Mr Vale handed the walking group a compass before they left the outdoor centre. “Return it to the desk when you finish,” he said. Leena slipped it into the front pocket of her rucksack, pleased to be trusted with something useful.
At the first junction, she held it flat while Omar checked the route card. The arrow settled. They compared the direction with the path shown on the card, then chose the narrower track beside the stone wall.
An hour later, rain began to fall. Everyone hurried into a shelter to pull on waterproofs. Leena moved the compass to her jacket pocket so she would not need to open the rucksack again.
Back at the centre, she reached into the rucksack and found the pocket empty. A cold feeling rose in her stomach. She pictured the muddy shelter, the last junction and the path beside the wall.
“I think I’ve lost it,” she told Mr Vale.
“Start with the last time you remember using it,” he said.
As Leena described the shelter, her hand touched the outside of her jacket. The small round shape was there. She returned the compass, but her face remained warm. Mr Vale thanked her for saying something rather than leaving without it.
Before the next walk, Leena wrote a short list on the route card: map, compass, waterproofs. At the bottom she added: Check both pockets before the desk. Being trusted, she realised, included telling someone when she was unsure, as well as keeping things safe.