Disclaimer: Peter Pan, and everything recognizable to Peter Pan, belongs to the Great Ormond Street Hospital in London, to which Mr. J. M. Barrie bequeathed his copyright when he died, in 1937. I was not even born when this happened and I had nothing to do with the creation of Peter Pan (Although it would be really cool if I had). I am just a lowly fan, and writing this in my own time, not making any money whatsoever. Heh. I hope you have as much fun reading this as I did writing it.
Chapter 9: The Battle~~ "To die would be an awfully big adventure" ~~
The boys were rudely awakened the next morning, at dawn, and brought before Smee, to see if they had changed their minds overnight. Of course, they had not, and Daisy starkly refused. "I shall never be a pirate!" he shouted, hoping that Peter heard him and was proud. "I refuse! What about you, Tobby?"
"I shall never be a pirate!" repeated Tobby. "What about you, Dows?"
"I shall never be a pirate!" called Dows. Starkey silenced the three boys with an angry glare. He and the other pirates had had enough of this, although Smee still believed that they should give the boys another chance to save themselves.
"Dogs, get the plank!" called Starkey before Smee could start another attempt to convert the boys, and the pirates cheered, Black-eyed Bill loudest of all. As the plank was put into place, three of the crew clapped iron weights onto the boys' wrists, ensuring that they would sink straight to the bottom.
As brave as those three children were, the sight of the plank put butterflies in their bellies and turned their feet to stone. The pirates edged them towards the grim plank, that last step on the road of their lives.
The boys lined up, Daisy first. He couldn't hope he looked brave and manly, he didn't hope anything at all, every thought had been purged from his mind by the ghastly spectacle of the plank, and the even worse prospect of death. These would be his last steps, his very last steps. What was it that Peter always said when it looked like he would die? It had been such a long time since he had said it – Daisy wasn't entirely sure Peter had ever confronted death before, or at least, not with Daisy.
What was it? The last time Daisy had heard it said he had felt some strange sort of power surge through him – power to meet whatever death he was to have with calm thought and reason. To die would be an awfully big adventure. That was it. But even if death were an awfully big adventure, Daisy would rather have a bunch of smaller ones. Because death wasn't just a big adventure, it was the last adventure. Daisy swallowed and clutched what he remembered of his happy thought as he took his final steps. Maybe he could float or swim to shore. No one had ever done that that he could think of, and the weights hanging from his wrists forbade it, pulling him down even now. He gulped again.
That was when he saw the Injuns, on the shore, swimming silently to the ship. He closed his eyes and tried to think of anything to do to postpone his fall, just so that the indians would get there in time to rescue Peter and the boys. He wouldn't move. The pirates swarmed behind him, jabbing at him and pushing him, but he would not move.
His resolution was enough. The Piccaninnies boarded the ship.
The pirates were taken by surprise as a wave of fierce warriors poured over the side of the ship, but to their credit, or disservice, they met the onslaught with boldness and cold steel. Caught in the center were the two remaining lost boys, weighted down and weaponless, as chaos ruled around them. Piccaninny warriors swarmed everywhere. Peter shouted encouragement from his cage, and the boys did their best to aid in the fight. Tobby swung the weight out and tripped a pirate up, Dows got a key off the body of a dead pirate and unlocked his manacles, to grab a sword and run at the pirates shouting his most fearsome cry. Soon enough Tobby found Dows and lost his manacles as well.
Daisy was off of the plank as fast as he could get, and breathing again. Dows threw him a set of keys and he didn't even think of himself, running over to Peter instead. He tried at the door, pulling against the weight on his wrists to put a key in the lock and open the door, but he couldn't even lift his hands with the weights tying them down and soon enough he found that this made him more of a hindrance than a help in the battle, and cowered in the sidelines, hoping not to get run through by an errant blade.
Tiger Lily fought through the crowd of pirates, slowly and painfully making her way to Peter. If anyone could cement her victory, it was Peter Pan. She found Daisy, took the keys, and quickly unlocked the cage. She nervously reached for the latch, looking around before she turned to open the door. She only turned her back to the fight for a second, a moment.
But a second was enough. An arm flashed in front of her, pulling her back violently just before she could let the boy out. She kicked out behind her, but it was no use. Her attacker knew how her braves fought, he knew what her next move would be. That was impossible; no pirate could understand the workings of the mind of one of the Picaninnies, least of all their warrior princess.
Wait; Starkey. He had spent years upon years tending papooses, an insider in the camp. Starkey kicked the door shut and latched and relocked it with one hand, not letting go of Tiger Lily with the other. She hadn't made a sound in all this time. Battle went on all around her, her braves valiantly fighting. She struggled against Starkey, but it was of little use.
She was roughly dragged out onto the plank, and from above the grip he had around her neck and head, she could vaguely see the ocean far below. She stopped struggling, not sure of her balance on the thin board. A gunshot rang out, right above her head.
The braves, the boys, and the pirates turned to find Starkey standing on the morbid plank, holding a smoking gun in his right hand, and worse, the Picaninny princess in a headlock with his left arm. A hush passed through the crowd.
"Piccaninny warriors!" shouted Starkey. "Leave, abandon the boys, or Princess Tiger Lily walks the plank!"
The warriors were bold fighters, and brave, but their honor and their love of their princess outweighed all of that, and each knew in the pregnant silence what he would do. After all, there was no way through water to the happy hunting ground. Princess Tiger Lily must not be drowned. The sound of one knife blade hitting the ground was quickly accompanied by many, as every Injun brave chose his princess over his friendship with the lost boys, and climbed back down to his canoe.
The lost boys understood, after all, if Peter had been there instead of Tiger Lily, they would have done the same thing. But a tear ran down Daisy's face nonetheless. He would be the first to die now, as he was the only one whose hands were still weighed down. Silence reigned. The indians were leaving, the pirates had their success – the lost boys, and most of all, Peter Pan. Only one thought ran through the minds of the braves; "At least Tiger Lily will be safe."
But they all should have known not to trust a pirate. Especially not such a pirate as Starkey, who served under James Hook, the only man that Barbecue feared. Starkey still had a firm grip of the princess and she still bore the stoic expression of a defeated leader. She looked fondly at Peter, or tired to, but he was pressed hopelessly against the bars of his cage in fear.
Starkey loosened his grip of the Princess, letting her go. Shakily, she walked towards the ship, off of the plank. The lost boys, and the indians, breathed. But then Starkey lowered his pistol, arm still straight out, and only to shoulder height. He shot, hitting the Princess square in the back of the head.
Her head knocked forward and then backwards in rebound, and her back arched as she fell to the ground, sending out a spray of blood. The ship rang with the shot, but all else was silent as the great, proud, beautiful Tiger Lily fell. She lay limp and motionless, a step from the ship and presumed safety.
He took a step towards the ship, and, finding her in his way, kicked her aside.
Down her body tumbled, into the waves and the dark waters. Her braves, every one enamored of her, froze in their canoes. They were going to attack, unleash the pure fury of revenge, but Starkey was already at the canons. He pulled a fuse and one exploded with a resounding boom, sinking three canoes in one shot.
The braves, fearing more loss of life, paddled a hasty retreat to the shores of the island. Tiger Lily, fortunately, had died in battle. She floated up the river, away to the happy hunting ground. It was little solace for her unfortunate braves, but it was something.
The lost boys were crying, and Smee took pity, demanding that they be chained and locked up, not killed. But he had long ago lost control over his dogs, and Starkey pressed the crew to make all three boys walk the plank. They pulled Daisy out from the crowd and again set him up on the end of the grim board. He heard jeers behind him. He would have to move eventually.
It had been such a valiant effort, to be turned aside with so little effect. But so it was, and Daisy tried to remember something of the safety of the battle on the ship, now that he was returned to the plank. To die would be an awfully great adventure, right? "Walk!" shouted a voice that was familiar, Black-eyed Bill, or John, jeering loudly from the crowd. Maybe John had betrayed them; this was his idea – sneaking on the ship. The plan had been simple, too simple. But Daisy didn't think that far in advance, and he doubted even John could. "Walk!" came another voice.
One step. Daisy felt the tip of a sword at his back. His breathing picked up. His palms froze. He couldn't move his feet, couldn't will them to move. Why couldn't he just fly away? The manacles were those for a man – they barely stayed on his wrists as it was, and the sweat on his palms was lubricant enough to let go of them. Slowly they slid off his hands. One, then two crashed into the ocean below with a dull splash. He breathed a sigh of relief and tried to take off. He wasn't chained to the ship, why couldn't he lift into the air and fly off, just as had been so easy before? Where were his wings? A sword jabbed at his back, biting into the flesh. He took a faltering step forward. Why couldn't he fly?
Two steps. Daisy stood, shakily, on the edge of the ship, not wanting to go any farther. He wanted to go back and say he'd be a pirate, say anything as long as he wouldn't have to walk the plank. This was terror beyond belief. He couldn't breathe any more, only stand mute and petrified, staring at the water far below. He looked behind him, searching for Peter, now tied to the main mast to watch all his boys die. Daisy looked forlornly at his leader, and Peter tried to escape the ropes and fly over to him, save him. Daisy swallowed. Peter would be brave. Peter would not be afraid of death. To die would be an awfully big adventure. He turned, and took another step forward.
Three steps. Daisy was on the brink of death, his toes hanging over the edge of the plank. A shout rose out amongst the pirates behind him, jump, jump, jump. He stared at the water. He tried to breathe. He couldn't. Peter would be brave, Peter wouldn't fear death. Death was an awfully big adventure. Just another adventure. He had lost his happy thought, but that was okay. He would find it again, find it at some point in this next adventure. He was going on an adventure, the adventure to end all adventures.
The chant rose to a tumult, and Tobby and Dows stood, shivering and shaking, on the deck, terrified of when they would be forced to walk the plank. Daisy couldn't hear anything. He was beyond reach, a dead boy walking. He lifted his chin. He found his will, and took a deep, shaking, breath. He prepared to speak, and even Black-eyed Bill went silent. "I'm not afraid," he called out, to his companions and fellow lost boys. "To die, that would be an awfully big adventure." The pirates fell silent, now watching the strange, honorable boy as he stood, proud and tall, at the end of the plank.
Daisy didn't step off the plank; he jumped. He threw his body outwards, away from the ship, arms flung out as if to fly, head thrown back, graceful and beautiful in a strange, painful, way. He plunged through the air, and hit the water with a sickening slap, and at that moment, the boys and the pirates were all at the edge of the boat, looking for the boy who would fly away, be safe, that strange, brave boy, who would come to the rescue of Peter and his friends. Black-eyed Bill was mute in horror and a tear ran down Smee's eye to see the passing of such a beautiful sight. All eyes were on the water for the rebirth, the phoenix-boy.
But no such boy appeared. Daisy was in the water, a hundred feet away from the ship, struggling against the current. His head was still flung back, but it was twisted strangely, an act of desperation, mouth wide open, gaping for air. His arms were flung out to the sides, but there was no grace in their current position, as he flapped them up and down, trying to grip on the ungraspable water. He struggled, gasping for breath and making no sound, and then went under for a moment. A sob emanated from Tobby, and Dows shuddered.
When he resurfaced, Daisy was choking from the water that had forced its way into his lungs. Still flailing his arms to and fro, still thrusting his face upwards for breath, he struggled against the certain doom, until he finally slipped under the water one final time. The surface went still.
His body floated there, face down, arms dangling, motionless, as everyone looked on. Then Tobby let out a terrible shriek, and would have dove in after his friend, had not Dows held him back. The two boys burst into tears, seeing their companion, so brave in his last moments, floating there inert in the ocean. Daisy's body began to sink, leaving only a stray flower, having forfeited its home in his hair during his mad struggle for breath and life.
* * * * *
Katie only survived the day in school by telling herself that she could rush home and escape. It was as miserable as before, perhaps more so because she now knew that the boys needed her in the Never Land. She couldn't tell anyone, no one would believe her. What would she say anyway? There are four little boys on a pirate ship who will be killed if I don't go and rescue them? Pirates didn't even exist anymore, and even when they had existed, they only captured other vessels, no small children. She would be the laughing stock of the school.
As if that would be much worse than the current situation. She considered it, finding the intercom and shouting over it the plight of the lost boys. She sat alone during lunch, poking at her food and not eating it. She tried to remember the lost boys, but she couldn't. What were their names? John, Daisy, Beetle, and Dows? No, there was one missing.
John, Beetle, Dows, and Tobby? Still, there was one missing.
Beetle, Tobby, Daisy, and Dows? Oh, and John. John, Beetle, Tobby, Daisy, and Dows. Or was it Dobby and Tows? No, she would have remembered if one of them had the same name as a character from Harry Potter. It wasn't Dobby. It must be Tobby and Dows.
But what did that help her? What did they look like? What would they do when she came to rescue them? Where would they be on the pirate ship?
How could she rescue them if the pirates had captured Peter too?
Smee was their captain, what would make him decide to set the lost boys free? Who was Smee, where was his weakness?
Smee was the irish bo'sun, that she remembered. Grandmother Margaret had told her that Smee was the only pirate that the lost boys found lovable. He had offered great-great-grandmother Wendy freedom, if she would be his mother. He killed without offense, named his weapons, wiped his glasses and not his sword, and he wanted a mother so very much.
Was that a way around to it? Could she promise to be Smee's mother to save the lost boys?
But when it came down to it, the very thought of selling out her rather dubious services as a mother to a bloodthirsty pirate in order to save even those dear boys was repulsive. She would have to fight, and she would have to win. But why would Smee even deign to fight her?
Maybe this blackmail, this promise to be Smee's mother, could be a way to get a fair fight. It was the best idea Katie had. In all likelihood, she would still not be able to win in a fair fight, but it was worth trying, and the only chance that she had. It was the only chance that the lost boys had.
Author's Note: Sorry this took so long, it's a rather heavy chapter to write and I guess that shows itself. I had to reorganize it several times, but I like this version the best so far (or else I wouldn't have posted it.) Also I got sidetracked by original and Harry Potter stuff, mostly not posted. In any case, expect more frequent posting from this point on, I have a lot already written but this was definitely the hardest chapter to write. Please review, it makes me happy.