Panic

Chapter Ten

Chapter Ten

            We made good time and reached the Lost Boys compound long before dawn.  We dropped anchor in the shallow water near the beach on the other side of the island.  We crept ashore and Peter led the way to the compound.  It was deep in the woods, off of any dirt trail that had already existed.  We came to a dense part of the forest, and Hook looked at Peter.

            “I think you’ve led us to the wrong place, boy,” he said, twisting his mouth.

            “It’s not,” Peter said, pointing at a hole in the ground.

            There was a streak of green-gold glitter, and a tiny pixie was hovering in front of Peter.

            “Tinkerbell!” I exclaimed, looking at the pretty little fairy.

            “Wendy,” Tinkerbell said.  “It’s nice to see you again.  I wish it could be in different, more pleasant circumstances.”

            I smiled at her.  “Me too,” I agreed.

            “You’d best come inside,” Tinkerbell said, looking upwards at the lightening sky.  “It will be dawn soon.”

            Both Hook and Peter gestured for me to go first.  I looked to the hole in the ground.  “Jump,” Tinkerbell said.

            “Excuse me?” I asked, looking at her,

            “Jump,” she repeated.  “Now.”

            I looked at Peter, who shrugged and nodded.  I stepped close to the hole and then jumped into the darkness below.  The fall was about five seconds, and I landed with a thump on a rope net.  “Ow,” I said.  I sat up and looked around the room I was in.  It was dark, with a lantern hanging on the wall next to the net that only illuminated a few metres away from the net.

            “Who’s there?” I heard a voice say.

            “Wendy,” I said.

            “Wendy?”  A match was lit and I saw the face of a young boy, perhaps eleven or twelve.  “Who’s Wendy?”

            “I am,” I said, slightly irritated.  “And you are?”

            “Nibs,” the boy said, blowing the match out and coming into the circle of light surrounding the net.

            “Nibs?” I asked.  “What sort of name is Nibs?”

            “What sort of name is Wendy?” the boy retorted.

            “A proper one,” I shot back.

            “My real name is Norbert,” Nibs said.

            “And what on earth is wrong with the name Norbert?” I asked.

            “It’s very long,” Nibs said.  “Anyways, I like Nibs better.  It’s more...”

            “Uncivilized?” I finished.

            Nibs beamed at me.  “Yes!” he exclaimed.  “That’s precisely the word I was looking for.”

            I shook my head.  “Any chance you can get me down?” I asked.

            Nibs shook his head.  “No, miss,” he said.  “Miss Tinkerbell says I’m not to let anyone down until she comes back.  And I’m also to take your weapons, so, if you’d hand them over.”