Chapter 2

Entering Neverland

Emma was floating just above the orphanage when she heard Mrs. Smyth's angered shouts from inside the dormitory. She looked down at the building once more, and then gazed ahead at the sea of clouds and the boys flying ahead of her into the night sky. Peter, who had been floating beside her, smirked at her mischievously, then grabbed her hand and flipped her upside down. Giggling, Emma chased after Peter through the air as they flew by the Tower of London. It was four in the morning, and no one seemed to be on the streets except for a few young adults who had returned from clubs. Playfully, Peter swooped down and snatched one of their American baseball caps. He sailed up to Emma who was speedily flying through the air and set the cap on her head.

"Who are you?" he asked with a smile, for he had still not learned her name.

"Emma Hampton," she said as she swirled majestically through a cloud. Peter repeated her name to try and remember it in his mind, and then grabbed her hand so that they could catch up to the boys who were flying far ahead of them.

The children flew like birds through the sky, and then up into space, where planets whizzed by them. The colors were blinding; oranges, reds, pinks, and purples surrounded Emma and the boys. The stars gleamed brightly in the black sky and Emma took in the scenery with a deep, relieving breath. Peter, however, was almost numb to the beauty since he had traveled the route so many times before. Realizing that it was a good time to speed up their flying, Peter ordered for everyone to grab hold of one's ankle.

"Don't let go!" yelled Peter as the line of eight children shot into a colorful portal of baby pink wind and mists.

Then they emerged into another sea of stars that transformed into what seemed like an endless ocean of sky-blue water. They flew up and up and up back into the pink, fluffy clouds and they all hopped on them. Emma was reminded of her trampoline in her old house in Surrey as she jumped from one to the other, the morning sun beating down upon her face, and the gentle breeze sifting through her hair. Then, she spotted a huge island below them: Neverland.

The island was immense, with soaring mountains and beautiful trees that could be seen from the sky. Though Emma had read Peter Pan before and knew that the scenery was going to be gorgeous, she was still short of breath when she saw the island through a tiny hole in the cloud. When she saw it for the first time, she even dropped the book that she had been grasping the entire flight, and it fell through a small hole in the cloud. She plopped down on the pillow-like cloud and peered through the hole to try and see where the book was going to land, so that she could retrieve it. She was about to fly down to get it, but then Peter's loud voice interrupted her thoughts.

"All aboard!" yelled Peter as he sat at the front of a neighboring cloud. The boys giggled and jumped behind him, pretending to board a train. Peter lifted a marshmallow piece of cloud from the beneath him and put it over his lip so it appeared as though he had a thick mustache. "Woo! Woo!" howled Peter, mocking a train's whistle. Emma tore her eyes away from the hole and turned to watch Peter as a conductor and the boys as passengers. Wishing to also be a part of the fun, she hopped a few clouds over and took a seat next to Peter, remembering that she did not need the book Peter Pan with her anymore, for she was going to be with the real boy forever anyway!

"I believe it is time to leave the station," piped in a small, freckle-faced boy, with perfectly combed red hair.

"Correct, dear boy!" shouted Peter. Tinker Bell, who was still zooming about through the air, was extremely excited that a few new friends had come to Neverland, so it was a bit difficult for Peter Pan to grab her in midair, but eventually did, and managed to squeeze a bit of fairy dust onto the cloud.

Suddenly the cloud zoomed forward, much like a train. Shouts of joy and surprise arose from the children as the cloud spiraled down into the direction of the sea. Just as they were about to hit the water, Peter pulled up on the edge of the cloud and it shot straight towards the shore of the island. Emma was laughing hysterically and Peter gazed at her for a mere second, seeing that he saw her in the same light as he did Wendy so long ago.

The cloud began to vanish as it became closer and closer to the shore, and when they reached the beach, the cloud had disintegrated and the laughs of the children were dying down.

"That was just like a roller coaster!" said a boy who was still giggling uncontrollably as he and the other boys followed Peter into the forest.

"A what?" asked Peter, but no one answered for they had spotted a band of malicious pirates wandering the path just before them. Peter stood still and motioned for the children all to hide as he flew into the air. Emma, fearing for Peter, grabbed him by his disgusting foot and pulled him down to the ground.

"Be careful, Peter," she said sweetly.

"I'm Peter Pan!" he laughed, "I'll be careful," he said with his forever-boyish smile. Emma released Peter's foot and took a seat behind a bush with another boy, and Peter sailed off into the air.

Emerging out of the thick of the forest and into a clearing was Bloody Shadrach Rackham, the newfound captain of the Jolly Roger. He was a pirate with a smile so vain that it even sent a chill down his hearties' bones. His heart was as black as night, and his eyes were as dark a green as the various trees in the forest. Captain Blood, as his crew called him since he had shed so much blood during his lifetime (to his own crew and other creatures of Neverland), had blonde hair, pulled back in a low ponytail, and if it was not for his unruly personality, one might find him quite of an attractive man. One thing that set Captain Blood extremely different from the rest was his one leg. He was walking, very well however, with one wooden leg and another healthy one.

Emma was entranced by her first glimpse at a real pirate, and him being very handsome had her wanting dearly to jump out from her spot and introduce herself, but thought better of it, since that would be an idiotic thing to do. However, when she saw that Captain Blood was grasping her book, Peter Pan, she dearly wanted to get it back in her own hands.

"I know that Peter is in this forest," said Captain Blood, his voice low and dark, "When this book landed on my head, I knew it was sign that the boy has come back!" he yelled to the other pirates that came into the clearing behind him.

There were over thirty pirates in all, and each and everyone had something different hideous about themselves. For instance, while one pirate had disgusting scars about his face, another had no eyes, and another had only one arm. Emma winced at the sight of one particular pirate who had a huge gash just above his right shoulder that seemed to be oozing with blood. She wondered if Peter was in fact going to try and overthrow Captain Blood and the crew of the Jolly Roger, and thought it almost impossible since they looked so horrifying and menacing. But, then again, he was Peter Pan.

Looming in the treetops of the forest was the boy who would never grow up. Peter flew from side to side, intently watching Captain Blood, not even cringing at the sights of the other disgusting pirates. Unexpectedly, Peter zoomed down and snatched Captain Blood's forest-green hat that matched the captain's eyes, and then took a seat a few meters above the pirates on a long tree branch.

Startled, Captain Blood frantically turned around, trying to find the culprit of his stolen hat. Thinking it was the plump pirate that stood behind him Captain Blood slit his throat, and the pirate fell to the ground with a loud thud. Captain Blood then realized that none of his pirates had stolen his hat, and slowly gazed up at the branch where Peter sat comfortably, wearing the huge, green hat with a large white feather sticking out the end.

"Well, well, well," Captain Blood said, his voice cold as ice as he saw the grinning Peter Pan, "If it isn't my favorite child, Peter Pan, the same boy that killed my dear friend, Captain Hook. But perhaps I should be thanking you, Pan, since if you hadn't killed the brute, then I would not be the magnificent captain of the Jolly Roger!" he shouted, grinning maliciously at Peter. Sensing that Captain Blood was going to jump up and grab Peter's dangling foot at any second, he flew a bit higher, and floated there as the captain continued his speech.

"However," he continued as he wandered around the forest floor, "I'm not going to thank you, Pan," he spat, "I'm going to kill you!"

"Ah!" sighed Peter smiling, "That won't be too easy, beloved Captain Shadrach!" The pirates all laughed at the sound of their captain's idiotic name, and in retaliation, Captain Blood shot one of them down dead.

"You keep doing that, Shadrach-a-ma-bob and you're not going to have much of a crew left, now are you?" Peter smiled mischievously.

Captain Blood pointed his long, golden pistol at Peter and shot it off, but Peter was too fast for him and quickly dodged the bullet. Emma, who was afraid that it was about to hit him, had jumped a few centimeters into the air. A nearby pirate turned to the shaking shrub and began to snort loudly; trying to smell whatever was hidden in the bush. Emma held her breath as the dark-skinned boy that sat beside her scurried off on his hands and knees into the thick of the forest. The pirate's nose was just above Emma's hair, and he was about to reach for Emma's neck when Peter flew in between them, picking up Emma in his arms and knocking the pirate down. That caused a domino effect where all the pirates fell down on top of each other.

Peter flew through the trees, holding Emma tightly, and sprinkling fairy dust on the small boys chasing after him as he flew, causing them all to accompany the two in the air. Captain Blood watched them disappear into the trees, and shot another one of his crewmembers in disgust and walked off in the direction of his ship docked at the beach.

"That was the last time that Pan has escaped my grasp!" said Captain Blood to Smee, a bearded, elderly man, who followed quickly behind him on to the dock. "Tonight, we lure Pan and all of his little friends into the Black Castle," he said to the crew and they all smiled their horrid smiles, and clambered onto the Jolly Roger.