Chapter 5
Tink's Revenge
"You're a lot more fun than they were."
Tinker Bell was livid. No, she was more than livid. She was burning with pure and intense fury.
After a moment to cool down her anger, Tink flew down to Neverland to join Peter in the fun. But when she arrived, what she encountered was not Peter, or that ugly girl he had brought along from London, but a destroyed pirate fort; all the huts were populated by holes, the ground was infested with coconuts, and the pirates were groaning in pain and retrieving each other. She also saw Smee calmly escorting a furious Captain Hook to his cabin.
Tinker Bell was speechless and hurt. Peter already started the fun without her! And at once, she began to get annoyed. Peter was in all that excitement with that . . . jacka*s instead of herself!
With tightened fists and gnashing irritably, Tink zoomed off in search of the two. She had just found them when she heard Peter say those words, his charming eyes on . . . that girl!
Tink hid behind the leaves, spying on them. She watched them stare at each other and that girl turned away, her cheeks bright, rosy red.
It wasn't until that girl kissed Peter on his cheek that had drove Tink into insane rage. Her eyes saw nothing but fiery red; her mind filled with visions of that cow getting tortured to death, her screams in terrible pain reaching to her anticipating ears.
Her whole skin body altered into burning red (she completely burned the leaves she was hiding behind). It was so clear on her mind: Tinker Bell wanted Margaret dead.
"Uh, so," Peter started, standing up and offering that girl her hand. "You wanna see Hangman Jr.'s Tree, before we start the tour around Neverland?"
"Hangman Jr.'s Tree," Margaret asked curiously as she took Peter's hand, having him pull him up. Tink's eyes narrowed dangerously on their intertwined hands. Margaret too noticed their hands together and quickly pulled her hands behind her back, blushing madly. Peter, though, took no notice of this.
"Our new hideout, Hangman Jr.'s Tree! After Hook blew up the first one, me and the Lost Boys built a new one and christen it, Hangman Jr.'s Tree!"
"Oh," that ugly girl said, understandably. "I'd love to see it! How bout you, Little?" she turned to her small puppy.
The puppy started huffing happily, its slimy tongue dangling out of its mouth, as it nodded cheerfully. Tink swore she heard the puppy saying, "Yeah, yeah, yeah," under all that puffing.
"Great," Peter said, jumping up into the air. "Let's go!"
The girl nodded as both she and her puppy jumped up and followed him up to the sky.
Tink turned away, her eyes tightly closed to prevent tears of hurt and anger from falling. Peter didn't even see that she was gone. Decided to spend more time on that fat cow!
"Little, no!"
Tink looked back to find the puppy soaring down from the sky. A squirrel, who was busy collecting nuts, shrieked at the sight of a flying puppy who was heading straight for itself. The squirrel dropped its nuts and quickly jumped onto another tree branch, just in time for the puppy to miss its target.
The squirrel wiped its forehead in relief. But it froze when the puppy barked at the sight of the squirrel and charged after it in midair. Screaming again, the squirrel scurried as fast as it could, jumping from branch to branch. But no matter how fast it went or which directions the squirrel took (such as around the tree several times), the puppy was still hot on the squirrel's trail, even surprising it by going to other directions and ending up in front of the squirrel, causing the squirrel to scream again.
Tink watched on, giggling. It wasn't until she saw Margaret appearing that now turned Tink's smile completely upside down.
"Little," the girl called after her puppy, who didn't hear her and continued barking and chasing after the squirrel. "Little, come back! Little, stop!"
She flew after her puppy as the puppy flew after the scared squirrel. They all chased around the forest. The squirrel hopped from one tree branch to another, attempting to hide under leaves, only for them to be blown away by wind or by the puppy blowing it away. The puppy zoomed around the trees, its beady eyes set focused on the small squirrel. Margaret flew after her puppy, attempting to block and catch it, but her puppy was too fast for her.
Tink couldn't help, but laugh at the event before her; especially after spotting all their expressions on their faces: the squirrel's dreadful fear, the puppy's playful determination, and the girl's desperate frustration.
Soon, the squirrel jumped into a small hole in the tree. The puppy, instead of stopping, crashed head first inside the hole. But the hole wasn't big enough for it to enter inside like the squirrel. Instead, its' sides got caught and got stuck, its' front side inside and its back side sticking outside. Its' barking were muffled as the puppy moved its paws everywhere, scratching against the tree under its paws. That made Tink giggles harder.
"Oh, Little," the girl shook her head. "How many times do I have to tell you to stop chasing those squirrels?" She gripped her hands on her puppy and pulled, only to find out that her puppy was very stuck. She groaned before she lifted her feet onto the tree and pushed against it, tugging her puppy.
"I mean," she continued, tugging her puppy after every few words. "The last time . . . you chased a squirrel . . . you knocked bird eggs . . . on an old lady . . . and mum . . . had to . . . scold me . . . for your own action . . . I know . . . how much fun . . . it is . . . but," she started pulling even harder after making no success so far. "They always . . . lead you . . . to . . . TROUBLE!"
After that last word, Margaret finally heaved her puppy out of the hole. The puppy somersaulted a little and scrunched its face up, as if to fix its broken face.
The squirrel, the puppy had chased earlier, popped out of the hole and, raising its tiny fist, chattered angrily at the puppy.
The puppy, as if insulted, barked suddenly and started after the squirrel again, scaring the squirrel back into the hole. But the girl was quick enough to grab her puppy, holding it tight against her chest as her puppy moved wildly and barking madly.
"No, Little," the girl said sternly to her puppy. "You can chase as many squirrels as you like later! Right now, we need to follow Peter to his hideout!"
With that, the girl flew up to the sky, carrying her puppy along the way, who remained unchanged.
Tink stayed where she was, watching that cow enviously. She saw that girl stop a few feet above the roof of the forest. The girl was suddenly looking everywhere with a worried look.
"Peter," the girl shouted as her eyes searched the whole forest. "Peter!"
Curious, Tink flew up until only her head and neck was visable above the forest. She was careful enough to stay unseen.
"Great," Tink could almost hear what that girl was saying to her puppy, though it sounded like it was meant more to herself. "We lost our tour guide! Now how will we find him?"
An idea flashed inside Tink's mind. A brilliant idea that will get rid of that ugly girl permanently. So brilliant that an evil grin slowly stretched over Tink's face. She envisioned the whole plan in her mind and loved every action that must and will happen. The whole thing must work!
Covering her evil grin with a fake friendly one, Tink casually flew up to the girl as if any normal day. Tink flew up in front of the girl's face so Tink can be seen
"Tinker Bell!" The girl beamed at the sight of Tink. Her puppy barked at the fairy, as if to greet her. "There you are! Where have you been; you missed all the fun!"
Tink resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Then, Tink headed straight for her plan.
*That doesn't matter*, Tink chimed to the girl. *But I do know where Peter went! All you have to do is follow me.*
Instead of an eager and excited twinkle from the girl's eyes, as Tink would have expected, she saw the girl frown in a strange look.
"Uh, Tinker Bell," the girl said slowly. "I don't know if you know this or not, but . . . I don't understand a single word you just said."
Tink slapped her face, stupidly, and slowly wiped it off harshly. Why didn't she remember that only Peter could understand her; not this girl! Great, Tink thought to herself. Now how's this going to work?
"Tinker Bell," the girl interrupted Tink's thoughts. "Did you, by chance, see where Peter flew off to?"
Tink looked up in surprise. Well, that was easy. Tink nodded, her smile growing.
"Really," the girl asked.
Tink nodded again.
"Where; show me!"
Tink's heart fluttered with joy that her plan was working quicker than expected. Tink waved her hand to signal the girl to follow her, then zoomed off across the forest. She looked back to see that stupid girl following her. Tink's sly grin appeared as she continued on, her mind filled with same images of the girl's sheer death.
At last, Tink landed on the foot of a one of the Never Peaks. It stood high up into the Never sky and stood alone, surrounded by a sea of grassy clearing. And surrounding the clearing was the Never forest.
Tink studied the Never Peak quickly and grinned devilishly, rubbing her hands together cunningly. This was going to be the most perfect plan she ever had.
Tink turned to the sky and screamed her chiming voice to grab the clueless girl's attention. She soon heard the approaching barking noise as the girl appeared and landed in front of Tink on the ground, still gripping on her puppy to prevent it from flying away.
The girl looked around. "Where's Peter?"
Tink held out her hands, palm forward, as if to slow her down. Tink pointed to the stupid girl and brought her pointed finger to the ground, where the girl was standing now. Then, she pointed to herself and then up to the sky.
The girl stared at Tink as she released the puppy from her grip. "So," she said slowly, raising her finger to point to Tink. "You want," she points to herself. "Me . . . to," her finger moved to where she was standing. "Stay here . . . while," she pointed back at Tink again. "You go," she pointed upward. "Up there?"
Tink nodded. The girl thought for a moment. "You'll find Peter and bring him here?"
Tink nodded again, only harder to make her statement clearer. Tink felt excited. The girl finally got it. Maybe she's not as stupid as she looked.
But the girl looked both puzzled and suspicious. "Couldn't we go find him together?"
Tink quickly shook her head, waving her arms as if cutting a tree.
The puppy was now occupying itself by playing with a butterfly, oblivious to the two others in conversation.
The girl looked doubtful, which worried Tink. What if the girl finds out her plan? What if she doesn't stay? What if Tink's plan fails?
"Are you sure?"
Tink nodded.
The girl sighed. "Alright," the girl finally said, her doubt slowly diminishing. "We'll wait here. I trust you in find him for us. I have complete faith in you."
That proclamation brought a slight stab of guilt in Tink's heart, but it quickly went away; overpowered by her jealousy.
Tink nodded once again to the girl before shooting up into the sky. She stopped at the top of Never Peak to look back down. She could see that stupid girl watching Tink for a moment before sitting down on the foot of Never Peak, watching her puppy playing with a butterfly.
Seeing that the dumb girl wasn't looking anymore, Tink flew toward the Peak and searched around it. It had to be there. She and Peter were planning on using it when they got back from London. Obviously, that won't be happening.
At last, Tink found exactly what she was looking for: a giant boulder with a carved 'P+T' on the very top. Tink remembered how Peter himself carved those letters with his sharp dagger, claiming the boulder as their own. She had been touched by this action and that gave her reasons to love him even more
But best of all, the boulder was sitting on a cliff that was high over the oblivious girl!
This plan was perfect!
Tink flew to the backside of the boulder and pushed against it with all her might over the cliff. However, the boulder remained the same. Tink tried again and again, each time harder than before, but nothing changed.
Tink groaned in frustration. How's this going to work now?
She raced down to the forest unseen and returned with a long, thick stick. She struck it under the boulder and pushed the other end of the stick down as hard as she could.
Her plan has got to work! There was no way Tink was going to let that ugly cow live any longer with her Peter!
**
"What's taking her so long?" Margaret wondered aloud.
About three or four minutes had passed and Tinker Bell has not yet returned with Peter. Margaret didn't think it would take the fairy this long to find Peter. Though Neverland is a pretty big place to find anyone. So, she decided to give Tinker Bell more time.
While she continued to watch Little play with a butterfly, jumping after it, Margaret thought about the famous Tinker Bell. She had learned so much of the fairy from all of her grandmum's and mum's stories. And, with all that knowledge, Margaret would sleep and dream of Tinker Bell and herself, flying together across the Never sky and just having fun, as good friends should. Margaret knew that Tinker Bell can get very angry at point (mostly toward girls), but Margaret believed that Tinker Bell does have a soft spot that she will only show to Peter. And, maybe by showing kindness and trust to the fairy (especially now), Margaret could gain that friendship with Tinker Bell, like she had always dreamed of as a little girl.
Margaret felt a nudge from her leg and she looked down to see Little staring at her. Apparently, Little had finished playing with the butterfly and has now come over to her owner.
Margaret smiled at her puppy and gently petted Little, smoothing Little's soft fur from head to tail. Little closed her eyes in relaxation as she snuggled closer to Margaret.
"Little," Margaret broke the silence. Little looked up at her. "Do you think Tinker Bell and I will ever be good friends?"
Little didn't respond.
"I mean," Margaret continued. "I know she wasn't much of a good friend to mum or grandmum. But Tinker Bell did become good acquaintances with them . . . eventually." She paused in thought. "Do you think she even LIKES me? Well, of course she does. Why else would she fetch Peter for us?"
Before Little answered, she suddenly stilled. Her right, floppy ear rose, hearing a sound from a far off distance.
Margaret looked questionably at Little, until she heard a sharp, stick crack. Her head shot up and searched everywhere. Where did that noise come from?
Little loudly sniffed a few times toward the forest and suddenly growled at it.
"Little?" Margaret spoke, but Little was slowly crawling toward the forest, as if she could see right through it to see the intruder.
Margaret stood up, looking up at the forest and down at Little, who stopped about five feet from the forest line.
All of a sudden, a spear shot out from a bush and soared toward Little.
Little!" Margaret shouted. Little jumped out of the way just in time for the spear to strike down on the ground. If Little hadn't moved, she would have been stabbed.
Margaret ran to Little and fell to her knees before her shaking puppy. "Are you alright, Little?"
As if to answer, Little whimpered in fear and buried herself under Margaret's night robe.
Margaret petted Little to comfort her until Margaret stopped when her eyes caught sight of the spear. That spear almost killed her puppy! No one ever harms her puppy! Not Bobby, not any of those V Gang croons, not anyone!
Furious beyond words, Margaret stood up, plucked the spear forcefully from the ground, then turned to the forest. "Who threw this?" she demanded. "Show yourself!"
The forest was suspiciously silent. But Margaret could feel eyes and silent murmurs from the forest.
She stood back and held the spear in an attack mode, pointing the tip of the spear toward the forest. "I said, show yourself!"
Still silence.
"I'm warning you! Come out of there, or I'll strike!"
Margaret waited, watching the forest very carefully. Little was still shaking, her small head moving from Margaret to the forest.
Margaret's eyes suddenly caught a bush twinge and, as fast as lightning, she threw the spear toward it.
"YEEEEAAAAOOOOW!" a voice cried out from a boy who popped out of the bush. "OW, OW, OW!"
The boy ran out into the clearing and hopped in circles around Margaret and Little, who were both staring oddly at the boy.
The boy was short and was wearing, what looked like, a bunny costume. His two front teeth stuck out of his mouth and his bangs hung over his forehead.
What else, a spear was stuck on the boy's bottom, the same place he had his hands on.
The bunny-clothed boy stopped at last, rubbing his behind around the spear and muttering in pain.
Without anything else to think of this, Margaret grabbed the spear and plucked it off of the bunny-clothed boy. Right when the spear was removed, the boy let out a deep, relaxing moan, smoothly rubbing all over his behind (much to Margaret's discomfort).
"Um," Margaret said, not sure what to really say to this strange boy. The boy froze and slowly turned his head toward her. He smiled shyly and laughed timidly. Margaret returned the smile, until she caught a slight, crafty spark on his eyes.
All at once, the bunny-clothed boy jumped up and made a run for it. But Margaret was quick enough to catch his long bunny ears before he disappeared into the forest. She held him up high above ground.
The boy started fighting unsuccessfully to break free. "Lemme go, lemme go!" the boy cried. "When I get down frum 'ere, I'll slice ya like a melon! Just yu wait!"
Margaret just stared at the boy humorously. Little was jumping up after the boy, barking at him.
Margaret turned to the forest. "Alright, game over! Come out where I can see you! Or else he's gonna get it" She shook the boy and pointed the spear at him.
There was still silence in the forest. Then she had an idea. She pointed the spear at the forest.
"If you don't come out on the count of three, you're gonna get the same thing he got!" She shook the boy again, who flinched in remembrance.
"One," Margaret began.
Still nothing.
"Two!"
Again, nothing.
"Three-"
"STOOOP!" came a voice from a bush in the forest. Another boy popped out into the opening, waving his hands in surrender. He was taller than the bunny-clothed boy and he was instead dressed in a fox costume with pointed ears and a long, smooth tail lazily lying on the floor. His blond bangs stuck out over his forehead.
The fox-clothed boy paused for a moment to realize that he had been caught. "Aw, man!" the boy whined. "That's not fair! We wer so close!"
As he sulkily walked forward, more boys appeared from their hiding place, all wearing the same expression as the fox-clothed boy. There were five other boys, and that included the fox-clothed boy. They also wore animal costumes. There was a fat, bear-clothed boy who had light brown hair bangs sticking out over his forehead, two raccoons-clothed twin boys who were mirroring each other as they walked forward with their brown bags sticking out as well, and lastly, the smallest boy of the whole group wore a skunk costume.
As they gathered in front of her, Margaret studied each and every one of them as she released her hold on the bunny-clothed boy, having a strange feeling that she knew all of those boys as if they were her dear cousins.
"Thanks alot, Nibs," the fox-clothed boy scolded at the bunny-clothed boy. "Ya had ta make us reveal our position!"
"It's not my fawlt!" the bunny-clothed boy complained, fixing his long, fake ears. "She stuck my spear stwaigh' at my butt!"
"Can we go eat, now," the bear-clothed boy moaned. "You said we cou' eat afta huntan!"
"Hunteeng, hunteeng!" the twin raccoon-clothed boys chanted.
The skunk-clothed boy jumped up and down and clapped his hands, as if joining the chanting.
"We can't eat until we caught something!" the fox-clothed boy bellowed sternly, facing and silencing the group. He turned back to the bunny-clothed boy. "But Nibs here missed his shot and now got us in trouble!"
"It's not my fawlt!"
"It is so!"
"I'm hungry!"
"Is not!"
"Hunteeng, hunteeng!"
"Is too!"
"Hunteeng, huntee-"
"QUIET!" Margaret screamed. All the boys immediately silenced, finally taking notice on her presence.
"Are you all the Lost Boys?" Margaret finally asked the question she had wanted to ask since she first saw them.
The boys looked at each other, surprised from her question.
The fox-clothed boy turned suspicious. "What makes ya think we are?" his eyebrows narrowed challengingly.
"Well, are you?"
"Yep!" the bear-clothed boy instantly said without thinking. "We sure are-"
The fox-clothed boy jabbed his elbow at the bear-clothed boy's chubby stomach, staring angrily at him. "Ow," the bear-clothed boy yelped and rubbed his stomach.
"So what if we are the Lost Boys," the fox-clothed boy said to Margaret. "Who are ya, anyway?"
"Oh, uh, I'm Margaret. And that," she pointed at Little, who was sniffing the skunk-clothed boy. The boy giggled when the puppy's nose touched him. "Is my puppy, Little. The one," she turned crossly at the bunny-clothed boy. "You tried to stab with your spear!" Margaret threw the spear at him, which landed on his feet. Uncomfortably, he slowly picked up his spear without a word.
"Hey," one of the raccoon-clothed twins interrupted. "Yu aren't from around here!"
"Are ya," the other raccoon-clothed boy finished the sentence.
"No," Margaret shook her head, grinning. "I'm from London. Peter brought me here."
At the word 'Peter', all of the boys lit up like Christmas morning.
"Wait da minute," the bear-clothed boy said, thinking. "Isn't that pwace where Wendy and Jane come from?"
"Yes, it is. In fact, I'm Jane's daughter and Wendy's granddaughter."
After hearing that, all the boys beamed even more. They mumbled excitedly amongst themselves, peeking one eye on Margaret.
"Well," the fox-clothed boy announced to Margaret. "Welcome to our home! Neverland, the best place in the whole universe! I'm-"
"Wait," Margaret interrupted. "Let me guess." She pointed at the fox-clothed boy. "You're . . . Slightly."
The fox-clothed boy, or Slightly, widen his eyes in surprise, proving to Margaret that she was correct.
She turned to the bunny-clothed boy, who found the ground more interesting than Margaret's pointed finger on him. "And . . . Nibs." The bunny-clothed boy, or Nibs, nodded shyly.
She turned her finger to the raccoon-clothed twin boys. "The Twins." Both twins nodded enthusiastically.
Next was the bear-clothed boy. "Cubby." In response, his stomach growled and he moaned, rubbing his stomach again.
Margaret laughed at this and then moved over to the last one. The skunk-clothed boy was now petting Little. Little rubbed her small head against him, causing the boy to giggle softly.
"And you," Margaret finished as she crouched down to the boy's height, grinning warmly at him. "Must be Tootles."
Tootles smiled at her before he stood up and, tipping a little, wrapped his tiny arms around her. She quickly got over her shock and hugged him back. Tootles released her and went back to Little, who licked him happily.
"Hey," Nibs spoke at last. "Whatcha doin' here, anyway?"
"Yeah," Slightly agreed. "And where's Peter?"
"I don't know," Margaret replied, standing up. "Little and I lost him a few minutes ago, and then Tinker Bell found us and volunteered to go look for Peter for us. She told us to wait here and said she'll be back soon."
"Wait," Slightly spoke. "You mean, Tink left ya here? Alone? On purpose?"
"Yeah," Margaret slowly answered.
The Lost Boys suddenly became very uncomfortable, all looking at everything but Margaret.
"What," Margaret asked uneasily. "What is it?"
The boys didn't answer.
"Come on, tell me."
"Well," Slightly rubbed his neck nervously. "It's just . . . the thing is . . . uh . . ." He looked at the others, silently begging them to say something. The other boys just looked away.
Margaret was losing her patient and, before she could shout at them to tell her what was wrong, she spotted Tootles' hands waving at her to grab her attention. When he did, he put his hands together, flapping them like a butterfly, only faster. Then, he pointed at Margaret and made a motion of slicing his throat.
Margaret was shaken by what she saw and the translation she could identify from it. "You think Tinker Bell wants me . . . dead?"
Margaret could see, not just Tootles, but each of the boys head somewhat nodding.
That can't be right, Margaret tried to convince herself. Tinker Bell wouldn't do that; she was just helping her. "What makes you all think that?"
"Wendy," Cubby muttered and, again, the Lost Boys nodded in agreement. Margaret didn't understand that, until her mind flashed back to her grandmum's stories, where the part of Tinker Bell attempting to use the Lost Boys to kill her grandmum was repeated in her head.
Margaret shook her head in disbelief. "No, that can't be it. Tinker Bell wouldn't do that to me. I didn't even make her angry!"
But then a tiny voice in her head warningly told her that perhaps what the Lost Boys said may have a point. Besides, it shouldn't take her that long to find Peter; Neverland wasn't that huge. Maybe she is busy making a plan to . . .
Margaret looked up to the sky, hoping to see a glow that would vanish her rising doubt of her. "At least," she muttered to herself. "I hope I didn't."
**
Tink screamed in frustration when her stick broke in half. The boulder didn't even move an inch.
She furiously threw the sticks away and kicked the boulder, only to clutch her foot in pain. She was running out of time and she had to get that boulder moving before it was too late!
She looked around the boulder's feet and hurriedly pulled out all of the smaller rocks that held the boulder in place.
Right when she was pulling out the last rock that was sitting between the boulder and the edge of the cliff, the boulder finally moved, but with a slower pace. Tink was startled, but quickly recovered, twirling around in total success. But it wasn't until she noticed the boulder leaning toward her that she panicked and flew out of the way just in time.
She watched as the boulder fell over the cliff and rolled down the peak. Tink quickly looked over to the foot of the peak to see that the idiot girl was still there.
Yes, her plan was working! Soon, the boulder will crush her flat like a dead leaf! And Tinker Bell will finally be rid of that girl and have Peter all to herself again.
She zoomed down to the forest and landed on a branch that had the perfect view for the killing of that airhead girl! With pure excitement filling her heart, and her mind dead set on that stupid girl getting hit by her boulder, Tink watched on, anticipating what is to come.
**
"So, you wan us to take ya to our hideout," Slightly asked, interrupting Margaret's deep thoughts.
"Mmm, what?" She snapped out of her trance, turning to Slightly.
"I said, you wanna come wit us to our hideout?"
"Peter might-" said the first twin.
"Be there-" the second twin said, joining the first one.
"Right now-"
"Waiting fo you!"
"Um," Margaret replied thoughtfully. "I think that would be a good idea. So, this hideout, it happens to be called, Hangman Jr.'s Tree, right-"
Suddenly, the ground began to faintly shake underneath her feet. She looked down. She saw dirt and a few small rocks vibrating. But it was also a faded, tumbling noise that bemused her more. She wasn't the only one to notice this, for the Lost Boys where either looking down at the shaking ground or looking around them in search for the source of the sound. Little started barking alertly.
"Uh, does Neverland have earthquakes here," Margaret asked, taking a chance from this situation. "Cause I don't remember anything about earthquakes in-"
She stopped when she noticed that the Lost Boys weren't paying attention to her, but what's behind her. Little's barking was now louder than ever before, which made Margaret a little frightened.
The rumbling had gotten louder and louder and Little's barking voice went louder as if to compete who was the loudest.
Slowly, Margaret turned around and there, up on the peak, was a huge boulder, rolling dangerously after them. Margaret froze at the spot, her mind completely blank and her bones weak. She was so stunned that her body refused to work. She could faintly hear the Lost Boys screaming and scurrying away to the forest. She could barely feel Little tugging hard on her night robe, trying to pull her away to safety. Margaret could almost hear the tearing of Little ripping a piece of her night robe off.
Right when the boulder was extremely close to her, Margaret screamed as loud as her voice could and attempted to walk backwards away from the boulder. When she wasn't quick enough, she turned away and shut her eyes, waiting for the pain to hit her.
All of a sudden, Margaret felt warm and strong arms wrapping around her waist and pushing her out of the way. Margaret immediately clung to what felt like a body, and, burying her face in what was supposed to be someone's neck, listened to the horrible noise of the boulder rolling over the ground and crashing noisily. All at once, the noise stopped and silenced filled the whole area.
Margaret didn't move for a moment, afraid that something else would happen. She finally had enough courage to lean back and, when she did, she discovered that the body that she was clutching was Peter himself. He came back and saved her just in the nick of time.
Both of them were very still, staring at each other speechlessly. Their eyes slowly moved over to the boulder that was leaning against now crooked trees, blocking the boulder from entry to the forest.
As she stared at that boulder, she thought back of how close she was to becoming completely squished by that giant rock, if Peter had been too late. Boy, was she glad Peter wasn't.
**
There were no more words to describe how intensely angry Tinker Bell had become right after Peter save that cow-faced girl! Her body was burning so high and it only went higher when she saw how tight Peter was holding her. She had to fly midair to prevent herself from burning the leaves again.
Her plan had failed! Her perfect, thought out plan had failed! That stupid girl was still alive and, what's worse, Peter had rescued her and was holding her so close to him! So close that Tink had called that girl every single curses she could think of in her raging head.
She hated that girl with so much passion! She hated her with every burning fiber in her tiny body!
In fact, in Tink's opinion, Margaret was even worse than Wendy!
**
"Are you okay," Peter spoke at last, concern written on his face.
Margaret didn't answer at first, her eyes still on the boulder that would have been her gateway to death. "Yeah," she replied absentmindedly. "Yeah, I think so."
They both jumped at Little's sudden barking as the puppy chased over to Margaret, hopping up after her. Margaret left Peter's embrace and bended down to cuddle Little, who whimpered worryingly.
Peter had felt a strange loss of warmth when Margaret left from their hug. It felt very odd to him; he didn't know what it meant. He shook it off and turned his attention back to Margaret, who was sweetly laughing when Little started licking her madly, as if it had been weeks since they've last seen each other.
"I'm fine, Little," Margaret laughed uncontrollably, causing Peter to laugh along with her. "Honestly, I'm fine! What about you?"
Little barked in response, shaking her tail, and went back to licking her like crazy.
Margaret suddenly stopped when she searched the area. She rose up and faced Peter with a worried look. "Peter, the Lost Boys! Where are they?"
"What'd you mean?"
"The Lost Boys were here too! But they must have ran off when," she paused, raising her slightly shaken finger at the boulder. "That happened."
Peter looked back and examined the boulder and the forest behind it. He cupped his mouth with his hand and hollered, "LOST BOYS, FAAAAALL IN!"
After a second or two, the Lost Boys appeared, climbing over the boulder. They were all laughing and cheering at what had happened (except Tootles, who was instead moving around animatedly).
"Oh boy, did ya see that!"
"Wow!"
"Tha' was soooo-"
"And when it crashed-"
"Let's do that again!"
The boys chattered like girls as they gathered out into the opening. Peter couldn't help but smirk and, expecting to see Margaret scold at them or fuss over them, she was also smirking at them. Boy, was she different than any other girls!
"ATTEEEEN-TION!" Peter shouted in command and the boys immediately lined up in a straight line, facing Peter, Margaret, and Little.
Peter turned to Margaret. "So, I'm guessing you and the boys already got acquainted?"
"Mmmm," Margaret playfully thought, tapping her finger on her chin. "You might say that."
Peter smirked wider as he turned back to the boys and asked the same question. They all nodded their heads.
"Good. Now," Peter glanced over to the boulder. "Do any of you know what caused that?"
He pointed at the giant rock and the boys followed his direction. They took a moment to study it before they turned back and shrugged, clueless. Peter looked over to Margaret with a questionable face that spoke the same question. She shook her head wordlessly, not knowing the answer herself. Peter looked down at Little and the puppy also shook its head.
Peter flew over to the boulder to examine it more closely. It wasn't long before he spotted a carved 'P+T' on the near bottom. He remembered that carving, for he himself carved that with Tink by his side.
The boulder belonged to them and only them; no one else but them could claim it or even touch it.
It suddenly hit him like lightning bolt. Tinker Bell! She was the only one who knew where their boulder was. She was the only one (besides Peter) that could fly up the peak to reach it. But why would Tink cause their boulder to roll down and attempt to kill Margaret?
Right at that last word, Peter spun his head toward Margaret, who was staring patiently and curiously at him. Peter remembered Tink giving Margaret cruel glances at her ever since they had left the nursery room. But Tink would never stoop that low . . . but she had before. She committed the same act of murder on Wendy on her first time here and Tink would probably not hesitate to repeat it on Wendy's dear granddaughter. The same girl Peter had promised not to let any harm come to Margaret. And he almost had that promise broken if he hadn't been here on time.
"Uh, Peter?" Slightly spoke unsurely. Peter didn't hear him.
"Where's Tinker Bell," Peter's voice dropped to a low and dangerous growl. All the boys and Little stood back in fear. If Margaret was also frightened, she didn't show it. She just stood there and looked surprised.
"She left a few minutes ago, looking for you," she answered. The a thought flashed in her sky blue eyes. "She didn't find you, did she?"
"No," Peter shook his head. "It wasn't until I'd reached to Hangman Jr.'s Tree to find out you and Little weren't there with me. I'd figured you both got lost, so I went searching everywhere for both of you, until I heard you screaming and I came just in time to save you. But I never saw Tink. Not since we first arrived here."
Suddenly, Little began barking loudly and alertly toward a glow in the forest and Peter instantly recognized it as Tink. When the glow quickly disappeared, Peter shot after it, rapidly catching the glow with his hands before it flew up into the sky.
"Gotcha," Peter murmured, no playfulness found inside his voice. He held Tink inside his fist tightly; only Tink's waist and up can be seen sticking out of his fist. "You're not goin' anywhere."
Tink struggled to escape, pushing herself out but was unsuccessful. She also started shouting at Peter to release her. Peter ignored her as he took her back to the waited group. At the sight of Tink, the boys shouted out in greetings to her, oblivious to her furious and frustrated look. Little barked even more louder than before when Tink was closer; slightly growling at her. Margaret remained still, watching Tink and Peter closely, bewildered.
"QUIET!" Peter shrieked and, at once, the boys and Little quickly fell silent. Peter stared accusingly at Tink, who had covered her ears from Peter's outburst.
"Tink, did you cause that?" He shoved her into the direction of the boulder. Tink looked away from it and shrugged innocently.
"Don't lie, Tink! Answer me! Did you try to kill Margaret?"
Margaret's eyes shot wider at his question and, confused, she watched Tink, waiting for her response.
Tink smirked a little and crossed her arms snobbishly, refusing to speak.
"Tink! I'm gonna ask you one more time ad you BETTER answer me! Did. You. Try. To. Kill. Margaret?!"
Tink was now fully smiling the devil's smile and nodded proudly.
A sudden gasp broke into the air and Peter looked up to see Margaret's mouth covered by her hand. Her eyes revealed a veil of deep hurt and betrayal, staring straight at the pompous fairy in his fist. This only increased Peter's rage on his fairy friend.
"Tink, how could you do that," Peter yelled angrily at Tink. "I promised Wendy I'd keep her safe, not have her squished to death!"
Tink remained still as if she didn't hear him. Or as if she didn't want to hear him.
"Tinker Bell! Apologize to Margaret! And promise me you won't do it again!"
Tink did neither. Instead, she shook her head overconfidently. Margaret was blinking faster, but Peter could see a gloss of tears on her eyes.
Now Peter had it. That was the final straw.
"FINE THEN!" he screamed so loud, everyone, including Tink, flinched in surprise. "IF YOU WON'T APOLOGIZE, THEN I BANISH YOU FOREVER!!!"
Tink's face suddenly widened in shock and hurt. She shook her head pleadingly at him, jingling at him to not give her banishment forever.
"Sorry, Tink," Peter said, although his voice did not sound apologetic. "You caused this, and now you'll have to pay for it."
He was about to throw her into the sky, putting her banishment to full effect, when a gentle hand pulled his arm back, stopping him.
"Wait, Peter," a calm and soft voice spoke behind him. He looked back to see, to his surprise, Margaret holding him back. "Don't you think banishing her forever is a bit harsh?" she said slowly, as if unsure if it was right to say it.
Peter stared at her, taken aback at what she just said. "Margaret, why are you defending her? She tried to kill you!"
"I know, Peter. But she can't help it if she has . . . anger issues."
Tink stared at Margaret in disbelief. Peter was staring at Margaret with the same look.
"My point is," Margaret continued. "Just banish her for a week or a month perhaps. But not forever."
Peter was suddenly reminded of those exact words that Wendy had said to him when Tink almost killed her. I guess Margaret got that from her grandmother, Peter thought.
He thought for a moment, staring at Tink, who was now stubbornly looking way, but glancing at Peter uncertainly. Peter looked back at Margaret, who gave him a beseeched and sweet expression.
Peter sighed in defeat. "Oh, alright. Tinker Bell," he pulled Tink up close. "I banish you for . . . three weeks."
Tink revealed an upset look on him, but also a relieved one. It was better than forever. Margaret gave Peter a warm, grateful smile. But she still looked at Tink in the same despairing expression.
"Now leave and don't come back until then. And stay away from Margaret," Peter ordered Tink before he finally threw her into the sky, watching the glow of Tinker Bell grow fainter and fainter until he could see it no more.
**
Tink was thrown across the Never sky, unable to control her flight. Finally, she halted herself and looked back at here she last was.
She stared at it with hopelessness, sorrow, and anger. Even though she wasn't banished forever, she still got banished whatsoever. And it was that entire stupid girl's fault. Now she got Peter all to herself and Tink has nothing but her fairy home to return to. Now she has to stay away from Peter and she knew she couldn't do that. But because she was forced to, she had no choice.
Taking one last heartbroken look at the place where she last saw Peter, she slowly turned away and, tears falling from her tiny eyes, she flew away to the only home she has left: Pixie Hallow.