14.

"...one girl is more use than twenty boys." – J. M. Barrie

Dahlia wanted to curse. And possibly bash her fists into the wall. She currently sat in the brig, similar to the cell she had sat just the night before. Everything had gone wrong…again. She should have just transported out of there. Now, she had nothing. No scroll, no transporter, nothing.

Captain Smith had dragged her back to the ship, forcibly taken her bag and her transporter, and then threw her in the prison. At least this brig was a bit cleaner than the last.

"Damn, damn, damn, damn! Every swear word imaginable! My life sucks!"

"Who are you?"

Dahlia jumped, looking around. She was sure she had heard a small, female voice talking to her. Maybe she was really going crazy.

"Over here. Look in the cell next to you."

Dahlia turned to the cell, squinting her eyes to try to see. While this prison was better lit than the pirate ship, most of the cells were still in shadow because the torches burned only in the hallway. However, as the figure in the cell next to hers stepped closer, she could make out the girl pretty well.

The girl was Native American, with tanned skin, dark eyes, and two long braids dangling over her shoulders. By all accounts, she was lovely, a tiny girl standing tall. For her shortness, she didn't look any younger than Dahlia herself. Plus, she was the first female Dahlia had seen on the island.

"Hey," Dahlia said cautiously.

"Who are you?" The girl repeated, just as guarded.

"Dahlia. You?"

"I am Princess Tiger Lily, daughter of Great Big Little Panther, chief of the Piccaninny tribe."

Dahlia stared at the girl in shock. Wow. Yet again she felt in awe at meeting one of the original characters of the novel. She had always liked Tiger Lily more than Wendy anyway.

"How did you get here?" Dahlia asked.

"These barbarians attacked our village on the far side of the island yesterday, and kidnapped me. They think they can intimidate us. Well, my father will come rescue me!" She was very formal and pronounced in every word she spoke.

Dahlia crossed her arms. Maybe that explained why the Indians had tried to kill her and Callenback when they first came on the island. After all, they themselves had just gotten attacked.

"This Smith really is a jerk, isn't he?"

"What?"

Dahlia shook her head. "I mean, Smith seems even worse than Hook."

Tiger Lily nodded her head. "Perhaps. But how did he get here? How did you get here? I mean, no one new has come since everything happened."

"Everything? What exactly happened?"

"You don't know?"

"Like you said, I just got here. I'm completely in the dark. All I know is that Pan is getting weaker, Hook is coming to the island to find something, and British soldiers are invading Neverland. None of it is normal, but no one will tell me anything. All I know is it had to do with Patrick and Wendy."

Tiger Lily examined Dahlia's face intently. "Are you on our side?"

"Depends. Whose side would 'our' be?"

"Us, the Indians, the Lost Boys, Peter Pan."

"I didn't know the natives and Pan were on the same side," Dahlia commented absently to herself and then turned to look at Tiger Lily. "I like to think of myself as on my own side, but I guess I'm more on your side than Smith's or Hook's. So sure, I'm on your side."

Tiger Lily pulled over a tiny stool in her cell and sat next to the bars separating their cell. Dahlia copied her, and soon they sat facing each other. Hoping she would finally learn something useful, Dahlia leaned forward as the Indian princess started her story.

"It began eight years ago. Patrick wasn't just any lost boy; he was the closest to Peter. Peter trusted him with everything, even a certain secret. When Wendy came here, she fell in love with Peter. Peter, however, isn't the type to fall in love. Wendy quickly became hateful towards him because of his disinterest. So, when she left, she took two things. The first was Patrick, who fell in love with her the moment he laid eyes on her. The other is the reason that the island in growing older, and dying."

"What is that?"

"Peter's heart."

"What?" For some reason, Dahlia couldn't imagine Wendy tearing out Pan's heart. "You mean literally."

"With magic, of course. She conspired with his shadow, you see. That shadow is evil."

Dahlia shrugged. That shadow had broken her transporter, but he had also saved Pan and her from Smith. "Why would the shadow want to steal Pan's heart?"

"Because then he would be free. He wouldn't be tied to Peter anymore. The heart binds them together."

"So, Pan's missing heart is the reason for everything getting older."

"Time has unfrozen in Neverland. Soon, there will be nothing but dust and death. Things are getting worse. Earthquakes break out frequently, as do fires. Large waves berate the coasts. Many of the mermaids have already been killed upon the rocks by the vicious waves."

"Right. But I don't get one thing. Why is this happening just because Pan doesn't have his heart?"

"Neverland…this place is almost like a dream. Peter's dream. If his heart is at unrest, and unhappy, the dream will turn into a nightmare."

"So, how do we get back Pan's heart if Wendy took it to London with her?"

Tiger Lily shook her head. "That's just it, we can't. Before Patrick left, he started the fairy tree on fire. It killed many of the fairies, including Tinker Bell. Not that you know who she is. Anyway, the remaining fairies used most of their pixy dust to extinguish the fire and Peter helped them move their home up into the mountains. There wasn't enough dust left to go to London."

"Why would Patrick burn the fairies?"

"I think because of Tinker Bell. She tried to kill Wendy by getting one of the lost boys to shoot her with an arrow."

"I remember."

"What?"

Dahlia leaned back. Oops… "I mean…uh, never mind, go on."

"Patrick hated Tinker Bell. He swore to kill her after that."

"So, like all the other lost boys, he was psychotic." Dahlia paused. When Tiger Lily didn't continue, she asked a matter-a-fact question, "So, if we can't fix this unless we have Pan's heart and we can't get to Pan's heart, we're doomed, right?"

Tiger Lily bowed her head. "I fear so."

"Damnit!" Dahlia rose, kicking her stool over. She had wanted to fix everything, but now it seemed like she couldn't.

And yet…she paused. What did that fairy king say? She could save Neverland. She hadn't believed him because her transporter was only used for transporting, and yet that was exactly what they needed now. If she could get her transporter and get out of the book, maybe Jay could program her device so she would go to London. Then maybe she could find Pan's heart and get back to Neverland before everything was destroyed.

But, if she even figured out how to get out of here, how could she find Pan's heart in London? She had no idea where Wendy might have taken it. Plus, the moment she was back in the real world, she doubted her boss would let her go back in.

Dahlia paced the floor, clenching and unclenching her hands. There had to be a solution to this.

Footsteps suddenly sounded from the stairs. Dahlia glanced over spot British soldiers entering the hallway. They headed over to Tiger Lily's cell, unlocking it. Tiger Lily backed up, pressing herself into the back wall of her cell. Ignoring her fear, the two men took ahold of her arms and began dragging her out.

"Wait, where are you taking her!" Dahlia demanded.

The sailors ignored her and dragged Tiger Lily away struggling.

Finally, everything was silent. Dahlia hit her hand against the bars of her cell.

Tiger Lily had answered some of her questions, but she had also given her more. Dahlia was partially happy she let herself be taken to the ship by Smith, because she wouldn't have learned what was going on from anyone else. On the other hand, now she had to figure out how to get out of here.

"Dahlia…"

A soft whisper came to her ear. Dahlia whirled, only to see emptiness around her. It was the same voice she had heard whisper to her in the forest right before the shadow had enveloped her and Pan, saving them from Smith.

To the emptiness, Dahlia stated, "You are Pan's shadow."

Nothing answered back. Maybe she was starting to go mad.

Slumping down on the bed, Dahlia curled in a ball. She was exhausted. She just wanted to shut her eyes for a moment. She closed her eyes.