Straight On Till Morning (Disney Twisted Tales) - Liz Braswell Page 0,112

behind her, it was clear that though it had taken everyone a moment to notice her absence, the use of guns was not forbidden against potential Pan accomplices.

“We need to get away and regroup,” she told Tinker Bell. “There’s nothing we could have done back there.”

The little fairy jingled furiously.

“No, I don’t think I could have pulled Peter from either Hook or Valentine—I’m not that strong, Tink. I already tried to fight off Valentine when he was alive and I failed. And this is all assuming I could fly holding Peter and not drop him in the water, drowning him.”

She’s right, Tinker Bell, Thorn said, flying up beside them—as Wendy knew he would, even without a word or a signal. I’m no coward. The odds were entirely against us. We need to strategize and come back again and hit them hard.

Tinker Bell jingled something translatable—but unprintable.

Wendy skimmed along the water and the beach, keeping a wide swath between them and the pirates in the skiffs (and their captives).

“Wendy!” The twins cried together, spotting her. But it wasn’t a cry of despair; it was a cheer. They were glad one of their number had escaped—and could maybe return to free them.

Slightly also caught her eye as she passed, but didn’t say anything. Hope shone brightly on his face, and it spoke for his silence.

Wendy was also full of hope: she hoped she didn’t disappoint him.

She flew above the jungle a little before finding a good place to break through the canopy. Curling herself into a ball, she plummeted to the ground through dense leaves and twigs, remembering to stick her feet out at the last minute.

The moment she opened her hand, Tinker Bell shot out and dove at her face.

“Please stop,” Wendy said, as patiently as she could manage. But it came out the way she felt: weary, and maybe, like Hook, just a bit disappointed. Did her little friend never see the ramifications of actions? Never think a few moves ahead? Never grasp how ridiculous she was being? Wendy suddenly thought of Zane, and his perfunctory removal of her at the battle. He, too, was only trying to save a life.

Tinker Bell must have finally seen or understood what passed through Wendy’s mind. She drooped.

Easy, little sister, Thorn jingled, coming close to the other fairy. We will come up with something. It isn’t over yet.

Wendy felt a rush of affection for him that had nothing to do with his physiognomy or his manner. He understood why she did what she did, and he understood that Tinker Bell needed to be appeased. He was useful, kind, and like-minded. Good qualities to have in a friend.

“All right,” Wendy said, sitting down at the base of a tree. “Let’s see what our options are. Peter is out of the game—and possibly in real danger. While he’s hostage I doubt the Lost Boys are going to try to escape. Even Slightly wouldn’t risk it. And now that Hook has Peter, all of his little pieces are in place. We don’t know how long before he sets into motion his plan to destroy Never Land.

“And we’re the only ones who can save it. Of all the inhabitants of Never Land I’ve met, none of them—literally none of them—would ally with us. Or me, rather. Not the terrible mermaids or the unknowable First. Certainly not the mindless and devouring thysolits. I doubt the Cenotaph cave-dwellers would lend a hand and I have no idea what the Elephant Wheels are.”

They keep to themselves, on the Lost Roads, Thorn said, which was both helpful and not at all. Wendy decided to file that with the now very long list of things to look into if she had more time in Never Land.

“Well, that leaves us and the fairies, then. And you have said they won’t fight on our side?”

Unfortunately, we have no actual proof of Hook’s plans. After seeing the blasphemous doings of Captain Hook, it might be possible to rally the Great Army to our side. But it would require a meeting at the Allthing, and just the scheduling of that is a bear.

“Oh, cripes, this is impossible!” Wendy tore off a piece of a plant and threw it at the ground. She had almost said hopeless. “We have nothing.”

We have you, Tinker Bell jingled softly.

Wendy gave her a weak smile. “Thank you, but I don’t see what I can bring to the table, other than a belated ability to fly and a dagger I seem to