by Dash Hoffman
When the costumes were all off and they’d tucked her into bed, Callie set the mermaid music box on Emma’s table, and kissed her forehead goodnight.
Chapter Twelve
Britely
the Neverland Star
The next morning, when Callie came into Emma’s room, she saw Liam there talking to his daughter. They were enthusiastically discussing the great adventure from the day before, and reliving much of the fun that they’d both had.
Liam looked up at Callie and sighed happily. “Well, I suppose I’d better let you two girls have some time to talk. I’ve got to be getting off to work anyway. I’ll come back later.”
He gave Callie a big smile and a nod, and then waved to Emma as he walked out of the door and let it close behind him.
Callie laughed. “He’s like a whole new man! I’m so glad to see him opening up to all the things that are important to you!”
She sat down and tipped her head curiously at Emma. “How are you feeling today?”
Emma shrugged. “I’m all right. I guess all that playing yesterday made me a little tired. I’ll be perfectly fine in no time at all though!”
“Guess what!” She opened her hand for Callie, showing her the Neverland Compass that had been closed tightly inside of her palm.
“Look, I showed it to daddy and told him all about it. He liked it! He said it gave me hope and that it’s giving him hope, too. Do you think we can ever get him to read Peter Pan?”
Callie laughed softly. “Perhaps, if we’re lucky! We can make that our next quest, if you like.”
Emma’s eyes grew wide. Speaking of quests! I have to get back! Please help me! I have to get back to the Neverland so I can help Britely! I left at the worst possible moment this last time. I was hiding in the WildWood and that foul Captain Hook and all of his mates were trying to find me! The Lost Boys were waiting on the ship… I’ve got to get back! Gosh… who knows what has happened!”
Callie rubbed Emma’s hand. “Okay. Okay… let’s get you back there.”
Emma closed her eyes and listened to Callie’s voice as she held fast to the Neverland Compass.
When Emma opened her eyes, she was expecting to be near the children’s hospital, or even at the edge of London as she had been the last time she had gone to the Neverland, but she was shocked to find herself in exactly the same place that she had been when she had left.
There was no traveling to the Neverland. It was as if time hadn’t passed at all.
The pirates rustled through the brush of the WildWood, and Hook growled like a ravenous dog.
“He’s there! Over there! I heard it! I heard that wretched flute he’s playing! He’s taunting me. Toying with me! I shall bury my hook in him when I find him!”
Captain Hook’s voice echoed all around the trees and sent a shiver up Emma’s spine, making the hair on her arms stand up on end.
She waited until she could hear nothing, and then slowly she rose from the dark shadow where she’d been hiding in the crevices of the tree roots.
The jumbled noise of the pirates faded into the distance, and the echoes followed them further into the thick woods.
With a sigh of relief and a thrill of elation, Emma realized that her plan had worked. The pirates were gone, and with any luck at all, the Lost Boys had seized the ship.
Looking around, she realized that she was lost. She had no idea where she might be. She hadn’t even known that there was a WildWood in the Neverland, let alone where it might be located on the island.
Thinking hard, she realized that if she went downhill, she would eventually get to a beach, and hopefully it would be the right beach. All things went downhill, and downhill in the Neverland would certainly get a person to saltwater at some point.
Emma made her way carefully, silently, poking along through the trees and bushes a short way until she couldn’t stand not being able to see anything. She was in a hurry and the darkness was holding her back.
Searching her mind again for an answer, she gasped in delight with the idea that came to her. As quickly as she could, she scrambled up the side of a tree and hurried along its branches until she reached the edges of them, where she could see out.
There, down the hill in the hidden cove, was the Jolly Roger. She could just see the flag poking up over the treetops. She looked up and saw the full moon, and the face of the Man in the Moon smiling at her.
“Oh please, sir,” she spoke earnestly to him, “please shine as bright as you can and light the way for me! I’ve got to get through this forest and down to the ship! We have to save our baby star before it dies!”
The Man in the Moon gave her a wink and cinched up his face a bit with some effort. Immediately it began to shine with a brilliance she had never seen from any moon before, giving the Neverland an almost daylight quality where she was.
Moonbeams filtered through every leaf and branch, spilling over the ground with pale light.
Emma waved at him. “Thank you!”
She scooted down from the tree and her feet touched down in the moonlight on the ground.
Rushing through the woods as quickly as she could go, she made it safely back to the beach and hurried along the boulder wall to where her seahorse was still waiting for her. She climbed into his pocket and he took her to the side of the great ship, where a rope ladder hung.
Giving him a last hug, she thanked the seahorse and he stayed at the side of the ship while she climbed up the ladder, refusing to leave until she was over the railing.
She waved at him, and he shook his head and zoomed off through the moonlight dappled waves.
The Lost Boys were overjoyed to see her. “You’re here! We were beginning to worry!” Pip wiped at his brow a little.
“Did you lead Hook far enough astray?” Chance asked with no small amount of concern.
“I did! He’s headed over to the far side of the island by now!” Emma laughed and then her laugh faded as quickly as it had come. “But where is Pockets? How is Britely doing?”
Pockets came from a step at the base of the quarterdeck. “Here we are!” He spoke out, carrying the small star in his hands.
He gave it to Emma, and she sighed sadly as she looked at it. The baby star had dimmed so much that it wasn’t twinkling at all anymore.
“It isn’t going to last much longer! We have to hurry! We have to get it back up to the Neverland night sky! Quick now! Tinkerbell, sprinkle the ship!” Emma cried out as she hurried to the quarterdeck.
“Chance, will you take the ship’s wheel?” She asked, looking up at him hopefully. He was the tallest and the biggest, and he should be the one to drive the ship, she thought.
“I shall captain it for this quest!” He stated resolutely. He positioned himself behind the ship’s wheel and closed his hands on the pins around it.
Tinkerbell had the ship dusted in no time, and Emma spoke out loudly to the boys, who all stood at stations around the deck, tied to the railings and the mast by belaying pins.
“Think your happiest thoughts! All of you! You too, Tink! Let’s make it fly!”
The ship shifted and bounced in the water for a moment, and there was a slight hesitation of doubt among them, but it vanished as the ship suddenly lifted as light as a feather, and soared up out of the sea; a shower of water rolling off of it as it rose in the night air.
The boys all ran to work their posts, tugging at ropes and adjusting sails in the breeze, and they found themselves flying upward toward the sky.
The Neverland sky was much closer to the island than other skies were to their shores, and the children knew they wouldn’t be sailing long before they reached it.
With everything set about the ship, the boys all crowded to the quarterdeck to enjoy the ride.
Chance twisted his mouth thoughtfully as he held the wheel steady in his grip. “I’ve been thinking Emma, and it’s come to me that you should have a Lost Boy name. I mean, you’re not a Lost Boy, but you are our friend and you should have a proper
Lost Boy name!” He turned to look at the others. “Do you agree? What say you?”
The other Lost Boys cheered and jumped high into the air, except for Shortly and Bandit who could each only manage to get a little way off of the deck.
Pip brightened and suggested, “Dare!”
Pockets shook his head. “No, we can call her Stilts!”
“No, we should call her Whatsit!” Patches chimed in.
“I like Sparrow!” Firefly shot out.
“We could call her Starlight.” Shortly smiled, looking at Britely in Emma’s hands.
Chance shook his head. “No, the name has to fit her. I’ve been thinking about this. Emma, you led Hook away like the pied piper. It’s a story that I think I can remember from a long time ago. I think we should call you Piper.”
She clapped her hands together and grinned. “I love it! I really love it! Oh thank you Lost Boys!” She beamed at them all and hugged Shortly and Bandit.
Just then they reached the Neverland night sky, and Chance stopped the ship nearby to the moon. The Man in the Moon had dimmed his light for them so that Hook might not look up and see his ship in the sky.
“Look! Britely is shining again! It’s even got a little bit of its twinkle back! Our baby star is feeling better again!” Piper was enormously relieved, and showed the star to the boys. It was rapidly coming back to life.
“It’s a miracle.” She said quietly. “Like magic.”
They all said goodbye to their little star, promising to wish him goodnight every night before they went to bed. The star twinkled merrily at them.
Piper pulled her hand back as far as she could and swung it around fast, letting the little star go sailing out of her palm and up into the inky dark sky.
Britely landed just right, and began to glow more brilliantly than they had ever seen it, sparkling, and shining.
Piper rested her elbows on the railing of the ship and gazed up at the happy little star. “Britely is all better now, because it’s where it belongs.”
They only stayed up in the night sky a short while longer before Chance steered the Jolly Roger back toward the hidden cove at the beach beside the big boulder wall.
Firefly frowned as they splashed down into the water and brought the ship to where it had been.
“Are you sure we have to give this back? I really love sailing in it!” He peered hopefully at Piper.
She shook her head at him. “No, not without Peter.”
One by one they slowly climbed down the rope ladder and nestled into the dingy that was waiting beside the ship.
The Pirates of Neverland
Once they were settled, Firefly and Chance began to row, and Pip kept a lookout. They hadn’t gone far at all when his eyes grew as big as saucers and he gulped.
“Hook! It’s Hook! He’s back!” Pip pointed, and all of the boys and Piper turned to look at the beach. Hook was right at the edge of it, seawater lapping at his shining black boots. He was glaring at them furiously.
“After them!” He shouted, and all of the pirates followed him as he rushed for the ship.
Firefly jumped to his feet and brandished his wooden sword high above his head. “Let’s fight them!” He declared with a vengeance.
Scout waved his hands in the air back and forth and shook his head. “No! Did you know that Jas Hook was Captain Blackbeard’s bosun? He was! Just so.”
Tumbles reached up and tugged at Firefly, trying to get him to sit down again. “We can’t fight him! Remember? Peter made every one of us promise to leave Hook to him in open fight!”
Firefly scowled darkly. “Well then, if we can’t fight him, we get someone who can!” He whistled loudly over the water, and the other boys watched curiously, waiting to see what would happen.
The pirates had reached the ship and were turning it about as Chance rowed desperately away from it, helped by Scout who took one oar and Tumbles, who took another.
With a splash, three mermaids bobbed their heads up out of the water, just beside the little dingy.
“Quick! Show the crocodile where Hook is!” Firefly laughed to the mermaids. They nodded, giggling, and slipped back down into the water, disappearing from view.
Piper and the Lost Boys got the dingy going as fast as they could out of the bay, but the Jolly Roger was much bigger, and much faster.
They were nearly overtaken, as the captain, hanging over the side of the quarterdeck and brandishing his gleaming silver hook at them, vowed to kill them all.
Suddenly he stopped in the middle of his curses and threats, his words choking him in his own throat as he clutched at the railing on the deck.
The children gasped in fear as an enormous beast, even bigger than the boat they were in, sidled up next to the ship. From deep within its belly came a loud, repetitive tick-tick-ticking.
The crocodile let out a deep throated growl, and Hook shrieked and ran for the wheel.
They could hear him screaming. “Smee! Get us out of here! Now! That killer is here and he’s after me! Go! Sail us as far from here as you can!” He screamed again and ran for the cover of his cabin. The children roared with laughter in their dingy, as they watched the crocodile chasing the ship far away.
“That was a brilliant idea, Firefly!” Chance gave his friend a pat on the shoulder.
Everyone agreed heartily.
“It is nighttime in the Neverland, though.” Bandit reminded them all, looking around at the darkness and moonlight. “We must be getting back to the tree right away.”
“Yes, to the tree!” Agreed the boys, realizing just how tired they were, and how dangerous the Neverland could be at night.
When they reached the shore and got out, happy to be on sand again, Shortly took Piper’s hand and looked up at her. “That was a grand adventure!” He sighed happily.
Piper gave his small hand a squeeze. “It was. It really was.” She looked up at the dark Neverland night sky and saw Britely there, shining and sparkling merrily.
“Twinkle, twinkle, little star.” She said softly as she smiled at it and blew it a kiss goodnight.
Chapter Thirteen
A Different Path
Emma’s eyes opened, and she yawned in the dimness of the nighttime room. Turning her head, she saw Callie sitting beside her, reading Peter Pan by the light of an overhead lamp.
“Oh! There she is!” Callie closed the book and gave Emma a smile.
“Callie! We did it! The Lost Boys and I, we did it! We tricked that heartless Captain Hook and borrowed his ship, and Tinkerbell dusted it with pixie dust, and then we sailed up to the night sky and put Britely there in its new home! Now everything is perfect! It’s just as it all should be in the Neverland! Britely is well now, because it’s back up in the sky where it belongs.”
Emma was thrilled on the inside, and Callie could see that easily, but when the girl tried to push herself up, she found she wasn’t at all able to. Her body was much too sore and weak.
“That’s wonderful news, Emma!” Callie smiled broadly at her. “I’m so glad to hear that Britely is doing well in the right place. You’ll have to tell me all about it!”
“I’m happy for you too, Emma.” Joshua added. “I want to hear about it as well. Our Neverland games in the park were the best time I’ve had out playing in far too long! I’m looking forward to doing it again with you!”
“It really was, wasn’t it?” Liam couldn’t help a grin. “I can’t believe she got me to get into an Indian costume and play in the park.”
“I have a feeling, if Dr. J has his say, it won’t be the last time that we do that with her!” Callie laughed gently.
“Well, it wasn’t so bad really. You know, when the other kids decided to join us, I was so glad to see them come. I wouldn’t have thought that any other children would want to play with her right now because she’s so different and she had the wheelchair, but it wasn’t like that at all.” Liam shook his head and smiled. “She was the belle of the ball there.” He laughed soft and deep.
“Children can be surprising.” Callie replied.
“They can indeed.” Joshua agreed. “This child, however, has had a very big day, right on the tail of a very big week, though, so we’re all going to wish you goodnight and see you in the morning.”
All three of them bid Emma goodnight, and Callie and Josh left, while Emma’s father sank down into a chair at her bedside, with a pillow and blanket.
The next morning, Callie stepped through the door of Emma’s room to find the girl awake and sitting up in her bed. She looked worse than she had the day before; tired and worn, but she was extremely happy.
Liam was seated beside her in a chair; just where he had been the night before. They were talking animatedly about her adventures in the Neverland with Britely the star.
Liam looked happier than Callie had ever seen him. He turned when Callie came to them, grinning at her. “She was telling me all kinds of tall tales! Stars and mermaids, pirates and Lost Boys!” He opened his hand and showed Callie the Neverland Compass.
“Do you know I think she might actually believe that this thing gets her to that Neverland place?” He cocked a disbelieving eyebrow at her.
Callie glanced at Emma, who was grinning, and then she looked back at Liam. “Do you think that it doesn’t?” She asked, playing the devil’s advocate.
He shrugged with a laugh. “I don’t think so, but I do know that this girl has got one tremendous imagination.”
“Well,” Callie gave Emma a lofty wink and a smile, “perhaps someday she can be a writer and make up hundreds of stories.”
Liam looked back at Emma with a satisfied smile and his shoulders relaxed. “She can be whatever she wants to be.”
The door of the room opened just then, and Joshua came through it; his eyes red and swollen, looking as if he had aged a decade overnight. His mouth was pressed closed into a tight line, and he walked to the end of Emma’s bed.