Lost in the Never Woods(76)

She wanted to reach out and touch him, to tell him that it would be okay and they would figure it out. But would he hear the doubt in her voice? Wendy chewed on her bottom lip. What did Peter have to keep the darkness away? After they got out of these woods, she would figure out how to keep him safe.

They crossed the first trail, which was just some gravel on hard dirt, pounded into place by logging trucks. The creek was a short hike past that, and they followed it downstream, sloping deeper into the woods. She started trailing closer to Peter again, but, this time, she was more careful not to step on him. The woods were vast. Even with a guided plan, it was a lot of ground to cover. Not to mention, the terrain became rough, which slowed Wendy and their progress.

The farther they went, the quieter the woods became. There were no more birds chirping or chipmunks scrabbling their claws against trees as they chased one another. The only sound left was the bubbling of water in the creek.

“Do you miss Neverland?” Wendy asked, wanting to break the eerie quiet.

Peter tilted his head back, looking up into the boughs of the trees as he considered her question. “Sort of. It’s a lot nicer there,” he said. “I miss the beaches, playing games with the lost kids, being able to spend all day just lounging in a hammock by the waterfall,” he said in a far-off tone with a sigh.

“That definitely sounds better than trudging through the woods, looking for your shadow with me,” Wendy agreed with an airy laugh. “How terribly dull Oregon must be in comparison to Neverland.”

“It’s not that bad. Being here has its perks.” He nudged his shoulder into Wendy’s. She pressed her lips together as they threatened to quirk into a smile. “What I really miss is being able to fly. This body”—he looked down at himself—“just feels weird.”

Wendy trained her eyes on Peter’s face, actively keeping herself from taking inventory. Again.

“What do you think started all of this in the first place?” she asked. “Losing your magic and growing up, I mean?”

“I don’t really know,” Peter confessed. “I just assume the shadow did it, but it did only start when you came to Neverland with me…” He squinted, giving Wendy a curious look. “This has something to do with you, but I’m not sure what.”

“Do you have a plan?” Wendy asked. “For when we find it? How are we going to…” Wendy struggled to find the right word. “Stick it back on?”

“Well, we’ll need to weaken it somehow. And then you can sew it back on!”

Wendy looked at him. That wasn’t much of a plan. She was a decent seamstress. One of the doctors at the hospital had even showed her and Jordan how to do basic surgical stitches on an orange, but how would it work with a shadow?

Suddenly, Peter jerked to look over his shoulder. Wendy’s gaze followed, but she didn’t see anything in the mix of greens and browns.

A shiver ran from the top of her head to the tips of her toes. She edged closer to Peter and twisted her fingers into the back of his shirt. She looked between Peter’s sharp expression and the unmoving trees. “What is it?” she asked.

The woods were getting darker as the trees grew closer together, blocking out the sunlight from above the canopy of branches. When had it become so cold? She moved still closer to him, her shoulder pressing into his warm back.

Peter kept staring into the distance, standing still as the silent trees. Fear swelled in Wendy’s body and thrummed through her veins. She tugged on his shirt. “Peter?” Was he even breathing?

“I thought I heard something,” Peter murmured. He tilted his head, listening to something Wendy couldn’t hear over the pounding of her own heart. After a moment, he gave his head a small shake and sighed, though his shoulders remained tense. “It was nothing.”

A nervous laugh escaped her tight throat. “I thought you weren’t afraid of anything,” she said in an attempt to ease the tension.

Peter only looked at her. When he started walking again, she let the material of his shirt slip through her fingers. “What’ll happen if we can’t do it?” Wendy asked, rooted to the spot, hands clenched into fists at her sides.

Peter turned. His hard expression softened. “My magic is supposed to keep me young forever so that I can help lost kids find their way,” he said. “If I keep growing up, then I lose my magic, and I can’t fly or find those kids or take them to Neverland with me. Without me, there’d be no one to guide them. They’d just…” His shoulder lifted in a shrug. “Stay lost.”

Wendy wanted to ask what that meant, but the prickling on the back of her neck pulled her attention.

Peter must have felt it, too, because his body tensed and his blue eyes darted around them.

A long silence stretched. Wendy’s skin crawled.

“Do the lost kids stay in Neverland forever?” Wendy asked. Maybe if she just kept talking, the feeling would go away.

Something breathed against her neck, like a quiet whisper. Wendy jumped and spun around.

Only motionless trees stood, flanked and waiting, as far as her eyes could see.

A dense and heavy silence hung in the air. It was like she was underwater. The air felt like it was pressing against her skin, and her ears needed to pop.

“Sometimes.” The air shifted behind her. Peter’s warmth pressed between her shoulder blades. “But most of them are able to find their way and move on,” he said, his voice low.