When Fiona woke up, she was by herself. It took her a few moments to fully work this out, as her first thought was "where am I?", followed by "camping, so where's my bloody tent gone?"
Suddenly waking up very fast, knowing something was very wrong, she sat up and looked around. And down. And then another frantic look around.
She was, she realised dismally, up the proverbial creek without a paddle.
She was also without a lot of other things, starting with clothes.
Fiona had agreed to come on a weekend camping, dirt-bike riding excursion with her new boyfriend. She had made it very clear at the time that camping and dirt-bikes was all it was going to be. It was not going to be an excuse for a dirty weekend. She didn't know him nearly well enough to go to bed with.
Josh had agreed and off they'd gone. They'd taken both cars. Josh's ute to carry the bikes, and Fiona's own little Mazda because the front of Josh's ute was filled with so much junk and was so greasy and oily that any passengers would be better of travelling in the tray.
Everything had gone fine for most of Saturday. They'd biked, swum, and biked some more, before having a small barbecue. Fiona was an old hand at cooking when camping and could make a tasty meal out of whatever was at hand.
It was after dinner that some problems arose. Although they had their own tents and sleeping bags, Josh had suddenly made it plain that he expected to sleep with Fiona. She owed him because he was making the effort to spend time with her. She should show a little appreciation.
The argument had escalated rapidly, with Fiona sticking to her guns and Josh not quite having the nerve to force her. He'd had a bit more to drink and then gone to bed rather sullenly.
Fiona had stayed up a bit longer, worrying, before finally going to bed and spending several more hours wondering if she should yield or stay firm, because she was damn sure that Josh would be leaning on her again the next day. Stay firm, she thought, just before she dropped off. He's being an ass.
The late night had caused Fiona to sleep late and now, waking, she found that things had gone badly wrong.
She looked around again and took stock. Both cars and the dirt-bikes were gone, along with sleeping bags and tents. And her clothes. OK, she'd gone to sleep on top of the sleeping bag, but he must have moved awfully carefully to have stripped her while she was sleeping.
How, Fiona wondered, had he managed to move both cars. Probably did an unmanned tow on hers, she decided. If he had even put one scratch on her baby she would kill him.
Decisions had to be made. There was a bottle of water, but nothing else. Wasn't he thoughtful, a whole bottle of water, all for her. Fiona wondered if he'd come back or had he just left her stranded.
Did she wait and see, and if so how long could she afford to wait? If she didn't wait, what was she going to do? She was going to need clothes. She was going to have to find a phone.
Fiona stood and considered. If she started walking, she'd have to go back using the main trail. They'd been riding the minor trails the day before, and she couldn't remember seeing any houses.
It was several miles down the main trail to the paved highway, and she didn't remember any houses along that stretch either. She shuddered to think she might find herself hiking nude down the main road.
Bending down to pick up the water bottle, Fiona realised that her thongs were next to it. Protection for her feet so she could make it to the road. That son of a bitch had no intention of returning for her.
Gritting her teeth, Fiona slipped on the thongs and headed down the track.
After a mile Fiona's feet were hurting and she was inventing new curse words to describe Josh with every step. Looking down as she walked, she didn't see the man on the track until she nearly bumped into him.
Fiona gave a squawk at the unexpected encounter and tried to hide behind her hands, quickly giving it up as a bad job.
The man glanced up and down her petite frame and informed her, "You're naked."
