The Bridge to Never Land (25 page)

The gigantic crocodile lumbered into view, heading for the gate opening, its massive jaws gaping to reveal rows of jagged, spear-size teeth. For a few moments Hook was paralyzed with terror, and in those frozen moments he saw something that seemed impossible: there were three people riding on the crocodile’s back.

“Hang on,” said Nibs, from the front.

“Hang on to what?” said J.D., looking for something to grab on the giant croc’s scaly back.

“I really, really don’t want to fall off and get eaten by this thing,” said Sarah, who was sitting between the other two.

“You won’t,” said Nibs. “I told you, Tink made a bargain with Mister Grin. We give him Hook, and he doesn’t eat us.”

“But he’s a crocodile,” said Sarah. “How do you make a bargain with a crocodile?”

“Tink speaks crocodile,” said Nibs.

Ahead, through the open fort gate, Sarah saw pirates running away; beyond them, she saw Hook, who was holding the gold box and standing near Peter, who was chained to a post.

“Hang on!” shouted Nibs.

They clung as best they could to the broad back of the giant creature as it lumbered, with surprising speed, into the gate opening.

And then, with a thundering crash, Mister Grin stopped. Nibs, Sarah, and J.D. were hurled forward, just managing not to fly off the croc’s giant snout.

“What happened?” shouted Sarah.

“The croc’s too wide!” answered J.D. It was true: although Mister Grin’s snout fit through the opening, his massive midsection was too wide. He had become wedged between the stout logs on both sides. Tink was a bright blur, zipping around the croc’s enormous head, chiming furiously. Roaring in fury, Mister Grin swept his tail back and forth, shaking his monstrous body. The logs creaked and swayed, but the fort—including the narrow gate opening—had been designed specifically to repel Mister Grin; for the moment, the logs held.

Hook watched Mister Grin’s struggle to get through the gate, and he knew two things. One was that eventually the giant croc would succeed. The other was that there would be only one way to escape the fort, and Hook held it in his hand. His men might not be so fortunate. But Hook had never been one to worry about his men.

There was a loud crack as one of the logs began to give way to the massive weight and strength of the croc. Hook gripped the gold box tight. He would use it in a moment. But there was one piece of business he had to take care of first.

He turned toward Peter.

Nibs and J.D. were both focused on Mister Grin’s efforts to get through the gate. But Sarah kept her eyes on the gold box. Whatever else happened, they had to get the box back. Her fear was that Hook would simply fly away with it. The plan had been to catch him sleeping, but now they had lost the element of surprise. She expected him to use the starstuff at any moment. But so far he hadn’t. As she watched, Hook began walking toward Peter, chained to the post, helpless.

Hook was raising his hook hand.

“Oh, no,” said Sarah softly. And then she was scrambling forward on the croc’s back, past Nibs.

“Sarah!” called J.D.

She didn’t look back. On her feet now, she ran straight down the middle of Mister Grin’s snout and leaped off the tip. She fell onto the dirt, rolling.

J.D. rose to follow her, but a sudden violent twist by Mister Grin sent him flying sideways. Sarah was on her feet now, running as fast as she could.

Hook stood with his hook hand held high. His final triumph over the boy was going to be more rushed than he had planned, but he intended to savor, as best he could, this moment.

“Look at me, boy!” he said. “I want my face to be the last thing you see.”

Peter looked at him, his face defiant.

Hook pulled his arm back for the final strike. He began
an arcing swing, its target Peter’s neck.

Sarah’s flying karate kick caught Hook in his midsection. As he fell, spinning, his hook missed Peter by half an inch and kept going around his body.

It plunged into Sarah’s chest, just below her collarbone.

Together they fell to the dirt. Sarah seemed unaware that she had been wounded until she saw Hook pull his hook, dripping red with her blood, from her body. She looked down and tried to scream, but what came out was more of a hideous gurgle.

Hook scrambled to his feet. With barely a glance at Sarah on the ground he turned back toward Peter, determined to finish the job.

“Get away!” shouted a voice. Hook turned and saw J.D. advancing on him cautiously, his eyes on the dripping red hook. He had no weapon. Hook swung the hook at him, and he jumped back.

Hook turned back toward Peter, but as he did he heard a roar and a crash. He spun back toward the gate: the beast had forced its way through and was coming fast. Hook made a quick calculation: there was no time for the boy. In one swift motion he raised the gold box, put the point of his hook on the wheel, and gave it a quarter turn as he tilted the opening toward his chest. During the night he’d had to tilt it farther and farther; there was no telling how much starstuff was left.

But there was enough for now; even with Mister Grin charging at him, Hook felt the now-familiar sense of elation as the starstuff lifted him in spirit as well as body.

Clutching the gold box, he began to rise. The croc roared, and Hook laughed: the beast would not reach him. His feet were four feet off the ground, now five, now six…

Suddenly, he stopped rising. He looked down and saw hands gripping his ankles; then he looked down farther and saw J.D. clinging to him desperately. Hook swore an oath and swung his hook downward, but it was difficult to reach with the gold box in his other hand.

The croc was almost to him.

He kicked his feet violently and at the same time strained to rise.

Somehow J.D. held on. And somehow Hook made them both rise another few feet. Hook’s boots were ten feet up in the air now, J.D. dangling down, hanging on desperately as Hook thrashed his legs while still fighting to rise. They ascended another foot, but that was it; in the next moment, Hook sensed with horror that J.D. was dragging him down to the enormous croc’s waiting jaws.

Hook knew he had to get rid of J.D. or die. With a desperate lunge he leaned over and swung his hook down as far as he could. But J.D. had been anticipating this. At the last second he released his right hand from Hook’s ankle, and as the hook went by, he snatched Hook’s wrist. Now he had Hook by a foot and a hand; more important, he had neutralized the hook, at least for now. Hook tried to kick J.D. with his free foot, but his position was too awkward to get any force behind it.

They were starting to descend. Mister Grin was waiting.

Hook had one weapon left. He had to use it now, or be eaten.

With a roar of utter fury he hurled the gold box. J.D. saw it coming and moved his head just enough so that it did not hit him square. But a sharp corner caught his skull and he lost his grip on Hook’s ankle. He now had Hook’s wrist with only one hand. Hook gave a violent yank and pulled free. Freed of the weight, he shot upward.

J.D. fell to the ground, landing hard on his back. He couldn’t breathe and blood was pouring from a wound in his scalp. He tried to rise but he was losing consciousness. The last thing he realized before he blacked out was that he was gripping something in his right hand.

It was his watch.

Hook, now drifting over the wall, looked back and saw a chaotic scene: his men, fleeing Mister Grin, had run out through the gate and were racing across the clearing toward the jungle.
Cowards
, thought Hook. The girl he had stabbed was lying on the ground, her face paper-white, her blood drenching her clothes. Peter, still chained to the post, was shouting urgent orders at the Lost Boys. One of them ran and picked up the gold box, then ran to the fallen girl and knelt
next to her.

Hook didn’t see what happened next; he had drifted too far away to see over the wall. He turned his attention toward his ship, anchored in Pirate Cove. Then he heard a roar and looked back. The crocodile had emerged from the fort and was coming after him again.

Hook strained to rise and aimed for the ship, praying he’d used enough starstuff to make it. From back inside the fort he heard a loud cry. Whether it was a cry of joy or a cry of anguish he could not tell.

CHAPTER 39

“N
IBS
!
GET THE BOX
!” peter shouted, straining against the chain holding him to the post.

Nibs stared wide-eyed at the motionless, blood-covered form of Sarah.

“Nibs!”
repeated Peter. “Get the gold box!”

Shaken from his trance, Nibs looked around frantically.

“Over there!” said Peter, pointing. “The rest of you, find the key!” Peter rattled his chains. “Hook put it in his hut, I think. It’s the one over there.”

Slightly, Curly, and the Twins took off at a run toward Hook’s hut.

Nibs had the box now. “What do I do?” he asked.

“Listen carefully,” said Peter. “Set it on the ground next to Sarah. Now, twist the wheel on top. Just a little…good! Now, you mustn’t look directly at the starstuff. Turn it ’round the other way…good. Now tip the box so the starstuff flows
into the wound.”

Nibs turned the box and lifted it over Sarah, his hands shaking badly. J.D., who had just regained consciousness, rose and stumbled over.

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” he called to Peter.

“I’ve seen it work before,” Peter answered, remembering the time, long ago, when he had used starstuff to save the life of Fighting Prawn.

“All right,” said J.D., reaching out his hands to steady Nibs’s. Together they tilted the gold box, farther and farther, until finally there was a brilliant flash and the sound of bells as starstuff began to flow into the horrible wound just below Sarah’s neck. Some spilled on Nibs’s and J.D.’s hands. Nibs, unaccustomed to its effects, became elated and began to hum and giggle. J.D. concentrated, forcing himself to focus, through squinted eyes, on the box. The stream of starstuff was abating. He tilted the box farther, until it was almost vertical, but only the barest trickle came out.

Afraid of what he would see, he forced himself to look at Sarah’s wound. His eyes opened wide.

“I don’t believe it,” J.D. whispered.

“Oh, my,” said Nibs.

The wound had healed. Where there had been a deep gash in Sarah’s skin, there was now only a faint redness—not even a scar. Only the hole in Sarah’s bloody shirt indicated what had happened. Sarah’s body was floating a foot off the ground; gently, J.D. pushed her back down.

Sarah’s eyes blinked open. She coughed, then cried out as a searing pain shot through her chest. She was afraid to look down; her eyes shone with fear.

“You’re gonna be okay,” said J.D.

Sarah didn’t believe him. She remembered the horrible sight of the red-smeared hook, her spurting blood…“I’m going to die,” she whispered.

“No,” said Nibs. He held up the gold box. “You’re going to be fine.” As he spoke, Sarah became aware of the warmth spreading through her.

Still, she didn’t dare look down. Her eyes met J.D.’s. “Is it really okay?” she said.

He nodded. “As a physicist,” he said, “I’m very reluctant to use the word
miracle
. But this was a miracle.”

Sarah turned toward Nibs. “Thank you,” she said.

“It was Peter’s idea,” said Nibs. “And I couldn’t have done it without your friend.”

“Well, then, thank you all,” said Sarah. She frowned. “You didn’t use up all the starstuff?”

“Don’t worry about that,” said J.D. “Just rest.”

“But—”

“Just rest.”

She lay back in the dirt and closed her eyes. They brought her some water in a coconut shell and wadded up some big leaves to form a crude pillow. The Twins found the key in Hook’s hut and brought it to Peter, who, with their help, finally freed himself from the ring around his neck. Sarah heard him walk over and felt his shadow as he stood over her. She opened her eyes.

“Are you all right?” he said. He himself had a raw, ugly, red line around his neck.

“I think so,” she said.

“I think so, too,” said Peter.

There was a moment of awkward silence, and then he said, “You saved my life. Hook would have killed me. I…well…thank you.”

“And you saved
my
life, from what I hear,” said Sarah. “I’d say we’re even.”

“No,” said Peter. “You risked your life for me.”

“I just…reacted,” said Sarah.

“But why?” said Peter. “Why risk your life?”

Sarah shook her head. “I don’t know. You were helpless there, chained to the post…it just seemed wrong.”

Peter nodded again. He was silent for a few moments, then said, “You told me your brother is in trouble. With Ombra.”

Sarah nodded.

“Then I’m going back with you,” said Peter. “To help.”

Tink chimed something.

“Tink, too,” he said. “We’ve fought Ombra before. More than once. We can help.”

“Peter, I really appreciate that,” said Sarah. “But it’s not a good idea.”

“Why not?”

“Because our world…it’s changed since you were there last. It’s crazy there. You belong here.”

“I’ll come back here. When we’re done.”

“That’s another problem,” said J.D. “Assuming we can get over the bridge, I don’t know how we’d get you back here.”

Peter thought about that, then said, “We’ll figure that out when the time comes.”

“Peter,” said Sarah, “I can’t let you risk it.”

“When Hook was about to stab me,” he said, “and you stopped him—were you thinking about the risk?”

Sarah said nothing.

“So it’s settled,” said Peter.

Sarah sighed and closed her eyes. She fell quickly to sleep.

They went back to the Mollusk side of the island by sea after “borrowing” one of the pirates’ longboats. The Lost Boys and J.D. rowed; Sarah, still weak, lay in the bow next to the gold box. Peter and Tink, high above, served as lookouts, but there was no sign of pirate pursuit.

As the longboat neared Skull Rock it was met by the
mermaids, who used their powerful tails to greatly increase its speed. When they reached the Mollusk beach, they were greeted by Fighting Prawn and his men, who had worked through the night to repair their canoes in preparation for a rescue attempt. The Mollusks were relieved to see that the mission was unnecessary, although Fighting Prawn gave Peter a stern lecture about his foolish attempt to take Hook on alone.

After a hearty meal—food always came first with the Mollusks—Peter, Sarah, and J.D. described the events on the other side of the island. Fighting Prawn frowned when Peter announced his plan to go across the bridge with Sarah and J.D.

“Are you sure that is wise?” he asked.

“I’m sure it’s what I want to do,” answered Peter.

“It has been a long time,” said Fighting Prawn. “That world has changed.”

“A lot,” added J.D.

Tink chimed something. The others looked to Peter for a translation. “She says Ombra hasn’t changed,” he said.

Sarah spent the rest of the day in the care of one of Fighting
Prawn’s daughters, Shining Pearl. Sarah’s clothes were badly
shredded and bloodstained, so Shining Pearl, with much
pleasure, attired her in a traditional Mollusk dress made of material woven from grass fibers and dyed in a rainbow of colors. It took some convincing, but Sarah also allowed Shining Pearl to decorate her hair with shells.

Sarah slept that night in Shining Pearl’s hut and awoke feeling almost fully recovered. She emerged to find J.D. deep in conversation with Fighting Prawn and Peter.

J.D. smiled at her outfit. “’Morning, Pocahontas,” he said, happy he’d found his own jeans in Hook’s hut. Fighting Prawn said something in Mollusk, and Peter laughed.

“What did you say?” Sarah asked.

“I said you should be prepared to receive a boiled-jellyfish pudding,” said Fighting Prawn. “What are you talking about?” said Sarah. “That’s how Mollusk men propose marriage,” said Peter.

J.D. laughed; Sarah blushed. “Have you guys made any progress?” she asked, eager to change the subject.

“We have,” said J.D. “For one thing, we know where the bridge is.”

“Where?”

“Skull Rock. The right-hand eye socket. Same as back in Disney World.”

“Makes sense,” said Sarah. “That’s where we wound up when we came over the bridge.”

“Yup. Fighting Prawn says that when Einstein and Pete Carmoody went back, they had the Mollusks lower them to the eye in a sling tied to a rope.”

“Is that what we’re going to do?”

“Basically. But instead of being lowered in a sling, we’ll be lowered in the ship from the Peter Pan ride.”

Fighting Prawn chuckled at that; Peter blushed.

“I’m still trying to explain the concept of Disney World to them,” said J.D. “They both have a hard time believing there’s a ride named for Peter.”

“There’s lots of stuff named for you,” said Sarah. “Peanut butter, for example.”

“What’s peanut butter?” said Peter.

“It’s delicious,” said Sarah. “But wait a minute…” She turned back to J.D. “I thought Hook dropped the little ship onto the Mollusk canoes.”

“He did,” said J.D. “But it was in shallow water. The mermaids found it and brought it to land.”

“Do we really need it?”

“I think maybe we do,” said J.D. “I think that when we activate the bridge, we’re going to find ourselves in exactly the same place we left from.”

“On the Peter Pan ride.”

“Right. But here’s where it could get a little weird. I also think it’s possible that we’re going to find ourselves there at exactly the same time we left.”

“You mean at 9:07 p.m.,” said Sarah.

“Definitely 9:07 p.m. But possibly at 9:07 p.m. on the same night we left,” said J.D. “In other words, no time will have passed there at all.”

“Wait a minute,” said Sarah. “We’ve been here for, what, two days. Time has passed here. How can it be the same day there?”

“I don’t have time to explain the physics of it,” said J.D. “But time isn’t what most people think. It’s not a constant, and it’s not linear. Does that make any sense?”

“Absolutely not,” said Sarah. She turned to Peter and Fighting Prawn. “Does that make sense to you?”

They shook their heads.

J.D. smiled. “Yeah, it is counterintuitive,” he said. “But humor me, okay? I’m just saying we need to be ready for anything.”

“Okay,” said Sarah. “So when do we do this?”

J.D. pulled out his watch. The band had broken when he’d yanked it off Hook’s wrist, so he kept it in his pocket. He looked at the time. “A little under twelve hours,” he said.

The ascent to the top of Skull Rock was perilous, especially at night—it required climbing a set of shallow footholds carved into the back side of the huge rock, which became increasingly steep until it was nearly vertical at the top. Sarah, still weak, had the hardest time, but Peter hovered next to her the whole way up, steadying her as needed.

J.D. also struggled with the climb, and was careful never to look down. The Mollusks, including Fighting Prawn, ascended the rock easily, despite carrying the gold box and coils of heavy rope, which they used to haul up the Peter Pan’s Flight ship.

Far below, in canoes at the base of the rock, were more Mollusk warriors, along with the Lost Boys, who had begged to come along. Peter, after declaring that Nibs would be leader in his absence, had said good-bye and promised to come back soon. The Lost Boys believed him; they could not imagine Peter failing.