Neverland Rebel

Chapter Eleven

When I'm nearing the edge of the woods near camp, I try to take a deep breathe and clear my head. No matter what happens, I have a friend. I don't care what Pan thinks or does. I swing my arms a little, trying to prepare myself to face the camp. I take one last moment and head into camp.

A couple Lost Boys look up as I pass by and nod their acknowledgements. Devin walks up, with a half-smile on his face. "Nice job of getting out of the cage," he grins, "Pan's trying to stay calm but everyone can tell he's flipping out on the inside. Usually when he puts people in the cage, they stay there." He seems happy that Pan was thwarted. Wonder why. "Why would he do that? He locks people up in the cage, and their first thought is to just stay there, in the wooden cage, with a lock that's easily accessible, and they just stay there and think that there's nothing they can do?" He laughs, nodding agreement as Felix approaches us. "Enough joking about cages, we're doing some target practice." I look at Felix questioningly. "What kind of target practice." When Felix tells me that we're practicing archery, I feel a little better. When I was back in the kingdom, I'd practice archery all the time, aiming at small targets and pretending they were the king and queen or my parents. As a result of practicing nearly every day, I became quite good.

We head over to an area in the woods market with wooden targets. Felix hands me a bow with arrows as the rest of the Lost Boys join us, each with their own bow. The rest of the Lost Boys each choose a target and start practicing. Most of them have good aim, hitting the center of the target pretty regularly. Felix guides me to a target and asks if I've ever used a bow and arrow before. I answer him by picking up my bow and stretching out the string, nocking an arrow and pulling it back like I've done thousands of times before. I eye the target thoughtfully and release the arrow, watching it fly true. It doesn't quite hit the center, because I'm not used to the bow, but it's only about half an inch off from the dead center. Felix grins at me. "You'll fit right in, Saramia." I grin back and grab another arrow.

The rest of target practice flies by faster than I'd care to admit. It was nice to get in some practice, and to make sure that the Lost Boys realize I'm better than they thought. Every now and then I'd look over to see a couple pairs of watchful eyes that would turn away with every shot that hit the center. At least I can prove to them that I'm not useless. I walk over to my target, careful not to get hit by flyaway arrows, and retrieve my arrows, pulling each one firmly from the target. I return to my position and get ready to notch another arrow when I sense someone walking up behind me. I turn to see none other than the boy I've been avoiding, Pan himself.

"You're not bad, Lost Girl." He says it simply, but I can sense a challenge behind his words. I turn back to the target. "I'd hope not." I notch another arrow and bring it back as he walks to my side, careful to stay out of my way. "However, there's always space to improve." I ignore him and release my arrow, silently cheering as it lands dead center in the target. He just grins and turns to me. "For a Lost Girl who can't keep herself where she belongs, you're actually pretty good." I pull another arrow from my quiver, not facing him as I mutter, "So I'm a Lost Girl now?"

He walks away slowly, then turns back around. "It depends on how much you want to stay, dear." I release the arrow, hearing the thud of it as it hits the target. "Don't call me dear." He just grins. "I can do whatever I want. I'm in charge here, which is something you don't seem to get. I make the rules, I do what I want." I laugh bitterly. "I've definitely heard that before." I shoot my last arrow and stalk towards the target, noting that the rest of the Lost Boys have collected their arrows and are walking away. He keeps pace with me. "Of course, but no worries. There are no others like me." I look at him from the side, knowing that's not true. "Of course there are people like you. The only thing was, where I'm from, they actually follow through." I go to put my bow away, but he stands in front of me, stopping me. "What do you mean?" He's challenging me again, daring me to say what I've already planned to say. "It's easy. Where I'm from, those who say they're in charge punish those who break the rules. I've been standing up to you for the first time in years, but you haven't done anything about it except put me in a cage that you know I'll break out of." I sidestep him and put down the bow and arrows.

"What's your point?" He asks, looking at me like he doesn't have a care in the world. "No matter what I'll do, you don't do anything to stop me. No matter what you say, you're keeping me here on the island because you like fighting with someone who won't back down after the first sentence. You can threaten me all you want," I grin, "but you won't do anything." He grins as well. "Is that so?" I begin to walk away, turning one last time. "Of course."

When I head back to camp, I make eye contact with Felix. I only see a flash of his gray eyes before looking away, but I know he's pleased, in a way. I know I'm right about Pan, I'm just waiting to see what he'll do about it.