Caged • Robbie Kay/Peter Pan •

Chapter Thirty-Six

Breakfast ended quite quickly and the boys left to gather moss and palm tree leaves to insulate their tents against the growing cold as autumn fast approached.

Peter still was not to be found, but Caspar made sure things were organized and ran smoothly in his absence.

"Chase, Meadow, go to the beach and bring back buckets of water to make mud. There should be buckets in the cellar." he instructed, hauling a large bundle of palm leaves.

Liam and Roux used ladders to reach the tall trees and knives to saw off the branches before dropping them down to the ground.

As we walked back to the cellar in silence, I couldn't help but wonder if Peter was on the beach. That seemed to be his favorite place to think. I could only imagine him; expressionless and completely silent, as he had been the day we buried Chase's things.

"Maybe we should get water from the lagoon." I suggested, in hopes that Chase would not question why I didn't wish to go to the beach.

"The beach is closer. What's wrong with the sea water?" Chase questioned, pulling open the door to the cellar and starting down the stairs.

"The sea water rolls in in small waves; its shallow. You'd have to get in the water to fill a bucket." I stated, hoping he didn't see through the excuse.

"I suppose we both have bad experiences with sea water, don't we?" Chase said jokingly, glancing behind him with a small smirk playing on his lips.

This was strange. Ever since I had found Chase, he had been different than the boy I first met. He had every right to be bitter toward me, especially when I had been the one to catch him in his lie about poisoning Peter and frankly, I was growing skeptical.

"How'd you know about that?" I questioned.

"Hm?"

"How did you know I had a bad experience with the sea?" I asked, picking up two of the buckets that rested on one of the shelves.

He hesitated, turning away from me. "I saw it happen." he said simply.

"You saw us attempt to leave?"

"I watched from the forest line. I mean you couldn't have expected me to just jump out and say, 'Hey pal, I'm not dead but if you get in that boat, you will be!." Chase said sarcastically, faking a large smile.

I only chuckled in response, walking back up the steps to the dining room and waiting for Chase to follow, but he didn't come up. "Are you okay?" I asked.

"Just grabbing something!" Chase exclaimed, before coming up the steps a few seconds later, shoving something under his belt.

"What did you get?"

He stared blankly for a few seconds. "Oh, nothing of great importance." he said, brushing off my inquiry.

An unsettling feeling arose in the pit of my stomach. The boys kept extra knives and bows down in the cellar. Surely, he wouldn't try to hurt anyone. What would his motives be? But somehow I felt I knew. I simply refused to believe it.

Revenge.

Seeing the worst in Peter was what lead to the place I was in now. I had to give Chase a chance to prove he had changed, so I spoke nothing of whatever he had slipped under his belt.