She shoved the feeling aside. She’d come here for rest and relaxation, not to stew over some guy. In any case, he probably wasn’t even in town anymore – he’d probably left, now that his prank had either failed or succeeded, depending on what his goal had even been in the first place.
Maybe he’d come out here in the hope of ensnaring people he thought of as backwater yokels – an idea that made her blood boil, even as she privately admitted thatshehadn’t exactly always described Girdwood Springs in the most glowing of terms.
But that’s different! I’mfromhere! Just because I can complain about this place doesn’t mean any old out-of-towner is allowed to!
Shaking her head, Natasha stomped onwards. She didn’t know this part of the trail well at all – carried by her anger, she’d walked quickly beyond anywhere she’d walked before, and she had to admit, this part of the forest lookeda lotdenser than anywhere she’d ever been before.
She knew she should be careful – it was incredibly easy to become disoriented in thick woods. It was a message she’d had drummed into her by her parents when she’d been a child, and with good reason.
But now, it seemed, she’d forgotten all about things likePay attention to where you’re goingandAlways take note of landmarks and other distinguishing features about the terrainand other sensible ideas that would assist her in not getting lost, or, at the least, make it easier for her to find her way back if shedidtemporarily lose her way.
Glancing around her, Natasha felt her stomach sink. She was still, technically, on a trail. But it had grown thinner and thinner the farther she walked, and now, looking back the way she’d come, she realized it was barely visible at all beneath the dense undergrowth that had started to spring up now that the weather was getting warmer.
She’d clearly gone beyond the approved hiking trails – and she really didn’t have anyone to blame but herself, for getting so carried away with her angry internal monologue.
Okay. Well, number one thing to do in this situation is not to panic,she thought, as, cautiously, she turned and headed back the way she’d come. The mud she’d stomped through still held the impressions of her boots in its sticky surface, so she could definitely follow her own footsteps back. She had plenty of water in her bag, and some sandwiches too. Not that she expected that she’d be lost for long enough that she needed to conserve food and water, but she knew it was pretty easy to get dehydrated, even in a short amount of time.
At the moment, however, there didn’t seem to be anything to worry about. Her footsteps were obvious on the ground, and the day was sunny but cool.
I’ll be fine,Natasha thought as she made her way back through the thick, green bracken.I’ll be completely –
“ARGH!”
Natasha let out an embarrassing squawk as, without warning, her feet shot out from under her, slipping in the mud, sending her sprawling and landing heavily on her hip – which would have been annoying enough by itself, but it didn’t stop there. As she landed, a soft, water-logged embankment, hidden by the thick ferns and bracken, suddenly crumbled away beneath her, leaving her to roll down its side, completely unable to stop herself.
Oh… oh no…
Natasha grabbed at the bracken stalks as she slid, but in the soft earth, all she succeeded in doing was uprooting them – they didn’t even slow her down as she slipped and slid down the muddy slope.
This is what I get for letting a guy go to my head,Natasha thought desperately, as finally, she managed to grab hold of a fallen branch that was stuck deep into the earth. Her shoulder wrenched painfully as she desperately held on, her palms burning as they chafed against the rough bark of the branch, but at last her descent came to a halt – and not a moment too soon.
Glancing over her throbbing shoulder, Natasha realized if she hadn’t managed to grab on to the branch, she would have shot out over a small ravine – not very deep at all, but filled with someextremelyunfriendly looking rocks and boulders. If she’d tumbled down there and landed on any one of them, she would have been lucky to escape with anything less than a broken leg.
Natasha gasped for breath as she looked around, searching for some way to haul herself back up the bank. But the only thing in reach to hold on to was the branch she was already holding – everything else had slid away with the mini-avalanche she had caused when she’d gone tumbling down the slippery slope. A few ferns were still barely clinging to the soil, but if she tried to use them to climb up they’d undoubtedly come away and leave her to fall the rest of the way down onto the rocks below.
Nor could she gently let herself down any lower – after the lip of the muddy bank, there was a long drop onto the rocks, with no safe way of climbing down. She was, for the moment, stuck where she was.
Except that… uh-oh…
The branch she had managed to grab gave a little jerk, and Natasha realized that, even as deeply as it was buried in the soil, the ground was soft enough that now, with her full weight resting on the branch, it was slowly but surely beginning to slide free. If she didn’t find some way out of her predicament, she’d fall onto the rocks no matter what she did.
Okay. No point in panicking. I just have to dig my fingers into the wet soil, find a toe hold, and then slowly, carefully, climb back up to the trail…
But that was easier said than done. The earth was so wet and crumbling that it fell away as soon as she tried to dig her fingers into it. There was no way of creating any kind of secure hand or toeholds that she could reliably use to climb, not even if she was careful to always make sure she was distributing her weight evenly.
I really have gotten myself into a situation here,Natasha thought grimly, as with a smallslurping sound, the branch slid even farther out of the soil, jerking her bodily, and sending pebbles and bits of dirt rushing past her to fly into the void just below her feet.
But she refused to give up. Therehadto be something she could do. She couldn’t twist around to reach her phone in her back pocket and call for help, since any movement would probably just pull the branch all the way free. Nor could she take off her backpack and throw it down onto the rocks, just in case she might somehow be able to land on it and somewhat break her fall.
There has to be something… I can’t believe that –
But even as she thought that, the soil finally gave up its hold on the thick branch she was clinging to, and Natasha felt herself begin to slide the last of the way down the bank, picking up speed as she went,waytoo fast to stop herself when she finally flew over the edge and went sailing through the air, the rocks lurching sickeningly up at her as she fell, flailing, toward them –
Only to land on something solid, warm, and soft.
Am… am I dead, then?
Natasha didn’t dare to open her eyes. Shemusthave fallen onto the rocks – there was literally nowhere else for her to fall. But, she decided, she must have hit her head when she fell and died instantly, because shedefinitelywasn’t lying at the bottom of the ravine now after breaking probably every bone she’d ever heard of, and most likely some she hadn’t.
