Scolded by the Mountain Man (Sweetheart Falls)

1. Penny

1

PENNY

It’s a scary feeling being lost. I came here to Upstate New York to get away from Wall Street for some hiking and some much-needed time away from the city, and now I have absolutely no idea where I am. It’s like something out of a movie.

The over-confident analyst from Goldman Sachs takes a day off to go “commune with nature” and ends up losing her way. That’s me. I worked so hard, put in so many sixty-hour weeks, took so much crap from Jerry, my boss, that I just couldn’t take it any longer. I needed to take a break. And seeing as how I don’t go out to the normal watering holes like everybody else, I figured this would be a good way of taking my own time off.

But now I see the storm clouds rolling in, deep gray and purple, no doubt holding back one hell of a storm. And I know that if I don’t get down off this mountain soon, they’re going to let loose on me, and I’m going to be stuck here for the night under a downpour I have no idea how to handle.

I’m no camper. I’m not one of those ultra-rich traders who take their weekends, pick a spot in the wilderness, and go play the game of survival. I’m just an analyst trying to work her way up. The most hardcore time I’ve spent outside was when I was nine and was playing out back and my mom accidentally locked me out for three hours when she took a Xanax and passed out on the couch.

Mom was, and still is, a receptionist at a carpet cleaning company. She never really liked the job, but they were always decent to her, the pay was okay, and they provided health insurance.

Dad works at an auto parts shop back in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. It’s a nice town, but we never had enough money to send me to school. So I worked my butt off and was able to make it to Stanford and Wharton business school on a full scholarship. I could tell my parents were both proud of me, but I also always knew they thought I was working too hard.

“She’s gonna have a heart attack, Nora!” my dad would always say from the living room after a long day’s work when I’d be upstairs studying in my room. I remember him sending my mom to check on me, her seeing me and calling back down to him.

“She’s alive, Elijah!” she’d call back down. “Don’t you worry.”

There was nothing I wanted more than to get out of that house back then. But what I wouldn’t give to be back there now.

I step over a fallen tree and nearly fall as my pantleg catches on a broken branch.

“Damn,” I curse as I reach back and free myself. This vacation trip sure isn’t turning out the way I anticipated.

A clap of thunder rings out behind me. It’s so loud I actually jump and brace myself against the nearest tree. My heart starts beating insanely fast, and I start gulping for breath as I steady myself.

“Holy crap,” I mutter as I look up at the sky. The clouds are moving even faster. They’re going to be on top of me in minutes. I have basically no time to get out of here before they dump their contents on me and I’m soaking.

I basically just have to pick a direction and go. There’s no time for calculation or debate. It wouldn’t help anyway. The big problem is that I’ve come out near Adirondack Park, which is six million acres of wilderness, so if I end up wandering into the park instead of away from it, I’m going to just end up even more lost. And that’s not good.

A second thunder clap rings out, just about scaring me out of my boots. That settles it, I think. Nothing else to do but go .

I swing my arm ahead of me in an arc, and at a random position stop.

“That’s where I’m going,” I say to no one in particular. And with a deep breath, I take a step forward.

At least it isn’t winter. The fact that it’s the beginning of September makes this at least a little bit more tolerable. It’s too bad I wasn’t in Chile or Brazil or Australia. Then if it rained on me, I wouldn’t be as worried about getting cold. No such luck in New York State.

I push my way through the brush, stepping over fallen tree trunks, branches, stepping over stones and slabs of granite. There are lots of pines and many tiny streams. If I wasn’t so worried about my safety, I would be much more inclined to stop and admire the scenery. It really is quite beautiful.

I keep pushing on, telling myself that I’ve definitely chosen the right direction and it’ll only be a little while longer before I reach the parking lot where I left my Subaru. But that’s when I hear another clap of thunder that sounds and feels like it’s just above me. And this time, instead of just echoing out across the landscape and going away, the roar that shakes the ground itself is followed by the sound of rain.

And then I feel it. Drops of chill on my head and shoulders. I hunch beneath my jacket and pull up my hood as the rain starts to come down, but this is one heck of a storm. Within seconds, it’s as though someone has turned on the shower just above my head. Water is absolutely pouring down on me.

My jacket is only water-resistant, and within less than a minute, it’s soaked through. My jeans are soaked in even less time, my boots are drenched, and each step feels like I’m walking on sponges. This is bad. Really bad.

Thankfully I left my phone in the car. There’s no signal out here anyway, so what would be the point? If I had brought it, it would be getting ruined right now, and I’d have to buy a new one when I get back to the city. Whenever the heck that’s going to be.

I push on as the thunder roars above me and the rain cascades down upon me. I can barely see through the storm. It’s like trying to navigate through a thick mist. Not to mention the fact that I was already lost.

I actually kind of wish Jerry was with me now. I have no idea if he’s one of those outdoorsy types, but at least then I’d have another person with me. Being all alone up here in the woods, especially under the force of this storm, is actually quite terrifying.

But there’s nothing else to do but keep pushing on, so that’s what I do. After what seems like it could be anywhere from five to fifteen minutes, I reach a stream. It’s just wide enough that it seems like I could jump it. I prepare myself, take a deep breath, get a running start, then race toward the edge of the bank.

The jump takes me ninety-percent of the way across the stream, but my back foot lands in the water. Of course that doesn’t really matter, I guess, considering it’s already soaked from my trek in the rain. I reach out for a branch in front of me to pull on to help myself up, but to my utter shock, it is replaced by a hand, outstretched as if to help me up.

The hand is large, thick, callused, and clearly strong. It is a man’s hand if I’ve ever seen one. Nothing like the hands of the men who I work with back at Goldman Sachs. Even the wrist is bulging with sinews and muscle fibers.

I follow the lines of it up to the figure of a man, tall as a giant and broad-shouldered, his face obscured by the hood of a dark rain jacket. He stands there looking down at me as a crack of lightning illuminates the sky behind him. The flash of light gives me the slightest glimpse of him, and I see he has a strong jaw and long, shaggy, brown hair.

“You’re a long way from the city, girl,” he says, his voice strong and deep, like it was forged from the very rock he’s standing on.

I try to reply, but my own voice will simply not come. It’s like something is stuck in my throat.

“Do you speak?” he asks, causing my cheeks to redden.

“Y-yes!” I blurt out, forcing the word from my lips. “I’m lost. I was hiking and must have gotten twisted around somehow.”

“Hiking without a compass?” He shakes his head, making me feel immediately inferior. “City girls. And you didn’t check the weather?”

The realization hits me like a revelation. I suddenly realize that I did not check the weather. I was in such a hurry to get out of the city and upstate that I just rented the car and drove.

“I guess I’ve done everything wrong today,” I admit.

The man scoffs, nearly laughing. “You’re lucky I came along. Come with me. I’ve got a place you can take shelter that’s not too far away.”

Without waiting, he turns his back on me and begins walking in a totally different direction than the one I was headed in. I may not know much about hiking and nature, but I know people. And this man knows that I’m going to follow him. That’s why he’s not waiting.

Soaked through and feeling the chill beginning to penetrate my bones, I turn and make after this man I don’t know and have just met. After all, what choice do I have?