Read Online Pan's Revenge by Anna Katmore - Free Book Online Page B

the rest of us.
“Now, come on, you all.” She flutters a few feet up and puts her
fists to her hips. “For once in forever , we don’t have to worry
about pirates ambushing us or Hook coming to slice all our throats
because of this darn treasure.”
    I suck in a lungful of air to reply, but she
cuts me off with a raised finger that she points at my nose. “No,
you won’t, Peter! Maybe you and Hook had your peaceful moments. But
after what he did to you—making you grow up and all—it’s obvious
things haven’t changed. He’d be chasing us until he gets what he
wants. And it was his from the beginning.”
    She glides down until her bare feet are
planted firmly on the ground again, then she stalks up to me and
stands on her tiptoes, gaze lifted to mine. The top of her head is
level with my navel right now, and still she manages to make me
back off. “It’s time to stop this stupid game and give us all a
break!”
    After a long pause, I say in a low voice, “I
didn’t know you felt like this.”
    “Maybe because you never asked, Peter
Pan.”
    She’s right. I never did. All these years, I
simply assumed everyone was having fun and liked things the way
they were. The pixie, too. Big mistake, obviously. Arms folded over
my chest, I look at the Lost Boys, one by one. “Do you feel the
same way?”
    Sparky digs a hole into the dirt ground with
his toe. His face turns an evil red from the base of his throat up
to the hairline of his buzz cut. “I think I’m actually with Tami on
this.”
    All the boys gasp, turning to him. They might
have been prepared for Tameeka to back out, but Sparky’s retreat is
a surprise to everyone. He lowers his gaze to his toes—or he would
if his round tummy wasn’t in the way.
    “Fine. Anyone else?” I snap. This really
isn’t my week.
    Toby rakes his black hair back and ties it to
a ponytail at the back of his head, showing his undercut. He always
does this when he’s in battle mood. “I say we leave the kids home
and the rest of us go and bring the treasure back!”
    Tami growls at him for this comment, but then
she takes Sparky’s hand and pulls him away from us, while Skippy,
Loney and Stan howl in agreement. They drum their fists on their
chests and dance around me like Indians.
    “What’s the plan?” Toby asks.
    Looking after the pixie and stout Sparky, I
feel a rift cracking between us. Is this because I’m older now? And
why am I the only one aging so fast? The other boys are still the
same as they were yesterday, last month, ten years ago.
    Toby tugs on my jacket. “Peter…?”
    Pulled out of my thoughts, I turn to him. I
do have a plan. But it’s too early to tell them about it. First I
have to see Angel again. “All in good time. Let me just sleep a
couple hours”—I stretch my neck and yawn—“and later today I have to
run an errand.” I want to time my next visit to London so that
Angel is awake. “We’ll talk about everything tomorrow.”
    Running the zipper of his bear vest up and
down, Stan asks in a skeptical voice, “Since when do you have to
run errands without us?”
    “Since I grew a beard,” I snap back. But then
I start laughing. Only because I look older now, I don’t have to
act or actually feel older, right? Grabbing a wooden sword from the
rack by the mattress mountain, I challenge him. “And don’t you ever
question me again. I’m still the better sword fighter out of all of
you.”
    Never one to
miss out on a good fight, Stan draws his own sword and we battle
across the ground level of the tree until one of us is lying flat
on his back, begging for mercy. Today, this would be me, but only
because the pixie got in my way and I tripped backward over
her.
    “ Die, Peter
Pan !” Stan barks and pushes his sword at
me, which I catch between my arm and my ribcage, moaning and
coughing like I breathed my last.
    The Lost Boys
cheer for my opponent. Tami, who’s still trapped under my left leg,
scowls at me and curses in a language