where the earth was porous , the melted snow seeped down into it , and where it was bedrock , the melted snow washed down the rock into gullies and sinkholes , and the spring waters , hidden deep within the earth , rose up to meet the snow waters , and the little cabin seemed like a small ark to charles , where he felt safe , but he was afraid for his mother , who had disappeared into the world of magic animals and forest and unpredictable waters that sank into the earth and rose again as floods upon its surface .