So I'm guessing all y'all north of the equator are suffering from heat stroke, huh:) Envy me! It's winter down in my neck of the woods. Hehehe. Of course, when I say winter, I mean a balmy 75 degrees during the day, dropping maybe down to 69 or 70 at night. In my book, comfortable weather. Perfect weather. So take your minds off the heat for a bit and skip away to Neverland...

Thanks to MLBL for reviewing!

Chapter 7

I trekked through the woods in search of Peter. He and the lost boys were my only hope. But would they help me? The boys would never go against Peter. And Peter was just foolish enough to believe I'd truly been leading Hook to find him. Or he might have already forgotten about me since I was not someone important to him. But it was worth a try, and that's where I was headed.

I neared the hideout. Hope pounded in my chest. A noise assaulted my ears...whirring, humming. My feet whipped out from beneath me. I hurled into the air.

"I got one!" The glee-filled voice of a small boy echoed about me. I looked down, seeing the ground below me, and realized I was hanging by my ankles.

"Curly? Is that you?" I raised my head as best I could and gazed down at the group of boys huddled beneath me.

"Do we know her?" One of the twins whispered.

"Yes, you do. But I don't look much like myself right now." I smiled, hoping to keep them calm.

"She does look familiar," said Tootles, but no one paid him any attention.

"Come on, guys. I'm Jingle. Tink's sister?"

Slightly pushed his way through the little group so he stood directly beneath me, then turned his dirty little face upward. "Jingle! But your so-so big!"

Oh, lovely. Music to a girl's ears. I bit back a scathing retort and sighed. "Yes. I'm big. But Tink said she told you all about what had happened."

"Yes, she did. And Peter agreed that we're to help you." Slightly nodded to the other boys, and several of them ran into a thicket, and soon I was lowered back to the ground. Slightly cut through the ropes at my ankles.

As I stood, the boys backed away. Their eyes saucered as they tilted their heads back to look up at me.

"What?" I glanced down at my body. "So I'm human size." I shrugged. "What of it?"

"You're-you're an–an adult!" The twins cried in unison.

"Of course I'm an adult." I crossed my arms in front of my chest and tapped my foot.

"Just like those nasty pirates!" Tootles gasped and took another step back.

Slightly shook his head and gave me another up and down scan. "Peter's not going to like this. He might not even let us help you if he realizes you're an adult."

"But I'm the same Jinny he's always known. Just–bigger. I'm not like the pirates. Not all adults are bad, you know."

The boys huddled together, whispering. Every now and then one of them would pop his head up and glance at me, then return his attention to the conversation. Heaving a heavy sigh, I turned away from them and sat on the ground. This might take awhile.

"What would Peter do?" Nibs asked.

"Maybe we should wait for him to get here and find out."

"No!" I jumped to my feet and swung around toward them. "No, no. Don't wait for Peter. Just make your own decision for once in your lives! I'm not the bad guy, here. This is partly–" Nah, no use accusing Peter. They'd never go for it, and it certainly wouldn't help my cause. "This is Hook's fault, you see. I've lost my lovely little wings and all my fairy dust. And if you don't help me, I'll be turned into a troll!" I slumped to the ground and made quite a spectacle of myself. With my face in my hands, I began to make loud sobbing noises. "I don't want to become a troll! That would be worse than being human...even worse than being an adult!"

"There, there, Jinny."

Tiny hands came down on each of my shoulders, and I turned slowly to look at their owners, peering through my own parted fingers. The twins. Slowly the other boys made a circle around me.

"We'll help you, Jinny. We don't want you to be turned into a troll either." Tootles knelt in front of me, his face the picture of sympathy. I thought I even noticed a touch of moisture at the corners of his eyes.

So my dramatics had worked better than I'd thought. Wiping my eyes, even though they were dry, I slowly looked at each boy. "So w-what do you th-think we can d-do?"

Now their faces, as one, wrinkled in confused concern. "If only Peter–"

"You really don't need Peter to think for you, you know," I snapped. "You're all intelligent boys. Think. How can I prove I wasn't really leading Captain Hook to your hideout?"

We thought, and thought, and the boys threw out several suggestions...From learning how to be a good troll, to killing Hook, and plenty in between. And though that last one was quite tempting, I knew I would be no match for the pirate captain. I hadn't a pistol or a sword, and even if I had, I'd no idea how to use either.

"I know what you can do." We all turned toward the intruding voice.

Floating behind and just above us was that silly boy, a lopsided grin on his boyishly handsome face.

"Peter! So glad you're here." The boys all rushed toward him.

I got on my knees and inched my way forward, not wanting to draw immediate attention to my size.

Peter gazed at me, a scowl erasing the grin. "Who are you?"

"I'm Jinny."

"Jinny?"

"Yeah, Jinny. Jingle? Jingle Bell, Tink's sister?"

"Tink has a sister?"

"Yes!" all the boys chimed.

"But you're so big."

I rolled my eyes and nodded. "Yes. Does everyone have to keep reminding me of that?"

A small, glowing ball of glitter flew down and landed on Peter's shoulder.

Tink!

"You remember, don't you Peter?" Tink said. "I told you what happened to my sister? How the fairies made her into a human because of Hook?"

"Oh yes. I think I do recall that." Peter nodded and scrunched his eyes in a pensive sort of way.

"So help her figure out how to prove her innocence to the fairies."

Peter thought, holding his chin in his right hand. And Peter thought again, holding his chin with his left hand. Once again Peter thought, transferring his chin back to his right hand. Suddenly his face lit up. "Aha!" He raised his hand, with his pointer finger pointing up in the air. "I know what to do!"

"What? What to do?" The rest of us, including Tink, chorused.

"You'll become a pirate and go join Hook." Peter crossed his arms in front of his chest, giving a closed lipped grin that showed clearly his satisfaction with himself.

My bottom jaw fell open. "You can't be serious."

"Why not?" That smug smile did not crack. "It's the perfect solution." Oh, Peter was proud of his idea all right. And my desire to wring his neck returned with renewed vigor. Only problem, now I needed him. With Peter on my side I had a chance. Without him...

I shivered as the image of a big, hairy troll skittered across my brain. Sucking in a deep breath, I nodded. "Very well. I'm to go to the Jolly Roger and become a pirate. What then?"

Peter's grin widened. "You let me know what that old curmudgeon is up to. Not that he could ever get the better of me, but it's always good to know what's going on with the enemy."

"But there are no pirate women on that ship. They'll never go for it." I fought desperately for a good reason why this would not be a good plan. And although it was the worse plan I could have ever dreamed of, there was obviously no convincing Peter otherwise.

"So go as a man." Peter shrugged.

I snorted a laugh and gave an incredulous shake of my head. "I may be no fairy princess, wasn't one even when I was fairy, but I certainly don't look like a man. And I have the voice of a woman."

Peter seemed to consider this for a moment, but before he could even rest his chin in his hand again he shook his head. "Not a problem. Go as a boy instead. And I know just where to get you the right clothes."

"Oh, Peter, you're not going back to that horrid house again, are you?" Tink whined. "That stupid girl and those stupid boys and all those boring, silly stories."

Peter frowned and flicked Tinkerbell right off his shoulder. "They are not boring or silly stories." His smile returned as he looked back at me. "But where they live, there are lots of houses with clothes you could use. I'll get you some." And with that, he flew away, Tinkerbell following right behind.

I slid back to the ground. It could take days for him to return. And each day that passed without me doing something for my cause was a day closer to me becoming a troll.

What a nightmare!