The Mountain Path

Kim, Raj and Lucy left the village at nine o’clock in the morning. They wanted to walk to the top of Black Mountain and come back before dinner. The weather was cool and clear, and they could see for miles.

The path was steep, but they were young and strong. At one o’clock, they reached the top. They ate their sandwiches and took photos of the lake below them.

“We should go down now,” said Lucy. “The weather is changing.”

She was right. Grey clouds were coming over the mountain very quickly. Ten minutes later, they were in thick fog. They couldn’t see more than five metres.

“Which way is the path?” asked Raj. There were rocks everywhere, and everything looked the same.

Kim took out her phone to check the map. “No signal,” she said. Raj and Lucy checked their phones too. Nothing.

They walked slowly for an hour, but they didn’t find the path. It was getting cold and dark. Lucy was frightened, but she didn’t say it.

Then they heard something. A bell. And out of the fog came a big brown dog with a bell on its collar. It looked at them, wagged its tail and walked away a few metres. Then it stopped and looked back.

“I think it wants us to follow it,” said Kim.

“That’s crazy,” said Raj. But they didn’t have a better idea.

They followed the dog down the mountain for forty minutes. Slowly, the fog became thinner. Then they saw lights. It was a farm, with a small house and a lot of sheep.

A farmer opened the door. “Bella! There you are!” he said to the dog. Then he saw the three tired friends. “Lost in the fog? Come in. You’re lucky. Bella finds walkers every winter.”

He drove them back to the village in his old truck. On the journey home, nobody spoke much. But the next weekend, they went back to the farm with a big bag of dog biscuits.