Chapter 2

Tricks

That night Sophie dreamt of Peter and of Neverland, of mermaids, fairies and pirates. She imagined the mermaids and fairies to be beautiful and sweet. She imagined the pirates to be the exact opposite – ugly and cruel.

The next morning Mrs Beales wrapped on the door, running up and down the halls shouting, "Up! Children, get up! Now!"

Sophie sat up so fast that her head spun, she blinked and rubbed her eyes, wondering if it was all a dream. She leapt out of bed and ran out of the room in her nightgown and bear feet, as she sped down the hall and stairs to the kitchen she pushed past the other children and was thankful that she did not run into Mrs Beales.

Once in the kitchen she ran to the back door and pulled it, relieved that it was open. Stepping her bear foot onto the cold concrete and feeling the crisp morning air on her rosy cheeks she glanced around quickly, looking for something, anything that would prove that it was real, that he was real. Then, out of the corner of her eye, she saw something glistening in the bushes. Sophie rushed forward and lifted a leaf delicately in her small hands and there, lining the edges of it was some kind of shimmering powder – pixie dust.

Sophie gasped. "Tinkerbell." She whispered.

"Sophie Johnson! What are you doing out here in your nightgown?" Mrs Beales questioned from the doorway to the old house.

The little girl whipped around with her hands behind her back, she tried to look innocent. "Um… I uh – "

"Oh never mind! Quick, get inside before you catch your death." The old woman ordered and stepped aside for the girl. "Go upstairs and put your day dress on and for heaven's sake, girl, put something on your feet!" She called as Sophie ran past her. "Strange child." Mrs Beales muttered to her self.

Upon arriving in her room, Sophie proceeded to put on her dress and shoes, then brushed her hair. When finished she made her way down to the dining room where all the other children were already scoffing breakfast and took a seat.

There was another small girl, Lucy; you could say that she was Sophie's best friend. She was the same height as Sophie, with pale skin and short, poker straight, dark brown hair. But this girl was not as adventurous as Sophie; she always did her chores, ate her vegetables and was in bed on time. Peter would describe her as boring. Lucy was terrified of Mrs Beales and whenever Sophie decided to misbehave, Lucy was almost always dragged along too. Sophie knew that Lucy hated getting into trouble so she always took the blame anytime they got caught breaking the rules; she didn't mind, it made her dull life a bit more exciting.

Then there was Ralph, a horrible little brat who was terribly jealous of other children, especially Sophie. This was because Sophie was well liked by the other children at the orphanage and he was not. There wasn't anything extraordinary about this boy, he was very plain looking and had a very plain personality. His porky face was rounded by chubby cheeks which made his eyes look a lot smaller than they actually were. Dark hair, parted in the middle curled upwards at the sides of his head. Along with his small eyes, he had a small nose and mouth too. Mind you, that didn't stop him gossiping about the other children and throwing insults and tantrums whenever he didn't get his way. He was taller than Sophie, and older, three years older. He liked to tease the younger children and was usually extremely cruel when he did this.

"Where were you this morning? I went to your room." Lucy asked Sophie quietly.

"I went out to the back garden. You won't believe what-" Sophie stopped abruptly, wondering whether or not she should tell anyone about Peter.

"What?" Lucy pressed.

"What… what… what Ralph did." She fumbled, looking away whilst lying and grabbing a piece of bread from the table.

"Oh, what's he done now?" Lucy huffed, exasperated. You see, it was easy for her to believe that Ralph had done something to Sophie, for this happened frequently and she now knew that Sophie would ask her to help with getting Ralph back for whatever trick he had played on Sophie.

"Um… he…he stole my shoes and... put them in the garden so I had to go and get them in bare feet." She lied quickly.

"He's such a menace." Lucy said.

Later that day, as Lucy had predicted Sophie had required her help in playing a trick on Ralph who was currently dusting in the kitchen. The girls were hiding on the stairs, looking through the posts of the banister. They had filled a bucket with ice cold water and Sophie had climbed on Lucy's shoulders so that she could rest the bucket on the top of the door so that when someone opened it the bucket would fall and the water would soak them.

They were currently waiting for Ralph to come through the door. When he did the bucket fell and he got drenched but what Sophie wasn't planning on was the bucket falling and getting stuck on his head.

The girls tried to contain their laughter at this surprising yet hilarious turn of events but simply couldn't, they escaped from the scene of the crime by running to Lucy's room and closing the door behind them. Laughing, they collapsed to the floor listening to Ralph's muffled screams from downstairs.

When they finally sobered up they heard Mrs Beales shouting downstairs, cursing Ralph and calling him a "stupid boy!"

Hearing Mrs Beales yell like that worried Lucy. "What if she finds out it were us?" She asked worriedly.

"She won't, he couldn't see us for the bucket on his head." Sophie reassured.

"But he'll know, Sophie. He always knows when we play tricks on him."

"He's got no proof." Sophie sat on Lucy's bed while the latter paced around her bedroom.

"You should go to your room." Lucy carried on pacing.

"What? Why?" Sophie asked, hurt.

Lucy stopped and looked at her. "Because he'll surely say it was us and if we're both in here it'll look suspicious."

"Oh. Right. Well, bye then." Sophie stood and walked to the door. Lucy worried too much sometimes.

Later that night all the children were in their rooms apart from Ralph who was downstairs with Mrs Beales still trying to get the bucket off his head. He hadn't been able to talk properly since it had got stuck there. Ralph knew exactly who had done it, even though he didn't see them, he heard them giggling as they ran off. As soon as this bucket came off his head he would get his revenge.

After trying everything from butter to soap to loosen the damn thing, Mrs Beales had just resorted to pulling and finally with a pop Ralph was free and as red faced as ever.

"Stupid boy." Mrs Beales repeated putting the bucket under the sink.

"It was Sophie and Lucy, Mrs Beales!" Ralph cried after waiting so long to rat out the mischievous girls.

"What? How do you know?" The old woman questioned.

"I saw them. Right before that bucket fell on my head, I saw them pointing and laughing at me." He lied.

"I've had just about enough of those girls." Mrs Beales huffed and began her march to their rooms. Ralph followed.

"Sophie! Lucy! Come out here at once!" Mrs Beales called now stood in the corridor to all the bedrooms.

Both girls rushed out and stood in front of the old woman. Sophie succeeded in looking completely innocent while Lucy appeared nervous, fiddling with the hem on her sleeve and tears already in her eyes. Sophie spotted Ralph grinning behind Mrs Beales and glared at him fiercely.

"I trust you both know what you are here for?" Mrs Beales asked.

"No, Mrs Beales." Both girls shook there heads', it was like a routine to them.

"Girls, we can either do this the easy way or the hard way." The old woman warned.

Lucy's bottom lip was shaking now. Mrs Beales zeroed in on it and questioned the poor girl sternly. "Lucy, you seem to be rather nervous? Care to explain why?"

"I don't know." The girl answered, giving up, knowing she was caught she cast her eyes downwards.

"Look at me girl!" Mrs Beales ordered.

Lucy's head snapped up and she sniffled once.

"It was me." All the heads in the hallway turned to Sophie.

"Excuse me?" Mrs Beales asked.

"I was the one who put the bucket on Ralph's head. Lucy had nothing to do with it." Sophie continued holding her head high.

"Go to bed, Lucy." Mrs Beales told the girl.

Lucy did as she was told but not before mouthing a thank you to Sophie.

"I told you! I told you, Mrs Beales!" Ralph cried, satisfied.

"Oh yes, alright, Ralph. Off to bed with you." Mrs Beales snapped and the boy scurried off with his tail between his legs.

"I suppose you're quite proud of yourself?"

Sophie stayed quiet; she knew that was best from experience.

"I've had enough of this, Sophie. Go to bed and you will be confined to your room all day tomorrow."

"Yes, Mrs Beales." Sophie walked to her room and got under the covers in her bed.

Frowning, she thought about Peter and Tinkerbell, wondering what they were doing now. She fell asleep imagining them flying around Neverland having so much more fun than she had ever had in her whole life.

A few hours later she was awoken by a tapping noise. She sat up and looked around for the source. There was a familiar glow outside her window. As she got closer she could see the outline of Peter. Smiling, she ran the rest of the way and quickly opened the window to let the boy and the fairy in.

"Peter! Tinkerbell!" She gasped.

"Sophie." Peter smiled walking straight in and looking around her room. A sound of bells came from Tinkerbell. "Tink says hi." Peter translated.

"What are you doing here?" Sophie asked.

"I came to see you of course." The boy stated as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Tink flew to the top of the wardrobe and perched herself there.

"How did you know where to find me?" Sophie wondered.

Peter lay on her bed with his hands behind his head while Sophie stood at the end.

"Just did." Was his vague answer with a tone that said he wasn't going to elaborate. He didn't want this little girl to know that he had searched for her room the night before.

"Oh."

"So, what do you want to do?" Peter asked her.

"Oh, Peter, tell me about Neverland." She requested sitting on the bed by his feet.

Peter stood on the bed so that he could demonstrate his words if he wished to.

Just as Peter was about to start the bedroom door burst open. In the doorway was a gobsmacked Ralph.

"Mrs Beales!" He yelled and began to run down the hallway.

Peter quickly flew after him and covered the boy's mouth with his hand. Sophie ran out into the hallway with Tinkerbell following to see Ralph on the floor with Peter hovering above him while covering his mouth. With Peter's free hand he put his finger to his lips, gesturing for the boy to be quiet.

Ralph nodded, eyes still wide with terror but as soon as Peter moved his hand he began to insult Sophie. "I'm going to tell on you, Sophie Johnson. I'm going to tell Mrs Beales you had a boy in your room. You're so strange, I bet it's because you don't have a mother."

"I do too have a mother, Ralph! She's coming back for me!"

"Oh, grow up! She didn't want you! She abandoned you and it's no wonder!" Ralph shouted.

Sophie turned and ran back into her room crying. Tinkerbell stuck her tongue out at the boy and flew after her.

Seeing that this boy had upset his new friend, Peter unsheathed his dagger and pushed the boy against the wall holding the blade to his throat. Ralph stopped breathing in shock. "Don't you ever mention Sophie's mother to her again. If you make her cry I'll come back for you." Peter threatened menacingly then went back to Sophie's room leaving a stunned Ralph in the hallway.

Peter found Sophie in the corner of her room with her knees pulled up to her chest and her head buried in her arms. Tinkerbell was hovering round her. He had never seen Tink take to someone quite so well before. He supposed it was because Sophie was young.

He went over and crouched in front of the small girl again as he did last night. "Sophie?"

A sniffle.

"Don't cry."

Nothing.

Tinkerbell lightly pulled on a strand of her hair.

Finally Sophie's muffled voice spoke. "Peter, how did you become an orphan?"

"I ran away."

"Why?" She looked up.

"I heard my mother and father talking about what I was to be when I became a man."

"Don't you want to be a man?"

"I want forever to be a boy and have fun. That's why I went to Neverland, time doesn't exist there." Peter smiled and began exploring her room once again.

"But how did you get to Neverland?" Sophie stood up and went to sit on her bed, watching Peter.

"When I ran away I went to Kensington gardens. That's where I met Tink, she showed me the way." Peter turned to face her. "You ask too many questions."

Sophie had no answer for that.

"Why don't you like that boy?" Peter wondered.

"Ralph? Because he's not very nice and he's boring." She informed him childishly. "I have to stay in my room all day tomorrow because he told on me." Sophie huffed laying back.

"What did you do to him?"

"Me and my friend played a trick on him and he ended up getting a bucket stuck on his big fat head for hours."

Peter laughed out loud at this and Sophie was proud that she'd impressed him.

"I always play tricks on him." Sophie carried on. "One, time we covered him in glue and stuck feathers to him." The memory of Ralph running round after Sophie like a chicken made her laugh too and she wrapped her arms around her stomach.

Tinkerbell went to Peter and whispered something in his ear.

"I must go." He told Sophie.

"Oh." Her smile fell. "Will you come back?" She wondered just before he went out the window.

"Probably." He said. "Tink likes you." And with that he and Tinkerbell flew off into the night.

The next day Ralph went straight to Mrs Beales and proceeded to tell her about a flying boy and a fairy that Sophie had in her room last night to which she had replied, "don't be silly, Ralph. Go and do your chores."

But he would not give up so easily and when the woman had finally had enough she exploded in rage. "Ralph Emmerson! You are not to tell lies and make up stories! We live in the real world! I know you're angry about the incident yesterday but enough is enough, boy! There is no such thing as a flying boy and certainly no such thing as fairi-"

"But, Mrs Beales!" Ralph whined.

"No, Ralph! Leave my sight this instance!"

It was a terribly good thing that Ralph hadn't let Mrs Beales finish her sentence. If she had, a fairy somewhere would have died.

…

So, that was chapter 2. How you liking it so far?

I would like to thank tricorvus for reviewing :)

Just so you know, there are pictures for this story on my profile if you want to get a clearer image of Sophie.

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