Chapter 4: Sticks & Stones, Bells & Shells
The small company of Lost Boys led two of the four island prisoners to camp.
The pleas from Maimie, "Please, Slightly, please!" fell on deaf ears. The long-haired, blonde boy merely looked forward to where Felix awaited them. The also light-haired but overly tall boy with the long scar down his face stood imposingly before the tied up adults. His weapon of choice, the club, slung lazily over one shoulder. His brown, hooded cloak stretched out with his arms. It gave him the appearance being, somehow, bigger and taller than he already was.
When Felix smiled at George and Maimie, not one ounce of that smile could nor should have been interpreted as friendly.
"Well, well, well the star-crossed lovers have returned to Neverland." Felix said. "Now, where are the girls?"
Aside from a slight whimper from Maimie, the couple remained silent.
"Come on now, don't make this harder on yourselves. Pan already knows you have children and he already knows they're here. He knows what's happening on every piece of sand and soil on this island, remember?"
"If he can sense other visitors besides us, why bother asking? I don't see any girls besides Maimie." George said defiantly. Though he knew the truth behind Felix's words, and fear rushed into his face the boy put the spiked tip of his club just at his jugular vein.
"You grew a spine in the Land Without Magic, George, good for you."
His comment elicited a laugh from the surrounding Lost boys as he moved over to Maimie, who received a warning glance from George.
"How about you, Girl?" Felix used his old, unimaginative nickname for her. "Do you really want to test Pan's wrath?"
Maimie's eyes slid briefly from Felix to George and back again. She remained silent. After a long time of staring straight into the boy's eyes from her position, Maimie finally looked away at the ground-though she still didn't say a word.
Felix and the boys started laughing. "Growing up didn't do you any favors for brains. You're both just as stupid as the day you left Neverland for your happily ever after. No matter, our game is to find your offspring and bring them back to camp. Pan saved the game of dealing with you two for himself."
Brown eyes and blue eyes grew in terror at the thought of the fate that awaited them.
"Take them to their cages, until Pan is ready for them."
Maimie ended her silent treatment to scream protests as she and George were carried off. He joined the screams and futile struggle for freedom.
Even now, Felix only kept an even tone, "Are we ready for a hunt?" He asked the two or three boys that remained.
Jane walked for what seemed like miles of jungle. Quite small, THEY said. Nicely crammed THEY SAID. She thought to herself, Hardly space between one adventure and another-Bitch, Peter Jackson could take aerial shots the length of the entire The Lord of the Rings trilogy and still have unseen footage.
When she came to probably the thirtieth, similar-looking tree in the last hour, Jane decided it was high time to get high-in a more literal sense.
Climbing the tallest tree beside her, Jane thought aloud, "Thank God for yoga pants and my laziness to not wear anything else."
A pause when she got half-way up. "Forever 21 t-shirts can go fuck themselves." she added when her "SEXY" t-shirt became a cardigan that said "SEX" over her right boob and "Y" over her left. The only mercy was the black sports bra once underneath the white t-shirt.
Jane was no athlete like her sister Angela, but she managed to climb the tree well-enough. Although, by the time she got to the top, she was just breathless and delusional enough to inwardly admit something: Neverland was, actually, kind of pretty.
There were still miles of jungle before her. But she saw Pirate Cove from an aerial view now, and she admired their ability to pick the gorgeous white, sandy beach. There were several mountains for such a small island and half as many miniature islands surrounding the mainland. Yet Jane couldn't help but feel, even in the short scope of the island, there was so much more to it than it seemed.
She shook off the feeling, "It's just because the inner girly-girl in me is wondering where the fuck Mermaid Lagoon is. Heck, me and those vain bitches would get along swimmingly."
Jane simultaneously booed and patted herself on the back for that pun. Though a voice said aloud,
"You think you're the only one to make that joke?"
That voice did not come from Jane, either out loud or mentally. She nearly fell out of the tree looking for its source.
Looking a little bit down, Jane saw a blonde woman in rags dangling casually from a lower tree branch beside her. She was a young woman, but certainly far too old to be a kidnapped victim on the island. Though, more pressing was the fact that the woman held a very sharp-looking spear in one hand and a seashell in the other. She didn't even seem very interested in Jane, as if they were two people who happened to sit beside each other on the subway.
That didn't make Jane any less suspicious. Although, she felt that even without weapons she literally had the high ground.
"Who are you?" She asked, not attempting to hide her suspicion.
The woman looked up and gave a sympathetic smile, "Tinkerbell."
It took a minute while Jane's eyes widened in utter confusion. Looking the scraggly woman over, she couldn't help but let out a disbelieving chortle, "Really?"
Tink back up from what she was doing, suddenly looking more pissed off and offended rather than sweet and unassuming.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
Jane struggled for words. In her mind she went through quite a short dictionary of them: small, sparkly, jealous, killer of little girls, fearless flirt, lighting trick, or even just "huge bitch. I like her already." If Jane and every other little girl in the world wanted to be Wendy Darling, than "secretly" they were Tinkerbells. That is to say, overbearing on the guy they liked and resorting to psychologically damaging tactics on their crush's crush.
Finally, what she said was, "Listen, honey, you're not bad as is but… Seriously, who is your publicist?"
Tink didn't have time for more than a mildly confused expression before she heard something that Jane was too far up in the tree to catch. Placing the hollow part of a blue tipped, white conch shell to her lips. Tinkerbell appeared to be saying something into it.
All Jane heard however, was the loud sound of a pig snorting. And it was after a short moment of disbelief that Jane could comprehend that it was coming from Tinkerbell herself!
Some more snorting came about, this time from farther down on the ground. Looking between the branches, Jane saw one of the largest, russet-colored boars she had ever seen (on YouTube) in her entire life. The second it was in view, Tink had leapt from her perch, a spear in hand, and dropped down onto the boar in one fell swoop. There was a disgusting squish and a brief scream from the great, big pig before utter silence.
Slowly making her way down, Jane watched as Tink expertly removed the spear from the dead pig and began unlatching a disguised net from underneath to wrap around the dead animal. She stopped in her tracks when Jane was just one branch down from the jungle floor. Tink immediately raised her spear to Jane, eyeing her with suspicion even when the teenager raised her hands in surrender.
"Who are you? Why are you in Neverland?"
"Jane and, bitch, I wish I could tell ya!"
Unimpressed, Tink only pressed the spear closer towards Jane's chest till it came an inch away, "No one gets on or off this island without Pan wanting them here. Now I'll ask you again, Jane, why are you here?"
Jane sighed. Tinkerbell was, famously, Peter Pan's best friend. She also famously did not like having other girls on the island, competing for his attention. It occured to Jane that, if Pan really only was after her parents and she and Angela had just been a mistake, then maybe convincing the presumably jealous Tinkerbell of her desire to leave with her sister would be enough to get them back home and leave. Win-Win.
"I'm not supposed to be here-Hear me out!" She added suddenly when Tink's spear began poking her painfully. Tink drew it back a little to listen, "I only found out about this whole thing a few hours ago. More like yesterday. Pan had a deal with my parents, he just wanted my father, but me and my sister got caught in the cross-fire."
Tink's spear lowered just a little, "Whose your parents?"
"George and Maimie Mannering."
It lowered all the way now and Tink suddenly looked less threatening. Although she did visibly twitch in annoyance at the names of both Jane's mother and father. It was this little gesture that made Jane like Tinkerbell all the more.
"I remember them. I'm surprised Pan does, though, he never particularly cared for either of them. He must be bored and needs a good game to play."
Jane paused a moment, "So… What does that mean for me and my sister?"
Tinkerbell looked a little forlorn, "I don't know exactly. Maybe he'll let you go, maybe he won't. Either way, I don't think he'll mind me helping you get along for a bit."
Jane looked a little dumbfounded at the unexpected kindness, not even making a move to lower her raised hands as she stared at the pixie.
Tink, her hands gathering the ends of the netting around the boar, looked up at Jane with some annoyance. "If you wouldn't mind." She said with sarcasm clipping her words. It was enough to take Jane out of herself to nod and begin to help carry the day's catch.
Walking for a little while, Tinkerbell led Jane to a path. It looked extremely unkempt, with sticks and overgrown blades of grass nearly hiding the winding stone work that made it up.
"Where are we going exactly?"
"The Indian Village." Tink told her.
"You live with the Indians? I thought you lived with Peter Pan and the Lost Boys."
Tink gave her a funny look. Almost horrified, "You thought I was leading you to Pan's camp?"
Jane shrugged, "What do I care? I'm already on his island. I just figured the request to go home would be a lot more efficiently delivered to his face. Something tells me you don't exactly have wifi or phone towers here."
"Can you take this seriously for a moment?! I don't have to stick my neck out for you."
"I never asked you to, but I am appreciative." Jane sighed, "Fine, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to assume. But speaking of assumptions, will the Indians mind me crashing with you?"
"They can't mind more anymore, they're all dead. The camp is completely desolate since Pan punished them for not giving tribute. Now do you see why Pan is not to be trifled with?" Tink said the part pointedly to Jane's widened eyes.
In her mind, Jane thought, Well… THAT'S a thing… unable to even think up an appropriate response to finding out that Peter Pan was a genocidal maniac. All she got out verbally was a short affirmation that she understood. ALthough, unbeknownst to her, Jane still didn't know the half of it yet.
Satisfied well enough by the look of shock on the girl's face, Tink continued to lead her down the path. "Anyway, it's the safest place. The Lost Boys don't go there, think it's haunted. Only Pan is brave enough to go every now and then, when he gets bored."
"Then who are they?" Jane stopped dead in her tracks, point up ahead.
About a good three to five jumps beyond Jane and Tink was the desolate village. Not much of the interior could be seen from their angle, but Jane could see the stone fencing that had once outlined the territory but now was half smashed and half in decay without maintenance. The entrance was down to just two tall columns made from the same stone, perfectly aligned and parted to make way for a large precession entry into the village.
Just at the entry, however, were a small group of Lost Boys carrying clubs and spears crudely made from sticks and stones. Despite being pulled immediately behind a tree by Tinkerbell, Jane noticed the half-conscious body they carried much like her and Tink's catch.
It was Angela! Bound at the wrists and ankles, and clearly groggy after having been (presumably) knocked out by the boys.
Lucky for them, Jane thought, They probably had to know her out, otherwise she would've gone all Ninja on their sorry asses.
The tallest boy, with the running scar down his face appeared to be calling the shots, Jane observed. Aside from his mere height, he exuded more authority and the other boys seemed to be hanging on his silence. It made Jane wonder for a moment if this was Pan.
"Tie her up there boys." He said.
The boys only eyed the entrance of the village with unease. They didn't so much as shift from their spot.
"Now!"
With a jolt, and a great deal of reluctance, the boys pushed Angela over to the entrance and linked her tied wrists to one of the columns.
"But Felix, we shouldn't be here." A small boy said, trying very much to hide her nerves but his voice betraying him. One of the older boys stood beside him, placing a hand on his shoulder in an effort to comfort him. Although, he didn't look like he disagreed with the smaller boy in the the slightest.
"We won't be here long. Pan says the other girl is somewhere on this part of the island. We'll just tie this one up here, and wait for the other to show up. If she doesn't, we'll leave her for the wolves and see if she game stand a game of chase with them better than she did with us."
It was the snicker of laughter from some of the boys that made Jane's blood boil. She was just about to go running out there when Tink pulled her back, struggling to keep the girl from revealing them both.
The rustling did not go unnoticed by the Lost Boys. Felix gained an excitable smirk on his face, "Now what was that."
Tink froze, trying to minimize the noise they were making. Jane's eyes looked down at the seashell attached to Tink's belt, and she got an idea. Grasping the shell and pushing Tink off her, Jane climbed the tree they hid behind.
Then she shouted into the seashell, which in turn produced a booming voice.
"Ahoy there, laddies!" Jane paused, stopped to look down at a horrified Tink as if to say, That's what Hook sounds like? It wasn't bad, but like Tinkerbell, it wasn't what culture had primed Jane to expect from Neverland.
"Ah, Captain, back in Neverland I see?" Jane turned back to focus on Felix, who looked about him for the source of the voice. He did not look pleased.
Unfortunately for Jane's original plan, he didn't look frightened either.
She kept going with it, hoping to wing her way out of this, "Aye."
"Well, you'll find no warm welcomes here, Captain. And Pan doesn't let anyone off the island twice. You really squandered your favor with him."
"Well, I'm not here on behalf of my favor. In fact, I'm here to do a solid for you… Mate." jane awkwardly added the British slang in an attempt to sound authentic, though, she regretted it when the confusion spread over some of the boys' faces.
She covered the shell to clear her throat before continuing the ruse, "Set the girl free and no harm will come to you."
Felix and the boys laughed, this was not what Jane had in mind for this homage. "What makes you think you can give orders around here, Hook? This isn't your ship, Captain!"
"Trust me lad, it's for your own good that you do." Jane said, but felt herself beginning to sweat bullets at not having a backup plan for this. She thought the boys would tremble in fear of Hook, not make fun of him.
Felix shouted angrily, "You don't give orders, Hook! Now show yourself and fight if you want to help the girl so badly!"
Jane was silent, only hearing the pounding of her own heart in her her ears.
"What's the matter, Captain?! Too afraid of a boy?"
"Felix-"
"WHAT?!" He snapped at the little boy who spoke up.
The boy shrank into the older one beside him, but spoke up hesitantly. "I don't think it's Hook. I think it's a ghost."
"No it's not! Don't be stupid." Felix dismissed, holding his ground as he waited for Hook to come out from the bushes or something.
"Then where is he? Why can we hear him but not see him?"
"Nibs is right. Something's not right."
"He's just trying to scare you, now hold your ground!" Felix told them all.
"Are you really Captain Hook?" Nibs called out to the voice.
Jane considered, then stated-still in Hook's voice, "No."
The boys seemed to shudder, and little Nibs asked, "Are you a ghost?"
"Yes!"
"If you're not Hook, prove it!" Felix said.
Jane rolled her eyes at the lack of logic of the request, but decided she ought to change her voice. Morgan Freeman? No, no, hold back. Savor that one. Build to that. She briefly considered Tim Currey's voice, but decided she would probably end up laughing during that imitation and ruin the whole thing.
Then, an impish grin spread across her face when she made her decision: Possessed Raegan from The Exorcist.
Jane put the shell to her lips and let the deep, cracking voice spread throughout the jungle. "You'll get proof enough boys, if you don't run along now."
The Lost Boys gasped, crowding together with their weapons drawn. Looking around for the voice futilely. Jane smiled and had to hold back a small chuckle at their expense.
"Is that a threat, Spirit?" Felix asked.
"It's a promise, boy. There are things far worse in this forest than me. I've seen them. My people and I watch them from our village. Would you like to take a seat beside us and the girl?"
The Lost Boys looked slowly at the entrance to the village, seeing nothing but a now awaken and equally frightened Angela.
"What sorts of things?" The third boy, who was named James, called out.
"Things you won't live to tell about if you stay. Leave the girl to them and be gone. Better her than you, right?"
"Felix, let's just go! It's not worth it!"
"Don't you even think-"
Changing tactics on a whim, Jane put the shell to her lips again and screamed as loud as she could. But instead of a human voice, the jungle rang with the piercing roar of a dragon. Poor Nibs cried out in fear and the older boys weren't far behind him. Jane let out several more roars, each one louder than the last as she strained her voice to go louder and higher-translated into the shell.
It didn't take long for the Lost Boys to start running down the road and pushing Felix ahead of them, despite his protests. They had completely forgotten about Angela in the scuffle. They even ran so fast they didn't notice the netted boar hidden poorly among the tall grass at the base of the tree where Tink hid. But Jane just kept shouting and shouting into the shell until the boys were far out of sight. When she finally removed the seashell from her lips, she was laughing her tits off at the whole scene and the only screams to be heard were Angela's who struggled to get out of her binds.
Climbing down from the tree, Jane ran over to her big sister. "Ann! It's okay, it's okay!"
Angela looked disbelievingly at her, "Jane?"
She nodded proudly, grinning from ear to ear. While she helped Angela untie herself, Tinkerbell struggled over with the boar, looking extremely unhappy in opposition to Angela's relief and Jane's self-satisfied grin.
"Do you even realize how dangerous that was?! I TOLD YOU. You do not mess with Pan!"
"Technically, those were the Lost Boys and not Pan himself, so technically I'm off the hook." Jane chortled at the accidental pun, "So to speak. Anyways, what was your plan to get past the boys and into the village?"
Tinkerbell stood silent but defiantly stared at Jane. She didn't know why she was even bothering to help this girl with a death wish. Perhaps it was a little bit of her old fairy self that made her want to. Either way, Jane was on thin ice. Angela, on the other hand, seemed like she was innocent enough and Tink didn't necessarily want to reprimand someone for trying to save their family.
Instead she told the girls, "If you're going to follow me, then stay out of Pan's way. Otherwise, I'll be the one paying the price right along with you."
Angela nodded dutifully while Jane surreptitiously ignored that request under the guise of introductions.
"Angela, Tinkerbell. Tinkerbell, Angela."
Although sharing the same bit of disbelief that Jane had when seeing Tink for the first time, Angela politely shook the fairy's hand with the tiniest of smiles.
"Hello."
Tink nodded back, "Hello; Now come on, let's get inside before they come back."
Over at the camp, the Lost Boys who remained behind from Felix's game of hunt were busy half-tending to lighting a fire and half playing a deadly game of dice. Every time you rolled, the number on the dice was the number of knives thrown at you by your opponent. They were currently in an advanced version, where the thrower had to focus just on one extremity-like a hand or a foot, instead of the whole body.
Soon though, Felix and the rest of the Lost Boys came trailing back, with the former having a particularly frustrated look on his face. When they were within the camp's boundaries, he pushed one of the Lost Boys towards the half-done bonfire. The boy's cloak went alight and he had to roll around to put it out. The poor child's face flushed with fear.
"They are just two girls!" Felix shouted, "And you let me go! They haven't been on this island one day, we had one, and now you lost both!"
"Don't blame us, Felix, every Lost Boy knows not to go by the Indian Encampment!" Tootles yelled back.
Felix swung his club at the boy who countered with a spear. The boys fought for a bit until they heard the deadly silence surrounding them. Looking up, they saw Pan slowly descending from one of the trees. He had clearly been watching, and heard about their failed hunt.
"So what happened?" Pan asked, casually walking over to the base of a tree that was magically curled to look like a throne of sorts. "You boys know how much I like a good story."
The boys all looked at each other, except Felix who started his explanation.
"Someone got spooked by the dead Indian Village, and let the prisoner go."
"Only because of the dragon!" Little Nibs piped up.
Pan looked at the small boy with a raised eyebrow and a grin. "There's a dragon in Neverland, now?" He asked, very amused but knowing something was off about the news. "Where is this dragon?"
Nibs came forward, his brother Tootles unable to hold him back from telling Pan all that had happened. The young boy told him about the spirit that mimicked Captain Hook, then warned them about the dragon right before it tried to eat them. All the while, Peter looked more entertained by the second.
When the story concluded, the older boys (again, with the exception of Felix) were shaking in terror while Pan's incredulous grin remained on his face.
He stood up from his throne and paced around the clump of Lost Boys. "So you went dragon hunting today? Barely escaped with your lives?"
"Yes Peter." Nibs said, joined by two other boys who hoped it would ebb away the fact that they lost a game in this round of hunting. Losers had to pay a price.
Again, Pan raised an eyebrow. "Well then, where's my dragonhide?"
The boys all looked at each other, even Nibs was starting to catch on that Pan wasn't going to let them off that easily.
"If you fought a dragon, why isn't it dead and it's head brought to me as your prize?"
"We weren't prepared for a dragon, we were playing "Hunt". We'll be ready next time." Devin told him, the other boys nodding in agreement.
Pan went straight up to the shorter, brunette boy and stared him down. He wasn't smiling anymore and Devin swallowed hard.
"You had better. Because if I find out there is not a dragon on this island, and that you boys lied to me to escape the penalty for losing a game." Pan let the threat hang in the air for a moment, his satisfied grin returning at the look of terror on their faces. "Well, I suppose you'll just have to slay that dragon not to find out, won't you?"
The Lost Boys were frozen in terror.
"Get to work on your weapons. You all go dragon-hunting tomorrow."
With that, the boys all fled, leaving Felix behind to speak with Peter. He smirked at his leader, "What do you have planned for them when they can't find the dragon?"
"Don't spoil my fun Felix. Won't be anything too bad, probably a finger or a toe or both. But they won't learn their lesson if they're allowed to think about the consequences first. I'd rather surprise them, let them think up the worst kind of punishment, and then not give them any time to think before I start carving." Pan patted Felix on the shoulder, "Don't worry Felix, you didn't lie to me. You're excused from such a punishment. All you have to do is continue the game."
"What do you plan to do with the girls when you have them?"
Pan shrugged, "I don't know. I'm still thinking of what to do with their parents. Honestly, they're already such cowards at my mercy it's hard to get any fun out of it. But I'll find a way. Then I'll be well prepared when I have the whole set."