Chapter 2
It came to Peter after a good fight against the Indians; the lost boys were playing some game or other, and for some reason Peter couldn't bring himself to join in. It did not look like a particularly boring game to him; he didn't see why he wasn't in the mood for it. He was not really tired, he laughed out loud at the thought that a fight with any of the pirates would ever make him tired. Crys was sitting contentedly on the arm of his throne, swinging her legs and glowing with a beautiful light, but somehow none of it was interesting anymore. Gradually it came to him, it was the not understanding why Wendy had left. He wanted and needed to know, it was driving him insane. What on earth was so great about growing up and dying he thought to himself. The whole idea of it seemed utter nonsense to him, living forever and particularly with him should have made her stay. He needed to know what Wendy's husband had that he didn't and what Earth had, that Neverland didn't. Suddenly, it was completely obvious what he needed to do.
Wendy was scrubbing the floor that she had scrubbed yesterday. Not because it was anymore dirty since it had been washed, but because her step-mother wanted to be able to see herself in it. There was going to be a dinner party she said, Wendy was, of course, not allowed to attend. After this she had to help Lucinda dress, in a new gown which had been made this morning. Lucinda had to look absolutely gorgeous, not that it was a hard thing to accomplish, Lucinda was beautiful, and she knew it. As she sat there washing and washing the floor, Lucinda made it her business to pass through the hall at least four times, leaving less than shiny dry footprints. So, of course, Wendy had to go over those parts thinking longingly of what her father would do to these evil people if he were ever around. He wasn't though, always working always busy so that when he was home Wendy was simply dressed in one of Lucinda's gorgeous dresses, and her father never knew about the servitude how ever many times she tried to tell him. Her back stiffened as her step-mothers walked into the hallway to inspect.
'It'll do' she said loudly, and then, 'Go and help Lucinda into a dress, and then I don't want to hear hide nor hair from you for the rest of the night. Understand? Don't embarrass me Wendy.' Wendy flinched at the sound of her own name, and slowly picked up the heavy bucket knowing she would be punished if she sloshed any of the water.
'This has taken you far too long to do.' Her step-mother added coldly and Wendy wanted to scream that it was because of Lucinda, that Lucinda had slowed her down. Instead she replied,
'Yes madam'
After she had poured the water from the bucket, she noticed another person in the kitchen. A dumpy woman with flyaway hair, smiled nervously,
'I'm the new cook'
Wendy nodded; obviously her father had come into some money. A cook would keep Lucinda happy; perhaps she would stop picking on Wendy. She quickly made her way up the stairs and entered the cloud of pink that was Lucinda's room. It was already messy again, covered in pile upon piles of clothes that Lucinda wasn't sure about. She turned exasperatedly to Wendy, tears in her eyes,
'There's absolutely nothing for me to wear' she sobbed, 'I'm going to look like a complete fool and mummy says that maybe someone I'll marry in the future might be here tonight!' Lucinda spoke in such a rush when she got like this that many people didn't understand her, Wendy had heard it all enough times to simply nod and say,
'It will be alright, Lucinda. Now let's find you something to wear'
Delving through the clothes Wendy reckoned that Lucinda could have worn any of them and been fine, but this needed to look as though there was thought being put in. Otherwise Lucinda would panic and probably hit Wendy. Wendy pulled out a lovely periwinkle blue and received a sharp slap in the face,
'Honestly Wendy, what are you? Five? I can't wear that! I wore it last week.'
Wendy apologised and put her fingertips against her stinging cheek sadly, looking for another dress. The sooner she found one the better.
'How about something in pink, you could set it off nicely with that rose quartz pendant you have'
But Lucinda did not like this idea either; they went through hundreds and hundreds of dresses,
'NO Wendy that's an ugly dress, I hate that dress!'
'What are you stupid! I can't wear that!'
Lucinda was getting more and more worked up with every wrong dress and now all Wendy wanted to do was find one and be done with it. She began pulling clothes out at random, and a long emerald green one was not to Lucinda's taste,
'NO! OF COURSE NOT THAT ONE YOU STUPID GIRL! WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO DO MAKE ME LOOK UGLY? JUST BECAUSE YOU'RE AN IDIOT, UGLY GIRL YOU DON'T HAVE TO RUIN ME!'
Wendy sucked in her breath as Lucinda pounced on her whacking every inch of her she could reach. Wendy did not cry, she simply lay there and listened as footsteps came to the door. It opened and her step-mother entered looking horrified. She pulled Lucinda off of Wendy and for one, breathtaking second Wendy believed that maybe it was because she cared. It was all dashed almost an instant later,
'Lucinda! This is not the way for young ladies to behave! You could have bruised her, and you know that her father's coming home tomorrow!' Wendy stared open-mouthed as Lucinda managed to get herself out of trouble.
'But mummy! She wants me to be ugly and she wasn't choosing me a nice dress, and I know I shouldn't have hit her but, you know what she's like, mummy?'
Wendy watched, horrified as her step-mother descended on her, Lucinda smiling sweetly behind her, her eyes glinting.
'How DARE you Wendy! Look at the room we've given you, we treat you fairly Wendy. How DARE you try to ruin Lucinda's chances? Go to your room immediately and stay there.'
Wendy dodged past them both and ran upstairs, tears in her eyes. The only reason she had the room was because her father insisted, and it was too much bother to swap her things there every time he returned. He said that she looked so much like her great aunt and that was where she had slept, so it was fitting. She sat down on the stairs, her face pressed against the bars of the banister, wanting to see what dress Lucinda would choose. When Lucinda finally immerged Wendy had to stifle a cry at the injustice of it all, she was wearing the pink dress, set off by the rose quartz necklace. Tears returned to her eyes as she collapsed onto her bed in her room. She knew perfectly well that it could be worse, imagining life if her father weren't alive, but somehow this never managed to console her as she thought of the only mother she had ever known. Her step-mother was a great many things to Wendy, but maternal was not one of them. Wendy still dreamt of her approval, and love though she prayed every time she did that she wouldn't again. As she lay there, sobbing, she thought again of Peter Pan. His visit seemed so far away and meaningless now, even though at the time it made her hopeful that anything was possible. She rose from the bed and pulled out a large bag from underneath it, she opened it to check one last time. Inside was one of her mothers childhood dresses, a necklace and various other necessities. Now, how to get away she couldn't go past the party downstairs, and thinking of books she'd read an idea came to her. Calmly she sat on the bed and began pulling off the bed clothes and tying them together. It was time, she thought, for her to take matters into her own hands.
Thanx sooooooooooo much to reviewers! You keep me going, lol, R&R people, and hopefully I'll get the next chapter out soon to. Big thanx to Eva Sumpter… I wasn't really sure about the last chappie after so long, but now I'm confident!