Title: Whither By Moonlight
Author: Squeezynz
Chapter: Five - Return to Neverland.
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Authors Note: Apologies for the long hiatus, moving house tends to suck out all ones creative urges and I think my muse got packed in one of the boxes yet to be opened. Never mind...thank you to everyone who has still been reviewing during the month I've been MIA, your encouragement is worth more than diamonds. Now...on with the story.
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Second author note: 4/4/07 - due to unknown error on they have been dropping out bits of text, some times only words, but in places whole sentences. Parts of this chapter were incomprehensible, making me look like a twit for not noticing when it was posted. I apologise and repost the chapter, and can only hope the same error doesn't happen again. If you find any sentences that simply make no sense, please let me know...in any of my stories, or in any of my chapters posted here or anywhere. Cheers.
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The trip to the second star on the right was a blur, Wendy's eyes refusing to release their tears as she held tight to Peter's hand while they crossed the horizon into the world of the Neverland.
When they spun out of control on the other side, Wendy closed her eyes and just drifted, her mind divorced from the body for a few precious seconds as gravity asserted its pull and she plunged towards the ocean disguised as stars below her.
As she fell, she spread her arms wide, her back arching as she swooped ever closer to the surface of the sea. Suddenly her descent halted, a warmth felt close to her face and body, her eyes slowly opening, blinking to find herself staring down into Peter Pan's face, an inch from her own. He was flying on his back, the water still spangled with stars, rushing past behind him, his mere presence enough to prevent her from plunging into the icy ocean. As the sky lightened around them, Peter reached for her hand, flipping himself out from under her so that he now flew beside her, once more connected, supporting her with his own magic.
Ahead the island of Neverland grew larger, its peaks and valleys cast into deep shadow as the sun rose lazily into the sky, streaks of golden light sweeping over the jungles and forests, flowers blooming in its wake as the island awoke and welcomed its Lord and Master back into its folds. The tears had long dried when Peter brought them in to land on a bald headland, its ground covered only thinly with grass, bright red clay peaking through the thin mantle, dust rising as they landed. They were standing high above the bay, on one side a white sand beach stretched in a broad curve, on the other, a dark pebbled shoreline, punctured by sharp rocks, jagged its way around the next headland. Ahead the sun finished its rise into the sky, leaving behind a haze of sunlight, the sky as blue as forget-me-nots, the jungle as verdant as the richest emerald. Behind them the sea stretched in all directions, limitless and remote, the horizon the only suggestion of an end to the expanse of blue.
At her back was the crash of waves against the cliff below them, in front of her rose the sounds of bird-life, trilling and warbling their welcome to the sun, the insects setting up a base rhythm, sawing their pleasure at the end of night and the start of a new day.
Wendy drew in a deep breath, the scent of Neverland filling her lungs, intoxicating her, leaving her light headed. For the moment she was alone, Peter forgotten as she absorbed the essence of the island, her body welcoming the return even as her heart quailed at her precipitous choice.
"Welcome to Neverland Wendy..."
"It's as beautiful as I remember Peter...simply beautiful."
"I have so much to show you...do you remember the Jolly Roger?"
"Of course...how could I forget Peter...isn't it a wreck by now?"
"Nope...gave it back to the pirates. After I returned they were sitting on the beach, those that managed to make it to shore without the croc or the Mermaids getting them." Peter grinned as Wendy winced for those that never made the beach. "Without Hook to goad them on, they were pathetically pleased to see me return. I had no need to keep the ship so I left it in the bay for them."
"What did they do with it?"
"Oh, just sailed about the island...keeping their hand in, as Mister Smee puts it...they tried to leave but found they just got blown back to the island...so, after a few attempts they gave up and settled on the far side, built a kind of port."
"They built a settlement?"
"Hardly that...but they trade with the redskins, live very peaceably for pirates."
"How sad...they couldn't go home too..."
"Sad?...most of them have nothing to return to." Peter scoffed, kicking at the dust.
"How do you know that Peter...they could have left families, wives, children..."
"I know because Smee told me...they were all orphans...gutter bred for the most part...signed up to escape the gallows, from what Smee said."
"You seem to have become quite friendly with the pirates, Peter?"
"Why not...with Hook dead, they had no desire to continue their pursuit of me, and most just wanted to live out their lives in relative comfort, with the occasional sail around the island to..."
"Keep their hand in?"
"Yeah...I can take you there is you want to go?"
"No...not now...not on my first day back," Wendy tilted her head to soak up the sun, her eyes sliding shut as she wallowed in the warmth after the chill of London. "Where are we going to live Peter?...I don't think I'll fit down the slide now I'm all grown up."
"I have a surprise for you...come on..." Snatching up her hand, Peter pulled Wendy into the air and started towards the jungle. They flew over the crowns of the trees, birds and butterflies passing by below them, flowers sending up their heady perfume to scent the air as they passed. They were heading for a green valley, its upper slopes coated in low scrubby growth, currently in flower, its purple blooms as thick as wool on the ground. A wood stretched the length of the valley and half way up the slopes, a stream threading its way through the tall trees. Peter tugged on her hand and flew them slowly down to land in a small clearing, the stream a little way off. The sun filtered through the high canopy, painting the leaf strewn ground in dappled shadows. Wendy couldn't see anything out of the ordinary among the trees but as Peter led her forward she started to make out a strangely shaped mound rising among the trees, like a hillock but not quite.
"Peter...what it that?"
"Home...come on."
As they drew closer Wendy marveled at the way the cleverly disguised house in the woods appeared to be part of the trees surrounding it, its walls sometimes enveloping a trunk, its roof meeting a branch above creating a conical peak before curving down to loop up and meet another branch. It was a tree house, but still connected to both the ground and the trees around it. As she stared up at the roof of the strange house she saw a thread of smoke curling out of a hole in the thatched roof.
"There's someone home!"
"Oh yeah...that's probably Little Creek. She loves to play house when I'm away...keeps coming in and cleaning and dusting...you'd think she'd have given up ages ago, but nothing I say seems to deter her..." Peter shrugged and curled his arm around Wendy's waist, drawing her forward. Wendy had stiffened when Peter so casually mentioned his housekeeper, dismissing her so off-handedly that Wendy felt almost shocked. For herself, Wendy firmly squashed any sparks of jealousy that reared their ugly green heads at the thought of another girl mothering Peter in her place.
They were approaching the outer wall of the oddly shaped house, the walls a clever mixture of daub and wattle but woven with plants of the forest that continued to grow up the walls and disguise it from the casual glance. Some of the vines were flowering, their pink trumpets nestled gaudily amongst the thatch. As they passed Peter plucked one and tucked it into Wendy's hair, his smile bringing an answering one to her lips. As they walked around the side a shaft of sunlight illuminated an archway leading into the structure, its sturdy wooden door wide open. They were within a foot of the door when the end of a stick broom appeared following a cloud of dust that hung momentarily in the air before the broom retreated and another cloud of dust flew out.
"Little Creek...can you stop for a moment...I don't want to get covered in dust this early in the day."
At the sound of Peter voice, the owner of the broom let out a shriek and rushed out of the door, throwing herself into Peter's arms and hugging him. Wendy stood to one side and regarded the reunion of Peter and his housekeeper with some amusement.
Little Creek was an Indian woman of indeterminate age, her short stature and thin frame making you think she was only a child at first, but when you saw her face you could be forgiven in thinking that she was quite possibly the oldest woman in the world, her features so lined with wrinkles she resembled a last-season apple. Her thin arms were wrapped around Peter's waist, her face pressed to his chest as her legs danced on their own, her moccasins pounding the dust she had so recently swept out of the house.
As sudden as her embrace of welcome was, Little Creek just as quickly pushed Peter away, making the tall youth stagger as the tiny Indian woman rounded on Wendy, her piercing nut brown eyes raking over the girl, a smile revealing a few gaps in the crones mouth as she stood with her hands on her hips, unconsciously mirroring Peter's favorite stance.
"So...you're who he's been pining over all this time...no wonder Lily never had a chance...not that she didn't try, but she wouldn't have wasted her time if she seen you sooner." Little Creek hardly paused to draw breath or allow her audience to comment before turning her head, her long braids swinging, to address Peter. "She's all you said she was boy...did it take much to convince her? No I don't imagine it did much more than for you to bat those pretty eyes at her and she fell in love with you all over again...not that she's not worth every effort to win over...I bet she never stood a chance! Hah!"
Wendy could only gape at the woman, trying to understand the references as well as acknowledge the compliments while Peter blushed and shuffled his feet when Little Creek poked him in the chest before turning back to face Wendy.
"Well you won't want me here...it's all ready for you...knew from the blooming of the trumpet vine that he had brought you back...I'm off back to my own home, have enough to keep me busy there without fussing around you two...see you both tomorrow...don't let the stew burn!"
Like a small tornado Little Creek whisked herself off out of the glade, leaving a bewildered Wendy and an embarrassed Peter behind her to stare helplessly as she disappeared from sight among the trees.
For a moment Wendy stared after the energetic Indian woman before she turned her head to raise an eyebrow at Peter who could only shrug sheepishly.
"What can I say...she wears me out just watching her."
"She's certainly...er...full of energy...how old is Little Creek?"
"Nobody knows...but she has four sons, three grandsons and I've lost count of the great grand-children that fill the Indian encampment...she's grandmother or mother to nearly everyone."
"Including Peter Pan?"
"I guess so...she sort of...adopted me after Hook went...her family helped me build this..." Peter swept his arm around to encompass the house in the woods.
"It's certainly unusual..." Wendy started to say only to break off when Peter swept her up into his arms and carried her through the doorway, careful to duck and avoid crowning them both on the low lintel. "Peter!!"
"I've seen the braves do this when they introduce their new wives to their tepees..."
"Carrying them across the threshold..." Wendy finished for him, her arms tight around his neck as he straightened up. They had traveled down a short hallway and were now standing in the entrance to a large room, oddly shaped with a tree trunk in one corner and several archways leading to other corridors and rooms. Peter lowered Wendy to the floor and swept his arm to encompass the room with its shafts of sunlight spearing down from various windows set high in the roof.
"What do you think?"
To Wendy, used to the straight lines and formal arrangement of Edwardian London, the strange slopes and bowed walls seemed very odd, but also very easy to look at, seemingly part of the surrounding wood with its walls of living plants and hand crafted furniture.
"It's...charming Peter." She made her way over towards a fire set into a raised stone fireplace in the middle of the room. Suspended over the fire hung a blackened pot with a lid that lifted with the force of steam escaping from its contents. Using the cloth left to protect her fingers, Wendy lifted the lid and was instantly assailed with the aroma of a meaty stew. "This smell delicious Peter...Little Creek cooks for you as well?"
"Only on special occasions...I usually fend for myself...unless I go to the village or spend time with the pirates."
Looking around, Wendy spotted a square table set with plates and two rough chairs, a tiny pottery vase holding a selection of wild flowers at its center. Peter had disappeared into one of the other rooms, so Wendy set about filling the bowls with the fragrant stew, her stomach rumbling in anticipation of breakfast. She had just carried the pot back to the fire when Peter emerged from a side room, his hand behind his back. Wendy squashed her curiosity, sitting down at the table and waiting for Peter to join her. Peter sat down in the opposite chair, sniffing the bowl of stew, his face breaking into a broad grin before bringing his hand out from behind his back and placing a small parcel on the table between them.
Wendy cocked an eyebrow at Peter, her own hands still in her lap.
"Open it..." Peter told her, his expression bland.
Wendy carefully picked up the small parcel and glanced up at Peter before turning her attention to tugging it open. The wrapping was made of dry leaves cleverly folded like paper. At its heart was a wad of soft fluff, like cotton wool but silkier. Wendy delved into the bundle and felt something hard at the center. Holding the object between her thumb and first finger she pulled it free of its packing.
"Oh Peter...its...lovely." Wendy breathed, her fingers holding up the ring that had nestled among the silky strands. The metal shone brightly, a rich butter yellow gold with a lustrous pearl surrounded by what looked like diamond chips. Peter rose from the table and came to crouch next to her, taking the ring from her numb fingers as she looked down at him, her eyes swimming.
"I wanted to give this to you the night we danced among the fairies, I had it on me already to give to you...but...it all went wrong, my temper got the better of me...I'm sorry..."
"Oh Peter...it doesn't matter...we were just children then..."
"I thought you were the prettiest thing I'd ever seen and I wanted you to know it, so I was going to present this to you...I wish I had."
Smiling at his contrite expression, Wendy held out her left hand, her fingers splayed for him to put the ring on. As she held her breath, Peter hesitated only a second before slipping the pearl ring on her third finger where it sat gleaming in the sunlight streaming through the roof. Wendy held it up and admired the creamy pearl, her bottom lip pulled into her mouth to stop herself giving in to her emotions.
"It's beautiful Peter...thank you."
Peter had risen, watching her anxiously. Seeing her admiring his present, he grinned, bending down to capture her mouth in a quick kiss before returning to his seat and picking up his spoon ready to demolish the bowl of stew waiting patiently in front of him.
He hesitated, glancing up at Wendy for her permission to start, her ready smile and own spoon already dipping into her bowl gave him the answer he sought. They both set to with a keen appetite, Little Creek's stew providing them both with more than enough to quench their hunger. As they ate Peter told her about other places he wanted to show her, the peak of Mount Hook, named for the departed pirate captain, its summit always coated with snow and its peak riddles with ice caves. He told her of the swamp with its glassy pools of water lilies and the song of the frogs, their mating calls filling the night when the moon was full. He described the plains at the far end of the island where the many hoofed animals grazed, deer and goats that kept the resident population in meat alongside the bountiful harvest of the ocean that surrounded Neverland.
"It all sounds wonderful Peter...but first, I'd like to see what we have here, in this valley."
"Come on then...there's plenty to see.." Leaving his bowl on the table, Peter stood up, bowed to Wendy and held out his hand. Playing along, Wendy rose and curtsied, placing her slender fingers in his warm palm. In stately procession, Peter showed her everything in the main living area then led her through the first of three archways giving onto a kitchen and storage room, its walls lined with crude shelves that held a variety of recognizable and some completely unrecognizable food stuffs along with an assortment of bowls and other household implements. The next archway led downwards, the floor brushed smooth with the marks of the rough broom Little Creek had been using. Tiny niches in the walls held oil lamps that shed a golden glow over the hallway as they descended the shallow slop to a lower level. The lights stopped despite the corridor extending further but Peter was already tugging Wendy down a side passage with several cave like rooms leading off it. These held chests and barrels, boxes and cases. It was like an Aladdin's cave of treasures, some readily visible, others waiting to be revealed. Peter explained that a lot had been gathered over the years from the Jolly Roger, as well as strange things that arrived, washed ashore by the azure sea, to be found by the people of Neverland. Some had been collected by Peter on his travels to Wendy's world, souvenirs of his travels. Wendy barely had time for a glance at the astonishing array before Peter pulled her out of the room and back up the slope. Tugging her along they emerged into the main room and veered around a corner through another archway. Wendy gasped as they entered a round room, its walls punctured in many places but at different heights with windows all shapes and sizes, letting in a variety of light and patterns that fell over the bed that seemed to fill the room, its fur cover resembling some huge sleeping animal. Peter took a flying leap and landed on his back in the middle of the bed, his arms bending to put his hands behind his head as he grinned at Wendy.
"Good grief...is this where...er...you...we...is that a bed?"
"Of course its a bed." Peter rolled onto his side and propped his head on one hand while he patted the bed cover with the other. "Come and see how soft it is."
"Oh...alright..." Gingerly, Wendy approached the bed, her fingers itching to stroke the thick pelts that formed the cover, their many shades blending to create a colorful quilt.
Lifting her dress she sat demurely on the end of the bed, her fingers threading through the fur, her back to Peter.
"Its very nice Peter...but don't you think..."
She didn't get to finish, her thought processes thrown into disarray when Peter started to kiss the side of her neck, his fingers brushing aside her hair to give him greater access, her head turning to the side as his lips traced a line from her ear to her collar bone.
"Don't think Wendy..."
Peter's whisper swept over her, shivers chasing their way down her spine as his hands brushed down her shoulders and arms, finding her hands. Encasing them in his, he tugged until she turned around, drawing her knees up so that she sat sideways on the bed, Peter on his knees in front of her. For a second they gazed at each other, Wendy's eyes wide and a little fearful, as if afraid to take the final step, as if refusing him would change anything. Peter's eyes were brilliant, full of triumph, sure that he had captured her as surely as a spider a fly, his web closing around her, tempting her beyond her fears, lulling her senses until she forgot everything but him, his mouth quirking into a small smile before he lowered his head and captured her mouth, her lips parting in surrender as he drew her into his arms and down onto the soft bed.
Within minutes clothes were scattered across the floor, their flesh dappled by the sunlight streaming through the windows as they lay entwined on the furs, Peter's body filling her, surrounding her, demanding surrender and receiving it wholeheartedly as Wendy gave into the siren call of his body, her own singing in tune with his as they gasped and panted their way to completion, Peter wrapping her in his arms as she arched and cried out, he's own release only seconds behind hers. In complete abandon they lay sprawled across the bed, uncaring of the world outside, they senses focused on their hammering hearts and heaving lungs, their bodies joined as if fused together.
Wendy slowly opened her eyes, her hand coming up to stroke Peters head where it rested on her breast, his soft curls brushing against her throat. He was a warm weight against her, his skin as soft as hers, an illusion of satin over steel as she stoked her hand down over his back, the muscles flexing under her finger tips.
"Peter?"
"Hmmmmm?"
"How is this possible...?"
"Whatcha mean?"
"I mean...I thought...that is...how can Neverland be...how can you be here...why is all this here...I just...I want to know."
Letting go a deep sigh, Peter raised his head, his elbows coming to read either side of her so that his weight lifted off her chest and allowed him to look into her face. A crease had formed between Wendy's eyes, shadows dulling their brilliance as she gazed up at him. Leaning down he kissed the frown line, her eyes closing for a second before resuming their thoughtful stare.
"Why do you need to know Wendy...can't you just accept that this is...that all this exists, just as your world is solid and real, so is Neverland..."
"I know its real Peter...I just...I thought Neverland was just for children...created for children to escape to..."
"It was...once. It was created from the stuff of dreams, of childish hopes...of wishes to come true. That hasn't changed...Neverland is still the place of dreams and fantasy...my dreams, my wishes...Neverland is my world...it is here because I am here."
For a long minute Wendy stared up at Peter, a suspicion lurking at the corner of her thoughts, her brain swirling with ideas and dawning comprehension.
"Peter...how old are you?"
"How old do you want me to be?"
"Don't be evasive...this is important...how long have you been here, lived in Neverland?"
"Its not important Wendy, this is important," He kissed her only to draw back when she jerked her head away, the frown line back between her eyes.
"I'm serious Peter...how long..." She paused, her mouth forming an oh, "you don't know, do you...you have no idea how long you've been here."
"It doesn't matter how long I've been here...all that really matters is that you are here with me now...we're together, as it was meant to be...always."
For another long minute Wendy continued her frowning gaze up into his face, his eyes still brilliant and unclouded, untroubled by doubt or questions. As if accepting the inevitable, Wendy's mouth broke into a smile, the frown dissipating, her eyes once more the blue of the sky.
"Always..." Entwining her arms around his neck, Wendy drew him down to her, their lips meeting and melding as passion flared into life, the morning sun painting streaks of gold across the bed as they once more dissolved into each other, two becoming one as the morning crept by the little house in the valley.
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(ah well...onwards and upwards...hope I'm not overdosing on the warm fuzzies too much...I just love this couple...sigh)