The Neverland Girl

by Dash Hoffman

  Marlowe briefly glanced at her before darting his smoldering eyes right back to the creature.

  Alice gave the Inkling a small smile. “All right, little Chippa Mari. I suppose I will come with you.”

  He was about to speak when Marlowe took a few steps closer, pressing his body against Alice’s arm. Alice chuckled at the cat. “It seems that Marlowe will be coming with me. I should’ve guessed that.”

  Chippa Mari frowned, eyeing Marlowe. “…um, ‘et ‘esn’t a good idea ‘ef ‘thes cat comes-”

  Marlowe growled deep and loud, bristling sharply as his golden eyes pierced the Inkling.

  “Oh!” He squeaked, “Okay yes, ‘es fine, I guess.” Chippa Mari nodded humbly, folding his paws together and sulking.

  All six of the other cats on the bed began to walk toward Alice, looking from the creature to her. “Actually it appears that they all want to come. I didn’t expect that. I hope that’s all right.”

  The Inkling looked doubtful, and shook his head. “Not good. I doesn’t think they should-” he paused, looking around at them, staring at him. “…uh… ‘es going to make a lot harder to… um…” He shrank down slightly under their hard stares and grew quiet. “‘Es fine. I guess. Have to think of some way to explain to-” He stopped himself and raised his eyes to Alice, giving her a pained smile.

  “When should we go?” She asked evenly.

  “Now. Have to go right now.” The Inkling answered anxiously.

  She nodded. “All right. Chippa Mari, how do you disappear like you do?”

  He smiled, holding his paws together as he gazed up at her with his wide, round eyes. “You can just call me Chippa. Mari ‘es tribe name, so we all share name Mari, because we all one tribe, but you can call me Chippa.”

  He lifted his tail out of the nautilus spiral against his back, and carefully fanned out all of the delicate fringed feathers, waving them almost like a fan as he turned to one side.

  “All Inklings ‘es having a tail like ‘thes. When we ‘es born ‘et’s small and wild, like a rooster tail, but we grow and older get, tails grow bigger, softer, more beautiful. We ‘es ‘en danger, or we need to hide, then we cover ourselves ‘weth tail completely, like a chameleon. Hides us so we blend ‘weth everything around us, and we can’t be seen. We ‘es staying there, but can’t be seen at all.”

  He covered himself with his tail, arching it over his head and all the way down the front of him, until the feathers touched the blanket in front of his toes, and he looked as if he were in a feather bubble for a moment, but then he disappeared.

  Chippa lifted his tail and reappeared a moment later, smiling up at Alice. She raised one eyebrow at him. “You use it when you’re in danger, or when you need to hide?” She asked with suspicion.

  “Yes.” Chippa nodded.

  “Or when you want to be sneaky.” She added, giving him a meaningful look.

  The tips of his ears drooped slightly, and he looked down at his paws. “Yes. Sometimes then, also.”

  “All right, Chippa, you said we need to leave right away. I’ll just get dressed and gather a few things, and tell Henderson that we’re going. I want you to stay right here until I come back for you and the cats.” She asserted smartly.

  He gave her a nod and moved off of her lap so she could get up. The cats circled around him, all of them studying him closely. Chippa didn’t move as he gazed about at them nervously.

  Oscar reached out one little orange paw to bat at the fringy feathers of Chippa’s tail, and Chippa drew his tail in close to his body as Jynx gave Oscar a stern look. Oscar pulled his paw back and sat still as they waited.

  Alice dressed and then went from one side of the room to the other, to the bathroom, back into the bedroom, down the hall, and returned to the bedroom again, all the while stuffing various things into her ever widening black bag.

  Finally she waved at the cats and Chippa, and told them to follow her downstairs. The group of them went into the kitchen, where Henderson was putting clean teacups away. He glanced over his shoulder at Alice and his mouth fell open.

  “Madam! What are you dressed for? Certainly you aren’t going anywhere at this hour! Are you all right?” He worried over her.

  “I’m fine, Henderson, thank you. I’m going out. I don’t know how long I’ll be gone.” She answered simply.

  He gaped at her. “What, in the middle of the night? So late? Where are you going?”

  Alice stepped aside and Chippa came out from behind her; his little paws held to his mouth as he gazed up shyly at Henderson, who stood nearly two feet taller than Alice. Henderson gasped loudly.

  “What in… -oh my goodness!” He fumbled with the teacup he held, and then shot a wide-eyed look at Alice. “Shall I call animal control at once?” He set the cup down and started for the phone on the wall.

  Alice raised her hand and shook her head. “No, thank you, Henderson. This is Chippa. He’s an Inkling, so he tells me.”

  Henderson blinked hard, overtaken with exasperation. “He… -he speaks?!”

  He stared at Chippa for a long minute, and then looked back at Alice. “Madam, I must insist. You cannot go.”

  Chippa drew in a breath and turned his big eyes to Alice. “But… but Messus Perf… Pel… Peliv…” He stammered worriedly.

  Alice leaned down closer to him. “Perivale. Pear-ih-vahl.” She sounded out for him.

  “Pevi…” he tried again and shook his head, miserably ashamed. “I ‘es sorry. Can’t say ‘et. I has trouble ‘weth big words in your language.”

  “Can you say Alice?” She asked kindly.

  Before Chippa could utter a sound, Henderson stood straight up and gave Chippa a sharp look. “Madam, that won’t do at all!”

  Alice sighed and glanced from Henderson back to Chippa. “Henderson’s very proper, my dear, there’s no getting around that. Try saying Mrs. P.”

  Henderson balked, completely affronted.

  Chippa wrung his paws a little and gave it a try. “Messus P.” He brightened up and smiled widely when he realized he had gotten it right.

  “Well that’s-” Henderson began, horrified, but Alice held out her hand and stopped him.

  “That’s perfectly fine, Henderson. He can call me Mrs. P.” She gave them both a smile. “Now it’s time we were leaving.”

  Henderson grew greatly flustered. “You’re going out? With that… -with… Where are you going?” His voice rang with panic.

  “I think I’m going to Mari Village.” Alice answered thoughtfully.

  “A village? A vil… There aren’t any villages around here! You certainly can’t go anywhere like that alone! I’ll have to come with you, of course. There’s no question! I just need to pack a few-”

  Chippa’s mouth fell full open and his ears flattened to the back of his head as he narrowed his eyes angrily. “Heda… Henness… Hesson…” he was growing increasingly frustrated, “…now ’thes one has to come?” He finally shot out.

  The cats and Alice all turned to him in shock. Chippa curled his little paws into fists and pushed them backward in defiance.

  “No! ‘Thes ‘es very many! Chippa came for one! One! Chippa came to get one, and Chippa had to say yes to all these others…” he waved his paw wildly at the cats around him, “and Chippa didn’t want to, because Chippa already has explaining to do! Chippa says no! ‘Thes one cannot come! Chippa cannot explain all of you! ‘Es only supposed to be one! ‘Thes ‘es… -‘thes ‘es many more than one!”

  He was shouting, at least as much as his light voice could let him, and his naturally light tone didn’t lend itself easily to his frustration.

  Henderson was flying around the kitchen, shoving several things into his large, black leather shoulder bag. He spoke in half-thoughts as he bustled about.

  “Tea of course… -and medicine, can’t go anywhere without her pills… -must have… -cat food! An umbrella of course… -oh heavens, I’ve forgotten the-” He dashed madly out of the kitchen.

  Ali
ce lifted her chin and sniffed. “He can come if he wants to. I don’t care who you have to explain things to, he is with me, the cats are with me, and if you want me, you get them.”

  Chippa frowned deeply and glared. “Fine, but no more! ‘Thes ‘es all! Chippa already going to be ‘en trou…” He stopped short and turned toward the door.

  Alice followed him, and the cats trailed behind her. She picked up her umbrella cane and her black bag, and opened the door for all of them. “Why are you referring to yourself that way when you talk? You didn’t do that earlier.”

  “Chippa wasn’t upset earlier. Chippa very upset now! ‘Es how Chippa talks when he ‘es upset!” He snapped, marching hotly down the stairs with his tail fanned out widely, shuddering behind him.

  “Well Chippa, I’m sorry you’re upset, but you’ll need to hide yourself so no one will see you. It’s dark, but still, if you show yourself, there’s a chance someone might take notice of you. We probably don’t want that to happen. You may be difficult to explain.” Alice told him gently as they headed down the stairs to the sidewalk.

  Chippa stopped and touched his paw to his mouth thoughtfully. With a nod of understanding, he looked up at her. “‘Thes will work.” He answered, and faster than the blink of an eye, he had vanished.

  Where he had been standing, there was a small paw print that glowed like the embers in the fireplace, and like the root he had eaten. It only glowed a dark orange and red for a moment on the pavement, and then it faded away.

  Alice clapped her gloved hands together and giggled softly. “That’s brilliant, Chippa! How do you do that?”

  He parted his tail feathers just enough so that she could see his eyes and face and nothing else. “‘Et ‘es from Tinder Root. Warm paws when needs. Very warm. Follow me.” He replied quietly, and he vanished again.

  Glowing little paw prints appeared on the pavement behind him as he hurried along. Alice and the cats trailed them as the marks disappeared quickly.

  Alice looked down at Marlowe in his place by her feet and chuckled softly. “He must not be as mad as he was a bit ago. He stopped referring to himself in the third person.”

  They were nearly at the end of the lane when Henderson came rushing up behind them, calling out. His leather shoulder bag swung wildly against his back, and his long black coattails flew in his wake, while he pinned his black bowler hat to his head with one hand as he hurried to catch up.

  Huffing and puffing, he just made it to them as they crossed a quiet and empty street, and headed into the park where Alice had seen Chippa earlier that day. Chippa’s glowing paw prints disappeared altogether when they reached the grass, so he lifted his tail and unveiled himself, waving his paw at them to follow him into a place where the growth was abundant.

  Chippa paused before two trees that were growing about six feet from each other. He reached his paw toward the trunk of one of them, running it gently along the bark in an upward motion.

  The tree began to bend slowly, leaning its upper branches to one side as Chippa stroked his fingers in that direction, almost as if he was willing it to move, and the tree was doing his bidding.

  When the tree had arced over at the top, Chippa went to the trunk of the other tree and did the same thing, going the other way, so that when the second tree arced over at the top, it met with the first tree and created a natural archway.

  When the branches and leaves at the tops of both trees had connected, he looked up at what he had created and chirped, pleased.

  Chippa turned, his dark eyes shining at the group standing behind him; Oscar, Tao, Jynx, Sophie, Montgomery, Bailey (who was panting), and Marlowe, who was with Alice. Henderson stood behind Alice, also panting.

  With a tip of his head and a flip of his ears, Chippa waved his paw at them to follow him, and the moment he passed through the archway of the trees, he disappeared.

  Alice, Henderson, and all of the cats stared at the spot where he had been. There was nothing there any longer; he had simply vanished into thin air.

  Oscar padded forward and hesitated only a moment before bounding toward the archway, and a second later, he was gone, too. Jynx rushed into it right behind him, followed by Tao and Bailey.

  Montgomery turned to Sophie and meowed. She wouldn’t budge. Montgomery went to her, curling his body and tail around her, meowing once more as he stepped toward the place where the other cats had gone. She wouldn’t move. He turned and went after the others, leaving Sophie with Alice.

  Sophie tipped her pretty face up to Alice and cried, but Alice shook her head. “None of that now, Miss Sophie. Off you go with the rest of them. Come on.”

  Alice straightened her hat, and she and Henderson, along with Marlowe, walked through the archway and disappeared. Sophie cried again, going up to the space slowly; pawing at the air in front of her.

  A dog barked in the distance. Sophie looked in dismay over her shoulder for a moment, then leapt toward the archway and vanished.

  To read all of

  Mrs. Perivale and the Blue Fire Crystal

  and many other exciting

  Dash Hoffman stories,

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  Mrs. Perivale and the Dragon Prince

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  The Starling Chronicles

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  “People your age belong at home.” 73 year old Mrs. Perivale is told when she tries to volunteer. With her son grown and gone, and her community turning their backs on her, the gravity of no longer being needed sinks her spirits deeply. She wonders if she has outlived her usefulness until a mystical little creature sneaks into Alice Perivale’s home and begs her to come with him; there is a prophecy about her, and she must help save his world!

  Finding herself in a magical place she had no idea existed, committed to a dangerous mission far more vital than helping out in her neighborhood, Alice dusts off her courage and bravery, rediscovering the feisty, sassy, powerhouse woman she is deep inside. She is determined to find the stolen Blue Fire Crystal before the imbalance between elements destroys all of the magical land of Corevé. Together with her extraordinary family of six cats and her skeptical-yet-devoted butler Henderson, she takes on the tremendous challenge.

  With time running out and the world falling to pieces, Alice’s precious companions are pulled away from her, and she is faced with impossible choices. Does she choose what she wants most of all, does she rescue her family, or does she save the world that will not survive without her?

  Mrs. Perivale and the Blue Fire Crystal is the first book in the enchanting Mrs. Perivale YA fantasy series. If you’re looking to escape reality for a while with a laugh-out-loud, heart-touching adventure, discover the heroine you never knew you needed today!

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  How can she help those wh
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  Mrs. Perivale and the Dragon Prince is the second book in the enchanting Mrs. Perivale YA fantasy series. If you’re looking to escape reality for a while with a laugh-out-loud, heart-touching adventure, discover the heroine you never knew you needed today!

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