فصل 34

CHAPTER 34

PETER

SARAH AND J.D. LOOKED UP AND GASPED. Suspended ten feet over their heads, his legs crisscross, looking down at them with a mixture of curiosity and suspicion, was Peter Pan.

Sarah stared at him, fascinated. In some ways, he looked as she expected—a wild tousle of red hair, a thin, extravagantly freckled face with a pointed chin and upturned nose. But in other ways he differed from her mental image. He was filthy and disheveled, clad in ragged, short pants and a sleeveless shirt made of cloth that seemed to be mostly holes, held together by a belt made of vine, into which was tucked a dagger. The soles of his feet were black with dirt; the rest of him was not much cleaner.

But what struck Sarah most was how young he looked. She knew, of course, that he never aged, but his appearance in the flesh drove the point home emphatically: he’s just a boy.

For several seconds, she and J.D. gaped up at Peter as he looked down at them. The silence was broken by the sound of bells—high-pitched, melodic, heavenly.

Peter snorted.

“They do, don’t they, Tink?” he said. “A pair of cows.”

Sarah realized something else about him she hadn’t considered previously; he had a British accent.

The bells sounded again, and now Sarah saw their source—a tiny face peeking out from Peter’s mass of curls, exquisitely beautiful despite the contemptuous sneer she was aiming at the people below.

“Tinker Bell!” exclaimed Sarah.

More bells, and a laugh from Peter.

“What’s so funny?” asked Sarah.

“You wouldn’t understand,” Peter said.

“Why don’t you try explaining it?” said Sarah, irritation creeping into her voice.

He ignored her question. “Who are you?” he said. “And who’s he?”

“My name is Sarah Cooper,” said Sarah. “That’s J.D. Aster.”

The name brought on another burst of bells. Peter focused on J.D. “You’re an Aster?” he said.

J.D. nodded.

“Do you know…that is, did you know Molly? Or Wendy?” Peter asked.

J.D. shook his head.

Peter nodded, looking into the distance, his mind momentarily elsewhere. Then his gaze returned to the visitors and his unwelcoming tone returned. “What are you doing here?”

“We brought some starstuff, in a gold box,” said Sarah. “We were trying to keep it away from Ombra.”

This produced the loudest outburst of bells yet.

“Ombra?” said Peter. “Is he after you?”

“He was,” said Sarah. “But we left him back on…the other side of the bridge.”

“So he’s not here on the island,” said Peter.

“No,” said Sarah. “But he’s got my brother. We need to go back.” She paused, her eyes downcast. “My brother needs us.”

“So why don’t you go?” said Peter.

His callousness irritated Sarah further. He didn’t seem at all concerned about her brother.

“We can’t. Not yet, anyway,” said Sarah. “We need star-stuff to use the bridge. And Captain Hook has the box.”

“Hook?” exclaimed Peter. “How did that happen?”

“He captured us,” said J.D. “The minute we got here.”

“And you let him take the starstuff?” said Peter.

“We didn’t let him,” said J.D. “As I said, he captured us.”

Peter gave J.D. a scornful look. J.D. glared back. They were not hitting it off.

Fighting Prawn interrupted the standoff. “Peter, Bold Abalone is readying the war canoes. We will attack him at sundown and retrieve the starstuff. Then we can see about getting our visitors on their way home.”

“Call me crazy,” said J.D., “but I’m getting the feeling we’re not welcome here.”

Fighting Prawn and Peter exchanged a look, then Fighting Prawn said, “We don’t mean to be rude. But we have all been together a long time on this island. We are accustomed to each other, comfortable in our way of life.”

“And we’re messing it up,” said Sarah.

“You’re a…disruption,” said Fighting Prawn.

“You don’t belong here,” said Peter, coldly.

Tink chimed something. Peter snickered.

Sarah’s faced darkened. “Well, we’re really sorry that we disturbed your little paradise,” she snapped. “We’ll leave as soon as we can. We’ll go back to face Ombra, and you”—she paused to glare at Peter—“you can go back to playing your little flying games with your little fairy friend.”

This brought a furious burst from Tink. Peter’s face was now beet-red. He turned to Fighting Prawn and said, “You won’t need the war canoes. I’ll get the starstuff box myself.”

“Peter,” said Fighting Prawn, “I don’t think that’s wise.”

“I’m not afraid of Hook,” said Peter. “I’ve dealt with him many times, and he’s never beaten me.”

“I know,” said Fighting Prawn. “But now he has starstuff.”

“That doesn’t worry me,” said Peter. “I’ll get it back.” He glared at Sarah and J.D. “And then they can leave, and we can have things the way they were again.”

“Peter…” began Fighting Prawn. But it was too late. With one last baleful look at Sarah and J.D., Peter was gone, disappearing at astonishing speed over the fence surrounding the Mollusk compound, heading for the water—and Captain Hook.