The Neverland Girl

by Dash Hoffman

  The Neverland

  Girl

  By

  Dash Hoffman

  The Neverland Girl

  Written by Dash Hoffman

  Published by Paris Publishing

  Copyright © 2017 Angel Canann

  Cover art copyright © by Angel Canann

  Cover design by Angel Canann

  Cover and interior art by El Geron

  Cover copyright by Angel Canann

  Interior art and imagery copyright © Angel Canann

  The moral right of the author has been asserted.

  The Neverland Girl characters, names, and related indicia which are not named in the original Peter Pan book and play by J.M. Barrie are trademarks of and copyright by Angel Canann.

  All rights reserved.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

  No part of this publication in any format may be reproduced or transmitted by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recorded, or otherwise, without the express written prior permission of the copyright owner.

  The scanning, uploading, and distribution of this book without express written permission by the copyright owner is a theft of the owner’s intellectual property. If you would like permission to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), please use the contact form at www.got-moxie.com.

  Also by Dash Hoffman

  Mrs. Perivale and the Blue Fire Crystal

  Mrs. Perivale and the Dragon Prince

  The Starling Chronicles

  Journey Blue

  The Wish Weaver

  Voyager: The Butterfly Effect

  …and many more.

  Dedications

  To all children, lost or found, may your whole lives be an awfully big adventure.

  To my children, Bernadette and Rachael, and my grandchildren. You are my greatest treasure. My wandering compass will always point home to you.

  To Joshua Reed, one of the kindest, most compassionate, and amazing healers that ever drew a breath; this world is a far better and mightily blessed place to have you in it. Keep going dear one, I am so proud of you.

  To Nico, Jack, Peter, George, and Michael Llewelyn Davies, and J.M. Barrie, from whence Neverland came. For each of you, and for Princess Diana, for whom Neverland will live on forever in dreams.

  Thank you to Rebecca Proctor for ‘Pip’, Joshua Thomas for ‘Chance’, Jewel Cavazos for ‘Firefly’, and Mel Kelley for ‘Patches’ and ‘Pockets’.

  And to the very small girl in the unicorn hat, with a feather boa, and fairy wings, who knelt on one knee and bowed her head before the Peter Pan statue in Kensington Gardens. You are the very spirit of Neverland.

  Keep the faith, always.

  Table of Contents

  Chapter One Friends New & Old

  Chapter Two Peter Pan

  Chapter Three Second Star to the Right and Straight on ‘til Morning

  Chapter Four The Neverland

  Chapter Five Quest for the Neverland Compass

  Chapter Six Tall Tales

  Chapter Seven A Fallen Star

  Chapter Eight Fantasy and Reality

  Chapter Nine An Adventure with Mermaids

  Chapter Ten Hope Springs Eternal

  Chapter Eleven A Shot in the Dark

  Chapter Twelve Britely the Neverland Star

  Chapter Thirteen A Different Path

  Chapter Fourteen Peter

  A note from Dash

  In 1929 J.M. Barrie, who wrote Peter Pan, gave the copyright and all royalties for the book and play to the Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children in London, so that Peter Pan could always look after sick kids.

  In 1988 Prime Minister Lord Callaghan petitioned Parliament to amend their copyright act to make the Peter Pan copyright perpetual; you see, all UK copyrights expire 70 years after the death of the creator. Parliament passed it, and Peter Pan became the copyright that wouldn't grow up, at least in the UK, and the hospital kept the benefits which contribute to a major part of their funding.

  In the states, the copyright for the book has expired. Royalties are not due the hospital for books or films that use Peter Pan and the other characters in the story.

  My story is about a little girl who's quite ill, and who lives in an “unnamed” children's hospital in London. In keeping true to Mr. Barrie, it's only good form that a portion of the royalties from every sale of The Neverland Girl will go to the Great Ormond Street Hospital in the UK, and to St. Jude's Children's Hospital in the states, so that Peter Pan will continue to take care of little ones who are very sick, as Mr. Barrie intended. Thank you for being a part of that!

  There are a few lines in this story that are straight out of Peter Pan, shared here exactly as they were written by J.M. Barrie. They are noted, and included herein to stay as close to the canon of Peter Pan as possible, and to remain true to Mr. Barrie’s world of the Neverland, the Lost Boys, and of Peter Pan himself. May this be a genuine continuum of that first great adventure.

  Chapter One

  Friends New & Old

  Magic exists; sometimes in the laugh of a child, sometimes in the comforting hug of a friend, and always in the never ending reaches of our imaginations.

  A solid sea of morning fog stubbornly filled every pocket of space, every nook and cranny, twisting and unfurling tentacles along each edge it crept over. With an impenetrable veil it shrouded the four staring faces of Big Ben as the bell inside the towering clock banged out commandingly over the rooftops of London, announcing the nine o’clock hour; though there was no sunlight to prove the day.

  For just the blink of an eye, though there was no light shining on the clock, what seemed to be a shadow; the shadow of a boy, flitted across its northern face and then vanished. Of course it couldn’t have been anything of the kind. It was, after all, only fog.

  Far above, heaven-bent steeples of churches and a forest of chimneys rose stalwart through their cloudy cloak, like monoliths in the ocean.

  If someone were to fly low over the city, northward from the old clock and the winding river Thames, past Covent Garden and the British Museum, just a hop, skip, and a little jump from a pretty tree lined park with a thick carpet of grass, they would see a special place.

  It was not special for any reason pertaining to the place itself, to be sure, but rather because of the inhabitants of it. It was a sanctuary of healing for little ones who didn’t feel well; a children’s hospital.

  A single set of muffled footsteps echoed softly from the pavement in an even rhythm through the hush of weather, leading to the entrance of the hospital. The maker of those steps approached the door. It slid open, parting automatically in the center, bidding her welcome.

  She stopped at the reception desk, her loose curls of dark auburn hair hanging damp upon the shoulders of her raincoat; her brown eyes warm, and her smile bright.

  “Good morning. I’m here to see Dr. Joshua Macintosh.”

  The receptionist smiled and nodded behind her. “Just take the lift.”

  “Thank you!”

  The woman walked through a strange pool of colorful light on the floor; a projection from the ceiling that showed water and fish in a big pond. As she walked over the floor and through the light, the projected water rippled and moved, and the fish swam around her feet. She smiled, thinking that children must love to play there.

  The elevator doors slid open and she stepped inside with a chuckle over the fishes. She set the full canvas bag she had been carrying down beside her, lifted her hat from her head, tidied her hair, and then tucked her hat into h
er purse.

  The elevator chimed. She picked up the bag and stepped out onto the fourth floor, looking up at the sign facing her. It read ‘Oncology’. The fourth floor of the children’s hospital was dedicated solely to children who had cancer, and were being treated for it.

  After stopping at the welcome sink to give her hands a good washing, the woman went to the nurse’s station. A nurse who looked to be about the same age as her, somewhere in her mid-thirties, raised her eyes from her desk and smiled.

  “Hello Abbie.” The woman greeted the nurse. They had met once before, and remembered each other.

  “Well hello, Miss Passerine. How are you today?” Abbie gave her a light smile. The nurse was dressed in a crisp, clean, bright uniform.

  “I’m fine, thank you.” The woman gave her a pleasant smile in return. “Please, call me Callie. Is Josh around?” she asked hopefully, “I told him I’d come by to drop off some books for the children and families.”

  Abbie stood with a grateful smile. “Thank you so much for doing that, Callie. Every good thing around here helps, and sometimes the hours and days or weeks that go by are difficult for the children and their families to bear. It makes the time pass easier with something as delightful as those books you write. The children just love them.” She nodded her head. “I’ll go see if Dr. Macintosh is free.”

  Abbie disappeared and Callie sat in a nearby seat to wait. She had only come to the hospital one other time to donate some of the books she’d written and published. Usually she gave the books to her friend Joshua to take in to the hospital, but he’d been busy this time, so she’d decided to take them herself and save him the trip.

  He came around the corner of a wall a few moments later, tall and solidly built, with a grin on his face and a stethoscope around his neck. His red hair was trimmed very short and his light eyes were shining.

  “Callie!” He beamed, hugging her. “The famous author dropping in to share her adventures in print!”

  She laughed at him and returned the hug. “I’m glad to bring these in. Hopefully the kids and their parents will enjoy them.”

  “Oh definitely! It’s always a treat to get some good books in here. All the ones you gave me before have found homes, and we needed some new ones.” He chuckled softly.

  “I haven’t seen you in so long! I know you’ve been really busy here. Do you have time for a cup of coffee now, or should we take a raincheck?” Callie looked hopeful that it would work out just then.

  “Actually, I’m in between rounds, so I do have a little bit of time. We could have coffee. I think the conversation will be better than the coffee, but it always is anyway, isn’t it!”

  “That it is. Always.” Callie grinned back at him and was about to hand him the canvas bag of books she’d brought with her, when Abbie waved her hand at Josh from her desk.

  “Dr. Macintosh, you have a call. It’s Dr. Fielding. He says it’s urgent.” She gave them both a sympathetic look.

  Joshua sighed lightly. “Let me just grab that call really quickly. I’m sorry. I’ll be right back. Make yourself comfortable and we’ll pick this up in just a minute.”

  He dashed off, and Callie smiled and sank down into the chair again.

  The waiting area was small, though the space was wide open. The nurse’s station stood sentry in the middle of the room, with a big hall on either side of it. The walls were white, but covered in artworks of vibrant characters having fun and playing. The doors were each painted bright colors, adding a look of cheer to the place.

  The telephone rang, and rang again, and Abbie spoke to different people as machines hummed and beeped from unseen corners all around.

  Callie wondered what it would be like to work in a place such as that all day, each day. She was taking it in when another nurse came around the corner, entering the space from the recesses of the hallway to Callie’s right.

  The nurse was pushing a little girl in a wheelchair. The girl was a slight, small thing, bundled up in a soft fuzzy blue blanket.

  Callie noticed right away that she had no hair, and a sudden realization made her heart catch in her chest. The girl was a cancer patient.

  Curling her hands together in front of her mouth, the girl smiled shyly, and as her big brown eyes met Callie’s, everything else around the two of them seemed to become still and grow silent.

  Callie could not hear the phones or the conversations, the beeping and humming machines, or any of the noises filling the room. There was only the magic of a moment shared with a sweet child, and an unspoken connection between them.

  Callie’s heart melted then and there. She smiled and waved at the girl. The child lifted her small hand and waved back, her smile growing wider.

  The nurse who had been pushing the wheelchair spoke to Abbie. “We’re done for now, should I take her back to her room?”

  Abbie answered without looking up as she wrote something down. “No, Dr. Macintosh will want to see her first. Thank you. She’s all right there. He’s on a phone call. He’ll be straight back.”

  The other nurse left then, and Abbie continued to work, picking up the phone.

  Callie leaned toward the girl slightly, narrowing the gap of a couple of feet between them.

  “Hello, I’m Callie.” She introduced herself.

  “Hi, Callie.” The girl answered in a soft voice, her smile big as she held her hands together again. “I’m Emma.”

  “Well, it’s very nice to meet you, Emma.” Callie tilted her head slightly. “Do you mind if I ask… how old are you?”

  Emma lifted her chin proudly. “I’m nine!”

  Callie was surprised, though she didn’t say it. Emma was small for a nine year old. Instead, she nodded. “I loved being nine. It was my favorite age when I was little.”

  “I like it, too. This is the oldest I’ve ever been!” Emma giggled.

  “That will be true all of your life.” Callie laughed and winked at her. “No matter how old you are, it will be the oldest you’ve ever been.”

  Emma eyed her curiously. “Do you have a kid in here?”

  “No, actually, I don’t have any children. I’m here to see Dr. Macintosh. He’s my friend, so I came to visit him.”

  Emma brightened. “I love Dr. J! He’s my favorite doctor here, and he’s the boss of the whole fourth floor! He’s my friend, too.” She grew quiet a moment. “I don’t really have any other friends here.”

  Callie’s heart caught as if it had been snagged on a sharp nail. “You don’t? Why is that?”

  With a soft sigh, Emma lowered her hands to her lap, keeping her chocolate eyes on Callie. “Well, I live here for right now, until I can get well enough to go home. The other kids here come and go, or sometimes if they stay they aren’t well enough to leave bed. Nobody else is here long enough to make friends with.”

  Callie’s stomach tightened. “You live here?”

  Emma shrugged. “It’s not so bad. The food is yummy, and the nurses are so nice, and Dr. J takes really good care of me, but… it gets a little lonely.” She raised her hand and pinched at her lips for a moment as if she wasn’t sure if she should tell a secret or not.

  “Sometimes I talk to the man in the moon. He’s my friend, but he goes away now and then and he’s not always there. I tell him everything.” She seemed to hold her breath, waiting to see what Callie would say about her confession.

  Callie smiled, though her heart ached for the young girl. “He knows many of my secrets too, Emma. He’s a good secret keeper, the man in the moon.”

  Emma smiled at their shared understanding. A sheen of confidence came over her. “What did you come to see Dr. J for?”

  Callie touched her hand to the bag of books at her feet. “Well, I write books, and I brought some for him to share with the children and families here in the hospital. He’s been one of my best friends for a very long time, and I like to help him out when I can, and I really like to help the kids here!”

  Emma perked up; eyes bright and beaming. �
��Oh! I love books. What kind of books do you write?”

  “I write fantasy fiction. Kind of like Harry Potter and Peter Pan. Do you like books like that?” Callie asked with a cocked brow and a grin.

  Emma tilted her head slightly. “Well, I know a little about who Harry Potter is, but not very much. I just know that there are books and movies about him. I haven’t heard of Peter Pan. My dad doesn’t really like me to read books like that. He always says that we have to keep our feet on the ground and our heads out of the clouds.”

  Callie’s mouth fell open and she blinked. “You don’t know who Peter Pan is?” She couldn’t imagine any parent keeping fairytales from a child’s reach, but she wouldn’t say it out loud to the young girl before her.

  “No, sorry. Mostly I read school books. I need to catch up for when I go back to school. It’s been a long time since I was there. I don’t know how far behind I am.” Worry knitted itself across Emma’s forehead.

  Callie gave her a kind, reassuring smile. “I just bet that you are miles and miles ahead of them if the only books you read are school books!”

  “Do you really think so?” Relief flooded Emma’s face.

  “I’m certain of it. You probably spend more time studying than they do.” Callie considered that the reason Emma had more time to study was because she wasn’t out playing as the other children were, or watching television and spending hours on video games. She guessed that Emma probably had a good deal of time to read school books, if she was living in the children’s hospital.

  Emma studied her with interest. “Do you come to see Dr. J very often?”

  Callie shook her head. “No, sadly, I don’t. He’s a busy man. I only came today to drop off these books. Why do you ask?”

  Her fingers toyed with the edge of her fuzzy blue blanket as she inhaled long and deep. “Well, I really like talking to you. I was thinking that if you come back to see Dr. J, then maybe you could see me too, when you are here.” Her small face turned down and she gazed at her hands in her lap. “Then you could be my friend, if you wanted to.”