I was lost.

I thought I knew where I was, but perhaps being locked up in a lonely house did nothing to help develop my sense of direction. Those years of studying maps were absolutely, without a doubt, useless. Stupid waste of my time. It was almost as if an author had written this sudden development to create conflict where there should be none. If it wasn't happening to me right then, I would have called such shenanigans.

The sun was halfway finished with its trek through the sky, its unforgiving rays reddening my pale skin. Working in the garden did not give me nearly enough exposure to the sharp sting of that massive celestial body, perhaps because I always wore a large hat that covered me entirely in shade. 

I had to take off my petticoat, as it was starting to drag, my weary hands collapsed at my sides being unable to carry even the lightest of weight. The loose dressing trousers underneath did nothing to help, and so I rolled the legs up. I threw off my overcoat, leaving me in just my corset. I must have looked ridiculous, but that was no matter. No one would see me anyway. 

Until they did. I had just turned around, feeling much better, when I saw a young man with a bow sitting atop a horse. For a moment we looked into each other's eyes, not knowing how to react to such a situation, before the young man cracked a huge grin. Understanding that I was horribly underdressed in front of the opposite sex did not help me, and my face turned bright red. I huffed and pushed my hair out of my eyes. It was traitorously falling out of my bun, getting in my face and sticking to my forehead. 

"Well, are you going to laugh at me, or perhaps offer some assistance to a lady in distress? I seem to be somewhat lost, and the sun is only going to get hotter." I forced myself to look at him as I spoke. My embarrassment was going to have to wait until I got to the village.

"I should not laugh, for a half-dressed women in the middle of the Dark Forest is no laughing matter," he said, failing to disguise his chuckle as a cough. He choked on his own spit, causing me to smile widely.

"Oh, sir, are you having troubles? It looks like you are choking, sir. Are you choking?" I spoke, thinking of when the town crier had been shouting throughout the small village what to do if you find someone who is struggling to breathe after someone died of having a piece of food stuck in their throat. Step 1: Ask them if they are choking.

The young man turned his face away slightly, coughing and pounding his chest with one hand, making an obscenely rude gesture with the other. I chuckled, not at all deterred by his lack of manners. I waited for him to recover, still not knowing which direction I should go in to find the village that I should make my new temporary home.

"I suppose you do not know where the town of Hilltop is, do you sir?" I asked, returning to full seriousness. He looked at me with a joking glare and turned his head up, like nobility might. He turned to me again, however, and addressed me.

"Head northeast a ways for about three hours, then turn straight east. You should meet up with the river,  and you can follow it to Riverside. If you keep following it past Riverside, you should find on the side opposite you there is an oak tree, bigger in width than any other, and taller than most as well. The river is low and rather slow-moving there, so you should be able to make your way across it to the tree. From the tree, you should go northeast for nearly four and a half hours. The path to the hidden valley is hard to discern, but its start is marked with two cherry trees. Keep your eye on the path and you should get there before the moon is halfway through its cycle."

He must have seen the look of devastation on my face, since he chuckled and offered me his hand. "Or you can hop on my horse and get there in an hour."

I studied his outstretched hand. He might be trying to kidnap me, but I could handle myself. I took his offer. "When do we ride?" I asked, taking his hand in mine.

"Right now." He yanked me up onto his steed and urged it into a gallop.