Mrs Darling rushed off to get a wet towel for Mr Darling's brow and John and Michael gathered around Peter.
"Did you say your name was Peter Pan?" asked John disbelievingly.
Peter nodded. John and Michael looked to Wendy. Wendy nodded. Michael screamed and ran to Peter.
"What's it like in Neverland?" he asked excitedly.
Peter looked surprised. "Well, I live there. And there's lots of..."
To be completely honest, due to his very short-term memory, Peter was beginning to forget about Neverland.
"Pirates?" guessed Michael.
Peter nodded quickly. "Yes, many pirates! All around! On my left!" Peter pointed right. "On my right!" Peter pointed left. "They surrounded me!" He rose off the ground and circled the living room.
Michael gasped. "What did you do?" he asked, in awe.
"I...uh..." Peter blinked confused. "I escaped with the help of..." Peter glanced at Wendy for help.
John looked sceptical. "Are you really from Neverland?" he asked.
Wendy laughed nervously. "Oh course he is! The...Lost Boys helped him escape and he got hit in the head. That's why he can't remember anything."
Peter stared at her. "Is that really it? I got hit in the head?" He rubbed his head, as if checking for a bump.
Mrs Darling returned with a wet cloth and some ice. "I want you to all give your father some space please children."
Immediately Peter drew himself up from the ground and hit his head on the ceiling. "I am not a child!" he exclaimed.
Mrs Darling ignored him, facing Mr Darling, so she didn't see him rise to the ceiling.
"In fact, I am two hundred and fifty years old! How old are you?"
Mrs Darling spoke to Wendy instead of Peter. "Tell your friend to stop making a commotion," she said. Wendy reached up, grabbed Peter's ankle, and yanked him down.
"Shut up," she hissed.
Peter rubbed his ankle and glared. "That hurt," he said, accusingly.
Wendy shrugged. "Just shut up and sit still."
They sat in silence for a few seconds, before John jumped to his feet with a triumphant 'A-ha!'
John circled Peter, as if examining him. He rubbed his chin comically and squinted his eyes. "You're not Peter Pan! You can't be!"
Peter was confused. "What? I am Peter Pan!"
John shook his head ridiculously. "You can't be Peter Pan! You don't have a Tinkerbell!"
Peter looked around. "Will you look at that! I don't. Maybe I'm not Peter Pan..." he pondered aloud.
Wendy shook her head furiously and looked from Peter to John. "He does have Tinkerbell. She's upstairs, sleeping."
"I don't believe it!" said John.
"Really?" said Michael.
"Oh," said Peter.
Wendy nodded and sat down on the couch. He mother was still tending to her father. He was coming around, his eyes were open and he lay, blinking around the room into the light.
"Where is that boy?" demanded Mr Darling.
"Who, me?" asked Peter, pointing to himself. "I'm right here."
"Well, I don't know in ruddy hell where 'here' is!" roared Mr Darling. "Come to my side! Now!"
Peter glided over and perched above Mr Darling, much as he had done Wendy the night before.
"What were you doing in my daughter's room last night?" Mr Darling asked, forgetting his previous fear of the answer.
"Oh, well, I wasn't in her room the whole time, sir," said Peter cheerfully. "At first I was in the hallway where something attached itself to my foot. Wendy prised it off!"
"It was a wastebasket," piped up Wendy.
"Then she told me about he odd wallpaper, and then she told me to go to sleep," said Peter.
Mr Darling flinched horribly at the word 'sleep'. "Sleep, did you?" he laughed accusingly and glared at Peter.
Peter nodded and floated upwards a bit. "Yes, a lovely and comfortable sleep it was."
"He slept on the window seat," added Wendy.
Mrs Darling stood up and looked to Peter. She gasped and grabbed his elbow. "Look at this! The boy is floating!"
Mr Darling let out a strangled cry and Peter glanced around, mildly amused. "What's going on?" he asked. He shook out of Mrs Darling's hold and zoomed around the room. Michael laughed and chased his blurred figure.
"Wendy! Get that boy down and out of the house! Now!" barked Mr Darling, turning slightly red. Mrs Darling sat him back down and poured his a glad of brandy.
Wendy coaxed Peter out of the room and into the hall.
"Where are we going?" queried Peter as they strolled down the crowded streets.
"I don't know," said Wendy shortly. They had gone upstairs, she had gotten Peter dressed in some of John's sweatpants and a large pullover sweater and ushered him out the door. Tinkerbell had followed them.
"I'm hungry," complained Peter. Tinkerbell jingled. "And so is Tink."
"OK, we'll stop somewhere in a while. Let's just get away from my house," Wendy turned a corner quickly and Peter flew up and followed her.
"What did I tell you about flying?" hissed Wendy. "You're going to attract attention."
Peter scowled. "I don't like you very much."
Wendy shrugged. "You don't have to." She spotted a group of kids approaching ahead. "Remember, if anyone asks, you're my cousin, Peter Darling, OK?"
Peter nodded. "Alright."
Tinkerbelly, angrily, flew into Peter's deep pocket.
One of the girls waved and ran forward, smothering Wendy in a hug. She had black wavy hair and blue eyes; they ran over Peter quickly after she had stepped back from Wendy.
The others had caught up with them now. There were three boys and four other girls. Two of the girls had ginger red hair and knee length tweed jackets. They wore scarves and jeans and both had identical green eyes. The other girl had dark brown hair and dark brown eyes, she wore a heavily knitted wool sweater with a short detailed jean skirt.
Two of the boys wore jeans and one wore beige cords. One of them had curly brown hair and hazel eyes. Over his jeans he wore a faded red t-shirt and a leather jacket. The other boy with jeans had darker hair and clad a pullover grey hooded sweater. The last of them had pale blonde hair and predictably blue eyes. His hair was short and he wore a black shirt.
"Oh, hello. Who are you?" asked the first girl, eyes glittering.
"Oh, my name's Peter. I'm—"
Wendy cut him off. "He's my cousin...from Missouri."
The girl looked from Wendy to Peter. "Really? I didn't know you had a cousin..."
Peter nodded. "Yeah, I'm from Missouri."
The girl with the heavy sweater introduced herself. "Hi, I'm Katherine." Her darkly lidded eyes swept over Peter with interest.
The redheaded girls introduced themselves as Abby and Gale, twins born three minutes apart. The third girl was named Isabella and the boys were Donovan, the one with the leather jacket, Christopher, the one with the pullover, and Nathan, the blonde.
"Want to get something to eat?" asked Isabella cheerfully.
Peter perked up. "Yes, very much!" he said eagerly.
The others laughed as though Peter had made a good joke. Wendy shot him a look. They walked down the street.
End ChapterThat's the end of chapter three, sorry to take so long. I'm very proud of this fiction; its chapters are a very comfortable length. Please review!
Shoutouts:
C.M. Higgins—He's supposed to be funny in a looking-in sort of way. You know, if you were there it wouldn't be so funny, but looking back on, or in on it he would appear hilarious.
Erin Go Bragh—for some reason my reviews are constantly being eaten, I don't take any offence if it got eaten. You are in no way blamed.
Girl with the Evil Computer—just for you I think I will continue. And because I like how this is going...
Lizzie Presscott—uh, was that a compliment or an insult? I'm confused.
JAM!!!—unfortunately, I didn't update soon enough. Not by my standards, at least.
Madison Square—thanks for the compliments towards my fictions! I feel all warm inside now! (And no, I'm not on anything)