Everland

by Wendy Spinale

  Pete glances at the wounded soldier. Hook stares back, unblinking, unmoving. Defeated.

  “Come on, Gwen,” Pete says, tugging my arm.

  I shake my head, my wet hair clinging to my face. “He’ll die if we leave him.”

  “We have to go. Your family is waiting,” he says, wrapping an arm around me. He leads me away, but I don’t take my eyes off the wounded boy.

  Everything around me distorts in a fuzzy haze. I blink and I am running, Pete leading me by the hand. Ahead, Doc sprints, waving to us to follow him. I stop at a set of double doors and look back at Hook. He’s curled in a crimson puddle, and he holds his bloody arm to his chest. He gives me one last sad glance, and my heart sinks as he is swallowed by the rainstorm. The palace doorway blurs as I run through it. The ground is littered with the bodies of soldiers. I blink the rain from my lashes again and I am racing through the garden toward the zeppelin fleet. Many of the ships are ablaze and the Marauders are nowhere in sight.

  The whir of a zeppelin in the distance calls to me. A girl stands on the deck of the zeppelin, a girl waving to us. As we draw closer, I can see her wet, dark hair sticking to her face. Her black-and-gold sari hangs limply with rainwater. It’s Lily. Behind her, Lost Boys run about, preparing the ship for its departure.

  We sprint up the ramp. Lily extends a hand out to help me board. “You didn’t really think I was going to leave Everland without you, did you?” she says with a smug smile.

  “How did you know?” I ask her, helping Pete onto the ship.

  She shrugs. “Because you’re one of the most courageous girls I’ve ever met. A bit mad, but courageous nonetheless. To face Hook all on your own? Now that is brave.”

  Pete slips his hand into mine. “Agreed,” he says.

  “And there was no way Pete was going to leave Everland without you,” Doc says as Lily helps him aboard.

  Lily spins and shouts orders. I am greeted by my mother, Joanna, and Mikey. They wrap their arms around me tightly. From their embrace, I scan the royal gardens. The palace is ablaze. In the dancing light of the flames, a figure sprints toward the palace. The lanky boy turns to us. It’s Jack. He takes one step toward the zeppelin and looks back over his shoulder at the palace.

  “Take your places!” Lily shouts, her gloved hands gripping the steering wheel.

  The whir of the zeppelin’s engine vibrates beneath my feet. Across the garden, Jack spins, sprinting to the unguarded double doors. With a last glance at the ship, he places a hand behind his ear, touching the mark of the Marauders branded on his skin. Finally, he dashes inside the burning palace.

  Lily calls to me, “Everyone is in place. Are you ready to leave, Gwen?”

  Taking one last look as Everland burns to the ground, I turn and say, “Let’s get out of Everland … for good.”

  All hands on deck!” Lily shouts.

  Dozens of Lost Boys take their positions, cranking handles, feeding boilers, and pulling ropes, leaving the inferno of Everland in our wake. The zeppelin whirs with a subdued energy as we travel north toward what I’ve ached for over the last year, a place of promise for safety and peace.

  Everland becomes just an orange flicker of light in the distance. Pete joins me by the rail.

  “Will you miss it?” I ask as we fly away, leaving what’s left of Everland and the storm behind us.

  “I don’t know. Absence makes the heart grow fonder … or forgetful,” Pete says, frowning.

  I peer up at the star-adorned sky as we travel north. Pete slips his hand into mine. The warmth of his touch soothes the anxiety that lies beneath the surface of my optimism for safer lands.

  “What are you thinking?” Pete asks, whispering in my ear.

  I drop my gaze from the stars and smirk. “I was just thinking about when you pointed out the second one to the right. It was a point of hope, a means to bring my family back together.” I glance over my shoulder. Behind me Joanna and Mikey giggle as Gabs flaps his arms, teaching them a dance. My mother sits behind them, watching Gabs’s dance moves. She catches my gaze and smiles, but it’s mixed with relief and sorrow.

  “And now?” Pete asks, watching the retreating clouds.

  Returning my eyes to the clear night sky, I sigh. “Now I couldn’t find it even if I needed to. It’s lost among the thousands of other stars.”

  Pete pulls me into him and buries his head in my neck. “It’s not lost, Gwen. It’s still there, guiding you to the things you desire most. Leading you to your next adventure. You just have to look for it.”

  I roll my eyes. “Yeah, right. How can I follow a single point in a sea of stars?”

  Pete’s lips quirk into a crooked smile. He puts his hands on my shoulders and turns me to the north. He wraps his arms around my waist and whispers, his breath tickling my ear. His warmth chases the chill from my body. “Search for the brightest star in the sky.”

  Thousands of stars glitter in the inky black sky, each blinking to a rhythm of its own. One star shimmers brighter than the others, an iridescent display of colors in a single embedded diamond. I point to it. “There it is!”

  Pete laughs. “That’s Sirius. Next to the sun, it’s the brightest star in the sky.”

  “It’s beautiful,” I say, watching its silver pulse.

  Turning me back around, Pete brushes my cheek with the palm of his hand. “Not as beautiful as you,” he says.

  Blushing, I look away. With a crooked finger, he tilts my chin up so that our eyes meet.

  “I’m serious, Gwen,” he says. “You’re beautiful. And what you did back there in Everland? That was brave, one of the bravest things I’ve ever seen.”

  Images of Everland cloud my thoughts. Visions of Hook brought to his knees by my hand. Smeeth’s death. The sting of guilt pricks my heart.

  I turn my stare to Sirius, and the star twinkles back. “What do you think is next for us?”

  As the zeppelin flies us away from the ruins of Everland, Pete places his hand on my cheek, his fingers tangling into my curls. “I don’t know, but no matter where our adventures take you, I hope you stay with us”—Pete dips his chin as his cheeks grow pink—“with me, forever.”

  “Forever is a very long time, Pete,” I say, lifting his chin to meet my gaze.

  With his brilliant green eyes fixed on me, he leans in. When his lips touch mine, it’s as light as fairy wings, but an exhilarating rush I feel everywhere. I wind my arms around his neck, kissing him back, pulling him closer. I feel the pulse of my heart beating a tattoo through all of me, declaring me a Lost Girl … Pete’s Lost Girl. Too soon, Pete pulls away, breathless, and the stars seem to shine brighter in the cloudless sky. Our fingers intertwine and he touches his forehead to mine, his gaze never leaving my eyes.

  “A very long time indeed,” he says with a crooked grin.

  Everland became reality thanks to the patience, determination, and advice of many. I am grateful to my husband, Stu—my best friend, biggest champion, and rock. Thank you for supporting me as I chase my dreams. And I owe the warmest of thanks and huge momma-bear hugs to my three sons. You’re my favorite Lost Boys, and I’m so proud to be your mom. I wish you didn’t have to grow up. K, thanks for the Steam Crawler idea.

  My parents, Mary and Joseph, who against all odds still managed to help foster my belief in fairy tales and happily-ever-afters. Thank you for always loving and cheering for me, even when I deserved a swift kick in the butt instead. And also my siblings, Brandi and Jeffery, who make me the luckiest sister on earth. I will always love you both no matter what.

  Bob, who loves me like a daughter, and Harriett, who was one of my best friends, thank you for always encouraging me to keep writing.

  To the infamous BBBs, Erika Gardner, Jennifer Fosberry, Cameron Sullivan, Amy Moellering, Georgia Choate, Jerie Jacobs, and M. Pepper Langlinais, thank you, my sweet girlies. I’m so grateful to have you as my strongest cheerleaders—this story would never have come to life without you!

  Ashley Hearn, Jennifer Dyer
, Joseph Isaacs, Frank Anderson, and Anoosha Lalani, you are the best virtual critique partners I could have ever found. Promise me someday we’ll meet and celebrate.

  Daphne, thanks for being my very first fangirl.

  A girl needs her BFFs, and I hit the jackpot with mine. Words can’t express my appreciation and love for the three of you, Miriam, Audrey, and Erika.

  I’m forever grateful to Ed Westmoreland and his staff, who let me take free residence at a prime table in Eddie Papa’s restaurant. Special thank-you to Seth for bringing back Hahn.

  Thank-you to Department 384, who are by far the best group of characters a writer could have and my most animated beta readers. Hug to you, Phil, for reading for me, loving me, and treating me like a princess, and to Guy for being my Pete inspiration.

  Also, I can’t leave out Marissa Meyer and Veronica Rossi for your continued support. While I fangirled over your successes, you took the time to cheer me on, too.

  A Lost Girl couldn’t have a more incredible agent than Thao Le. I am endlessly indebted that you took a chance on me and believed in my story—thank you for everything.

  Special thanks go out to the rest of the team at the Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency, including the lovely Sandra Dijkstra, Andrea Cavallaro, Jennifer Kim, and Elise Capron.

  It’s been a privilege and honor to work with the amazing Jody Corbett, my unbelievably awesome editor. You not only saw my vision but helped make it sparkle. I often wonder if you’re secretly part pixie.

  A gigantic thank-you to the entire crew at Scholastic. There are too many to name them all here, but I want to acknowledge a handful who have made Everland beautiful. Rebekah Wallin, thank you for your keen eye and attention to detail. Christopher Stengel, you made this book shine so much I nearly cried the first time I saw it. (Okay, I did cry.) Also many thanks to the wonderful sales team: Elizabeth Whiting, Alexis Lunsford, Annette Hughes, and the rest of you. Cheers to marketing trio Caitlin Friedman, Bess Braswell, and Lauren Festa.

  And most of all, thank you to every reader who picks up this book. If I could count the ways I appreciate you, it would surpass the number of stars in the sky.

  Wendy Spinale is a former character actor for the Disneyland theme park (so she’s very familiar with the world of make-believe). Everland is her debut novel.

  Wendy lives with her family in the San Francisco Bay Area.

  Copyright © 2016 by Wendy Spinale

  All rights reserved. Published by Scholastic Press, an imprint of Scholastic Inc., Publishers since 1920. SCHOLASTIC, SCHOLASTIC PRESS, and associated logos are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Scholastic Inc.

  The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.

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

  Library of Congress Control Number: 2015027027

  First edition, May 2016

  Cover art © 2016 by Jacey @ début art

  Cover design by Christopher Stengel

  e-ISBN 978-0-545-83695-1

  All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this publication may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher. For information regarding permission, write to Scholastic Inc., Attention: Permissions Department, 557 Broadway, New York, NY 10012.