I twist to follow her movement, heart dropping as she reaches the top of the ravine, steps onto the trail I just left, and looks down at me.
For a second, we just stare at each other. Then she barks once more, tail still wagging, and walks away, disappearing from view.
"You've got to be kidding me," I mutter. I straighten slowly, turning in a small, miserable circle as the reality of my situation settles over me like cold water.
I am on a rock outcrop. Above a river. With no clear way back up. Because I tried to rescue a dog.
A dog who did not need rescuing.
I press my lips together and look up at the slope I came down.
It looks different from this angle, steeper and a lot less like something I can casually climb back up.
"Okay," I say, hands on my hips. "All right. It’s fine. Just need to retrace my steps."
I take one step toward the path I used to get here, and the gravel shifts under my boot.
I freeze.
"Careful," I mutter. "Careful, careful."
I test the next step.
The rocks slide, and I fall to my knees and slide back down to the outcropping. I look up again. The distance doesn't seem that far. It's not that high. It's justwrong. The angles are wrong. The footing is wrong. One bad move and I’ll wind up in the river.
"Nope," I say quickly. "We're not doing that."
I blow out a breath and drag a hand over my face.
"This is why we stay on marked trails," I inform myself.
Silence answers back. The river rushes below, steady and indifferent. Though I know it’s useless, I check my phone again. No signal.
I glance in the direction the dog disappeared. "Hey," I call. "Roxy. This would be a really great time for you to go get your person."
Because she definitely has a person. She was too clean to have been wandering in the woods for long.
So, I’ll stay put. That’s the wisest thing to do, right?
“Well,” I say aloud, “What elsecanyou do? Unlike the dog, you’re actually stuck.” I lower myself carefully to sit on the flattest part of the outcrop.How could I have been so stupid?
Chapter Two
Jenny
Itipmyheadback and stare up at the strip of sky framed by the trees.
"This," I say, "was not in the plan. And we never, ever deviate from the plan. Youknowbetter.”
I let out a small, incredulous laugh. No one in my life would believe I’d landed myself in this position. The put-together, rule-following lawyer who’s never stepped a toe off the painstakingly planned path of her life? Not in a million years.
Yet here I am, with no clue what to do.
Somewhere above me, faint but unmistakable, I hear movement through the brush. I go completely still.
Am I about to become a cautionary tale? The girl who acted on impulse for once in her life and paid the price by becoming a wild animal’s dinner?
"Hello?" I call, trying to keep my voice steady.Please be a human. Please be a human. Please be a human."Is someone up there?"