The Bridge to Never Land (23 page)

CHAPTER 34

S
ARAH AND J.D. LOOKED UP AND GASPED
. Suspended ten feet over their heads, his legs crisscross, looking down at them with a mixture of curiosity and suspicion, was Peter Pan.

Sarah stared at him, fascinated. In some ways, he looked as she expected—a wild tousle of red hair, a thin, extravagantly freckled face with a pointed chin and upturned nose. But in other ways he differed from her mental image. He was filthy and disheveled, clad in ragged, short pants and a sleeveless shirt made of cloth that seemed to be mostly holes, held together by a belt made of vine, into which was tucked a dagger. The soles of his feet were black with dirt; the rest of him was not much cleaner.

But what struck Sarah most was how young he looked. She knew, of course, that he never aged, but his appearance in the flesh drove the point home emphatically: he’s just a boy.

For several seconds, she and J.D. gaped up at Peter as he looked down at them. The silence was broken by the sound of bells—high-pitched, melodic, heavenly.

Peter snorted.

“They do, don’t they, Tink?” he said. “A pair of cows.”

Sarah realized something else about him she hadn’t considered previously; he had a British accent.

The bells sounded again, and now Sarah saw their source—a tiny face peeking out from Peter’s mass of curls, exquisitely beautiful despite the contemptuous sneer she was aiming at the people below.

“Tinker Bell!” exclaimed Sarah.

More bells, and a laugh from Peter.

“What’s so funny?” asked Sarah.

“You wouldn’t understand,” Peter said.

“Why don’t you try explaining it?” said Sarah, irritation creeping into her voice.

He ignored her question. “Who are you?” he said. “And who’s he?”

“My name is Sarah Cooper,” said Sarah. “That’s J.D. Aster.”

The name brought on another burst of bells. Peter focused on J.D. “You’re an Aster?” he said.

J.D. nodded.

“Do you know…that is,
did
you know Molly? Or Wendy?” Peter asked.

J.D. shook his head.

Peter nodded, looking into the distance, his mind momentarily elsewhere. Then his gaze returned to the visitors and his unwelcoming tone returned. “What are you doing here?”

“We brought some starstuff, in a gold box,” said Sarah. “We were trying to keep it away from Ombra.”

This produced the loudest outburst of bells yet.

“Ombra?” said Peter. “Is he after you?”

“He was,” said Sarah. “But we left him back on…the other side of the bridge.”

“So he’s not here on the island,” said Peter.

“No,” said Sarah. “But he’s got my brother. We need to go back.” She paused, her eyes downcast. “My brother needs us.”

“So why don’t you go?” said Peter.

His callousness irritated Sarah further. He didn’t seem at all concerned about her brother.

“We can’t. Not yet, anyway,” said Sarah. “We need star-stuff to use the bridge. And Captain Hook has the box.”

“Hook?” exclaimed Peter. “How did that happen?”

“He captured us,” said J.D. “The minute we got here.”

“And you let him take the starstuff?” said Peter.

“We didn’t
let
him,” said J.D. “As I said, he captured us.”

Peter gave J.D. a scornful look. J.D. glared back. They were not hitting it off.

Fighting Prawn interrupted the standoff. “Peter, Bold Abalone is readying the war canoes. We will attack him at sundown and retrieve the starstuff. Then we can see about getting our visitors on their way home.”

“Call me crazy,” said J.D., “but I’m getting the feeling we’re not welcome here.”

Fighting Prawn and Peter exchanged a look, then Fighting Prawn said, “We don’t mean to be rude. But we have all been together a long time on this island. We are accustomed to each other, comfortable in our way of life.”

“And we’re messing it up,” said Sarah.

“You’re a…disruption,” said Fighting Prawn.

“You don’t belong here,” said Peter, coldly.

Tink chimed something. Peter snickered.

Sarah’s faced darkened. “Well, we’re really sorry that we disturbed your little paradise,” she snapped. “We’ll leave as soon as we can. We’ll go back to face Ombra, and you”—she paused to glare at Peter—“
you
can go back to playing your little flying games with your little fairy friend.”

This brought a furious burst from Tink. Peter’s face was now beet-red. He turned to Fighting Prawn and said, “You won’t need the war canoes. I’ll get the starstuff box myself.”

“Peter,” said Fighting Prawn, “I don’t think that’s wise.”

“I’m not afraid of Hook,” said Peter. “I’ve dealt with him many times, and he’s never beaten me.”

“I know,” said Fighting Prawn. “But now he has starstuff.”

“That doesn’t worry me,” said Peter. “I’ll get it back.” He
glared at Sarah and J.D. “And then they can leave, and we can have things the way they were again.”

“Peter…” began Fighting Prawn. But it was too late. With one last baleful look at Sarah and J.D., Peter was gone, disappearing at astonishing speed over the fence surrounding the Mollusk compound, heading for the water—and Captain Hook.

CHAPTER 35

F
ROM THE BEACH, BOLD ABALONE
saw Peter flying just above the tree line, coming toward the fleet of war canoes waiting to push off from the shore. Bold Abalone waved, expecting Peter to land next to him so they could coordinate the attack on Hook.

Instead, Peter kept going, sailing over the Mollusk warriors without even looking down, heading out over the water and making a graceful, banking turn to the left toward a rocky point at the far edge of the beach. In a few seconds, he was around the point and gone, leaving Bold Abalone wondering what was happening. The plan had been to attack at sunset.

He got an answer a minute later when a warrior came running down the beach with an urgent message from Fighting Prawn: Peter intended to take Hook on by himself. The warriors were to follow Peter as best they could, finding the pirate ship and helping Peter if needed.

Bold Abalone ran to the lead canoe, shouting a command as he jumped in. The warriors, in perfect unison, dug their paddles into the water. The canoes surged out to sea, quickly gaining speed, aimed like arrows at the rocky point. The Mollusks were masterful canoeists; Bold Abalone knew that if Hook was anywhere near this side of the island, they would reach him quickly.

But he also knew that Peter would get there well ahead of them. He hoped Peter would not do anything foolish. Peter was his friend—they’d been friends for more than a century. But Peter could be hotheaded.

Very hotheaded.

Bold Abalone signaled his men to paddle harder.

Peter soared upward, letting the cooler air blast against his face, still flushed with anger. The girl’s words echoed in his mind…
playing your little flying games with your little fairy friend
. She’d been mocking him. And yet it was this same stupid girl, and her stupid friend, who had let Hook take the starstuff!

As he gained altitude, he scanned the horizon. He would show them what kinds of games he could play…

“I don’t believe it,” Sarah said to J.D. “I finally meet Peter Pan.
The
Peter Pan. And he’s…obnoxious! He’s worse than my brother!”

“He did have something of an attitude,” said J.D. “I hope he can back it up, because we need to get that box back or we’re stuck here. And I really don’t want to be stuck here.”

“Me neither. J.D., I’m so worried about Aidan…”

J.D. pointed across the compound. “There’s some kids coming.”

Sarah looked and saw a ragtag group of boys passing through the gate. There were six of them, of varying sizes; they were dressed like Peter, more or less, and every bit as filthy, if not filthier.

“The Lost Boys,” said Sarah. “Peter’s crew.”

They stopped about ten feet from J.D. and Sarah, staring at them for several seconds. Then one of the older ones spoke. “Who are you?” he said.

“I’m J.D.”

“Who’s she?”

“I’m Sarah.”

“Is she your wife?” the boy asked J.D.

“No!” said Sarah. “And I can talk for myself.”

“You talk funny,” said the boy.

Sarah turned to J.D. and said, “What is it with the boys on this island?”

J.D. laughed. “Who’re you?” he asked the boy.

“I’m Nibs,” said the boy. He pointed to the others and said, “Them is Tootles, Curly, Slightly, and the Twins.”

“Do the Twins have names?” said J.D.

“Yes,” said Nibs. “Their names is the Twins. Have you seen Peter?”

“He was here a couple of minutes ago,” said J.D. “He’s gone after Captain Hook.”

“Without us?” said Slightly.

“Why’d he go without us?” said the Twins, simultaneously.

“Which way did he go?” said Tootles.

“That way,” said J.D., pointing.

“We’ll go that way, too, then,” said Nibs. “Maybe we can see the fight.” He turned to go, then turned back. “D’you want to come?” he said.

“It’s fun to watch Peter fight Hook,” said Tootles.

“Peter always wins,” said Slightly.

“Always,” said the Twins.

J.D. looked at Sarah. Fighting Prawn had left the compound, apparently to be closer to the Hook situation; there seemed to be nothing keeping them here.

“Why not?” said Sarah, shrugging. They followed the boys out through the gate, their eyes searching the clear blue sky.

Peter spotted Hook’s ship a mile off Skull Rock. He flew in a wide semicircle around it so he could approach with the sun directly behind him, making himself more difficult to see. When he was in the right position, he began his downward swoop. He saw a dozen pirates at various places on the deck, a half dozen more in the rigging, but apparently they had not seen him. There was no warning shout as he approached, no unusual activity. He spotted Hook now; the pirate captain was lying near the stern, apparently asleep.

From Peter’s hair came a chime—Tink always saw everything first—and then Peter spotted it: a golden box, set on the foredeck, with nobody around it. Peter slowed a bit, looking for pirates hiding near the box, but not seeing any.

Could it really be this easy?
he wondered.

Tink emitted a warning chime.

“I know,” said Peter. “But what can they do? I’ll snatch it and be gone before they know it.”

He dropped lower, increasing his speed, calculating the angle. He was a hundred feet from the ship now…fifty…He didn’t understand why the pirates hadn’t seen him, but at this point it didn’t matter—he would reach the box before any of them could stop him.

He crossed over the ship’s rail at full speed, arms extended. He snatched the gold box in both hands and at the same instant angled his body upward. The box was heavier than he expected, but he cleared the ship’s rail easily. He’d done it!

Over the water now, he angled his body into a sharp right
turn, planning to make a triumphant pass over the hapless Hook at the stern.

But Hook wasn’t there.

He heard the burst of bells from Tink at the same moment he sensed something above him.

How could there be something up there?

As he looked up, the net came down. He dove to escape it, but one of his feet was tangled in the rope. And now the net was all around him, imprisoning him, its edges held firmly by the pirates who had only moments earlier been in the ship’s rigging.

The pirates were in midair.

The pirates were flying.

Peter struggled furiously, but he was no match for their muscle and the rough rope. With one last burst of bells in his ear, Tink wriggled through the net and, in a flash of light, was gone.

Peter felt himself being dragged down, back to the pirate ship. From above, he heard a laugh he knew all too well—an ugly, rasping sound.

As he and the gold box were slammed onto the rough wood deck, he looked up to see Hook above him, glowering triumphantly, ten feet in the air.