Peter Pan and Wendy

Chapter 2

"Should we wake Mother?" Tootles says, looking down at Wendy.

"Let's dump water on her!" The Twins pipe up. The Lost Boys grin at the idea.

"No, no, no. We can't dump water on her!" Says Nibs, earning protests from the other boys.

"Why not?" Slightly says with arms crossed in defiance.

"Yeah! Why not?" Cubby says with a frown.

Wendy's eyes flutter open and she sees the Lost Boys gathered around the hammock. Not seeing that she is already awake, they begin to argue over how to go about waking her up.

"Boys," Wendy says. They don't hear her, and continue to fight each other. Slightly is wrestling the twins and almost has them tied up. Cubby hits Slightly on the head with his club. Nibs tries to stop the nonsense by yelling at the fighting boys and Tootles sits in the corner, not knowing what to do. Just as Slightly pulls back the rock he has placed in his slingshot, Wendy tries once more to get their attention.

"Boys!" She shouts.

"Mother! You're awake!" Cubby exclaims.

"You're awake!" The others cheer. They run to her, but the Twins -who are tied up- trip and knock the boys over. Laughing, Wendy picks up Tootles and with a kiss on the cheek, she places him on her lap.

"Now what were you boys fighting about this time?" she asks them.

"They were going to dump water on you to wake you up!" Nibs exclaims.

Quick to defend himself, Slightly says, "It was only a joke, Nibs."

"We weren't gonna dump water on you, Mother. Promise," Cubby adds.

"Well," Wendy says slowly, "seeing as no real harm was done, I'll forgive you...as long as it was only a joke."

"It was!" The Twins say quickly.

"Then all is forgiven!" Wendy says with a smile. She notices Peter is missing. Surely he would have come when he heard the Lost Boys fighting again.

"Where's Peter?" She asks them.

"He went somewhere with Tink," Slightly replies. A loud growl caught their attention.

"Sorry," says Cubby, "I'm really hungry."

"So am I," says Wendy, "How about we go make some breakfast? I'm sure Peter and Tinkerbell will be hungry when they get back."

"We can get some berries!" The Twins say cheerfully.

"Alright!" Wendy says, "Cubby and Tootles, could you two find some eggs? Slightly, you and Nibs can help me with the fire."

With that, the Twins, Cubby, and Tootles run off and Slightly and Nibs follow Wendy to the fire pit. The two boys are able to build a fire without too much bickering while Wendy finds a pan. Cubby and Tootles soon come back with some eggs that Wendy begins cooking. The eggs are ready when the Twins arrive with two pails overflowing with wild raspberries. Together, they set plates on the table and Wendy puts food on each plate. Just as she puts food on the final plate, Tinkerbell and Peter return.

"Peter! Tink! We made breakfast!" Cubby exclaims.

"Mother suggested we make it," Nibs explains.

"Yeah! Nibs and I built the fire!" Slightly says with excitement.

"We got the berries!" The Twins add.

"And Tootles and me got the eggs," Cubby says proudly.

"Wow! You guys sure were busy while we were gone!" Peter says with a laugh.

"Thank goodness, too! Because I am starving," Tinkerbell says.

"Well then let's eat," Wendy says with a smile. The Lost Boys and Tinkerbell rush to their seats and start to gobble down their food. Wendy takes her seat next to Peter and eats some of the delicious raspberries the Twins found. Peter lays his hand on hers and leans over.

"Did you sleep well?" he whispers low enough so only Wendy can hear. Looking at his face, she can see his concern.

"Wonderfully," she replies happily, "better than I have in a long time."

"I'm so glad," he says with some relief. He gently strokes the back of her hand with his thumb and then moves his hand away. Wendy's hand is left with tingles that she tries to ignore.

"Hey Peter," Slightly speaks up, "Where'd you and Tink go?"

"We went to get something of mine," Peter replies with a smirk on his face.

"Did you get a treasure map?" Cubby asks with excitement.

"Maybe," Peter says simply.

"A treasure map?" Tootles asks with a grin.

"Can we look for the treasure, Peter? Oh can we, please?" Nibs begs.

"No," Peter replies, "I don't think you boys are brave enough."

"Are too!" The Twins exclaimed defensively.

"I don't know," Peter says in a slow, teasing manor, "I think you need to prove to me you can do it."

"How?" All the boys ask at once.

"Hmmm...Wendy, how do you think they should do it?" He asks Wendy.

"Let me think," she says, pretending to ponder it a moment, "I think you boys would be pretty brave if you could clean up all the dishes." Tinkerbell smiles.

"Oh I agree!" The pixie says, "if you can clean up the dishes, you must be brave!"

"Alright then," Peter says, "if you boys can handle that, we can go hunt for treasure." The Lost Boys run to gather the dishes and wash them up in record time. When they finish, they rush to Peter.

"We're all done," Nibs says.

"We washed all the dishes!" Slightly exclaims.

"Every single one," Cubby points out.

"Can we hunt for treasure?" The Twins ask.

"Please?" Asks Tootles. The Lost Boys all look up at Peter with pleading eyes.

"I don't see why not! You boys proved you're brave enough to handle the challenge," Peter says. They cheer excitedly. "Tink, will you get the map?"

"Sure," Tinkerbell says, flying away. She comes back moments later with the map in hand.

"Alright, boys!" Peter proclaims, "let's find some treasure!" The Lost Boys cheer with glee and hurry to grab their things. There is no time to waste when there is treasure to find!