CHAPTER TEN: Forgetting in Never Land
She had lost her Boy. At first to himself, and then to the jungle, and then to the pirates. Her heart was broken, and the chill winds of the Never Land played at the shattered pieces. Yes, she knew it was her fault that Never Land was changing. After all, she did come to London and then brought the boy here. Nobody else could have dreamed of doing that. Nobody else could have given in to their curiosity like that, for nobody else could have been as curious as she had been.
So once again she flew way, way higher than any other fairy or bird in the place ever had, and allowed that line or point or curve to pull her into it. If the answer could not be found in Never Land, perhaps it was because it hid itself away in London.
Deafening bang. Dancing colors. Frozen fairy lights. Cold night in London.
She had almost forgotten the way to the boy's house, and time had changed the landscape a bit, that the fairy had a hard time locating the house. But when she got there and looked through the windows, she saw no sign of the boy. There was only an old man and an old woman, sitting by the fire. Tinker Bell was confused, that she did not even notice the special sparkle that lit up the woman's eyes as she stared at the dancing flames.
So she flew away from the window and looked at many others, hoping to find a clue. But she could not, for she did not know what it was she was looking for. And the night aged, until the sun's pink fingers chased away its remnants over the dawn's horizon. Nothing more could be found out this time, so the fairy went once again to the park, where she found her tree once more, with its cushion of dry leaves that welcomed her tired wings.
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"Peter! Oh, you naughty, naughty boy! What have you done to your brother?"
Tinker Bell woke up to this angry outburst, and peeked over a branch as she rubbed her eyes. A woman was holding on to the wrist of a very soaked and muddy little boy, who had on his face a most forlorn expression that Tinker Bell could clearly see even beneath the mud and water running down from his brown hair. But it was not this boy that the seething woman addressed, but the one that ran around them like a wild creature, with his arms stretched to his sides like the wings of a bird.
"I was just teaching him how to fly, but he's just too stupid to learn! Whoowhooo!"
He knows how to fly? Tinker Bell's pointed ears perked upon hearing this.
The younger boy bawled even louder upon hearing his older brother's taunts, and the woman tightened her grip even harder on his wet sleeve. "Ooh," she hissed. "It's not a wonder those other nurses never lasted! You're just about the most exasperating little devil I've ever had the misfortune to meet!"
"Why, Nursie!" The boy's green eyes widened in mock horror. "What shocking language! You hurt me, Nursie," his face crumpled in feigned distress. "Was it my fault that Marty flew straight into the water? If he wanted to play at being eels, he only needed to tell me! We could have been eagles some other time!" He sounded as if he was the injured party.
"I have had enough! I quit! Come on, we are going home! Ooh, wait till your father hears about this!" Nursie walked off in a huff, dragging the poor, bedraggled Marty with her.
When the offender heard the last part, he took off in the other direction. But careless Nursie did not notice this, for she was busy fussing over the still snuffling boy.
Tinker Bell dashed off after the boy. Surely someone who knows how to fly in this world must know what was ailing Never Land!
Tinker Bell approached the boy as he sat panting beneath the shadows of a tree. With the greatest caution she did this, because she could not tell if this one would squeeze her in his fist like that boy long ago with the grubby hand, or if he would cup her gently in his palm like her Boy. But then, she remembered, he was her Boy no more. She hardened her heart against the memory's pang.
When she crossed the boy's line of vision, he gave a gasp, not one of fright, but of the most exciting thrill.
"Tinker Bell! It is you!" Tinker Bell backed away as he enthusiastically jumped forward, his hands held out.
"You know who I am?" she asked warily.
"Why, of course! I've seen you somewhere…" His brows furrowed thoughtfully. "But I can't seem to remember where! Hahah!"
But Tinker Bell knew just where he did see her, for she saw it in his eyes.
Two bright stars.
"Have you come to take me with you?" he asked, his eyebrows and the corners of his mouth lifting up with hope. "Come on! Hurry, before Nursie comes back!" He gestured frantically for her to come forward.
There was the most ridiculous expression in the dumbfounded fairy's face. She shook it off, and asked, "Why should I? I do not even know you!" She was alarmed by the boy's presumptious pronouncements.
"Oh, yes! How thoughtless of me!" He stood up suddenly, holding his back stiffly, and bowed most formally. "I am Peter, Tinker Bell, and I am most pleased to meet you!" Of course, it looked perfectly ridiculous with his soiled shirt and tousled hair.
The sobriety drained out of Peter before the fairy could bow graciously back. His face once again broke into a wild grin. "Now, can we go?"
One can not help but be drawn into this boy's eyes, which shined with a light that could rival the other boy's for brightness. There was something in the way he stood with his hands planted cockily by his sides which told Tinker Bell that though it was she that knew the way to the Never Land, he would be the leader. And this childish arrogance of his attracted Tinker Bell madly, and made her adore him.
And so with a wild grin of her own, she simply said, "All right."
The boy crowed with delight, and whooped around like the Indians around their bonfires. "Come on, come on, Tink!"
Tinker Bell rather liked the new pet name, and loved the boy even more for giving it to her.
He suddenly ran away from the fairy up a small hill, shouting all the while, "Happy thoughts, Happy thoughts! No more growing up! No more Maths! No more baths! Whoopee!" As he shrieked the last part, he jumped high into the air, his arms flapping ridiculously by his sides, and Tinker Bell closed her eyes in horror, her hands coming up beside her head. But the boy's attempt ended not with the thud that Tinker Bell expected, but with a loud, resounding splash.
As Tink flew over the hill, she saw that Peter had been saved by the same pond his brother Marty had gotten a thorough dunking from. He came up out of the water, spewing water and mud from his mouth, and shaking both from his hair like a dog does after a bath. The fairy's worried expression faded when she saw the boy thrashing around the water in amusement, laughing uproariously at his own folly. And so Tinker Bell did her best to pull him out of the sticky, muddy bottom of the shallow end of the pond, holding on to his ear as she did so.
They could not fly away to Never Land immediately, for the afternoon sun was still high in the heavens, and the way could not be seen yet. So the two of them hid themselves in the shadows of the trees, in case Nursie came looking for Peter. And sure enough, she came some time later, calling out his name in frantic worry. Peter even heard his little brother's voice join in, shouting "Petah! Petah!" in a little-boy voice that tried its best to sound important. He almost slipped out of his hiding place at this, for though Marty was a pest sometimes, he was a good boy, and he was the one thing that Peter would miss most. But Tinker Bell pulled him back firmly by his hair, that all he could do was peep behind the dark trunk. The voices faded as Nursie and Marty walked off to search in another part of the park.
When the stars came out, Tink led the boy into the top of the small hill. Of course she knew now that Peter did not really know how to fly, but instead of pointing the fact out to him, she simply shook herself over him until her dust fell and clung to his still-damp clothes. When an inquiring look crossed his face, she simply said, "To help you fly." But proud Peter replied, "yes, I know," for he would rather get another thorough dunking than admit he didn't know.
So they followed the second star to the right straight on till morning and arrived in the Never Land, which Peter appraised with an approving eye as he pointed out the places to Tinker Bell. The sun turned its face to see this newcomer, and was pleased, that it spread its fingers and once again touched the very depths of the place. The flowers woke up at this warm caress and the trees reached up eagerly with their leaves that were once again green and alive.
And with the magic of childhood that Peter brought with him, the Never Land once again became the youthful bride whose blush remained ever sweet as she donned her dress of green and blue and gold. And all worries were once again forgotten as adventures waited in hidden corners to be found by the Boy and his Fairy.