"I really should have expected them to do that," Amy said, brushing her wet hair out of her eyes. "Really should have expected the mermaids to react that way. It was the same reaction they had to Wendy and Jane, wasn't it?"
"Yep!" Peter grinned. He and Amy flew away from the Mermaids' Lagoon after a brief visit with the fish girls. As soon as the mermaids learned that Amy was the new Lost Boy mother, and was living with Peter, the watery maidens threw water all over Amy. Amy showed that she could give back as good as she got, when she threw sand on the mermaids. Fortunately, Peter had intervined before more violence could break out.
Now, the two were heading home so that Amy could dry off. A warm fire and some hot soup sounded good to the drenched girl right about now. She shivered in the setting sun.
"You knew you couldn't avoid them forever, right?" Peter asked.
"I managed to avoid them for a good long time, though. Five years."
"Yeah," Peter answered, frowning. He did not want to be reminded how many years had gone by since he had brought Amy to Neverland. It reminded him that he had allowed Marzi to grow in a normal manner.
Suddenly, there was a flash of lighting and a loud crash of thunder. A storm was on its way. Although Neverland was located in the heavens, on the second star to the right, it also got its share of storms. And this one sounded close. Very close.
"We need to get to shelter right away!" Amy cried.
"I know just the place," Peter answered. "Follow me." He veered off toward a certain mountain in the center of Neverland. Amy followed right behind him, wondering where he was leading her.
Peter led her to a cave deep inside the mountain. It was a copy of the underground house, complete with a fireplace, a bed, a table with benches, and other things. A corner held containers for food and water, all clean and fresh, as all food and water was in Neverland.
"It's a place I come to when I want to be alone. Just to think, sometimes, or to cool down when I get angry with the boys. The only other ones that know of this cave is Petra, Tink, and Dusty. That way, if there's an emergency, one of them can come and get me."
"I suppose even you need a rest from adventures every once in a while," she smiled at him as she removed her backback and put it on the table.
"Yeah," he grinned. "Sometimes." He lit the fire in the fireplace and soon, they were nice and warm. He filled a small cookpot with water and started it to boiling for soup. Meanwhile, Amy checked the food stores for the ingredients, and found meat, carrots, peas, and potatos. These, she cleaned and chopped into small bits, adding them to the water when it was ready. The two took turns stirring the soup as it cooked, talking as they waited for their food to be ready.
"What do you do here?" she asked him.
"Oh, nothing much, really. Sleep, sometimes, or just lay on the bed, stare at the ceiling, and think. Sometimes I just let my mind wander, and I come up with some new games every once in a while. Course, I also use it for an emergency shelter, like we're doing now."
"Must be nice to get away for awhile, even if it's only for a few hours."
"Yeah," he sighed. "But I soon miss the guys, and miss playing pranks on old Hook. And I always go back."
"Of course you do," she smiled. The soup was ready, and they took it off the fire, bringing it to the table. Peter got two bowls and ladled the soup into them. He got two spoons, as well as a pair of glasses for water to drink. Their food ready, the two sat down to eat.
They ate in silence for awhile, the only sound coming from the storm outside. Each was lost in their own thoughts as the enjoyed theor soup. They wondered how the boys and Marzi was weathering the storm. The little girl must be scared, for the thunder was extremely loud. At least she was with Petra and the Lost Boys. They and the pixies would take care of her.
After their meal, Amy decided to teach Peter a new game. He watched, fastenated, as she got out twelve little cups and two bowls. She arranged the cups in two rows of six each, then put a bowl at either end of the rows. Then, she found some beans and picked out fourty-eight, putting four beans in each of the twelve cups.
"This game is from Africa, and it has as many names and as many ways to play as there are countries in Africa. The most well-known name for it is 'Mancala', and these are the rules I learned." She made sure Peter was paying attention before she continued.
"The six cups on your side of the board belongs to you. The six on my side belongs to me. The bowl to your right is your 'store', while the other one is mine. In this game we don't own the pieces. We own the locations on the board. The object of the game is to have the most pieces both in your store, and on your side of the board when the other person runs out of pieces. We do that by picking up the pieces in one of the cups and dropping them each, one-by-one, in the cups. If your last piece lands in your store, you get another turn. If your last piece lands on your side of the board, and there are pieces right across from the hole the last piece landed in, you've 'captured' those pieces, and get to put them --as well as the piece that did the 'capturing'-- into your store."
"Sounds simple enough," Peter smiled.
"It is," she smiled back. "I'll start, to show you what I mean. Let's see: There are four beans in each cup, so if I take the beans from the third cup," she did so, ending the move in her "store". "I get another turn," she said. This time, she moved the beans --of which there were now five-- from the sixth cup, ending in cup four on Peter's side of the board. Now, Peter studied his pieces. He then took the beans from his second cup and move them, ending in his own "store". He took another turn, moving the beans from his fifth cup, and ending the move in Amy's third cup. Now, it was her turn.
They kept taking turns until Peter ran out of pieces. Then, they counted them. Peter had seventeen beans in his "store", while Amy had thirty-one in hers. Amy won the game --against Peter!
"Don't worry about it, Peter," Amy said. "It's one of those games that's easy to learn, but takes practice to learn well. Let's play some more."
"Okay," he replied. Once again, Amy set up the pieces. She allowed Peter to go first, this time. He took his cue from Amy, and moved the beans in his third cup first, then followed that with the ones in his sixth cup. This time, when he ran out of pieces, Peter had more than Amy. He grinned and challenged her to another game. This was fun!
They played several games of Mancala, each winning their fair share of the games. Peter was getting good at it. He asked if they could use more beans in each cup.
"Sure," Amy replied. "But I wouldn't go too many more. Remember: We're piling up the beans each time we move. The cups will overflow if we get too many beans in them."
"What's the best number of beans to start with?"
"Anywhere from thirty-six --three in each cup-- to eighty-four --seven in each cup-- is a good range. Four or five in each cup is a decent amount."
"Okay," he smiled. Amy set up for another game. They played for hours, until they finally got sleepy. They stretched and yawned, ready for some sleep.
But how were they going to handle the sleeping arrangements this time?
"There's only one bed," Amy pointed out. The bed in question was big --just the right size for up to three people. But this time, there would be no Marzi between them. Yes, they could still use the same bed --it was wide enough that there would be a space between them. But still, it meant they would be sleeping together. They had done it for little Marzi, but now, it would just be the two of them. All the uneasiness that Peter had felt five years ago, when he first shared the bed with the two girls came back to him. But there did not seem to be any other way.
"The bed's big enough to share," he gulped. "We shouldn't come into --unreasonable-- contact." What was the matter with him? Peter Pan was never nervous about anything. He had more confidence in himself than anyone in the world! So why was he so unsure about sharing his bed with a girl? Especially a girl he has known for five years?!
Amy smiled gently at him. He was trying so hard to be gentleman about the bed. To show him just how much she appreciated the gesture on his part, the girl leaned forward and kissed him.
She had meant to kiss him on the cheek. That was always how they showed affection to each other. Unless he was being gallant. Then, Peter would kiss her hand. But whenever they wanted to show how much they loved each other, the two would hug and give each other a kiss on the cheek.
But this time, the kiss landed on his lips. Amy had not meant to kiss him there; it just happened. As she leaned in to give him the kiss, Peter had moved his head. The result was that she missed his cheek and got his lips, instead.
Almost immediately, Amy withdrew, covering her mouth in shock at herself.
"Peter...I...I...I'm sorry...I..."
"It's...okay..." he replied. "Really." He smiled gently at Amy to reassure her. "Let's get some sleep." All she could do was nod. Together, they climbed into the bed, taking great care not to get too close to each other. They fell asleep to the sound of the falling rain.
The next morning, everything was clean and clear. The storm was over, and Peter and Amy could return to the underground house. After a quick breakfast of berries and water, they headed home. Neither spoke about the kiss from the night before.
As soon as they entered the house, little Marzi ran straight to Peter, hugging his legs as if she would never let go.
"It's okay, Marzi," Peter said. "We got caught in the storm, and had to go somewhere to keep dry. But we're back, and safe."
"No do that again!" the girl cried as he picked her up. "No go'way again!" Marzi hugged him close.
"Did you miss me?" he grinned at her. She nodded, then continued to hug him. It had only been for one day, and she still had been afraid without him. Peter thought she had out --grown?-- that. Maybe she had not.
"Amy taught me a new game while we were away," Peter said, hoping to distract them. Petra and the boys crowded around their leader. "We'll need twelve cups, two bowls, and a bag of beans. We'll need to count out fourty-eight beans for the game..."
Amy smiled to herself as Peter introduced the game of Mancala to the Lost Boys. Soon, Peter would be teaching them how to play the game, then setting up several mini-games for the children to play. Once again, Peter would pit himself against Amy. Before long, they would start a Mancala Championship Tournament, even with a prize for the winner.
But that is another story for another time.
Next: Chapter 11: Amy's Past. News of Amy's father reaches Neverland, and it is not pleasent. What will Amy do?
