Magic ➙ Ethan Dolan

chapter twelve

Annie and Wendy followed behind Grayson as he pushed branches out of the way for them, and even got into a fight with a tall flower that managed to get stuck to his pants. Annie smiled when she heard Wendy giggle at how disoriented Grayson was.

"Gray, do you know where we're going?" Annie asked after a while of walking.

Grayson turned his head to look at annie. "What did you just call me?" He asked.

"I called you Gray...is that okay?"

"My brother used to call me that." Grayson mumbled.

"Oh. You have a brother?"

"Yeah. I don't...I don't really know him anymore though. We aren't close."

Annie felt bad, and didn't say anything else about the subject. The trio just walked in silence for a few minutes.

"You can call me Gray though. I like it." Grayson said after a while.

"Okay." Annie replied.

"And back to your question, no one really knows where we're going. We just follow Pan until he decides he wants to stop." Grayson said, changing the subject.

"Why does he always make us go on these long treks?" Annie whined.

"It's part of the adventure. Would you rather be sitting back at camp, all by yourself?"

"Well, no..."

"Good, because Pan wouldn't allow it anyways." Grayson looked back at Annie, and grinned. Annie sighed, but continued walking.

The Lost boys, and two girls, reached a break in the trees. Pan had stopped them all, and looked around.

"What're we doing here, Pan?" One of the boys asked.

"I thought maybe we'd have a nice meal, to welcome our new guests to Neverland." Peter replied, referring to Wendy and her brothers. Annie hadn't seen John and Michael for a while, and looked around for them. She saw them up by Tanner and Hunter, and relaxed.

Peter walked out onto the field, and turned around. "Everyone go find something to eat, and bring it back here. Don't be long, and try not to wander off." He explained, and smiled. All the Lost boys ran off in different directions, in search of something to have with their dinner.

"Come with me." Grayson said, and ran away. Wendy and Annie chased after him as he ran across the field and back into the forest.

"Now where are we going?" Annie complained.

"Every so often, Pan leads us out here. It's where the Indians live, and he wants us to lead them to the field so that we can all have a party."

"Just like in the story!" Wendy smiled.

"Yeah, sure." Grayson replied. "Anyways, the Indians only like a certain plant, but none of the other boys have figured out what it is, mainly because it isn't over in that area." Grayson pointed to the other side of the field, where all the Lost boys were. Peter stood in the middle of the field, just pacing around.

"Okay, what does all this mean?" Annie asked.

"Well, if you find the right plant, you're kinda on their good side. I'm friends with some of the younger boys because I always bring the right plant." Grayson replied.

"Well...where is it?" Annie asked.

"Over here." Grayson smiled, and led the two girls deeper into the woods. He stopped in front of a bright orange plant, with long petals.

"It's pretty, what's it's name?" Wendy asked.

"It's called a Tiger Lily." Grayson replied.

"Like the girl in the story?" Wendy asked.

"Okay, Wendy, I didn't read the story, so I don't know." Grayson said, turning to Wendy.

"Sorry." She mumbled.

"There is a girl named Tiger Lily in their tribe, who is apparently named after the plant." Grayson explained. He plucked three petals from the plant, and handed one to Annie and Wendy.

Annie, Wendy, and Grayson all ran back to the field, and over to Peter. He had set up a campfire and some logs, Annie assumed using magic.

Annie heard some chanting, and turned in the direction of the noise. A tribe of Indians was walking onto the field, carrying a large tent and a burlap sack filled with something. Behind the tallest man, was a small girl wearing a brown dress, with a small feather in her hair.