Chapter 6: The Smerf

Jane looked around nervously. The pirates could still be near by, hanging just far enough back to be out of the way. And when they're captain did not return after all of the commotion, they would most likely suspect something and come to investigate. Peter was nearly screaming and he would not get up from the ground. She asked him, she begged him, she commanded him to get up but he refused. The simple movement of sitting up was almost more than he could bear. Jane's heart just about split in two as she listened to Peter's cries, but she had no choice other than to take him to the Indians.

She whispered to him softly like you would to a frightened stallion and tried to suppress his agonizing wailing. After a short while, his crying died down enough to try to convince him to get up again. He finally agreed and she turned around (while still on her knees) and motioned for him to come closer. He looked at her strangely through pink, puffy eyes.

"Get on my back. I'm going to have to carry you. I'll fly us to the Indians," she explained and he did not object. Slowly but surely, he climbed onto her back and rested there for a moment.

After hoisting Peter on her back in a piggy-back style and conjuring up a happy thought (since walking was still not an option), she was finally able to go on. She had no earthly idea where she was going, though, so how was she expected to get anywhere?

"Peter? Which way are the Indians?" she whispered gently with a hint of urgency, to which he responded with a groan and nothing more. She needed him to guide her, but when he would not speak anything discernable as even a language, she felt herself become overwhelmed. Her heart raced and her breathing started getting shallow and she felt like if she kept this up then she'd be hyperventilating soon. There was no possible way that she could find the way on her own. Her directions were just a whimpering blob at the moment but she had to get something out of him. She just wanted a general direction. Then it hit her!

"Peter, when I ask you which way, lean to which ever way I should go. Like if I should go right then lean right and I'll understand. Can you do that?" she asked and Peter nodded weakly. His blood was draining out of his wound and his energy along with it. "Which way do we start with?"

He inclined slightly to the left and she headed off in that direction as quickly as she could fly. Flying was not easy with another load of dead weight on your back so she could not go very fast, but she had nothing to complain about. Peter had been the victim of a bullet. She would take being uncomfortable over being injured any day.

After a few minutes of leaning from side to side like using a steering wheel, Peter started responding less and less when she would ask for help. She was getting even more anxious and the tears pricked her eyes. She was becoming worried again and she knew that she couldn't afford to have a nervous breakdown right when she really needed to keep her head about things.

'I'll never forgive myself if we don't get there in time. I need to get there!' she thought desperately and shook him delicately to get his attention. She couldn't be too rough because she might upset him again and he'd go off into a fit of howling in the excruciating pain that he was feeling. He became alert again and leaned to one side and she obeyed. If they could keep their system working until they got to the Indians, then everything would be alright. However, Jane thought she might not be able to make it there. With every yelp and groan and whimper that Peter would release, she started gradually descending to the earth until she was barely a foot off the ground. If she went so low as to touch the ground, her feet would not keep them up and she would collapse, further harming herself and her friend.

'I knew you couldn't protect anyone else. You can't even protect yourself,' thought Jane, remembering his vow to take care of both of the girls. She shifted her passenger a little so he wouldn't slip.

Then Peter whispered, "Crow…"

"What?" questioned Jane.

"Crow. Crow loud," he forced out with much effort. He rested his chin on her shoulder and part of Jane felt happy to be this close to Peter, while the other realized that any move she made was putting him in even more pain. She stopped in mid-air for a moment and cleared her throat.

Deep breath and crow.

It came out more like a sick, retarded chicken than a proud rooster. Peter grinned against her shoulder in amusement because of how pitiful her first attempt had come out.

"Give me a break. It's been a long time since I crowed," defended Jane and she took another breath. This time, she was determined to crow so loud that all of Neverland could hear her. And that was damn near what it turned out to be. She stood a little straighter despite her heavy load and smiled proudly as she heard a faint echo.

The wind blew and rustled leaves on the ground and in the trees. The branches swayed, the clouds raced across the sky, and even the crickets got louder. It seemed as if everything around her was in motion. Her head would jerk in the direction of a strange sound and then to another in the other direction. Soon, she was spinning in a dizzy circle trying to keep an eye on everything. All of a sudden, something grabbed her from behind and was running and the weight of Peter was lifted off of her back. She panicked.

"Don't! Leave him alone!" she yelled and groped around in the dark to find the capturer. A brown and red blur in front of her cleared and became an Indian. The ruddy faced Indian glared at her angrily and slowly pulled out a small dagger from a leather sheath. It glinted in a very unfriendly way as the moonlight reflected off it. Trembling, Jane forced out, "What are you doing?"

Her mouth was agape and her whole body was frozen with fear. Even hey eyes refused to blink as she stared at the Indian. Cold, hard, dark eyes stared back with a fiery intensity that would have intimidated her… if they had belonged to a man. But crouching before her was a young girl. She couldn't have been older than 12, but Jane had a feeling that even though the girl didn't look it, she was someone to be feared.

They sat there for a moment or two in dead silence. The Indian girl knew no English and her captive was afraid to even bat an eyelash. The Indian eventually replaced the dagger in the leather carrying case and Jane felt much more at ease. She grabbed Jane by the arm and forced her up to her feet. Of course, Jane fell back and landed with a deep 'thud' on her butt with a yelp.

"OW! My feet!" cried the older girl as she rubbed her read, which was in pain as well. The Indian looked at her strangely and then bent down to examine the blister-covered soles with care. Jane looked up hopefully as if to ask for ideas on how to fix it. The Indian's face remained blank as she held out her arms once more.

"I can't get up and walk," responded Jane, shaking her head. The Indian outstretched her arms further and beckoned the other to come closer. She complied and waddled over on her knees. The native girl then swept Jane up and started running with her bridal style. Thick, black braids wrapped with thin leather cords kept smacking Jane in the face every once in a while and it was definitely not a smooth ride but she was grateful none the less. They just kept hoping they would soon reach their destination.

!&!&!&!&!&!&!&!&!&!&!&!&!&!&!&!&!

This was IT! Lilly had been stuck in the secret hideout for what felt like an entire night! The nearly full moon was hanging high in the sky and was her only source of illumination as she emerged from behind the foliage in front of the hidden door. Bravely stepping into the shadows of the forest, Lilly ventured on to find her sister. The first few steps were slow and hesitant but the further she went, the faster her footsteps crunched through the bed of leaves. Her confidence was shatter, though, by a loud howl of some sort. It made her stomach nearly flip and then restrained her from moving. Terror streaked through her as she refused to go on, but now that she had journeyed this far, there was no sense in going back. Besides, what if Jane was still lost and in danger somewhere in the woods? That thought carried her a little farther until she heard a disturbance in the woods. Something was moving and moving quickly. Instinctively, she started running. Her short legs could not carry her far, however, and she was soon just barely jogging and then that reduced to walking until she was simply trudging along. Then, a faint smell of smoke filled her nose. Was something burning? It didn't seem like the kind of smoke from some out-of-control fire, but more like a campfire. She continued a little curiously and then heard voices. They were muffled and unfamiliar but Lilly didn't care. The signs of civilization were near and she rushed toward the sounds of voices with hopes that they could help her find Peter and Jane. Out of nowhere, a large tan object appeared. Of course, Lilly didn't realize it had appeared until she ran smack into it. It bounced her right back and she took a moment to try to figure out what had just hit her. She came closer to it and touched it experimentally. It was soft. She poked it lightly and it was taught like stretched material. Circling it to find an entrance, she came upon a raccoon-skin door with a sign displayed on it. In messy scrawl, it read:

"Merf Smerf: Director of Guns, Weapons, Demolition, Ammunition, and Anything Else that Pokes or Goes Boom"

Lilly cocked her head to one side as she read it.

"That's a funny name," she thought with a giggle. From inside someone was talking. A boy was talking. Carefully, she pulled back the raccoon skins and peeked inside. There was someone rummaging around in a sack and mumbling something to himself. All around there were boxes and bags and weapons littered upon the floor. The boy's head popped up out of the sack and pulled out a small, brown pistol. He played around with it a little and then turned around with it still in hand. He looked up and saw Lily peering in and fired the gun in alarm. Lilly screamed and squeezed her eyes shut and all was silent for a moment. With her eyes still shut, Lilly wondered to herself, "Have I been shot?"

She opened one eye to look around and the boy was still standing there and staring at Lilly with surprise evident in his face. The gun had smoke rising from the end and the boy blew it away and put the gun down on one of the large wooden boxes in the room. He was breathing deeply like he was out of breath.

"You scared me! Don't do that!" he spoke, a slight English accent mixed in with a much more common, sloppy pronunciation. His hair was a light brown and was tied back in a short ponytail. The front hung in front of his eyes and he would constantly sweep them away just for them to fall back into place again.

"Um… Hello," Lilly greeted as she stepped into the room. "I'm Lilly Parker. Who are you?"

"Didn't you read the sign? Smerf is the name. Call me Merf and I'll blow you up," he replied and stuck out a dirty hand. Lilly, a bit taken back at his last statement, looked at it for a second and then shook it cheerfully. He must have been at least a few inches taller than she.

"Nice to meet you Smerf! What is all this?" she motioned toward the clutter in the room.

"Oh, this? Guns, swords, powder, and some bombs. The basics, you know."

"Oh." She nodded as if she understood and agreed.

"What brings you here? Looking for some weaponry?"

"Well, not exactly. I was looking for my sister. She and I got separated and she's been missing for hours. I was worried about her."

"You probably won't find her here. This is the Indian camp. New people aren't usually very welcomed."

"Well, she might not have been by herself, you see. Peter was looking for her-"

"Peter Pan?" Smerf double-checked.

"Yes," said Lilly.

"Then I suppose you're about the luckiest girl in the world. Tiger Lilly and some others just found Peter and someone else. They said he was hurt pretty bad. His companion was alright though. Maybe you should go and check it out," Smerf informed. A rush with joy, Lilly squealed and ran out the door. Pushing past most bushes and trees, she discovered a clearing. Teepees and Indians were scattered throughout it and a large fire was in the center. Just behind her, Smerf caught up and urged her to follow him.

!&!&!&!&!&!&!&!&!&!&!&!&!&!&!&!

A.N: Yes, it's been friggin' forever since I updated so I felt bad and finished this up. Merf Smerf is actually a character from pirate stories that all my friends write (we use all the same characters) and I must say thank you to Sarah Wimberley for she is the one who thought of the sign, not me. I give all the credit for that to her! I loved it so much I had to use it.

REVIEW! It helps me remember to keep writing.