Holly Moore stopped to catch her breath, and looked back down the slope she and her friends were trudging up. The Lake district spread out below. A magnificent sight, even when a blustery cold wind snaked its way down her neck. 

"This was a great idea Lucy. We should have more camping trips together."

"Yeah" her friend replied, long blonde hair billowing behind like a shampoo advert. "If we ever finish this one. Hurry up Annie, even a snail could walk faster than you." 

A small, plump girl with long auburn hair tied up in a pony tail was the furthest down the hill, panting and red in the face as she struggled up the slope. 

"Yeah, Annie Bell. What a stupid name." Alex called down, posing his lanky legs on a rock and jutting out his stubbled chin. "Your parents should've just called you Annabelle. Or better still, slow coach."

"Last one back to the campsite buys drinks. That's you slow coach."

"But" Annie huffed, "I got them yesterday."

"Then you'll have to get them again." Lucy scoffed. 

Annie said nothing and instead tried to catch up. In her haste, her foot slipped. Losing her balance, she fell onto her face. Looking up from the ground, her chin was plastered in mud. 

Holly joined in with the laughter, all of them looking down at the girl lying on the path, when a shout from further up caught her attention. 

"Holly, get my water."

Ah, yes. The love of her life, John Mayfield. Furthest ahead, he looked down on them all with a serious expression and waited patiently. 

"On my way Johnny!" Holly called back cheerfully, nimbly hopping up the path towards him. She reached his rucksack and unzipped the pocket that contained his water bottle. Pulling it out, she made to hand it to him before pulling it back again, a cheeky smile playing on her lips. 

"Payment first." she said, her hand making its way to clasp the back of his closely cropped head, trying to pull him towards her for a kiss. 

John sharply pulled his head away, the pierced lips retreating from hers. "Not now Holly. Give me my water." 

The small stab of disappointment didn't last long. Holly knew there had to be leeway in a relationship. John had his boundaries. 

"Alright" she said, reluctantly handing over the water bottle with a grin, "I'll catch those lips later." 

They carried on walking up the hill as John took a long sip from his water, the grass rippling either side of them. Holly hooked her arm through John's, hoping his large, tattooed muscles would help along her tired legs. He shrugged her off with ease and rolled his eyes. 

"Give it a rest Holly. And put this away." He said, handing back the bottle. 

"Sorry" she said, taking back the bottle. "I just thought-"

"Don't think." he chuckled, "It never turns out well when you think."

Holly giggled, "I forgot." and went to place the bottle back into his rucksack.

"Not there." his voice cut over the breeze, making her jump. Holly stood frozen, arms raised with the bottle in her hands. "The other pocket."

"Ah" she said, slipping the bottle into the pocket on the other side, "It was a 50/50 chance."

"Yeah, and you still got it wrong." he smiled down at her. 

Holly smiled back. It was moments like these she cherished. Just the two of them, smiling at each other on a picturesque hillside. 

"Where to Holly?" Lucy said as she reached them. Looking ahead, Holly realised they had come to a break in the path. One branch led to the left towards a distant lake, the other to the right that led towards an even steeper slope. 

"I don't know."

"Why don't you know? I thought you had the map." Alex joined them. 

"I thought Annie has the map." she replied. The four of them looked down at the figure still approaching. Annie had wiped the mud of her chin and was now carefully placing one foot in front of the other, staring down at the path. 

"Hurry up slow coach!" They called down.

  Annie struggled her way up towards them. 

 "Aw, we should check out that little restaurant in the village this evening." Holly said while they waited. "I still think it looks amazing."

"Yeah" Alex said, "Or we could have drinks at the campsite again."

"Drinks!" Lucy agreed.

"Drinks are better." John said, looking down at Holly. 

"Okay, drinks it is." she said, her voice enthusiastic. This was what hanging out with your mates was all about. Drinking and having fun. 

Annie Bell finally made it to the little group, her face beetroot red and gasping. 

"Woof woof." Alex said, "There's no need to pant like a dog, Annie."

Lucy and John burst out laughing. "Who's a good girl?" Lucy joked, pretending to offer Annie a biscuit. 

"Where's the map Annie?" Holly asked.

"Oh, the map. Yes. " she muttered, "I've got it here somewhere." Annie scrambled to take her rucksack off, getting the straps caught up in her coat. The others watched and sniggered at her. She kept on struggling and Holly stepped forward to help her. John's arm held her back. 

"She can manage." he grunted. 

Annie started rummaging around inside the rucksack, pulling out waterproofs, bags of peanuts, a tub of pasta that was going to be her lunch. 

"Oh come on Annie" Lucy whined, flinging her head back in despair. "You should have the map on your person, not in your bag." 

"s-sorry." she mumbled, glancing up at them in panic. The wind whipped her auburn locks into her eyes. She scraped at her face to remove them.

"Are you crying Annie?" Alex said, "It's just a map. Not something to cry over."

"I'm not crying" she grated out, "My hair went in my eyes."

"Yeah right" John said, turning to the others. "If there's one thing I hate, it's liars. Why is she with us anyway?"

"She's funny." Alex said, "I mean, look at her." 

Annie was on her knees now, almost the entire contents of her rucksack strewn across the path. Holly couldn't help but feel sorry for her, yet she couldn't intervene. Johnny was right, she can manage. This was how she would learn. 

Finally, Annie's hand flung out the map. She held it up triumphantly. 

"Finally." Alex moaned. 

A strong gust of wind suddenly knocked into them. It pulled at the map between Annie's fingers, yanking it out of her grasp. She gasped, and reached out to catch hold of it again. The map fluttered and twirled in the wind as it was carried away, out of reach. 

"Annie, look what you've done." Alex growled out.

"Quick Holly, get it!" Lucy yelled, pushing her towards the fast travelling paper.

Without a second thought, Holly dumped her own bag onto the ground and left the path, trotting after the map down the slope. She saw the map dip and dive ahead of her, tantalisingly slowing down before speeding off again, leaping over tufts of long grass and rocks. It was heading diagonally down the hill. Holly went faster, keeping her eyes on the map flying ahead. 

All of a sudden, her right foot slipped on some lose rocks. She tumbled over sideways , hitting the ground hard. Before she knew what was happening, the world was spinning as she felt herself slipping and rolling down the hillside.

 "Johnny!" The map was no longer in sight. It was no longer a priority. She was already picturing herself lying broken at the bottom of the hill. 

"Johnny!" 

Holly couldn't hear any response over her own screaming now. Faster, faster. The uneven ground jabbed into her all over, causing sharp bursts of pain. And still she fell faster. Falling silent, she curled into a ball. Hoping, just hoping that Johnny and the others would save her. Of course they would, she trusted them.  

For a brief moment she had the strange sensation that the ground had fallen away entirely, that she was now falling through air. It must be a cliff! Oh no, she was going to drown and die in one of the lakes. 

Before panic could get an even stronger hold of her thoughts, Holly felt solid earth again. She hit it with a small thud, and rolled to a stop. 

Had she stopped, finally? Cautiously, she lifted her head a little and peeped open an eye. She had stopped, but Johnny wasn't there. 

Uncurling herself, wincing as she did so, both of her eyes opened up to a forest. There was no lake in sight, just trees as far as she could see. The others weren't there either. Rolling over, she saw more trees. There was no hill. What the hell? 

Holly scrambled to her feet, looking around in a daze. She didn't remember seeing a forest from the hill. And where was the hill? She looked up. Patches of blue sky broke through the canopy of green leaves, dappling her in warm sunlight. 

A strange noise made her turn around. To her amazement, a few trees away, a purple disc appeared hovering in the air. Out of the disc came the map, fluttering happily as if nothing had ever happened. It fell gracefully to the ground, and the purple disc vanished. Zip!

Holly walked slowly over to the map and gingerly picked it up with two fingers. It was her map, the one she had been chasing. Opening it out fully, she located where she and her friends had been. Then she looked around. She shouldn't be able to see a forest, let alone be in one. Where was the lake, the footpath? The map did not match her surroundings. She could feel the panic rise in her like a flood, and she clasped her hand over her mouth. What was going on? All she could see was a densely packed forest of trees. 

A small rustling behind and she spun round on the spot. The hand holding the map crunching into a fist. A small creature was scurrying over the floor towards her, and she could now hear footsteps following too. 

The creature turned out to be a white ferret. On approaching Holly, the ferret stopped and stood up on its hind legs, watching her. 

"What is it Bluebell, where have you gone?" A voice said, getting louder with the footsteps. The footsteps became a man, emerging from around a bush ahead. He strolled over, catching sight of the ferret.

"There you are." He said, walking up to them. The ferret ran excitedly over to the man before running back to look at Holly. 

The man looked up from the ferret to Holly, his hands resting in the pockets of his long coat. He looked confused.

"What are you?" he asked.

Holly had her fist raised. "I'm Holly. I need your help, what is going on?" 

The man just gaped at her. "Your hair is purple."

"I know" she replied impatiently. "What is going on? Where am I?"

An expression of understanding came over the stranger's face, followed swiftly by a look of despair. 

"Oh no..." he muttered under his breath. Louder, he replied "Welcome to the Land of the Lost."