TO ALL WHO LIKE THIS STORY - all right, people; I know someone's stolen
your brains, now all you have to do is tell me who. I will recover the
stolen brains and see if it makes any difference in how much you like this
story. Thanks for liking the sibyl; I like her too. And now onto chapter
three, and yes I know they're too short!
Signed,
Your beloved Talia
~~~
Anja only just managed to get to the bed Peter had provided for her, when
she collapsed into sleep. She dreamed deeply and vividly, which was, in
truth, the effect Never Land had on many people. Pan dozed nearby, in a
rope hammock slung from one side of the hollow tree to another. In the
corner, a very large, but quite tame wolf slept, her ears pricked for the
slightest disturbance. Her name had been given as Bince; she was the
classic dusty gray, with yellow-gold eyes.
Her dreams slid into each other, whispering with silent, and yet not
silent, voices. She had no idea of the tears that Peter glimpsed on her
cheeks when he heard her cry out in the darkness of the night. He spent
several long moments watching her afterwards, watching the play of light
and shadow across her features. Then he lay his head back down with a sigh.
~~~
The sun in her eyes woke Anja, and she sat up slowly, remembering where she
was. Bince saw that she was awake, and barked a short greeting before she
returned to her pacing. The girl moved slowly, rummaging in the chest at
the bottom of the bed for the clothes she knew Peter had said would be
there. She found a green tunic and a pair of tan, calf-length breeches, but
no shoes. A moment later, a wiry, red-haired boy swung down from a higher
level of the tree and grinned at her. "I'm Muilyn. Peter say's you're
Anja?"
"That's right, yes. How many Lost Boys are somewhere around here? Used to
be six or seven - "
"I think we're five main, including Pan. That's me, Marc, Jaksi, and
Rulaaj. Pan left breakfast out, but he didn't know what you liked. So
there's honey, flatbread, fruit, cheese."
"Coffee?"
"Say what? There's something Pan calls hot chocolate, but."
"Never mind, forget I said anything. Lead on." Anja sighed, rubbing the
sleep out of her still-blurry eyes. Muilyn seemed much too awake for so
early an hour. The red-haired youth gave a high, piercing whistle, and a
few moments later, a kestrel came out of nowhere to perch on a branch. It
cocked its head inquiringly, and Muilyn said, slowly and clearly, "Xiza,
listen. Go find Peter. Tell him Anja's up. Understand?"
The bird bobbed her head and took wing, and Muilyn shook his own head in
amusement. "Xiza's smart, but she's not human. Pan'll get the general idea
of what I just told her, though. C'mon and eat."
~~~~~~~~~~~~
There was a slender boy with vaguely Indian features seated at the rough
table on the ground level of the enormous tree. He looked up at them with a
grin, and introduced himself as Rulaaj. There was a fox sitting on the
table in front of him, whining softly as the young man bandaged a long gash
on its foreleg. Rulaaj finished quickly, then said, "There you are, Teek.
Stop getting yourself into so many scrapes! I'm sorry, what did you say
your name was?"
"Anja. Where's the breakfast?"
"I moved it so Teek couldn't get at it. 'Tis over on that other table. The
younger boys have been at it already, so it's a bit depleted. Thank the
gods that they don't all live in this tree. Pan takes in *far* too many
nowadays. We've been here almost since the beginning. There's one boy who
has been here, for everything. His name is Tootles, I think."
"That's very possible," said Muilyn thoughtfully as he filled one of the
rough wooden plates with everything on the table that was even remotely
sweet. "That's what he tells us, and he hasn't the imagination to lie that
well."
"Jaksssi? Is Jaksssi in therrre?"
"No, Ravven, she's not. Come on in, though. There's flatbread and honey, if
you want it. Can you still fit through the door?"
"Of courrsse I can, fool. Do you know wherre ssshe iss?" A huge, black-
feathered head and torso appeared through the opening, the huge green-gold
eyes bright with intelligence. Anja felt her breath catch. A griffon.the
beak opened and the creature spoke again in a breathy voice. "And wherre'ss
that honey?"
"Who, Jaksi? I have no idea. It's on the table. Ravven, this is Anja, Pan's
newest foundling. Anja, this is Ravven Wingstretch, our resident scholar
and genius. She brought us books, Rav!"
"You flatterrr me, Muilyn. And by the way, if you sssee the little
wrrretch, tell herr I'm waiting.verrry pleassant to meet you, Anja." The
griffon snatched a piece of bread and honey on her way out, leaning Rulaaj
laughing in her wake. As soon as he got control of himself, he called,
"Come on out, Jek, and consider yourself lucky she didn't hear you."
A tall, lithe girl swung down off the huge root she'd apparently been
stretched out on, hidden from where the griffon's immeadiate line of sight
had been. She swept her short, dark hair out of deep blue eyes, and smiled
at Anja. "Jaksi. Call me Jek. Ravven wants to teach me something, and I
have no desire to learn. Do you know what it's like to be one female among
twoscore boys?" The sudden change of topic startled Anja. "It's a living
hell, that's what it is."
"Jek, cool it. Let her eat. Have you had breakfast?" the voice was
laughing, and came from somewhere above. Anja glanced up to see Peter
peering in a broken window at her, and she waved. "No, I haven't. Come on
down, why don't you?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Like it? I do. And I like Jek.
Yers,
TalFal
