by Dash Hoffman
They had nearly gotten to it when she stopped right in her tracks. “Oh! What was that?” She gasped with wide eyes.
The boys all turned to look back at her. “What was what?” Chance asked suspiciously. “I can’t hear anything.”
“No wait! I hear it too!” Scout hurried over to Emma and they shared a moment of uncertainty before peering through the coming twilight around them.
“What is it?” Bandit asked, staring up at Emma with big eyes.
“It’s… it’s a kind of sparking sound.” She answered, and then as she turned in a circle, taking in all that was around her, her face lifted, and she pointed sharply.
“There! Look there, in the sky!” She lost her breath as she cried out. She could barely believe her eyes.
“It’s a shooting star!” Pip cheered.
“I love shooting stars!” Pockets sang out joyfully as he bounced in place, watching it.
“Me too! Don’t forget to make a wish!” Patches reminded them all. “I wish for roast beast for dinner!”
“I wish for strawberry pie!” Shortly added hopefully.
“Apple pie! Apple pie is better.” Firefly disagreed.
“It’s not shooting!” Emma dashed several steps back the way they had just come.
“It isn’t either! Pecan pie is-” Chance began and stopped suddenly. “What?” He turned and stared upward, his mouth falling open.
“It’s falling!” Emma cried, picking up the hem of her nightgown until it reached her knees, and going into a full sprint as she raced back down the path to where the tiny little star seemed to be headed as it tumbled right out of the night sky.
The Lost Boys, never ones to miss out on any kind of adventure, even if it meant being in the dark in Neverland, went racing after her, cheering for an escapade.
They ran as fast as they could and just barely made it to the Mermaid Lagoon as the little star landed in the soft green sands with a thud.
All of the children gathered around it; their faces twisted with worry.
“That’s the smallest star I’ve ever seen!” Shortly said, leaning over and planting his hands on his knees as he gazed at it.
“Is it still alive?” Patches asked with uncertainty, barely looking over his fingertips as he peeked from behind his hands.
Emma dropped to her knees beside it and gently picked it up. It was so small that it fit perfectly in just one of her hands, but she held it with two, coddling it some.
“It is still alive!” She sighed with relief, looking up at the boys. “I think it’s trying to tell us something, but I can’t understand what it’s saying.” She frowned sadly and shook her head.
Tinkerbell flitted around Emma and came to land on the inside of her wrist, looking down at the star.
“Tink! Do you understand it?” Emma beseeched her. “What is it saying?”
With a voice as tiny as a moment, Tinkerbell did her best to talk to Emma, and Emma had to strain to hear her, for fairy language sounds like little golden bells ringing.
“This little star fell out of the Orion Nebula. It’s a star nursery where baby stars are born. This is a baby star.” Tinkerbell told them. Everyone was listening so closely that they all heard her.
Chance planted his hands on his hips in a very Peter Pan sort of way. “Well! That’s just the same way that Lost Boys come to the Neverland! They fall out of their prams and carriages, and then they come here, just like this baby star who has fallen out of its nursery in the sky! I think we have a Lost Star here!” He declared.
“That’s true!” Pockets nodded, gazing at the rest of them.
“It is!” Bandit chimed in, and Shortly agreed.
“Then we have a Lost Star!” Firefly announced adamantly.
“We’ve never had a Lost Star before!” Scout rubbed his hand over his chin thoughtfully.
“No, we haven’t!” Sighed Patches.
“What are we going to do with it?” Tumbles peered around at all of them.
“I say that since we can’t fly it all the way back up to the Orion Nebula where it came from, that we adopt it!” Chance stated decisively.
Emma ran her fingers lightly over the star, dusting the Neversand from it and comforting it as it shimmered in her hand.
She raised her eyes to Chance. “Adopt it?”
The boys all nodded and grinned at each other. “Yes! Oh yes!” They answered back and forth between one another.
“Don’t you think that’s a swell idea?” Pip asked delightedly.
“Grand!” Scout gave his head a shake.
“We can say goodnight to it each night, and wish it sweet dreams!” Shortly chimed in.
Emma gave them all a serious look. “That is… if it will consent to be the Neverland star.” She turned her eyes back to the baby star in her hand. “Do you consent?”
Tinkerbell fluttered and bounced on Emma’s wrist. “It does! It does!” She got so excited that she spattered pixie dust all over Emma and her nightgown, and the baby Neverland star.
“Then I shall name you Britely, and you will be our very own Neverland star, and you shall belong here, always.” She smiled at it and the star twinkled happily.
Emma lifted her eyes to the boys again. “Now, we can’t very well keep it here on the island. The Neverland sky is very close, just right up there. How can we get it up to the Neverland sky where it can live?”
Chance shook his head.
Pip shrugged his shoulders.
Firefly twisted his mouth thoughtfully.
Patches and Pockets looked at one another and held their hands up in the air.
Shortly pouted.
Bandit crossed his arms over his chest and looked up at the night sky.
Tumbles and Scout scratched their heads.
Tinkerbell’s wings folded behind her, and she stood still on Emma’s arm.
Emma frowned and stood up very carefully. “No one has an idea? Well then, I will think hard on this and come up with something.”
She began to walk slowly, down to the end of the beach, all the while carrying Britely in her hands, as Tinkerbell sat on her shoulder and rode along.
The Lost Boys watched her interestedly as she turned at the end of the beach and came back, and as she passed them, continuing to walk, Chance rubbed his chin.
“Pacing is a good way to think about things!” He stated assuredly. He followed after her, and the rest of the boys went as well, one by one, all of them silent and thinking, this one with his arms crossed, that one with his hands behind his back, another tapping his chin with a finger, and on, and on, they went, stepping left, stepping right, pace, pace, pacing behind Emma as she walked, deep in thought.
The line of them had canvassed the beach three times before she stopped suddenly, and all of them crashed and bumped and tumbled into one another again.
“I’ve got it!” She declared, spinning on the spot to look at them with bright eyes.
The boys were in a heap on the sand, working to untangle themselves and get righted again.
Firefly was the first one up and standing. “What? What have you got?” He asked, eyeing her keenly as he dusted sand from himself. The rest of them scrambled to their feet.
“A plan!” She answered excitedly.
“Capital!” Pip cheered.
“Let’s do it!” Pockets squealed.
“I’m in!” Scout announced instantly.
“Me too!” Bandit and Shortly chimed together.
The boys hurried to crowd around her, listening hopefully. They stood in a circle with her at the center so they could all hear what Emma’s plan was.
“We are going to lure that rotten Captain Hook and all of the pirates away from the Jolly Roger.” She began determinedly.
The boys stared at her in disbelief; horrorstruck.
“Then, we will borrow the ship, not steal it, and ask Tinkerbell to sprinkle pixie dust all over it. Then we can sail it right up into the night sky over Neverland, which after all isn’t very f
ar away, and we can put Britely there where it belongs!”
She grinned at them, and they stood in stunned silence around her for a long moment, thinking it all through.
Chance frowned. “Well, I like it, but will Tink agree to cover the ship in dust?”
Tinkerbell, who was hovering near Emma’s hands and watching over the fallen star, nodded excitedly and fluttered her wings so rapidly that pixie dust flew from her and landed in small piles all over the Neversand at their feet.
“Let’s do it then!” Firefly cried out, turning to go, ready as ever for an adventure.
Pip reached for him and pulled him close to the circle. “Not tonight! Look quietly!” He whispered loudly to them all as he pointed off to the end of the beach where a crescent of big rocks arced into the sea.
A large bear was meandering over the rocks and heading for the water.
“I think it’s going fishing for dinner.” Scout murmured with a dark look. “If it sees us, it may change its mind about having fish for dinner, and decide on Lost Boys instead. Let’s get back to the tree!”
“Back to the tree!” Firefly shouted, throwing his fist into the air.
Chance scowled at him. “Shh! We have to go quietly!”
Emma carried the star carefully with her as the boys all fell into line, hurrying back from the beach to the tree.
They went silently and quickly, and when they reached the big tree, all of them went to their smaller trees to jump inside their specially made chutes. Each chute was carefully carved so that the Lost Boy whose tree it was would be the only one who could fit it and be able to climb into the chute and slide down through it to the den underneath the big tree, where they all lived.
Patches tugged at Emma. “You’ll fit in my chute, come down mine!” He smiled his big smile at her. She thanked him and slid slowly down his chute to the den, all the while holding Britely delicately in her hands.
When they had all gotten safely into the den, they breathed a sigh of relief, and Pip lit the lanterns while Patches and Pockets set out dishes for dinner. Scout and Tumbles created a meal. Chance and Firefly made a bed for Emma, Shortly got her a pillow, and Bandit tidied up the little basket bed for Britely.
Emma looked around the big room and grinned. It was exactly the same as it had been in the Peter Pan story book. The bed for all the boys and the Darling children, the basket bed that Michael used to sleep in, and just enough room for them all. It was quite cozy and homey.
Emma wondered why the Darling’s ever left, and then she remembered somewhere in the back of her contented mind that there were grown-ups in the netherworld that loved them and cared for them, just as there were for her. That was the reason the Darling children had gone back, because they had a mother and father. Emma thought for a moment about her mother and father, and about her dear friend Callie.
“I’ve got a question about this plan of yours, Emma!” Chance stated seriously as they all got comfortable and began to eat.
“What is it, Chance?” She asked, just before chewing on a sweet bread.
He furrowed his brow at her. “How are we going to get Hook and the pirates away from the Jolly Roger?”
Emma bit at her lower lip. “Let me think on that while we eat.”
Their conversation turned to other things, and while Firefly and Pip washed the dinner dishes, Emma walked around the small room, her hands clasped behind her back as she thought.
All at once she turned with a start and held her finger up in the air. “I’ve got it!” She announced happily.
“Got what? What have you got?” Firefly stared at her.
“An answer to Chance’s question about how we get that devilish Captain Hook and his band of mates off of the ship!” She lifted her chin proudly.
“Well? How do we do it?” Pip asked curiously, drying his hands on his shirt as he came toward her.
She stepped lightly as she walked in a circle around them, eyeing them with pride. “There’s one thing that we know for certain that would get Hook off of his ship and onto the island faster and surer than anything else!”
Emma stopped and peered at all of them with a bright gleam in her eye.
Every single one of the boys was silent, until Tumbles piped up. “Well? What is it?”
“Peter Pan.”
All the boys gasped.
Pockets frowned. “But Peter isn’t here!”
Emma grinned naughtily. “Peter doesn’t have to be here. We only need that fiendish Captain Hook to think he’s here, and Hook will be off that ship in a flash to kill him! Think of it! There’s nothing that Hook wants more than to kill Peter Pan. It is his great obsession. There’s nothing he wouldn’t do to achieve it! So we trick him and make him think that Peter is here, just out of reach, on the shore.”
The boys’ eyes grew wide as they shared gleeful looks, and then they hooted and howled with joy, utterly thrilled with Emma’s clever plan.
Shortly, however, sat still and folded his hands together in his lap. He gazed up at Emma and tilted his head to one side. “But, how do we trick him? What could we do to make him believe that Peter is on the shore?”
Everyone stopped, growing still and silent. Emma chewed her lower lip and paced around the room again, walking and thinking, looking and pondering.
The boys watched in fascination. She paused in front of a hollow in the dirt wall that was a kind of makeshift shelf. It was Peter’s shelf. She reached her hand into it, closing her fingers around a set of wooden pipes that were tied together with thin vine ropes.
Firefly’s eyes grew huge. “Those are Peter’s pipes!”
Emma laughed and turned to look at the boys, holding the pipes up triumphantly. “Exactly!”
She brought the pipes to her mouth and blew across them gently. Sweet notes sounded out, blending to make a lovely melody.
Bandit brightened. “You sound just like Peter!”
Emma lowered the pipes and nodded. “Exactly.” She said again.
Chance jammed one finger in the air. “Ha!” He cried out as the other boys realized just what Emma’s idea was. “You are a clever girl.” He gave her a nod of approval.
Emma curtsied to him. “Thank you.”
Pockets cleared his throat, and everyone turned to look at him as he stood next to the hanging basket where Britely was laying.
“What is it?” Emma asked, setting Peter’s pipes down and hurrying to the basket.
“Britely doesn’t look so good.” Pockets said sadly, turning back to the baby star.
All the boys grew worried and crowded around behind Emma as she checked on the small star.
“I think this little one is sick because it isn’t living where it belongs. We’ve got to get it back up into the sky again.” She sighed thoughtfully.
Tinkerbell fluttered nearby and paid close attention as Britely winked at her. She spoke carefully to Emma, telling her what the baby star had said.
“Yes! That’s it! Britely needs to be in the sky!” Tink’s glow dimmed somewhat with sadness for the ill star.
Emma stroked the edges of the star gently to put it to sleep so that it could rest. “This isn’t where it belongs, when we take it home where it does belong, it will live a thousand, thousand lifetimes.”
Chance crossed his arms over his chest firmly. “Tomorrow we will begin the plan! We will lure that contemptible Captain Hook and his band of degenerates out into the Neverwood, and the Jolly Roger will be ours. We’ll take Britely home to the Neverland skies!”
“We will never fail!” Firefly vowed heartily.
“Hear, hear!” Cried the rest of the boys.
Emma leaned down and gave Britely a light kiss before she stood up and looked at all of them.
“If we’re going to rescue this baby star tomorrow, we need a good night’s sleep tonight. To bed!” She insisted.
The boys agreed, and everyone piled onto the bed side by side like sardines, except for Emma who was given her own bed beside the hanging basked where
Britely lay.
Pip blew out the lanterns, and they all called out goodnight to each other, and to Britely.
It wasn’t long at all before they were all fast asleep, delicately illuminated in the soft glow of starlight.
Chapter Eight
Fantasy and Reality
Emma’s eyes flew open and she drew in a sudden, sharp breath, looking around wildly. “Where am I?” She breathed thickly, trying to gather herself.
Callie was sitting beside her. “You’re in your room at the hospital.”
Liam was sitting in a chair at the foot of her bed. He’d been leaning forward with his elbows on his knees, holding his face in his hands, but the moment Emma woke, his head shot up and he shook it to wake himself fully.
Emma blinked and narrowed her eyes, completely disoriented. “But that can’t be! I was just in the Neverland! I was in the den under the great tree with the Lost Boys. We just fell asleep. I can’t be here! I have to be there! We have to save Britely!” Her voice flooded with worry and panic.
She tried to sit up in bed, and Callie held a gentle hand on her shoulder. “Wait now, sweet girl. Wait a moment. You’re here for now. Please, try to take a deep breath and calm down just a little. Being upset won’t help anything.”
Liam vaulted to his feet and hurried to Emma, his voice level as he locked his eyes on hers.
“Calm down, baby. You’ve got to calm down. You can’t get upset like that. You can’t get emotional. Please… please, you have to relax and rest. Okay? Can you do that for me, please?”
Laying back into her pillows, Emma nodded to her father, who sighed heavily and stroked her hand. She suddenly twisted her head toward Callie. “But… when did we start? When did I go to the Neverland?”
Liam’s face contorted with frustration and he turned it away from his daughter, toward the wall.
Callie exhaled long and slow. “That was two days ago, honey. You’ve been asleep for a whole night and day.”
Emma’s eyes went wide. “Oh no! But… but what about Britely! Britely is sick! I can’t be here. I have to go back! I have to get the ship and…” She was going to go on, but Callie quieted her calmly and tenderly.