Page 22 of The Retreat

Imogen was tying a blindfold around Talia’s head. Talia stood ramrod straight, arms folded, her body a clenched fist.

Behind her, Daniel was making lascivious jokes to Lara as she tied his blindfold. She responded by tightening until he yelped. Celeste was adjusting her husband Mitchell’s walking boots and jokily telling him he’d better keep up while Jade was already loudly speculating about bears to her partner, June. Someone laughed nervously.

Rebecca loitered with a stopwatch and clipboard, springing about with excitement. ‘We’ve tried to pair our nature lovers with our more city-bound people. So some people are with colleagues, some people are with partners.’

Imogen was about to ask why she and Talia were paired off if that was the case when she remembered that ‘Alex’ was supposed to be a hiker—a fun detail she’d nearly forgotten and the reason she was now about to lead a blindfolded Talia into the woods.

Imogen thought this was a very silly idea, but was in no position to say so. She was supposed to love nature shit. She was supposed to be jazzed for this. She wasn’t supposed to whine that she was pretty sure she was going to die on a one-hour walk.

‘You’re first off. Two-minute intervals after that,’ Rebecca said to Imogen.

She heard Rhona asking whether two minutes would be enough of a gap or if they’d end up all bunched together.

‘Trust the system!’ Rebecca said a bit too loudly. ‘Now, Alex, take your partner and follow the ribbons! Three, two, one, go!’

Talia immediately started marching with startling confidence for someone who couldn’t see. ‘Are you with me, Alex?’ she said over her shoulder.

Imogen didn’t get a chance to reply. Talia was off, heading into the woods. Imogen actually had to jog to keep up with her.

‘Wait—’

‘Trust me, I clocked the direction when we were briefed,’ Talia said. ‘The path turns slightly left at the start. I’ve got the bearing in my head.’

Imogen blinked. ‘You do realise you’re the one who can’t see?’

‘Just keep up,’ Talia told her.

Imogen, who’d always tended to defer to the confident, said nothing and let herself be steered.

Minutes later, the path narrowed quickly. Then started to slope. Imogen was too busy dodging brambles to realise they’d gone wrong until there was no more path. Imogen looked behind her. She couldn’t see where it had been.

‘Talia… I don’t think this is right.’

‘I’ve been counting steps,’ Talia said briskly. ‘Rebecca mentioned it was three hundred feet in a straight line and then—’

Imogen stopped. ‘You weren’t walking in a straight line.’

‘I was. I am.’

A bramble caught Imogen’s ankle. She swore and pulled it free. ‘We’re lost, Talia. OK? If you don’t accept it, we’ll get even more lost.’

Talia paused. ‘You’re sure?’

‘Yes,’ Imogen said sharply. ‘You can either take off the blindfold, or you can trust me to get us back.’

Imogen could see Talia’s forehead creasing, even behind the blindfold. ‘But if I take off the blindfold… What if I’m spotted breaking the rules? We’ll be disqualified,’ Talia said.

Imogen shrugged. Then she realised Talia couldn’t see the gesture. ‘I just shrugged, FYI.’

‘I can’t let you lead. You don’t know the way either,’ she said.

‘I might not be a real hiker,’ Imogen admitted, ‘but I’ve got eyes. And right now, that gives me the edge. So pick. Are you breaking the rules or are you letting me lead?’

There was a long pause. Then Talia exhaled. ‘Fine. Lead.’

It was not an easy surrender.

‘I need to hold on to you,’ Imogen told her.

‘I can just follow the sound of your footsteps,’ Talia said instantly.

Imogen rolled her eyes and turned around, scanning for anything that looked remotely familiar. Broken twigs, disturbed soil, the way the light angled through the trees. Was she about to make this even worse?

She sighed and started walking.

They passed a fallen tree. A glint of red on a branch caught the light. A ribbon.

‘There. We’re back on track.’

Talia hesitated. ‘You’re sure?’

‘Yes.’

‘Yeah, but…’

Imogen took Talia’s hand and placed it directly on the ribbon. ‘OK?’

Talia nodded, feeling the ribbon. ‘Hey, umm…Maybe you should take my arm. So I can follow you quickly.’

Imogen took her arm lightly without further discussion.

They walked in silence for a long while, the path growing clearer with every step. And then the trees began to thin, and the light shifted, becoming brighter, more open. Up ahead, a wooden sign had been strapped to a tree with twine. The paint was cheerful and slightly smudged.

‘Take off the blindfold and enjoy the view.’ There was a little bucket of badges that read, ‘I completed the Monroe Trust Walk!’ in Comic Sans font.

Imogen stopped walking. ‘You can look now.’

Talia reached up and pulled the blindfold off. She blinked against the light and looked ahead.

The trees gave way to a rise in the land and a shallow ridge overlooking a long, open valley. Grasslands stretched below, dotted with wildflowers and wind-bent trees.

‘Oh,’ Talia said quietly.

It wasn’t dramatic. No cliffs. No crashing waves. But it was… still. Quiet and golden in the late light. The kind of view you didn’t expect to find until you were already standing in it.

Imogen glanced at Talia, meaning to remark that if it had been up to her, they’d have been dead in a ditch instead of seeing this.

But the words never made it out of her mouth because the light caught Talia’s face, and her freshly revealed grey eyes were soft in this moment. There was a clearness in her expression that she hadn’t seen before. Something unguarded and striking.

It threw her.

Imogen looked away quickly, unsettled. There was a prickly feeling rising in her chest. She decided to ignore it. It was probably just nettle rash.

After a beat, Talia said, ‘No one else is here. We’re very late, aren’t we?’

‘Probably.’

Talia huffed a sigh through her nose and grudgingly said, ‘That’s my fault. Sorry.’ It sounded like it hurt her to say it.

Imogen smiled, not quite looking at her. ‘No problem.’

They turned slowly, ready to retrace their steps. The path was starting to darken. Talia went to the bucket and grabbed two badges, handing one to Imogen. She pinned her own to her chest, and Imogen followed suit.

‘I’m supposed to put the blindfold back on, right?’ Talia said. ‘So you can lead us back?’

‘I don’t think there’s anyone to see if you don’t,’ Imogen told her. ‘Pretty sure everyone else is long gone.’

Talia mulled it over. ‘No, it’s fine. You got us here. I trust that you’ll get us back.’ She started to tie the blindfold back on.

Imogen watched her in mild astonishment at the choice to let herself be led back. But she said nothing. And then Talia took her by the arm and off they went, Imogen leading the way.