Dizgaia ~ The Dreamfinder's Daughter

Chapter 28 ~ Hooked!

Mia paced the hideout anxiously. Peter hadn't told her what he was doing. He said there wasn't any time. Although he seemed confident in what he was doing, and although she did trust that he would return to take her home, his sudden mysteriousness worried her. What could it be that was so incredibly important?

With the way he told her to stay in the hideout and not to emerge, and giving her his dagger, it was clear he understood the danger posed to her. So what was it that he had to do first? There'd been a sense of urgency to his actions. He said he wasn't going to confront Hook, but he'd been armed nonetheless, and his whole demeanor had been tense, as though ready for some sort of trial or tribulation.

Pacing and fretting wasn't doing her any good. She had to take her mind off things until Peter returned. Mia grabbed her sketchbook and took a seat on one of the bunks. She leaned against the earthen wall and began to sketch aimlessly. This was a suitable distraction until the sound of panicked chimes resounded from within the underground tunnel and a golden orb darted wildly into the hideout. Mia gasped as Tinker Bell bounced off the walls and hurled towards her.

"Whoa!" she exclaimed, holding her sketchbook in front of her face to block a potential blow. But no blow fell. Instead, Tinker Bell tugged energetically on her hair.

"Ow, ow! Whoa, whoa! What are you doing? Quit it!"

Perhaps the short-tempered fairy had learned of the romantic rendezvous between Mia and Peter and was now here to assault her. However, one look at the fairy up close and Mia realized it was not anger in her features, but panic.

"What is it?" she asked.

Tinker Bell gave an emphatic chime.

"Is it Peter?"

Tinker Bell nodded.

Mia felt her heart sink. "Is he in trouble?"

Tinker Bell nodded again and tugged on Mia's hair.

"Okay, I'm coming," she said, setting aside her sketchbook and leaping to her feet. "Show me the way!"

Tinker Bell led Mia through the woods and out to the beach where she and Peter had spent the past two days engaged in playful, romantic escapades. But there was no sign of Peter now.

"Where is he, Tink?"

Tinker Bell darted towards the rocky ridge which overlooked the lagoon on one side and the western beach on the other.

"Up there?" she asked.

Tinker Bell nodded and shot upwards. Mia hurried behind.

"TINK!" she called. "Can you dust me so I can follow you up?"

There was no response. No tinkling chimes, nor any sign of the little pixie at all. Climbing would be no easy task, but if Peter was in trouble...

Setting her jaw determinedly, Mia used the outcroppings and craggy footholds to scale up the ridge. She wished Tinker Bell had the foresight to cover her with a little pixie dust to make this easier. The fairy had been in such a hurry to get to Peter, and now there was so sign of her. Perhaps an ill fate had befallen her as well.

As Mia climbed, she did not pause to consider the danger she might be walking into when she reached the top. None of that mattered. All that mattered was that Peter was in trouble, and she must do everything in her power to help him.

Finally, she hauled herself over the side of the ridge, panting and sweating. Shakily, she rose to her feet and looked around. This was the same ridge that she, Peter, and the Lost Boys had stood on almost an hour ago. On one side of the ridge was the western beach. On the other was Mermaid Lagoon and the Jolly Roger. Mia knew upon which side she preferred to stand, but she also feared she knew which side Peter would have been most likely to have encountered trouble. Nervously, she approached the side which overhung the lagoon and faced the Jolly Roger. There was still no sign of Peter, or Tinker Bell for that matter.