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So that afternoon, while everyone was getting ready for the opening of the convention and Eric’s keynote speech, I got into my car and headed for the mainland. At first, I wasn’t too worried by the few drops of rain that spilled slowly onto my windshield. I kept my eyes peeled on the narrow road which led along the northern coast of Cape Cod. With some luck, I’d be back in Boston in a couple of hours.
I could hardly concentrate on the road as thunder cracked in the distance, and the drops of rain grew more frequent. I knew that it had been my fault that Eric and I ended up in bed together that afternoon. But at the same time, hadn’t he encouraged it? Hadn’t he invited me onto the boat? Hadn’t he taken me out for that wonderful lunch? Hadn’t he asked me all those questions about myself, made me feel comfortable in his presence?
A call came in on my car display screen. I pushed the button to answer.
“Hey!” said a familiar, cheerful voice. “How are you?”
“Julia?” I said.
“Um, hi,” she said. “Sorry for calling. I was just wondering if you’re coming?”
“Coming where?”
“Mark Menckel’s hosting drinks in his suite. There’s a bunch of us here.”
“Uh, no. Sorry, Julia, I can’t come.”
I hung up with her. Typical. The minute I made a new friend, I had to leave; I sighed as I came to a fork in the road. Which way? If I followed the coastal path, I figured it would take a lot longer to get onto the main highway. So, I hit the accelerator and headed up the narrow path that led away from the water.
I knew I was kidding myself—the truth had been that I wanted Eric, and I’d craved his body. There was something about him that satisfied me in a way I’d never been satisfied before. I’d been able to make lots of time for dates and dating throughout the last few years. But somehow, I’d never met anyone like him. Was it just his fabulous wealth that impressed me? No. It was everything—his charm, his ease with people, and his ability to make any situation an enjoyable one or at least seem so. And the way he held me, the way he tossed me around and took charge in the bedroom. I caught myself blushing in the rear-view mirror as I rounded the corner and stopped.
“Wait,” I muttered. “This isn’t right.”
I stared down the track. I was going in the wrong direction—back to Barnstable. The road just looped around. How long had I been going in a circle? I thought I was seeing the bay. I now realized that I was facing in the wrong direction—in the distance I could see Martha’s Vineyard, rapidly fading away in the darkness.
Time for a little extra help. I pulled out my phone and opened Mapquest to try and find out how to get out of there. It’s harder to navigate where I’m at because of the weather. I wasn’t exactly ‘lost.’ I think I knew how to get back to where I came from.
Then, lightning struck. A flash lit up the front window of my car and I saw a jagged outline. Black spots were in my eyes, and then there was a deafening crack, the sound traveling slower than the sight of the lightning bolt. It must have fallen less than half a mile away.
“Yikes!” I said and dropped my phone. It thudded to the floor of my car and I bent down to pick it up. The rain was falling harder now an insistent pitter-patter on the car. And I could see the wind whipping it from side to side.
My data wasn’t exactly the best as I waited for my Maps app to load. “Come on phone,” I said weakly, shaking it as if it would make it work faster. “Don’t fail me now, huh?”
I clipped it into the hands-free holster and drove on slowly, waiting for the app to load. I had to get out of this storm before it got any worse. In the distance, another bolt of lightning struck, closer to me this time, and I yelped.
I knew the chances of getting struck by lightning were slim. And I wasn’t afraid. Okay, maybe alittleafraid. But I wasn’t panicking.
The road I’d picked was narrow and a little pitted and rugged. And I was descending, into a narrow gulch, past the ruined, hollow stumps of trees and under the dark canopy of the forest. At least here I’d be safe from the lightning.
But I realized my mistake as I passed into the bottom of the ravine. There was a river running through the center of it. I’d somehow wasted an hour and a half lost in the middle of nowhere. I should have been home by now, I told myself.
“Come on, phone,” I said, “don’t fail me now,” and opened up my app again. Only this time, there wasn’t even a hope of getting any data. I was going to have to find my way out of the rising water.
I was starting to panic a little now. Nothing serious. I took a few deep breaths. It was fine. I was probably about five minutes from a town where I could stop and get some help with directions. But as I looked up through the window of my car at the billowing black clouds above, I gulped.
I pulled to a stop on the side of the road, and a spray of mud flew up as my tires rolled to a stop. I could see I’d just passed a sign, so I opened the door of the car and leaned out. Immediately, I felt the rain soak my head as I peered at the sign over the roof of my car. I stepped out, putting my foot on the ground, and felt my foot sink into the mud that had just splattered the hood of my car.
“Yuck!” I said to myself, but focused on the sign. It readPotter’s Hollowwith the number 5. Five miles? To the nearest town? That couldn’t be right. I was sure I wasn’t over 5 miles away from Barnstable. I climbed back into the car, disposing of my mud-soaked wedgie by tossing it into the passenger footwell. I sighed and looked at my phone again, desperately hoping.
“Come on, old friend,” I muttered, hopelessly tapping the screen. “Not you as well.”
But the phone wouldn’t do anything. It was just a piece of technology. Completely useless without a signal, without reception, and eventually I tossed it down on the passenger seat beside me in frustration and brought my hands up to my head. I had to think of something…something…something.
Then, from behind me, there was a roar. A blaring horn that seemed to send my brain reeling. I jumped, completely startled, as a pickup truck swung wildly around to avoid me. I was pulled up on the side of the road.
I shuddered. That could have been fatal.Oh Lord,I thought to myself.If I’d been any further back, he could’ve crashed into me. I could have ended up like Mom.
I felt sick to my stomach as I put the car in drive and began to drive on. But it seemed like the further I followed the ravine, the deeper it went. I was in the backwaters, no question. But I felt sure that if I followed the sign, I’d get to this place—Potter’s Hollow, or whatever—and eventually be able to find my way to a highway.
