A Tale That Could Not Be
Chapter 28: Panhandled

Selvina trembled and glanced about wildly, searching for a way out. Pan’s dagger pressed harder against her skin and she could feel the sting of bloodshed. A whimper escaped her lips and Selvina’s chest heaved as she struggled to stop herself from panicking uncontrollably.

“Give it to me,” Peter Pan snarled, pushing the blade further into her neck and slicing a slightly deeper cut into her flesh.

Selvina could feel warm blood streaming down her neck and her already rapid heart rate quickened further. She worried that if nothing was done he’d simply kill her and take the pouch of fairy dust he craved so much for himself. Why he hadn’t done so already she did not know but Selvina wasn’t about to ask why. There was only one thing she could do if she wished to survive.

“Don’t kill me,” she whimpered. “I’ll…I’ll get it for you…”

“Hurry!” Pan hissed, his blade pulling away from her neck somewhat.

Pan had his other hand on Selvina’s side and his grip tightened in earnest. She could feel him begin to vibrate with excitement and though she could not see them, she expected his eyes to be bulging.

And then a plan suddenly appeared.

Selvina slowly slipped her hand into her chest, grabbed the pouch, and, just as it was revealed, she raised her other hand and grabbed it in both. Pan’s free hand let go of her side and rose up to snatch the pouch. Time seemed to slow down as Selvina’s mind focused fully on enacting her sudden and daring plan. Pan’s left hand, the free one, reached up over Selvina’s left shoulder, heading right for the pouch. Pan’s right hand, the one holding the knife, slowly pulled away from her neck, offering Selvina an open avenue for escape. Pan would catch her immediately if she tried anything but she had a plan for that.

Selvina suddenly shut her eyes and used both her hands to rapidly open the pouch as wide as possible. She aimed the opening toward Pan’s face and let the glaring white light do the rest. Pan predictably cried out in agony, the unexpected light momentarily blinding him and forcing him to shut his eyes and stumble back, slapping a hand over his face.

Selvina then shut the pouch, shoved it back where it belonged, and took off running as quickly as she possibly could. She charged past thick bushes and wide trees, all excellent hiding spots of their own, and focused fully on reaching the end of the outer courtyard. Now was no time to hide. She had to get as far from Pan as possible. If she could reach the maze she might be able to trap him inside. He might simply fly over it but Selvina suspected that his flight ability was wearing out and that he would use it sparingly.

Laughter, full of insanity and terror, rose in volume and intensity, echoing across the wide outer courtyard. Pan had recovered, Selvina noted, but she dared not look back, lest she slow down even the slightest.

“Clever girl!” he called out. “You are proving to be most entertaining!”

Selvina’s muscles began to burn and sweat beaded her entire body. Her breathing grew ragged and her head pounded but she kept running. She was running purely on adrenaline at this point but she wouldn’t stop. Her life and those of everyone else in this world depended on it.

The courtyard gates appeared, large, impenetrable, and glowing with hope. The maze that had challenged her so much would save her. It had to. There was nowhere else to go…

Reaching the gates, she banged on their sides with her fists, screaming loudly. “Open the gates! Open them now!! Hurry!!!”

There was no response.

“Open the gates!!!”

Again, nothing.

Cold with fear, Selvina glanced back and shouted in fright as Peter Pan appeared only a few feet away. He was walking toward her casually, savouring every step, and grinning confidently. Twirling his knife about in one hand and licking his lips, he appeared to already taste victory.

Selvina could do nothing but press her back against the closed gates and watch him come closer. There was no reasoning with Pan thus words need not be spoken. She couldn’t fight him and she couldn’t outrun him. There seemed to be nothing she could do to stop him.

“I almost don’t want to kill you,” Peter Pan said as he tapped the tip of his knife against his lips. “You provide me with such fun that it would be a real pity to end it all. Whatever shall I do?” He took a deep breath and pondered deeply for a few moments. Selvina glanced about as he did so, searching for a solution but finding nothing. He wouldn’t fall for the blinding light trick again and Selvina didn’t want to risk using the fairy dust on herself to walk through the wall. The moment she revealed the pouch he would pounce on her and put his knife to work.

“I know!” he suddenly exclaimed. “I will keep you! Yes, that is a great idea! Hahahaha! You will be mine for eternity; my own little plaything.”

Never! Selvina cried out internally. She’d kill herself before letting that happen. Reminded of the tortures Snow White endured during the journey across the sea, she dared not imagine what horrors awaited her if Pan had his way. Death would be a salvation.

“Selvina!” a voice suddenly cried out from above.

Pan looked up curiously and was immediately surrounded by a puff of thick grey smoke that appeared out of nowhere. He backed away and waved his hands through it in an attempt to dissipate it but it seemed stuck to him. Two blue, vertically-slit eyes opened up in the middle of the cloud of smoke, quickly followed by a wide grin.

“Look up, Selvina,” the toothy grin said. “I will hold him for as long as I can.”

“Chesh,” Selvina breathed, eternally grateful to see him. She watched Pan struggle to futilely fan away the stubborn, smoky cat for another moment before turning around and looking up. Her spirit soared as she saw Rapunzel standing atop the wall, her hair extended down to its full length, within easy reach.

“Rapunzel!” Selvina called out in joy.

“Yes, it’s me,” Rapunzel said hurriedly. “Grab hold of my hair and climb up the wall. Chesh won’t be able to stop Pan forever.”

Selvina, overjoyed and yet aware that a great enemy stood nearby, gripped Rapunzel’s hair in her hands and clenched it tightly. Rapunzel wrapped her arms around one of the wall’s merlons and braced her body as Selvina climbed up the vertical side of the wall, using her friend’s extensive hair as a rope. It was not long before Selvina reached the top and immediately squeezed Rapunzel into a tight hug.

“I am so glad to see you here,” Selvina said with all sincerity when she pulled away from the hug.

Rapunzel flashed a quick smile. “Me too, Selvina, but we really need to get moving.”

“Into the maze?” Selvina asked as she pointed to the other side of the wall, where the network of thorns and roses spread out for hundreds of feet ahead and to the sides.

“No,” Rapunzel said as she gathered her hair in her arms and began running along the flat top of the wall. “Back to the castle. We’ll have more help there.”

“So will Pan,” Selvina said worriedly, nevertheless following Rapunzel. “There are no guards on these walls, Rapunzel. They’re all at the castle.”

“And are no threat to us,” Rapunzel replied, glancing back at Selvina to give her a wink and smile. “Trust me.”

The two girls ran along the top of the empty wall with all haste, taking few breaks to catch their breaths. The Cheshire cat blinded Pan for longer than both girls would have expected but Peter Pan eventually freed himself by flying straight up faster than the cat could react. That was when he saw both girls, now quite far from him, and shot through the air toward them. Selvina saw him first and, already exhausted, summoned up strength and stamina from some unknown reserve and charged ahead. Rapunzel, slowed down by the pile of hair she carried, simply threw it behind her and let it drag across the top of the wall.

“Forgive me, my friends,” Cheshire cat’s wispy voice said as he appeared over the girls’ heads, keeping pace with them. “I did what I could but that foul man’s face gave me a dreadful case of indigestion.”

“You…did…great,” Selvina said between ragged breaths before glancing back to look at Pan. He was already only a few dozen feet away, flying through the air like a launched arrow. Selvina could see the fires of utter hatred burning in his eyes and she nearly gave up then and there. Well, Selvina thought dismally, at least it appears that I won’t be kept as a plaything anymore.

Pan landed on the wall rather roughly, which Selvina found odd, and continued his pursuit on foot. Even though he wasn’t flying his speed was still substantial and he didn’t seem anywhere near as exhausted as the two girls. It was only a matter of time before he caught up to them.

“Get behind me!” Rapunzel shouted to Selvina before skidding to a stop and turning around to face Pan. “Chesh, stop him for as long as you can!”

Selvina did as she was told and looked back just in time to see the Cheshire cat pop up in front of Peter Pan’s face and begin clawing him viciously. Pan stopped his pursuit and swatted the cat away, forcing him to turn into smoke. Chesh kept up the attack by vanishing and reappearing behind Pan’s neck and biting down on it hard. Pan cried out in agony and slashed his knife wide, narrowly missing the floating cat. During all of this, Rapunzel had wrapped the end of her hair into a large, solid ball and was beginning to twirl it in rapid circles.

“Chesh, watch out!” Rapunzel cried out just before she swung her hair like a flail. Pan was caught off guard and the huge ball of hair rushed through the air and slammed into his face with thunderous impact. The force of the blow sent him stumbling to the edge of the wall. He did not fall, however, but struggled to regain his balance.

Rapunzel made to leave but Selvina extended an arm and stopped her. The few seconds it took for Pan to recover would not be enough to get away from him. Something more needed to be done. Selvina wasn’t about to let Rapunzel and Chesh’s efforts go in vain by running off again only to get caught. She had fled from Pan long enough. It was finally time to take a stand against him. With a cry of defiance, Selvina burst into motion.

It had struck her as strange that Pan’s landing on the wall hadn’t been smooth. She had seen him land many times and he had done so smoothly each and every single time. Selvina knew that she could be wrong but she suspected that his ability to fly had finally left him only moments before landing on the wall. She assumed that he had fallen, if only for a few inches, and had never really landed at all. If his ability to fly was now gone, then her next action would prove effective.

Or so she hoped.

Just as Peter Pan was regaining his balance, Selvina reached him. Old memories suddenly sprung up, granting her strength and confidence. In another life and another world she had played street hockey with her brother in the driveway. She had been a horrible shot and a rather poor goalie but her brother had always praised her about one thing. Surprisingly, Selvina could shoulder check like a pro.

The feeling of her shoulder crashing into Peter Pan’s ribs filled Selvina’s body with a feeling of elation and pleasure that she had never experienced before. She didn’t think she’d ever feel something of such magnitude ever again.

Selvina was immediately proven wrong when she, Rapunzel, and Cheshire cat watched Peter Pan fall off the wall. His hands reached up, clawing the air in desperation, and his eyes were bulging with alarm. It just so happened that a wooden bench sat below, directly in Peter Pan’s path. The sound his body made upon crashing onto the bench’s back made the three onlookers wince and grimace. Pan then tumbled to the ground face first and lay motionless.

Rapunzel, Selvina, and Chesh stared wide-eyed, wordless and silent as several minutes ticked past.

We did it, Selvina thought, hardly believing her eyes and hoping that it wasn’t all a dream. We actually did it.

We defeated Peter Pan!

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