he felt the ground start to give way under his left foot ; feroze rushed towards him and grabbed for the parcel ; christopher flung himself forwards , resisting the momentum that threatened to propel him backwards , and let the parcel fly out of his hand just as feroze came at him from the side ; feroze got hold of the parcel , but in doing so , lost his footing and disappeared with it into the big hole that opened up in the ground beneath him .