They were turning into the basement corridor of the old hospital when Skylights let out a roar. ‘Suffering codfish! What have we here?’ Coming from the direction of the morgue were the professor and Wendy. They looked around in a panic, like two rabbits caught in the headlights of a car. There was nowhere to run. The pirates soon overpowered them and led them back to the basement room.
Skylights was beside himself with rage when he saw O’Mullins all trussed up and was all for leaving him like that but Fitzsmee took pity on poor O’Mullins, who had no idea what had happened. ‘Come on, matey, I’ll get you out of there.’
‘I’m surrounded by idiots,’ grumbled Skylights.
A delighted Captain Hook actually smiled when Skylights woke him up and presented him with the double cigar holder he had found among the props. Behind the screen again, Hook lost no time in changing out of the dame’s clothes. There was a third roar followed by a loud ripping noise. Again, the pirates trembled, wondering what had set Hook off this time. When he finally made his appearance, Hook was sporting a crocodile’s tail.
‘Was that what the bump was?’ whispered Wendy.
‘Yes,’ said her father. ‘It’s my fault. I did my best but the technique is not quite perfect yet.’
Unbelievably, Hook was not at all fazed by the tail. Having a reptile part to use as a weapon seemed to amuse him greatly as he swished it this way and that, knocking things over and catching the pirates playfully behind the knees so that they went sprawling on all fours. He was enjoying himself so much he was disappointed when he heard the pirates making plans to leave.
‘Tie up the professor and Wendy,’ ordered Skylights. ‘Sorry if you thought we’d let you go, Professor. It just goes to show, you should never trust a pirate. But we need time to get away. I am sure you understand. Somebody will find you….. eventually!’
In spite of their struggles, John and Wendy, no match for the huge pirates, were soon all bundled up with the very duct tape they had used on O’Mullins, and left writhing on the cold hard floor. ‘You’ll be havin’ no need for this any time soon,’ said MacStarkey, emptying the professor’s wallet of all the cash that was in it. ‘We’ll have a wee celebratory drink wi’ this,’ he said, laughing as he tucked three £20 notes, and two fivers into his pocket. He tossed the wallet, with credit cards still inside, back down on the floor beside the struggling bodies and turned off the light as he left the room.
A dark silence engulfed the pair. Wendy began to cry. ‘No one will ever find us here, Dad,’ she sobbed. Although he didn’t say it, her father thought she could well be right.
CHAPTER 15
Home and Away
Doug sat at the computer, checking his email every five minutes. Beth paced the floor stopping now and then to look out the window. ‘Do you think they will come to the front door when they get back? Or will they have to come in the bedroom window? I’d better make sure it’s still open, just in case,’ said Beth, taking the stairs two at a time, glad of something to do.
It was the waiting that was the worst. It had only been eight hours since they discovered the children missing but to Beth it felt like eight days. She had kept herself busy in town and had found out a substantial amount about the Darlings, but since coming back to a childless house she was going out of her mind with worry. Every now and again, she fought back the tears and kept reassuring herself that Jack’s email was genuine and that the children, wherever they might be, were still alive, and happy. What kind of Christmas would this be without her children? She couldn’t bear to think of it. Just looking at the carefully wrapped parcels under the tree caused a lump in her throat as she thought of how she and Doug had lovingly and painstakingly chosen all the gifts they thought their children would enjoy. A sudden yell from Doug interrupted her thoughts.
‘Beth, there’s another email. It has just come in. Come and see.’ Doug opened the email and read aloud, ‘We are on our way home. See you very soon!’
‘I’d better phone the MacGregors right away, and the police too,’ said Beth.
‘Yes, phone Yvonne and Rob, but hold off on the police until the children get back. You know they don’t believe any of this stuff anyway. Besides the police said they would be back later to take away our computer so let’s just wait.’
No sooner had Beth rung the number of the house next door than they heard a clatter from upstairs, followed by shouts of, ‘Mum, Dad, we’re home,’ and what sounded like a ton of bricks tumbling down the stairs. The living room door burst open and three very lively, happy children ran into the room. Amy and Jack immediately hugged their parents while Shelley picked up the receiver that Beth had dropped and hearing her mum’s voice said, ‘Hi Mum. We’re back.’
There was a high pitched scream followed by a very loud, ‘Oh thank goodness. Rob! Rob! It’s Shelley, she’s back. Shelley, stay there. I’m coming to get you. Wait for me. Don’t dare step outside until I get there. I can’t believe it! Oh, are you OK? Are you well? Where have you been? Who took you? Did they hurt you? Just wait. We’ll be right there. Rob! Come on.’
‘Thank God, my prayers have been answered,’ said Beth, wiping away her tears with the back of her hand. ‘Come here both of you and give me another hug. I want to make sure I am not imagining things.’
A very excited Buster ran in circles round the children, wagging his tail and whimpering with joy. Everybody hugged everybody else in turn, including the dog.
Five minutes later relative calm was restored to the household. Beth poured a couple of glasses of wine for herself and Yvonne, while Doug fetched two cans of beer from the fridge and the kids clinked their lemonade glasses saying, ‘Cheers. Good to be home!’
‘We’re starving. What’s for tea?’ asked Jack.
‘You poor things. You didn’t even have breakfast this morning. I’ve got your favourite lentil soup cooking on the stove. It should be ready in about an hour. Have an apple or a banana for now. Or a biscuit?’ said Beth.
‘How about both?’ said Amy as she grabbed an apple and went in search of the biscuit tin. ‘I wonder if I can call Rochester on this apple….if I rub it hard enough on my thigh?’ She and Shelley giggled while Jack rolled his eyes.
‘Now then,’ said Doug, ‘you three have some explaining to do. We’ve all been worried sick here, and the police are out looking for you all over Edinburgh. We’ll have to phone them and they’re going to want some answers.’
Jack spoke first. ‘I know it sounds incredible and far fetched, but we really have been to Never Land with Peter Pan. The things we saw, the places we went to, the danger we were in….. it was unbelievable. Totally unbelievable.’
Yvonne could keep quiet no longer and began speaking. ‘As the oldest Jack, we hold you responsible for the girls’ disappearance. They wouldn’t have gone on their own. You must have tricked them into going somewhere with you. Were you off on one of your animal safaris that went wrong? Did you get lost? Is that it? You got lost and made up this whole thing about Peter Pan. I never heard anything of the kind in my life…..’ Yvonne prattled on.
‘Stop Mum,’ Shelley said sharply. ‘Don’t blame Jack. None of it was Jack’s fault at all. He tried to stop us going but some of the fairy dust got on him and he had no choice. And I’m glad he was with us. Without Jack we wouldn’t be home yet. He was much more useful than Peter Pan.’ She smiled coyly at Jack.
‘But Peter was helpful too,’ said Amy. ‘He has so many magic powers. And he led us home safely. I can’t wait to go back and see all the cool stuff we missed this time because of these dratted pirates.’
‘Hold it right there young lady,’ said Doug. ‘If you think you are going back to this whateverland place with that fairy tale laddie, you can think again.’
‘Never Land,’ insisted Amy. ‘And Peter is not a fairy tale. He’s real. He’s just like us. You’ll see. He’s waiting upstairs in the bedroom. I’ll get him!’ Amy went to the door and yelled, ‘Peter! Come down and meet our parents.’
; There was silence, both upstairs and down. The adults looked at each other.
Amy yelled again, but still nothing. She ran upstairs calling Peter’s name as she went, with Jack and Shelley following. The bedroom was empty and the window had been closed. Amy refused to believe that Peter wasn’t there and began searching under the bed and in the wardrobe. ‘He’s gone, Sis,’ said Jack, putting his arm round his little sister’s shoulders. ‘Come on let’s go downstairs and be happy that we’re home again.’
‘But I didn’t even get to say goodbye,’ said Amy her bottom lip trembling. ‘I wonder if we’ll ever see him again.’ The children went back downstairs to their waiting parents. ‘He’s not there,’ said Amy in a small sad voice. ‘But you have to believe us. He was there. He came back with us. And so did the fairies!’
‘I told you it wasn’t true,’ said Yvonne. ‘It’s just a tale they’ve made up to cover their disappearance…..and if you ask me…..’
Doug interrupted before Yvonne had a chance to say any more. ‘We have to let the police know the children are home, safe and well. They’ll need to call off the search.’ He dialled the police station while the children continued to tell their parents all the incredible things that had happened to them since they left home. They spoke with such conviction and authority that even Yvonne was beginning to believe them. All their stories matched. There were three possibilities. Either they were accomplished liars, or they had all had the same nightmare, or they were telling the truth and they had indeed had an ‘out of this world’ experience.
Beth suddenly remembered the story of the missing girl from their school. ‘Do any of you know Wendy Dante?’ she asked.
‘I sort of know who she is,’ said Jack. ‘She’s in the year above me though, so we don’t hang out or anything.’
‘I’ve heard of her,’ said Shelley. ‘Isn’t her dad quite famous? Is he an MP or something? He’s been on the TV, hasn’t he?’
‘He’s a scientist, actually,’ said Jack. ‘One of the specialists at Roslyn. He does all that cloning stuff and he’s pioneered some new techniques. Why d’you ask about Wendy?’
‘There was a piece in this morning’s paper about her being missing. But the police say her dad has gone away too so they are maybe just having a holiday,’ said Beth. The familiar heavy knocking of the police at the front door halted the conversation.
WPC Ferguson and DI Johnston looked seriously from one child to the other. ‘Well now, let’s start again and tell us the truth this time,’ said DI Johnston for the second time since he arrived. ‘You can be charged with wasting police time you know. If this is some story you made up to get yourselves on reality TV then you can forget it. Nobody is going to believe you. Now get on with it. Where did you really go when you left here?’
Once again the children stuck to their stories and repeated exactly the same as they had already told their parents. It was obvious to all the adults, including the police officers, that whatever the truth of the situation, the children firmly believed that they had been to Never Land with Peter Pan. With a sigh, the policewoman put her notebook away.
‘We’re getting nowhere with this investigation,’ said WPC Ferguson. ‘Perhaps we will have to get the children’s psychologist to question them individually. But with the holidays and everything that’s not going to happen now until after Christmas.’
‘By the way,’ interrupted Beth, as the police officers prepared to leave, ‘has there been any news on Professor Dante and his daughter?’
‘Nothing yet. But it hasn’t been five days so there isn’t a full investigation going on. A patrol car drove past their house and all looked peaceful. The professor’s car isn’t in the driveway so I guess he has just taken his daughter for a wee trip as a Christmas treat.’
‘I have some information that might be relevant,’ said Jack.
The two police officers turned simultaneously to face Jack and, although they said nothing, their raised eyebrows indicated, ‘We doubt it.’
‘You know we told you we couldn’t get back home because there was no fairy dust? Well, the reason for that was some pirates had stolen it. The fairies heard them say that they needed it to fly over here to kidnap a scientist.’
‘Oh really?’ said DI Johnston patronisingly. ‘And did they say that Cinderella had murdered her two ugly sisters? Or that Hansel and Gretel had been eaten by the witch?’
‘I am only telling you what the fairies said.’
‘And did you hear them say these actual words?’ asked WPC Ferguson.
‘Well no, because fairies only tinkle like bells. But Peter translated for us,’ Jack replied.
‘And this Peter….would that be Peter Pan? The boy who never grew up?’ she asked.
‘Yeah that’s right,’ said Jack.
‘Well sonny, we’ve got news for you,’ said DI Johnston. ‘Peter Pan is a fictitious character and I would have thought by your age you would know the difference between fact and fiction.’
Jack was incensed by this remark and felt like punching the detective on the nose. He clenched his fists but counted to ten. He was in enough trouble without getting charged with assaulting a police officer. ‘Yesterday,’ he began, taking a deep breath to calm himself, ‘I would have wholeheartedly agreed with you sir. But today, I know different.’
‘I think there might be something in what my son says,’ said Beth. ‘There’s more to this story than meets the eye. Take a look at what I found out yesterday.’ She began unfolding a sheet of paper. ‘Did you know a Darling family was living in Kensington Gardens in 1901? It is right here in the census. And read this newspaper article.’ She picked up another sheet of paper from the desk. ‘During the war years a young girl was found on the roof of that very house. It seems she was out all night and she died of pneumonia. Why was she there? What was she waiting for? If the Darlings were real perhaps Peter Pan was too.’ She sipped her wine.
‘Look Mrs Paton, we can understand why you wanted a wee drink when your children came home. But this will all seem different when you sober up in the morning.’
Now Beth, too, was livid and felt like slapping the policeman hard. How dare he suggest she was drunk? ‘I’m completely sober inspector and I am only saying what Jack said might be worth investigating. If the professor and his daughter have been kidnapped by pirates they could be in serious danger.’
‘Yes, yes, Mrs Paton. Just leave us to do our job and you do yours. Take better care of your children in future. Or it might be you we are investigating! Good night and Merry Christmas to you all.’ And with that the police officers turned and left.
‘What a cheek. What a nerve he had. That’s all the thanks we get for trying to help police with their enquiries,’ said Beth.
‘Forget about it, dear,’ said Doug. ‘The most important thing is that our children are home safely and in time for Christmas. We should all do something nice together tomorrow since it’ll be Christmas Eve. What do you think?’
‘Good idea, Dad,’ said Jack. ‘Can we go to the cinema? There’s a good film on at the Astoria.’
‘What about tickets for the pantomime?’ suggested Shelley.
‘I’d rather go skating at the open air ice rink in Princes Street Gardens,’ said Amy. ‘Some girls in our class were talking about going. Jody went last year and said it was ace.’
‘All these ideas sound good, so what shall it be?’ began Yvonne. ‘What film is on, and would we all like it? We may be too late to get tickets for the Panto. You know how these shows sell out quickly. But we could try. And what is the weather forecast for tomorrow? There’s no point in going skating if it is raining……’
‘Would you like another beer, Rob?’ asked Beth. ‘I’ll top up our glasses of wine, and we can all discuss what to do tomorrow.’
‘Mum, would it be OK if we went upstairs and watched a DVD in my room?’ said Jack. ‘Just until the soup is ready?’
‘On one condition,’ smiled Beth. ‘No going off to Never Land!’
>
‘We won’t,’ promised Jack. ‘Not tonight anyway.’ He smiled back. The children made their way upstairs and into Jack’s room. They began talking as soon as they closed the door and the DVD was soon forgotten.
‘I wonder where Peter went,’ Amy said. ‘I can’t believe he would’ve gone without saying goodbye.’
‘You know Peter. He’s more than a bit selfish,’ replied Jack. ‘He only ever thinks about himself.’
‘Jack’s right. Peter was such a show off,’ Shelley said.
‘But he was exciting. You have to admit that. And he did bring us back,’ said Amy. ‘He’s not all that selfish.’
‘Wonder why nobody believes us about what happened?’ said Shelley.
‘Can you blame them? It’s all a bit far fetched,’ said Jack. ‘I wouldn’t believe it either if I hadn’t been there.’
‘Shhh. Listen,’ said Shelley. ‘Do you hear anything?’
‘I can hear tinkling….. like bells,’ said Jack.
‘Me too,’ added Amy. ‘Could it be Tinker Bell?’
‘Look there’s tiny light outside my window,’ said Jack as he opened it to look outside. Sitting on the roof was Peter.
‘Well, well, well, there you all are. I was waiting outside the other bedroom window for you until Tinks said she saw you in here. Were you hiding from me?’ he said, climbing into Jack’s bedroom.
‘What the devil…..?’ began Jack but he was drowned out by his little sister.
‘PETER!’ she shouted. ‘I knew you wouldn’t go without saying goodbye.’
‘Shhh, Amy, not so loud,’ said Peter. ‘We don’t want your parents up here. They won’t believe I am who I say I am and they would have me arrested and that wouldn’t do. We have work to do.’
‘Work?’ asked Shelley. ‘What do you mean?’
‘We are not going back to Never Land tonight. I promised my mum,’ said Jack.
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