Straight On Till Morning (Disney Twisted Tales) - Liz Braswell Page 0,97
Wendy said thoughtfully. “I think I’m beginning to figure this all out. You’ve been tired and weak without your shadow, just like I was. And now Hook has your shadow, in a cage. A nasty one. And you were talking about strange pains and aches.…I think Hook is getting to you through your own shadow. Maybe he can’t kill you directly, but he can hurt it and affect you.”
This gave Peter pause.
“A cage? He has my shadow in a cage?”
“I’m afraid so. With all sorts of nasty barbs and pincers inside.”
Tinker Bell watched Peter closely for his decision. As he considered this information, he unthinkingly offered the fairy his hand up.
She grinned from ear to pointed ear.
“I don’t like this. I don’t like this at all,” he swore. “Using my shadow. That’s against the rules. That’s bad form. So I guess what you’re saying is that I need a crew. An army. All right then, to the Lost Boys! Yeah! Together we’ll all save Never Land! Let’s go get ’em!” He made to fly again.
“You should stay here,” Wendy said, “remember? We decided that a moment ago? Even assuming you’re back to yourself enough to fly, Tinker Bell would be fastest. She’ll fly there, and you and I will…”
Tinker Bell narrowed her eyes at Wendy.
“I mean…I’ll go. Yes, that’s best,” Wendy said, correcting herself quickly. “Tinker Bell can stay here and look after you. If that’s all right? I’ll just need very precise directions. And some more fairy dust, if you don’t mind. For me and Peter.”
Tinker Bell closed her eyes and bowed politely—of course. For you.
She flew up in a dainty spiral around Peter, gracefully whisking showers of golden sparks over him. Peter laughed in delight.
She threw the dust over her shoulder without looking at Wendy, getting her in the face. Not out of spite—it was just that the fairy’s eyes were still on Peter.
“I’m not sure this relationship is very good for either one of you,” Wendy muttered, wiping dust off her nose. No one paid her any attention.
“It’s easy to get there,” Peter said. He squatted down and pulled out his dagger to draw a map in the sand. “We’re here, at Pegleg Point. Then hang right at Blind Man’s Bluff. Then follow the river up—”
“Sorry, which river?” Wendy asked, trying to understand. All she saw were vague lines and gashes and one sinuous, perhaps watery, track.
“Whaddayamean, which river?” Peter said, laughing. He pushed his hat from the back so it dipped down over his face. “There’s only one river in Never Land.”
Tinker Bell jingled, shaking her head.
“There’s two now,” Wendy said. “I made one.”
For perhaps the second time in his existence, Peter Pan was shocked into silence.
“When we were with the First,” she continued primly, trying—sort of—not to be smug. Had Peter ever created anything from nothing in Never Land? Anything so grand?
“You went to the First?” Peter Pan gulped.
“The mermaids told us you went there to see about obtaining a new shadow.”
“I did! Good-for-nothing jerks,” he growled, kicking sand over his map. “They wouldn’t even let me in. I had to walk the whole way and they wouldn’t let me in! Told me to deal with ‘my own piddling issues.’ Me! Peter Pan! I’m practically the king of Never Land.”
Wendy turned this declaration over in her mind. How often did Peter say things like this? How often did he act like that? How true was it? No wonder Slightly was chafing a bit.
“Well, consider yourself lucky, perhaps. They tried to trap us there—we very nearly could have spent eternity in a desert maze, trying to find our way out.”
“I can’t even believe you went there to begin with,” he said, turning to Tinker Bell. “Tink? That was incredibly dangerous. You know, for someone who isn’t me. You really did that? You went in there…for me?”
Tinker Bell nodded shyly.
“Huh. That’s some powerful stuff there.” He scratched his chin. “L—uh, whatever is you feel, I mean.”
Wouldn’t you do the same for me? Tinker Bell asked, the tips of her wings quivering.
Wendy felt her heart stop. She waited as anxiously as her friend for the answer.
“Yeah, of course,” the boy said, shaking his head in disgust. “But that’s not ’cause of love, that’s ’cause we’re buddies. You’re my first mate. You’re the most important member of my crew. I wouldn’t let anything happen to you, ever.”
Tinker Bell clasped her hands in delight and looked at him with shining eyes. He smiled and patted her on the head.