Happy Thoughts || Peter Pan

Chapter 12

'Peter, look out!' Avery didn't want to look when the mountain lion made a sharp turn and lashed out at Peter with its claws. She heard him laugh and saw him fly high above the lion, before coming down again with a dive. The lion rushed after him and Peter braced himself against a tree, forcing the animal to stop full force and clumsily crashed into the tree.

Avery watched as the animal became increasingly irritated, foam dripping from its maw and its eyes almost shooting fire. 'This is no time for games, Peter,' cried Avery as the boy stuck his tongue out at the lion. She didn't know whether to be scared or angry, but in this situation she was sure both were allowed.

Peter just laughed as he saw the lion getting more frustrated. Until he looked back at Avery and caught her angry looks. 'Okay. Okay. Done playing the games.' He drew his sword and pointed it at the lion. The sound of the steel being pulled from its scabbard made all the hairs on Avery's neck stand up. Suddenly, it was no longer the lion she was so afraid of.

'I have to thank you, Avery,' he said in a husky voice, 'this kitten kept stealing preys from my traps and I just couldn't figure out where it was hiding.' He grinned at the animal. 'Now you're mine.'

Avery clasped her hands in front of her eyes and pressed her back against a tree. She didn't want to see it. She didn't want to watch Peter slaughter the animal, the ground stained red with sticky blood. The beast may have seen her as his next meal, but she absolutely could not stand animal cruelty. Heartrending howls cut through air and Avery could not hold back her tears. She kept her eyes closed until she heard something heavy running past her. She peeked between her hands and saw the mountain lion disappear into the cave with a bloody 'P' on its right hip.

Peter stowed his sword again and turned to face her. His broad smile melted off his face. 'Why are you crying?' he asked as she wiped the tears from her eyes, 'I didn't kill it.' He knelt down in front of her and tilted his head. 'Or are you crying because I didn't kill it?'

She smiled and shook her head. 'No, I'm glad you didn't kill it.'

Peter stretched his back, 'Great!' He held up his hand to her and she took it. Carefully he pulled her upright. She looked at him, at the brown eyes that reminded her so much of the walnuts she used to roast in the fireplace with her father. 'I'm sorry I ran away,' she said softly.

Peter scratched his head. 'Now that you mention it.' The warmth she had just likened to a hearth fire disappeared from his eyes. As if an icy gust of wind swept over them. Avery's breath stopped in her throat. She suddenly felt very small when he looked at her piercingly and she took her distance.

'How dare you!' The contrast with the gentleness with which he had spoken to her only minutes ago was so big that she did not know what to do. She looked at him as he put his sword back in its sheath and stepped towards her. 'Women are so stupid.' With a second, he was in front of her, grabbed her by her arms and shot into the air.

They dashed through the air towards the Nest. Avery felt Peter's fingers pressing hard into the flesh of her arms. She wasn't sure if he was doing that to make sure he wouldn't drop her, or if he was doing it out of anger.

'Peter, where are we going?' His gaze remained fixed ahead. He seemed to hear her voice, but did not respond. Only his brow crept deeper over his eyes, making her realise how angry he was. 'Peter, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to..-I just couldn't..-' She stopped talking when she realised he wasn't going to respond to her again. The words from her book haunted her mind. If this Peter was like the Peter from her book, she didn't know how it was going to end with her now that she had broken his rules.

Peter landed on the Nest and pushed Avery inside. She turned and looked at him. He did not enter, but hovered in front of the entrance. 'I thought. I thought you were going to hurt me.' A salty drop slid down her cheek. He seemed to see it, but said nothing.

Finally he turned away and muttered a reply to her. 'Women aren't supposed to be touched like that, not even with a flower.' He closed the hatch and disappeared.