فصل 45

CHAPTER 45

THE CALL

PETER’S WISH—AND OF COURSE TINK’S—was to return to the island. Unfortunately, this was impossible, at least for the time being. Starstuff was needed to activate the bridge, and as far as anybody knew, there was no starstuff left on earth.

J.D. immediately got to work on this problem, along with Professor Macpherson, who was thrilled to have a project to work on again. They were certain they could figure something out, and although Peter didn’t understand most of what they said—it had to do with “fusion,” whatever that was—he trusted that they would ultimately succeed.

For now, though, he was stuck.

The Coopers insisted that, while Peter was waiting, he must live with them. This, they felt, was the least they could do. After all, Peter had left his world and come to theirs to save Aidan; in the end, he had done much more than that. They wanted to try to repay him by making him part of their family until he found a way home. He appreciated that; he liked the Coopers very much. Especially Sarah.

But the adjustment did not go well. It started with the airplane flight to Pittsburgh. Despite having spent much of his life in the air, Peter was not at all comfortable with being trapped inside a machine that was flying (in his opinion—and, of course, Tink’s) much too high, and much too fast.

Peter also did not adapt well to the lifestyle of the modern suburban child. He was accustomed to making his own decisions about what to eat, when to sleep, where to go, and what to do. He preferred to be outdoors most of the time, and when he was outdoors, he generally preferred to be airborne. This soon became a problem. The first time he was spotted flying over the Coopers’ neighborhood, the police were called, and the story wound up on the local TV news, with video taken on a cell phone. The TV station brought in an expert, who analyzed the video and declared that the “flying boy” was, in fact, nothing but a flock of birds. So the secret was still safe; but Peter was forced to accept that everyone would be better off if he flew only at night.

This meant that he spent most of his daylight hours feeling cooped up and adventure-deprived. He did enjoy being told stories, especially by Sarah, but he didn’t care for television, which never looked real to him. He was utterly baffled by the Internet, and could not—despite Aidan’s best efforts—see the point of video games. His feeling was, if you’ve battled real villains, it’s hard to get worked up about fighting pretend ones.

And then there was the issue of school. Natalie and Tom felt strongly that Peter should attend; he felt, just as strongly, that he should not. The Coopers pointed out that he could neither read nor write, and that these were necessary skills. He pointed out that he had been without them for more than a century and had done just fine. They had not come up with a good counterargument for that.

It goes without saying that Tink detested almost everything about Pittsburgh. She had made only one new friend, a swallow. She considered the rest of the local birds to be idiots.

As days passed, then weeks, then months, Peter found himself more often feeling homesick for the island, the Lost Boys, the Mollusks, the mermaids—even, in some strange way, Hook. In fact, it was Hook he was thinking of—specifically, the time he had managed to swoop down and steal Hook’s pants as he was taking his monthly bath—when J.D. called the Cooper house with the news. Sarah, who’d answered the phone, handed it to Peter. Peter held it gingerly; he did not care for telephones.

“Yes?” he said.

“Peter?” said J.D.

“J.D.?”

“Yes. Peter, do you want to go home?”

“To Never Land?”

“To the island. Yes.”

“Of course! But…how?”

“It’s a bit complicated to explain, but Mac and I have come up with something that we’re pretty sure will work, if you’re willing to try it.”

Peter looked at Sarah, who was watching him intently.

“Yes,” he said to J.D. “I do want to try it.”

Tink, hovering by Peter’s ear, listening, emitted a joyous burst of bells.

“We’ll have to get you down to Florida,” said J.D. “Put Tom or Natalie on the phone, and we’ll figure out the logistics.”

While the grown-ups made arrangements, Peter told Sarah what J.D. had said.

“So you’re going back,” she said.

“Yes,” he agreed.

“That’s…wonderful,” she said. Then she started to cry.

Peter thought about hugging her, but settled for patting her shoulder. After all these years, he still didn’t understand exactly what made girls cry.