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“I haven’t either.” It’s hard to get the words out around the dread. “But if we keep going, we’ve got to come back into cell phone range, right?”
Dani gives me a pitying look, and I hate that she knows why I’m scared.
I could kill Dell for telling my sisters that embarrassing story. A story in which I look like an idiot who got lost, instead of an idiot who trusted the wrong person.
“We’ve got about an hour until the sun sets completely and it’s full dark.” Dani has every right to be frustrated and annoyed with me, but she speaks calmly. “We can spend that time trying to find cell service, but it’s safest for Grant and search and rescue to wait until morning to come get us anyway. The smart choice is to find a safe place to set up camp for the night, knowing that we have enough water and it’s going to be warm. Personally, I’d rather have a decent place to sleep than have to stop wherever we are when it gets too dark to navigate.”
Damn it. She’s making too much sense. My lizard brain is screaming that logic doesn’t matter. We need to get out of the woods, even if we have to race through the dark, but my lizard brain is an idiot.
“Okay.” I swallow hard. “Any ideas where we should go?”
Dani nods. “We’re not too far from the waterfall. Grant showed me a small cave near it the last time we came up here. That would be the perfect place to set up camp for the night.”
“Aren’t there park trails to the waterfall?” Clover asks. “Seems like it would be a popular hiking destination.”
“There’s a trail to the bigger falls on the Eastern side of the park,” Dani says. “This waterfall is less dramatic, and it’s in a deeper crevice in the mountain. It’s harder to get to and more dangerous for dummies who think it’s fun to see how far they can get climbing over moss-covered rocks.”
“Okay.” We’re going to be okay. If I keep telling myself that enough, maybe I’ll believe it. “Lead the way, Dani.”
***
Clover is getting heavier by the second and it’s getting too dark to see where I put my feet in the dead leaves. “Are mountain lions active at night?”
“No idea,” Dani says. “We’re making so much noise they’ll hear us coming and avoid us. Don’t worry.”
Another tree branch smacks me in the face. I flinch, but keep going. Walking through the woods three abreast in the near dark means there’s no way to avoid brambles or tree branches.
“There it is.” Dani points ahead to what looks like a black hole.
“Is it big enough for all of us?” Clover grips my shoulder tight, her nails digging in.
“The entrance is small, but it opens up into a pretty big space.”
A space that’s probably full of forest predators. “I’ll keep watch outside the cave,” I say. “I won’t have any trouble staying awake.”
“There’s nothing to watch out for.” Dani sounds so confident, I almost believe her. “And it’s better to have some cover against the night chill, especially since we’re in shorts and tank tops.”
“I thought you said it would be warm tonight.”
“Warm enough we don’t have to worry about frostbite or hypothermia, but it could get down to the mid fifties. Plus, you don’t want to wake up covered in dew.”
I close my eyes, just for a moment, and wish with everything I am to be back home, snuggled under three of my fluffiest blankets. When I open them again, I’m still in the woods and it’s gotten even darker.
“Are you shaking?” Clover squeezes me with the arm she’s got around my shoulders.
“I’m fine,” I say automatically.
“You can admit you’re scared. We won’t make fun of you.”
“I didn’t get lost.” I need them to know. “Dell left me. He was punishing me for something I didn’t do.”
“I thought he was nice,” Dani says. “But he’s an asshole. Why are you still hanging out with him?”
Ugh. I never should have brought him up. “I’m not. He wanted to meet up to talk. I only agreed because… I thought he might have changed?” Fear is making it hard for me to think straight, and my voice is lacking the confidence I need to convince them.
Something tugs on my foot, and I jerk it free with a gasp and a small squeak of a scream.
“It’s okay.” Clover sounds like she means it, even though I heard her hiss of pain when I jostled her. “We’re almost at the cave.”
