — Neither can be lied to. Both stand where two sides meet and make the distance between them true.