"Ah.hello," she managed.
Suddenly all the boys crowded around her, asking questions. Her
head buzzed with their unabashed chatter; she was overwhelmed. She tried to answer a few of their inquiries, but every time she mustered the courage to answer, another question was shot right at her.
One of the boys whistled very shrilly and high. All the others
covered their ears. "Tuck-errr," one boy whined. "Ouch, Tucker." "Hey, guys, give him some room. What's your name?" asked Tucker.
Erin was confused. "He?" she stammered. A tall, lanky boy with auburn-honey colored hair and piercing dark blue eyes raised one eyebrow.
".You," the tall boy said pointedly.
She was still confused, but decided to answer the question. "My
name is Erin." "Now he has to-" "Shhh!" a chorus of hushing boys interrupted. "Erin." She looked for what was speaking her name in such a bell-like voice. In fact, now that Erin thought about it, she had only heard bells ringing. But still, she understood what was being said clearly. She looked around the room, and then saw a glimmer of light sitting on her shoulder. The tiny sparkle that Erin knew had to be the legendary Tinkerbell continued, "As Eric just was going to tell you, all of the lost boys carve their names into this post." Tinkerbell fluttered off of Erin's shoulder and danced around a log that held up the earthen ceiling. Erin walked over slowly and noticed that a long list of names was carved into the post. "Right here. You're one of us now.you need to carve your name." Erin looked around at the sea of faces. All of them were smiling and eager except for two.the tall boy with those disconcerting blue eyes and a smaller, lithe one with hair and eyes as dark as midnight. They were looking at each other, not at Erin. The small boy seemed to be asking a question of the other.he frowned, and broke off the glance to look at Erin again. "In your pocket," the blue-eyed boy told her. Erin reached into the pocket of her soft leather pants and drew out a pocketknife. She flipped it open, and as she began digging the letters of her name into the log, they all gathered around. "It's a record, sort of. To keep track of all the lost boys we've ever had here in Neverland," said a boy whose unruly hair and glasses made him look like an owl. Erin paused in the middle of her "R" and looked at the list.there were certainly more than 11 names. "Why are there so many names?" Erin asked, looking at the list. Tootles, she saw written at the top of the list, and then Nibs, Slightly, Curly, and the name Twins, written twice in a row. The list stretched down the post even farther, but the ones at the top seemed to be the oldest. "We're just the lost boys now. Before us, there have been many others.sometimes they just get stir-crazy, and sometimes one of them will accidentally." Tucker shuddered. "Sometimes they'll-by accident-grow up." All of the boys looked uneasy except for the one with the dark blue eyes. He was still looking at Erin with that same too-intense stare, and she could feel his eyes on her cheek. "What about the name at the top-why was it scratched off?" inquired Erin. Tucker looked away. "That was Peter Pan," he muttered. Erin shrugged and turned back to the post. She finished carving the "R".then the "I".and at last the "N." The boys looked at each other. "You sure got some weird parents."
Erin didn't understand. "Isn't 'E-R-I-N'.isn't that the girl's spelling?"
"Yes." This confused her even more. Of course my name is spelled the girl's way; I'm a girl! she thought. Why is that weird? And what does that have to do with my parents? She ignored her wonderings for a moment and asked, "But what about all of you? What are your names?" Tucker stepped forward and pointed to each of the boys in turn. "Well, I'm Tucker.you probably knew that. This is Jon." a medium-sized boy with smiling gray eyes grinned hesitantly at Erin. "Winston." that was the awkwardly tall boy with those bottom-of-the-ocean-blue eyes that Erin felt on her back every time she looked away. "Colin." Colin was the small, dark- haired-and-eyed boy who had been looking quizzically at Winston. "Jack." Jack was short but good-looking; he flashed a winning smile Erin's way. "Charlie and Daniel." "We're twins," one of them said. Erin couldn't tell the two tiny red- haired boys apart. "Todd." continued Tucker. Todd was the owl-boy with glasses and very solemn green eyes. "Samuel." He smiled shyly and then looked away. "Eric." Eric had dark skin and curly black hair, and Erin suppressed a giggle when he looked at her adoringly. The final boy grinned embarrassedly. "And Nick. Anyway," he carried on cheerily, "you must see the island first." Samuel knocked on a knot in the tree wall. It automatically thrust forward and revealed a tunnel leading outside. "I invented the door, did you know? We used to have this confusing, unreliable system of each having our own trees for entrances, but this much more efficient. And this way only those who know the secret knock can get in.we had a bit of a run-in with Hook figuring out our tree system and so we switched," Samuel said. Nick grabbed her arm and pulled her along.
Suddenly all the boys crowded around her, asking questions. Her
head buzzed with their unabashed chatter; she was overwhelmed. She tried to answer a few of their inquiries, but every time she mustered the courage to answer, another question was shot right at her.
One of the boys whistled very shrilly and high. All the others
covered their ears. "Tuck-errr," one boy whined. "Ouch, Tucker." "Hey, guys, give him some room. What's your name?" asked Tucker.
Erin was confused. "He?" she stammered. A tall, lanky boy with auburn-honey colored hair and piercing dark blue eyes raised one eyebrow.
".You," the tall boy said pointedly.
She was still confused, but decided to answer the question. "My
name is Erin." "Now he has to-" "Shhh!" a chorus of hushing boys interrupted. "Erin." She looked for what was speaking her name in such a bell-like voice. In fact, now that Erin thought about it, she had only heard bells ringing. But still, she understood what was being said clearly. She looked around the room, and then saw a glimmer of light sitting on her shoulder. The tiny sparkle that Erin knew had to be the legendary Tinkerbell continued, "As Eric just was going to tell you, all of the lost boys carve their names into this post." Tinkerbell fluttered off of Erin's shoulder and danced around a log that held up the earthen ceiling. Erin walked over slowly and noticed that a long list of names was carved into the post. "Right here. You're one of us now.you need to carve your name." Erin looked around at the sea of faces. All of them were smiling and eager except for two.the tall boy with those disconcerting blue eyes and a smaller, lithe one with hair and eyes as dark as midnight. They were looking at each other, not at Erin. The small boy seemed to be asking a question of the other.he frowned, and broke off the glance to look at Erin again. "In your pocket," the blue-eyed boy told her. Erin reached into the pocket of her soft leather pants and drew out a pocketknife. She flipped it open, and as she began digging the letters of her name into the log, they all gathered around. "It's a record, sort of. To keep track of all the lost boys we've ever had here in Neverland," said a boy whose unruly hair and glasses made him look like an owl. Erin paused in the middle of her "R" and looked at the list.there were certainly more than 11 names. "Why are there so many names?" Erin asked, looking at the list. Tootles, she saw written at the top of the list, and then Nibs, Slightly, Curly, and the name Twins, written twice in a row. The list stretched down the post even farther, but the ones at the top seemed to be the oldest. "We're just the lost boys now. Before us, there have been many others.sometimes they just get stir-crazy, and sometimes one of them will accidentally." Tucker shuddered. "Sometimes they'll-by accident-grow up." All of the boys looked uneasy except for the one with the dark blue eyes. He was still looking at Erin with that same too-intense stare, and she could feel his eyes on her cheek. "What about the name at the top-why was it scratched off?" inquired Erin. Tucker looked away. "That was Peter Pan," he muttered. Erin shrugged and turned back to the post. She finished carving the "R".then the "I".and at last the "N." The boys looked at each other. "You sure got some weird parents."
Erin didn't understand. "Isn't 'E-R-I-N'.isn't that the girl's spelling?"
"Yes." This confused her even more. Of course my name is spelled the girl's way; I'm a girl! she thought. Why is that weird? And what does that have to do with my parents? She ignored her wonderings for a moment and asked, "But what about all of you? What are your names?" Tucker stepped forward and pointed to each of the boys in turn. "Well, I'm Tucker.you probably knew that. This is Jon." a medium-sized boy with smiling gray eyes grinned hesitantly at Erin. "Winston." that was the awkwardly tall boy with those bottom-of-the-ocean-blue eyes that Erin felt on her back every time she looked away. "Colin." Colin was the small, dark- haired-and-eyed boy who had been looking quizzically at Winston. "Jack." Jack was short but good-looking; he flashed a winning smile Erin's way. "Charlie and Daniel." "We're twins," one of them said. Erin couldn't tell the two tiny red- haired boys apart. "Todd." continued Tucker. Todd was the owl-boy with glasses and very solemn green eyes. "Samuel." He smiled shyly and then looked away. "Eric." Eric had dark skin and curly black hair, and Erin suppressed a giggle when he looked at her adoringly. The final boy grinned embarrassedly. "And Nick. Anyway," he carried on cheerily, "you must see the island first." Samuel knocked on a knot in the tree wall. It automatically thrust forward and revealed a tunnel leading outside. "I invented the door, did you know? We used to have this confusing, unreliable system of each having our own trees for entrances, but this much more efficient. And this way only those who know the secret knock can get in.we had a bit of a run-in with Hook figuring out our tree system and so we switched," Samuel said. Nick grabbed her arm and pulled her along.