Hello, everyone. : ) It's been awhile, but I feel like you deserve some closure (leaving the story that way was majorly not nice of me). Here's more of the story, and there's more on the way! (At least one more chapter, since I've already written it.)
Shout-outs:
Clips – Hi Kelsy! The story's finally going again. Enjoy the chapter, and thanks for reviewing! : )
Crystalstorm21 – Thank you for following my story and reviewing, I'm glad that you like it.
Sallie – I'm blushing! Thanks. Fortunately the story isn't over yet, as you can see! Enjoy the update, Sallie. : ) At least, I hope you do!
AnimegirlH – Here's the update, finally! Yeah, I know... it took a long time getting here... it must have been captured by pirates or something, and just now managed to escape. I hope that you like it a lot, it features a sewing Anna!
Sugar High5 – Hi there! I hope that tennis and your plays and stuff are going great. And your drunk hobbit minions with the old cheese paid me a visit, it was quite frightening! I jumped up onto a stool where they couldn't get me, but still, it was hours until they spotted my refrigerator and left me alone long enough so I could escape!
kewlausgirl – I do believe in fairies, I do, I do! You're totally right about the star thing Kylez, I guess this story's Neverland is sort of a mishmash of my favorite parts of the book, the several movies, and my own imagination. I like the star part lots too, so I put it in. : )
Disclaimer: Peter Pan, its characters, places, and etc. don't belong to me. I'm using them without permission. All of the orphans except for Gracie and Madeline belong to various nice folks who are letting me use them in this story. Gracie and Madeline are mine, as are Falling Shadows, these particular lost boys, and all the rest of the original stuff. Don't sue me!
"I've got a great idea!" Kaela says. "It'll be so fun – Kat, let's steal the hook!"
The whole cave goes suddenly and completely silent. Nobody's breathing is audible, and it's actually doubtful whether anyone is breathing at all. Kaela's starting to feel uncomfortably as if she's made a mistake.
That is, until a slow smile breaks out over Peter's face. Everyone sighs with relief and starts chattering excitedly.
"He'll be furious!" Katrina giggles.
Raven nods. "That'll show him."
Slingshot's face lights up. "And the best part is he'll have to beat the island to find us and take it back!"
"It'll be awfully exciting," the twins agree.
"Great idea," Peter says. "Then I could attack him with it! I'd catch a codfish on its own hook," he says with a wicked grin. The boys erupt into laughter. "Who wants to scout out his cabin tonight and see where he keeps it?"
"We do!" Nora and Raven say at the same time, grabbing each other's shoulders.
"Me too," Charlie says. "I want another swipe at those pirates."
"In a nightgown?" Anna points out. "Give me an hour and you'll have a pair of shorts instead of fabric to your ankles."
Charlie sees the sense in Anna's words; the scouts agree to hold off for an hour.
"Does anybody have a knife that I can borrow?" Anna asks politely.
"Me!" Switch says immediately, pulling one from a cluster of several dug into his belt.
"Thanks," Anna says. "Charlie, hold still. I'd hate to cut you open by accident." She cuts off enough of the nightgown so that the bottoms of Charlie's knees show, then starts sewing away with a stray needle. The shorts take shape quickly, while the fascinated lost boys look on.
"I can't wait to see the Jolly Roger again," Charlie says, hopping into her new shorts. "Thank you, Anna. What I mean is, the ship's gorgeous. Since they never put out to sea all the painting and scrollwork just keep adding up. I didn't have enough time to look properly, since I was fighting."
Gracie has been awfully quiet for the last hour. "Charlie, did you see him? Hook?"
There goes that dratted silence again.
The girl nods, put a bit off-balance by this second lull in the noise level. "He's just like you've always told us," Charlie says. "Except more."
Madeline shivers at the thought; the older girls exchange glances in a way that Peter doesn't understand, but is certain he doesn't like at all.
"Come with us," Raven says, catching the spear that Wildcat tosses to her. "You know the most about him, Gracie."
Gracie agrees to come along. Peter and the lost boys give the girls a few weapons for protection, while Tinker Bell makes rude remarks about the number of pieces they'll come back in, if at all. They set out for the Jolly Roger
. . . . . .
"Stay low to the water," Charlie advises. "They'll be scanning the clouds for us, not the ocean."The girls smile. Nora rubs her hands together. "This should be fun."
"And whispers from now on," Gracie says, lowering her voice. "Some of those pirates have good hearing."
They fly low, practically skimming the sea. The sun is already sinking towards the west, painting the sky with red and gold.
The girls cluster up around a portal that apparently gives light to the captain's cabin, making sure to stay away from the stern windows where they wouldn't have a chance of evading notice.
"Hook!" Raven whispers.
He has a dangerous expression on his face. "True to form," Nora murmurs, rolling her eyes.
"Hey, he's talking to somebody!" Gracie whispers. "Can anyone tell who it is? My angle's all wrong."
"It's – a lady," Charlie whispers with shock.
Nora gasps. "That's no lady, that's Sallie!"
"But why is she talking to him?" Charlie asks.
Raven's gaze darkens. "Do you think she's betrayed us?"
"I'm not sure."
"Shhh!"
They watch the scene unfolding a bit more, including a little kleptomania on Sallie's part and the hook catching some of the dying sunlight, which turns it blood red.
A bit later Raven, Nora, Charlie, and Gracie squish themselves flat against the ship and watch Sallie being rowed ashore.
"Can you believe it?" Raven says. "She must be working with them!"
"We'd better go tell Peter," Charlie whispers.
"I think not," a pirate says, throwing a rope around the girls
. . . . . .
"Sallie, where'd this come from?" Alicia asks curiously, picking up a dagger wrapped in something."Nothing," Sallie says quickly, snatching it away. It is in fact the handkerchief that Hook gave her, wrapped around a dagger that Sallie pocketed while Hook was looking away. "I – I found it."
"Can I see?" Alicia persists.
Sallie says no, then leaves the teepee under the pretext of looking for a bathroom.
"I wonder what's eating her," Alicia comments.
"She is being eaten?" Falling Shadows asks, aghast. Alicia has to stop him from sounding an alarm.
"No," she says, both hands still held firmly over his mouth. "That's just a figure of speech. It means What's upsetting her? Understand?"
"Mmmph-mm," Falling Shadows says.
"Whoops, sorry," Alicia giggles, and takes her hands away. . . . . .
Katrina tries to teach the lost boys how to do some dances. It's not going particularly well, although she's managed to lead them in a very loud, off-key version of Footloose.
"Now we'll teach you a game," Quiz says. "It's called Dead Man's Ankle!" (A/N: This is a real game. I made it up myself.) Kaela, Anna, Katrina, and Madeline are immediately bombarded by as many variant explanations of the game as there are lost boys in the cave, but after a few practical demonstrations they get the hang of it and are hopping around fairly well, not falling over nearly as much as one might expect.
"Peter," Anna says, stopping mid-hop, "Haven't the scouts been gone a long time?"
"What?"
"The scouts," she says, a bit shocked. "Charlie, Raven, Nora and Gracie?"
"Oh! It has been awhile."
"Probably about three hours," Anna says worriedly, looking at the dark forest outside the cave's crack of an opening. "It's night!"
"That reminds me!" Peter says, leaping into the air and very nearly smacking his head against the roof of the cave. "I have to go get Alicia and Sallie!"
"But Peter – "
He's flying toward the Indian Encampment before another word can be spoken
. . . . . .
"Well," Nora says with a snort, "this isn't quite what I envisioned when we set out."The four of them are roped together in a circle, their backs to each other's backs. They try standing up a few times, but always fall over, getting someone hurt in the process. Charlie has a skinned knee, Raven's developing a bruise, and both Gracie and Nora have a few scrapes of their own.
"How could we have let this happen to us?" Raven asks, furious with herself, the pirates, and everyone in general.
Gracie sighs. "At least they haven't killed us straight off. That's a good sign, right?"
"They must want us for ransom," Charlie says bluntly. "Or something like that. To help get Peter here."
"Hook's using us to trap Peter? That son of a - "
"Nora!"
"Well?" Nora snaps. "What am I supposed to call him?"
. . . . .
"Look what I found!" Peter says, thrusting Alicia and Sallie into the cave. "A couple of girls wandering around outside!" He laughs at his own joke and settles down in a pile of skins."What about the scouts?" Anna asks him. "They could be in danger!"
"It's too late to do anything about it now. We'll look for them tomorrow," he says, unconcerned.
"How's your tummy, Alicia?" Madeline asks while scratching the place between Anders' ears. "They told me you got hurt!"
"I'm fine," Alicia says with a smile. "If you think I look bad, you should see what I did to that mermaid!" Kaela and Katrina laugh.
"What's this about scouts?" Sallie asks Anna.
"Gracie, Nora, Charlie, and Raven went to see where Hook keeps his hook. They left hours ago, but we haven't seen them since."
Sallie pales. "They went to the Jolly Roger? When exactly?"
"I didn't bring a watch with me," Anna says, "but it's been a long time."
Sallie's thoughts are racing a million miles per minute. Did they see me? What happened to them? They could be dead. Hey, Gracie could be dead...Big picture, Sallie. Hook might have killed them. Or be holding them hostage. Or they're just bumming around having a party on the beach. Did Hook capture them because he knows I don't like them? Okay...I'm not making sense. But this doesn't make sense! Why would Hook align himself with a teenage girl?...He wouldn't. Ever. He's using me to get to Peter! That black-hearted, scabrous dog! So the question is, do I go to the glade he showed me or not? It might be the only way to get to the missing girls... but it might be the deaths of us all.
Dun dun dun!
Please review guys, reviews make me happy! They're like when vending machines give you more than one soda! But no flames, flames are like when you put in your money and no soda will come out! (Maybe those two are linked somehow.)