Second Star To The Right

Chapter 9

Henry watched as two Lost Boys climbed a rope and the others cheered for them. He didn’t notice a Lost Boy coming up behind him until he was poked with a stick in the back.

“Ow.” Henry hissed standing up to avoid being poked again.

“So you’re the kid Pan has been looking for all this time?” The Lost Boy scoffed, catching the attention of everyone in camp.

“Ask him.” Henry sassed, Miranda would have given him a pat on the back for standing up for himself. “Stop it!” He grunts as he’s hit again.

The Lost Boys all cheered as the two boys began to fight.

“If you can’t take this. . .” The Lost Boy hit him again. “How can you handle what Pan has in store for you?” Lost Boys murmured in agreement. Henry quickly picked up a stick to defend himself.

The boy swung at Henry but he was quick to defend himself, before suddenly a voice spoke up.

“Not bad. But wouldn’t it be more fun if you had real swords?” Pan asked as he walked over. 

“I’ve. . . never used a real sword.” Henry hesitated.

“This is Neverland, and you have the heart of the truest believer. You can use whatever you want. You just need to believe, Henry. Close your eyes and believe you’re holding a real sword.” Pan told the young boy as he stood not too far behind him.

Henry closed his eyes and believed that he was holding a sword. He felt a weight in his hands and the Lost Boys around him gasped causing his eyes to snap open. He was surprised to find an actual sword in his hands, the Lost Boy in front of him gulped nervously. 

“What are you going for? Go on.” Pan urged Henry. Henry swung his sword at the Lost Boy’s wooden sword, the Lost Boy stumbled back in an attempt to avoid getting hit. The Lost Boys all cheered for Henry.

Henry cut the other boy’s sword in half and forced him to stumble back again. Henry brought the sword down one more time and cut the boy in the face causing Henry to drop the sword in surprise.

“I. . . I’m sorry. It was an accident.” Henry apologized causing Pan to step forward.

“Henry, don’t you know the best thing about being a Lost Boy? You never have to apologize.” Pan picked up the sword and handed it back to Henry before turning back to the other Lost Boys. “Come on!”

The Lost Boys all cheered for Henry as he lifted the sword above his head. Henry smiled, he felt like he belonged.

~~~

The group looked around the cave trying to find a way off of Neverland. Emma looked around before Hook spoke up.

“You need a hand, love?” Emma stopped and turned to him.

“Is that a joke?”

“Hmm. No, I'm being quite serious.”

Hook helped Emma move the makeshift bed and found that there had been tally's carved into the rock as if counting something.

“Wow.” Emma said as she moved to get a closer look catching David’s attention.

“What is it?” He asked.

“It appears Neal marked his days trapped on this island.” answered Hook. Emma climbed up and placed her hand on the wall.

“What’s wrong?” Her mother asked as she set down what she was looking at and moved closer.

“Look here. Neal stopped counting.” Emma said as she showed them what she was looking at.

“Cause he got off the island.” Mary Margret said.