A soft midday breeze rustled Home Tree's leaves. Wendy was sitting on a log near the tree's base, sewing the hem of a dress. Peter, Michael, and the Lost Boys had all gone swimming about an hour ago, giving Wendy plenty of time to clean the house. Wendy quietly hummed a few bars of a lullaby as she pushed the needle up and down, timing her stitches to the beat.
Suddenly, a Neverbird's cry echoed through the trees, startling her. She dropped her sewing as she searched for the cause of the cry. The needle slid off the thread and landed in the dirt. There didn't seem to be anything wrong. Wendy sighed and turned her attention back to her sewing, and, finding the needle was gone, put the dress aside. She knelt down at the base of the log, hunting for the thin piece of metal.
She found it just as familiar laughter peeled through the path leading to Home Tree, following by the sound of footsteps. Peter and the Lost Boys ran up the path, wet hair flying back.
"You should have seen his face!" Slick cried, wiping his muddy hands on his shirt.
"Priceless! So priceless!" Friendly agreed.
"I was like 'Boo' and he was all 'Don't hurt me please'!" Slick said with exaggerated voices.
"And then he was running around asking who that scary creature was."
"And then you said..."
"That's just the baby!" Slick and Friendly cried in unison.
Peter said, "Please, you two, calm down," but his request was useless. The Lost Boys kept talking about their trick, pushing and shoving each other playfully.
Just then, Michael ran up to the others and whined, "That wasn't nice, what you did."
Wendy turned around to see everybody coming into view. Michael ran over to his sister and hugged her.
He stated, "Wendy, Slick played a nasty trick on me. He said he was going to go back to Home Tree and take a nap, but he really went to cover his face with mud and clay and that red paint stuff the redskins use. He hid in the bushes, and when we were coming back here, he jumped out and scared me and everyone laughed at me!"
Wendy put her hand on Michael's shoulder. "I'll fix it," she said calmly.
She stood up and walked over to Peter and the Lost Boys. She put her hands on her hips and looked straight at Slick with the eyes only mothers can make, the ones that let you know something very bad will happen to you. Slick made eye contact with Wendy and shuddered. His eyes darted to the ground.
Wendy asked sternly, "Slick, did you play a trick on Michael?
"It wasn't a trick, really, Mother, more like a little prank, just a joke..." Slick replied.
Friendly looked up at the sky and wandered over to Michael. She sat down next to him and watched as Wendy stared at Slick, who was still making up excuses. There was something strangely powerful about Wendy when she stood like that. It was somewhat like Peter's commanding tone, but with a wondrous twist that made it unique. It had both a stern foreboding overtone and faint touches of hope...
Eventually, Wendy's stare became too much for Slick, and he apologized quietly. Wendy nodded approvingly. She guided Slick over to the other children so she could talk to Peter. Friendly taunted Slick about getting caught while Wendy and Peter's talked.
"Is it okay with you if I start giving Friendly her special lessons?" Wendy asked, fiddling with her dress.
Peter's eyebrows furrowed. "You really don't have to do that. He is fine just how he is."
Wendy looked Peter right in the eyes and said, "Friendly's going to find out sometime. When 'he' does, it's going to be incredibly awkward. There are different roles Friendly will play that nobody else can. It will be easier on everyone if 'he' is what 'he' was meant to be."
Peter sighed. "All right, you can try. Just try it for a day or two."
Peter walked over to the Michael and the Lost Boys with a cheerful glint in his eyes. Slick saw that glint and leapt up, knowing it meant adventure. Michael and Friendly soon followed.
"What are we doing now, Peter?" Slick asked.
Peter paused for a second before replying, "Well, I was just discussing that with your mother. You know how last night we decided we would be a family? Today, being a family begins. The boys can come with me to hunt."
Friendly and the boys grinned at the very idea of a hunt. They ran over to Home Tree and eagerly scrambled up it, bumping into each other and stepping on each others' fingers. Wild chattering could be heard from the ground as the three children grabbed their weapons. They ran back down the tree just as quickly as they had gone up, skipping the last few branches. Then they took deep breaths, trying to appear calm as they strode over to Peter. Each child had a unique weapon. Slick had a bow, Michael had a billy club, and Friendly had a knife. (Peter's dagger was in his belt, as usual.) The children gripped their weapons tightly.
Peter asked, "Are we ready to go, children?"
"I'm ready to go hunting, Father," Michael said. "Are you ready to go hunting, Slick?"
"I am ready to go! Are you ready to go, Friendly?"
"I am ready! Let's go right now!"
Wendy had quietly walked over behind Friendly while the boys were talking. Now, she put her hand on Friendly's shoulder.
"Actually..." Wendy said, "Friendly, if you don't mind, I'd like you to stay behind."
"But Mother Wendy, I didn't do anything wrong!"
"You aren't in trouble. There's something special I'd like you to do. Nobody else can do it, and I certainly can't manage it on my own. Can you please help me?"
"Well..."
Friendly looked around. Her eyes first met the eager ones of Slick and Michael, glimmering with the excitement of a new adventure. She looked back at Wendy's strangely comforting blue eyes. Friendly's hand went up to her collar as she looked from the boys to the lady. She tried to weigh the pros and cons of each side. Normally, the adventure would have won out easily, but those sky blue eyes pulled the metaphorical scale down so it balanced perfectly.
Friendly sighed. She looked over to Peter, hoping he could give her an answer. Peter just looked away, almost indifferently. Friendly kept her eyes on him. His eyes said something was wrong, but she couldn't think of what.
"I..." Friendly stuttered, "I'll... ah... I can go hunting when we're done, right?"
Wendy replied, "Certainly!"
Friendly took a deep breath and made her final decision.
"I am going with Mother," she announced, thrusting her knife into a nearby tree.
Wendy smiled and thanked Friendly. Peter took his dagger out of his belt and lead the two boys off into the woods. Friendly watched them go as another strange feeling began to form. Wendy picked up the dress she had been sewing. She held it up for Friendly to see.
Wendy asked, "Friendly, what do you think of this dress?"
Friendly examined it closely, and as she did so, the strange feeling vanished. The dress was similar to what Wendy was wearing. The main portion of the dress was made up of broad leaves taken from nearby trees. The shoulders were made of smaller leaves, creating an eyelet-style of fabric. The shoulder seams had little blue flowers in between the neckline was finished, while the hem was not.
"I think it would look absolutely lovely on you, Mother!"
"You think so?" Wendy giggled. "Because, this dress isn't for me. This is for you."
"Really?"
"Yes. This is why I needed you here. I wanted you to try it on."
Friendly took the dress from Wendy. She held it up against herself, looked down through the neck, then flipped it upside down and fiddled with it. Wendy took the hint and held it out for Friendly. Friendly slid it on.
"It's a little tight," Friendly mused.
Wendy replied, "Of course it is. You've still got your other clothes on underneath it. If you didn't it would fit better. But how does it feel otherwise?"
Friendly looked down at herself. She spun around and watched as the skirt swung around her legs. Her face broke out into a grin.
"It's wonderful! Thank you, Mother!"
Author's Notes: Is it too late to say Happy New Year? I'm going to do it anyway. Happy New Year, everybody!
I know it's been a while since I last updated this. Nerdigirl and I were both busy over the holidays. I can say that chapter 9 of The Lost Girl is about 50% complete. I want to get it up in the next month, but that may not happen.
Some of you might have noticed a change in the last chapter. The last few lines of the chapter have been removed. It seems there was an accident where I forgot to mark a "fill in later" zone. My beta didn't notice, and I wanted to get the chapter up quickly. My point is, I took that part out and turned it into this chapter.
I hope you all like it. See you soon!