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Eventually, she’d decided that although the river looked like the easier option, it probably wasn’t. You couldn’t be certain about undercurrents or blockages that could prove lethal. Better to be scratched by a million thorns than swept away in a sneaky and dangerous current, so she put on as many items of clothes as she had with her, and braved the thickets.
It was a route that should have taken half an hour at most. If the thickets hadn’t been there, that is. Butwiththe thickets, it took four hours. Four long hours of fighting with thorny brambles, getting stung by nettles and bitten by bugs. And when she finally emerged — bleeding, exhausted, and dehydrated (where was that river when she needed it?) she thought for a moment about giving up.
She couldn’t check her location because she didn’t have a working smartwatch. She should’ve taken Rip’s compass when she had the chance.
Of course she should have taken his damn compass. She’d known at the time, but there was no way she’d have given him the satisfaction.
Luckily, she remembered checking Georgia’s map last night and seeing that her destination point was a rocky outcrop at the base of a mountain. Problem was, there were no mountains in sight. Just the one behind her, steep and gray and foreboding. And she knew for sure that wasn’t her mountain, becausehermountain was one of a pair. That one wasn’t.
So, she was well and truly lost. She’d probably gone the wrong way entirely. Maybe it had happened while trekking through the thicket. More likely, it had happened before that. For all she knew, she could have been heading in the wrong direction ever since she’d separated from the rest of the group. She had been so sure of herself that she hadn’t even checked the GPS on the smartwatch back when it was working. Just like usual, she’d been too headstrong.
Stupid, stupid, stupid.
She sat down on a rock, defeated, and began to cry.
“Why me?” she shouted out, her voice tiny and afraid. “Why is it always me who messes up? Who tries to be the best and always ends up being the worst?”
She sighed.
“Because you’re a fighter,” said a deep voice behind her. A resonant voice, almost musical like a drum. The sound of her guardian angel.
Or…
Oh no. It was the opposite of her guardian angel. It was Rip Steele.
“What are you doing here?” she tried to ask, but her lips and tongue were so dry she had a coughing fit.
“Here,” he said, handing her a bottle of water. “Drink this. Take sips first. And eat this cracker slowly.” He handed her a cracker with a great big dollop of shame on the side.
“Go on then,” she said hoarsely. “How did you find me? You put a chip in my shoe or this smartwatch is actually some kind of military tracking device?”
“No, sweetheart,” he said — more kindly than she’d been expecting. “I found you because I reached my target on Day One, so I thought I’d trek to yours.”
“Wait, so thisismy target?”
“See that rocky outcrop at the base of the mountain you just passed? It’s there.”
“But the mountain I was looking for was one of a pair.”
“Nope,” said Rip. “There’s a smaller peak on the west side of the mountain — maybe that confused you?”
Mabel was still thinking about the fact that Rip hadn’t just reached his target. He’d reached hers too. “You honestly completed your trek in a day?”
“Nobody else in my group seemed up for the competition. So I left them behind. Much easier that way.”
Mabel laughed. “You know, I never thought we had anything in common. But looks like we had more than I thought.”
“That should do the trick,” said Rip, hammering in the final peg on his tent. “You’ll get some good rest in there, and keep hydrating, and we’ll head back in the morning.”
It was a very basic tent — just some tarps and sticks — but Mabel climbed into it gratefully. Rip had looked after her well since he’d found her. He’d fed her snacks, made her drink a ton of water, and even checked her pulse by holding her wrist and checking her watch. It felt good to be looked after by someone.
“What about you?” she asked. “Will you sleep in here too?” That was strange. Her voice sounded so young all of a sudden. So Little. She had never felt able to be Little around him before. Not truly Little. There had been some baby talk, but no real vulnerability.
“You don’t need me in there, cramping your style,” Rip replied. “I’ll be just fine out here by the fire.”
Mabel felt a sting of sadness. All her life, she’d pushed people away from her, but right now, after being rescued by this man, she felt like she wanted to pull him closer to her. Figuratively speaking, of course.
“I’m still feeling a bit shaky,” she said. “Any chance of a song or a story before I go to sleep?”
