The Bridge to Never Land

by Dave Barry

  Sarah looked around and found J.D. about ten yards behind her; his expression told her that he, too, was discouraged by the obstacle course ahead. Her eyes searched farther back and picked up Aidan. He looked worried. When she made eye contact with him, he pointed up. She looked and saw the reason for his concern: high above the castle, the ravens were gathering.

  Armstrong had a decision to make.

  He knew where J.D. and the Cooper kids were. He had followed J.D. and Sarah to Mickey’s PhilharMagic; he’d seen them meet up with Aidan and another, younger kid—a scruffy-looking boy in bare feet. Armstrong had almost tried to grab them then, but had thought better of it, remembering what had happened to him the last time. He had no idea where the birds had come from or what they had to do with the weird thing he’d felt. But he was now thinking that he might not want to tackle the kids alone.

  He’d watched them go inside Mickey’s PhilharMagic, then waited by the exit. When they came out he saw them split up. He’d been able to tail them fairly easily—they didn’t get too far apart, and he was a pro.

  Just a few minutes earlier, he’d seen them slip by the FBI agents, who’d been distracted when somebody—the scruffy kid, Armstrong guessed—threw turkey legs at them. Armstrong was amused by that: the mighty FBI, easily eluded by kids.

  But now he was thinking he needed the FBI’s help. He hesitated for a moment, then made his decision. He walked up to the male FBI agent, who was brushing turkey skin off his shoulder.

  “They got past you,” said Armstrong.

  “Excuse me?” said Gomez.

  “The Cooper kids, and the Aster guy. All three of them.”

  “And you are?”

  “An interested party.”

  “And you’re telling me this because…”

  “Because if I show you where they are, you’re going to tell their parents that I helped you rescue them. Do we have a deal?” Armstrong stuck out his hand.

  Gomez looked at the seemingly endless mass of people—thousands and thousands and thousands of people—surging through the park. His feet were tired; he had turkey grease on his suit; and a few minutes earlier he and Blight had experienced the humiliation of having to call their boss and report that the Cooper boy had eluded them again, this time by flying. Their boss, of course, did not believe this; even Gomez and Blight had trouble believing it, and they had seen it. Their boss had informed them, using harsh words, that (a) people did not fly; (b) he wanted this case cleared now; and (c) if Gomez and Blight could not apprehend a pair of runaway kids inside an enclosed theme park, then perhaps they did not have a future in the FBI.

  Armstrong still had his hand out. “Do we have a deal?” he repeated. Reluctantly, Gomez shook the hand. He used his other hand to beckon Blight. “Show us where they are,” he said.

  Sarah had reached Main Street and could barely move. Virtually everyone in the dense crowd on both sidewalks had camped to watch the parade. For every foot she moved forward, she had to excuse herself, squeeze between people, and risk stepping on others sitting on the curb. She glanced back—Aidan and J.D. were doing no better. She looked ahead—the end of Main Street might as well have been a million miles away.

  And the ravens had moved. They were no longer massing above the castle; they were now flying in a circular pattern over Main Street. They were still fairly high up, and apparently had not attracted the attention of the crowd, which was focused on the parade floats.

  Sarah felt a tap on her shoulder and jumped; she relaxed when she saw that it was Peter, who had an amazing knack for disappearing and reappearing.

  “Thanks,” she said, almost shouting to be heard over the parade music pouring from speakers all around them as spectacular floats, populated by Disney characters, rolled past.

  “Thanks for what?” said Peter.

  “Getting us by the police back there.”

  He smiled. “It was fun. Like dropping mangoes on Hook.” The smile disappeared. “But we have a bigger problem.” He nodded upward. “The birds have found you again.”

  “I saw them. You think they see us?”

  Peter nodded. “They’re following you. There’s a lot more of them on the tops of these buildings, moving along with you.”

  Sarah looked up and saw dark shapes fluttering along the roofline. She shuddered.

  “I don’t think they can get you in this crowd,” said Peter. “They’ll wait until you’re out in the open.”

  “So maybe we should stay in the crowd.”

  Peter shook his head. “The police are right behind you.”

  “So what do we do?” said Sarah.

  Before he could answer, Aidan, with J.D. alongside, pushed through the crowd and caught up with them. Aidan was pointing up. “I think the birds found us,” he said.

  “They did,” said Sarah. “Peter says there’s more on the rooftops. And the police are right behind us.”

  J.D. looked back over the crowd.

  “Yup,” he said. “I see the two cops we saw before, and a bunch of security guys. And that big guy. We need to keep moving. Come on.” Leading the way, he began pushing through the crowd.

  “But when we leave the park, the birds’ll be waiting,” said Sarah.

  Peter, who had been studying the passing parade floats, said, “Maybe I can take care of the birds.” His hair chimed, and he added, “Tink and I.”

  “How?” said Aidan.

  “It’s the starstuff Ombra’s after,” said Peter. “He thinks you still have it, or know where it is.”

  “But we don’t,” said Sarah.

  “He doesn’t know that.”

  “What good does that do us?” said Aidan.

  “Keep going,” said Peter. “Don’t go out into the open until I catch up to you.” He turned and ducked into the crowd.

  “Where are you going?” said Sarah.

  But Peter was gone.

  “Come on,” said J.D., looking back over the crowd. “The cops are gaining!”

  Sarah started moving again. She glanced up at the building roofline to her left. The shadowy shapes were moving with her.

  Agent Gomez, annoyed by the parade music, was shouting into the ear of the head of security. “They’re just ahead of us,” he said. “I want your people to blanket the exits. We’ll sweep them that way and your people will grab them as they come out.”

  “Got it,” said the security man. He pressed the transmit button on his radio and relayed the orders.

  Gomez shouted to Armstrong, “You still see them?”

  The big man peered ahead over the crowd; in the distance, he caught a glimpse of the back of J.D.’s head.

  “I see Aster,” he said. “Maybe twenty-five yards ahead. Still heading for the entrance.”

  Agent Gomez turned to Agent Blight. “We’ve got them,” he said.

  “That’s what we thought the last time,” muttered Agent Blight.

  It was one of the last floats in the parade, and one of the most popular. In front was a famous foursome, representing two classic children’s stories—from Alice in Wonderland, the Mad Hatter and Alice; and from Peter Pan, it was Wendy, standing, and Peter, who sat cross-legged on a round pedestal. As the float rolled up Main Street, the crowd cheered and waved; the foursome smiled and waved back. Peter waved with his right hand; in his left he held a lantern, with panes of frosted glass. It was understood that Tinker Bell was inside.

  Suddenly, a cheer went up; a figure was descending from the night sky. A boy! Everyone looked for the wire holding him up—there had to be a wire holding him up—but none was visible. Amazing!

  The boy landed on the float next to Peter Pan, who appeared to be quite surprised. The crowd roared with laughter at the contrast between the natty Peter and the dirt-smudged boy in tattered clothes. For a moment, the two stared at each other; a thousand cameras flashed. Then, with a lightning-quick movement, the boy snatched the lantern from Peter’s hand, crouched, and shot at impossible speed straight up into the sky.


  The crowd went wild. There had been a rumor spreading in the park that the Disney Imagineers were introducing a spectacular new effect tonight involving a flying boy; now there was no question. The crowd erupted with speculation: How had they done it? Some said it was an incredibly realistic robot; some said it was done with lasers. All agreed it was utterly brilliant.

  Sarah, J.D., and Aidan had almost reached the park entrance. The end of the parade had passed them, which meant they were pushing against the surging crowd, most of which was going in the opposite direction, following the last float.

  They were reaching the Main Street Train Station, which rose over the entrance to the park. Just ahead was a passageway that would take them out into a large open plaza leading to the monorail and boats. Sarah looked up—the ravens were still circling overhead, with more scuttling along the rooftops. Aidan saw them, too. He stopped, looking at her with fear in his eyes.

  “Sarah,” he said, “if we go out there, that thing is going to get us. I…I can’t take that again.”

  J.D. had reached the entrance to the passageway. “Come on!” he said. “They’re coming!”

  Sarah and Aidan looked back up Main Street and saw a line of security guards coming toward them, directed by the two suit cops they’d eluded back by the castle. They were walking now, as if they were in no hurry.

  Aidan and Sarah trotted into the passageway after J.D. He put his arm out, stopping them. “They’re waiting for us,” he said, pointing ahead. In the plaza, spread out along the exit turnstiles, were at least a dozen more security people.

  “We’re trapped,” said Aidan, his voice rising. “They’re gonna get us, and then Ombra’s gonna get us.”

  “It’ll be okay,” said Sarah, taking his arm.

  He shook free. “No, it won’t,” he said.

  “Listen,” said J.D. “I’ll run out there. I’ll get some of them to chase me, and then you guys can—”

  “Peter!” said Sarah.

  As before, he seemed to appear from nowhere, coming through the crowd in the passageway, holding a shopping bag.

  “We need to hurry,” Peter said.

  Sarah said, “But the police are—”

  “Just listen,” said Peter, handing the shopping bag to Sarah, “and do exactly what I say.”

  Gomez, Blight, and the security men entered the passageway just as the three fugitives exited at the other end, onto the plaza.

  “We got ’em now,” said Gomez. He turned to the security chief. “Tell your people to move in now, but slowly, and don’t let those kids get past.”

  The chief spoke into his radio. On the far side of the plaza, the line of security men started moving forward.

  “I don’t understand this plan,” said J.D. “We’re out in the open, and we have guys coming at us from both directions.”

  “I don’t understand it either,” said Aidan. “And I don’t like it.”

  “You have a better idea?” said Sarah.

  “No,” they both admitted.

  They had walked to the middle of the plaza. They stopped and watched as the security guards advanced warily toward them from both sides. The crowd—not so dense out here—swirled past them. Some people, weary from a day in the park, were heading back to their hotels; others were just arriving at the Magic Kingdom, hurrying to catch the legendary fireworks show. Occasionally somebody pointed to Sarah’s long Mollusk dress, but for the most part the crowd paid no attention to the trio.

  The nearest guards were only about fifteen yards away.

  “Are you guys ready?” said Sarah.

  “I’m not sure what we’re supposed to be ready for,” said J.D., “but yeah.”

  “I don’t see Peter,” said Aidan, scanning the sky.

  “He’ll be here,” said Sarah. I hope.

  The guards were within ten yards…five…

  “Here we go,” said Sarah. She reached into the shopping bag and pulled out Peter Pan’s lantern. She held it up, and as she did the lantern lit up with a brilliant golden glow. The guards stopped, momentarily uncertain how to respond.

  “Move in!” shouted a voice.

  The guards started forward again. They had each taken only a step or two when an ominous sound filled the plaza—the sound of rushing wind, like a sudden storm, directly overhead. They looked up to see a sky filled with dark shapes, seeming to come from everywhere, flowing like a black aerial river toward the center of the plaza.

  Toward the lantern.

  There was no time to escape, even if there had been somewhere to run; in seconds, the first of the vast swarm of ravens had reached the trio in the middle of the plaza. J.D. and Aidan threw their hands in front of their faces; Sarah closed her eyes but still held the glowing lantern aloft, determined to carry out the plan. The raven storm was all around now, and Sarah heard nothing but the furious beating of wings. She felt the air buffeting her, felt feathers brushing her, and then she heard Aidan scream as she felt the same awful cold she’d felt back in the ride…

  And then the lantern was gone, snatched from her hand. At the same instant she felt a shift in the movement of the ravens. She dared to open her eyes, and saw that the darting shapes were still all around, but now they were pursuing something else, something moving too fast for her eyes to focus on, a blur with a bright light that she knew to be the lantern Peter had snatched from her. He was about ten feet off the ground and flying in a gradually expanding circle, with Sarah, Aidan, and J.D. in the center. Outside of this strange hurricane Sarah could make out a scene of great confusion—a growing crowd of park visitors, wildly excited by this spectacular post-parade show, rushing closer to take pictures and video, overwhelming the confused security force.

  She felt J.D. grab her arm.

  “Come on,” he said. “This is when we get out of here.”

  He pulled her and Aidan toward the circling birds. As they reached them, the blur that was Peter shot past, then veered suddenly upward. The ravens followed, a geyser of blackness erupting into the sky.

  “Now!” said J.D., pulling Aidan and Sarah with him as he plunged into the crowd. Overhead, Peter shot back and forth, drawing the ravens this way and that, sending the crowd below running in all directions.

  J.D., Sarah, and Aidan, taking advantage of the chaos, ran toward the ferry.

  J.D. glanced back at the milling crowd on the plaza; nobody was following them. They sprinted onto the ferry dock and through the gate seconds before the attendant closed it. Gasping for breath, they walked quickly onto the ship and found a spot at the rail from which they could see the plaza.

  The blur of light that was Peter was rising higher and higher into the sky, darting back and forth with astonishing speed. Right behind was the vast cloud of ravens, not moving quite as quickly as Peter, but remaining close.

  “Man,” said Aidan. “There’s so many of them.” Sarah nodded. “How long can he keep away from them?”

  “I don’t understand the physics of it,” said J.D. “But he can’t keep that up forever. He has to tire at some point.”

  “Then what happens?” said Aidan.

  “I don’t know,” said J.D.

  “He saved us,” Sarah said softly.

  They fell silent. The ferry horn sounded and the ship started to move. Sarah, Aidan, and J.D. stood utterly still, staring at the glowing light, growing fainter now, darting back and forth in the sky, pursued by the huge, relentless black cloud.

  Peter was tiring, and he had no plan. He had thought it through to this point: putting Tink in the lantern to trick Ombra into believing it contained starstuff, then using it to lure the ravens away so Sarah, J.D., and Aidan could escape. But he hadn’t had time to come up with anything beyond that. He’d assumed that he’d be able to figure something out when the time came. He always did.

  But now the time was coming. The ravens were getting closer, and he was feeling slower and weaker. Tink, he knew, was exhausted from radiating the light that had fooled—and continued to fool—his pu
rsuers.

  If he kept flying much longer, the ravens would catch him. Ombra would have him, and Peter knew he would not be merciful. Time was running out.

  And he had no plan.

  He flew higher, higher; below was the castle, a spectacular sight from this altitude, had Peter been able to enjoy it. On all sides of the castle he saw people, tens of thousands of them. Many were looking skyward, although not in Peter’s direction. Peter wondered what they were looking at.

  Then he heard an explosion.

  “Fireworks,” said Aidan, pointing from the ferryboat rail as the first burst of color exploded in the sky near the castle, followed quickly by another, and another.

  Sarah ignored the fireworks, squinting as she tried to keep track of the tiny, distant, glowing streak that was Peter.

  “Maybe they’ll help him,” she said.

  “Help him how?” said J.D.

  “I don’t know. Maybe he can use them as a distraction, to get away from the—wait a minute.”

  “What?” said J.D.

  “He’s heading toward them,” said Sarah, watching the blur elongate. “He’s heading straight toward the fireworks.”

  No mistakes, thought Peter. Even a single mistake meant death.

  He could see the flashes of the mortars far below. Each flash meant a fireworks shell had been launched into the sky, its fuse burning.

  When the fuse burned all the way down, the charge inside the shell exploded, sending burning stars of molten metals and chemicals hurtling out in a predetermined pattern; some of them exploded in two, or even three, stages. The explosions were terrifyingly powerful, the shock waves buffeting Peter even at a distance of a hundred yards. He knew that if he got too close, he would be burned or knocked unconscious from the sky.

  If he didn’t get close enough, his plan would fail.

  Either mistake would ultimately be fatal.

  He glanced back; the birds were closer now than they had been. He veered slightly left, then right; the lead birds tracked him exactly. That was good. He was counting on the fact that the birds were focused on him, and not their surroundings.