Lily watched as they all turned and swam off in the other direction.
Peter came and sat by Lily as she watched them swim away.
“Were they everything you had hoped for?” He asked her.
“They were nicer than I had expected. You had made them sound cruel and unkind.” She replied.
That strange look passed over Peter’s face again and then vanished.
“Yeah, they really liked you,” he agreed.
Lily wanted to ask him why, but she was afraid to bring it up. Maybe she was imagining a reaction from him. Maybe they just happened to like her. Although Marina seemed pretty upset about Gully befriending her.
“Peter, the mermaids were acting so strangely towards me? Like they didn’t want to invite me but did anyway. Or were hesitant perhaps.” Lily prodded.
“What can I say? Mermaids are a very interesting bunch. You never know what to expect from them.” And that was all he had to say on the matter.
Chapter 16
Lily woke up to the sun just barely peaking over the tree line. She stretched and contemplated staying in bed. Nope, she was way too hungry. She was likely to starve to death if she waited 5 more minutes. Since moving into the tree house 6 days ago, she was yet to wake up without breakfast waiting for her. Which was preferable to her old life where she woke up first every morning to cook everyone else breakfast. She climbed into the kitchen to find a pile of fruit waiting for her on the table and her dear Plum munching away on what she could find. The bird had recently taken to sleeping in her room with her every night. She had no idea what had happened to her family, but loving a constant companion, so she wasn’t complaining.
“Good morning, girls.” Peter shouted as he came through the door.
Plum looked up and chirped something at him and then went back to her breakfast. Lily smiled at him with her mouth full and they both laughed at how ridiculous she looked. In her almost 2 weeks in Neverland she had done and seen things she would never have believed if she hadn’t done them and seen them for herself.
Yesterday Peter took her and Heather to a waterfall that shone like a rainbow. Lily couldn’t believe she was swimming in such a colorful, beautiful place. No matter where you were, above or under water, everything was rainbows. One moment she was swimming in blue, then she swam over to red. It was the most fantastic thing she’d ever seen.
The day before that Lily and Peter had climbed to the top of the highest tree on the top of the highest mountain to see a Neverbird nest. Neverbirds were fierce, magnificent creatures that could breathe fire. They were completely gold, except for the white tips on the ends of their tail feathers. They were also the biggest birds she had ever seen. The female had been as big as she was and the males were even bigger, possibly twice her size. The nest had been full of seven eggs bigger than her head. The eggs were a bright red with yellow and orange dots all over them.
One of the things she loved about Neverland was that everything here was always so colorful. After living in Boston all of her life where everything was dull and dusty, she soaked in all of the colors around her. Peter had warned her that Neverbirds were aggressive and didn’t like strangers, so she tried to stay back behind him during their visit. However, the male seemed to crave her attention. Lily was worried it was because he wanted to eat her, although Peter assured her that humans weren’t part of their diet. He chased Lily around Peter and across a few branches. She finally stopped, for fear of falling, and he took the opportunity to corner her. She decided to just accept her fate of getting burnt to a crisp. She closed her eyes and waited for the flames. But they didn’t come. A giant soft white head flung into her hands and insisted she pet him. Lily breathed a sigh of relief. The giant bird just wanted a good head scratch. Lily could hear Peter laughing.
“I guess he wanted to be friends.” she said.
“I guess so.” Peter replied. “I’ve never seen him take to anyone else. The entire tribe is terrified of him.”
Lily was very happy to make another new animal friend.
“What are we going to do today?” Lily asked.
She was excited to see what was next on this tour of Neverland.
“Today we have to run an errand.” He replied.
“What kind of an errand?” she asked.
“A very important one.” Peter explained. “Another one of the effects of everything dying is that it has stopped raining. We haven’t had rain in months. We have been having to haul water to the forests to make sure nothing dries out and dies. The tribe has been helping with this task, but none of them are brave enough to go to the source, so I am the one taking care of it.”
“So you’re taking me to the source?!” Lily was ecstatic.
She had heard him talk about the source, but it was always really vague. All she knew was that it was where all of the pixie dust grew, but that something had caused it to stop. The same thing that was causing the dying of all of the other plants and apparently the rain, as well.
“Yes, but we have to be very cautious while we’re there. Since we still don’t know what’s causing all of this trouble, there is no telling what we will find there. And there are no fairies here to protect it.” Peter said.
“I promise to be careful. All I want in the world is to help you, Peter. The way you’ve helped me. You’ve done so much for me, if there is any way I can help you with this I will do it. Anything at all.” she promised.
She hoped Peter knew how grateful she was for everything he did for her. He had given her a life she could only dream of. The only thing missing from here was her dear sweet Toodles, but she was sure he was happy and taken care of. She had their cousins, so she was sure he barely missed her. After all, just before she left he would have nothing to do with her. No, she had to find a way to push him out of her mind. Constantly missing him was only dampening her happiness here.
“So where is this source?” Lily asked.
“Hidden away.” Peter replied.
“Hidden away where?” Lily asked.
“You will see soon enough.” Peter said through a laugh.
“Ok, fine.” Lily pretended to pout, but it was no use.
Peter knew how excited she was. There was no point in pretending otherwise.
“Are you ready to go?” He asked.
“Let me finish this last fistleferp and then I’m ready to go.”
Lily was already dressed to go because she had stopped changing into her nightgown every night. She started spending all of her time wearing the tribal dress that Peter had given her. Wearing a nightgown had always been the proper thing to do, but in Neverland no one seemed to care about propriety, so why should she. Sleeping in her clothes had been her newest rebellion and another step in becoming a Neverlandian.
Lily followed Peter out the door after she had finished eating. Plum flew after her and then landed on her shoulder. Plum hated being left out and Peter had made her stay home the last few days during their adventures. She refused to miss out today. Lily laughed at the stubborn little bird.
They traveled toward the dark forest they had gone through to get to mermaid cove. The entire place gave her the creeps. She didn’t really want to go through there again, but Peter had told her that it was where the source was located, so she didn’t really have a choice if she wanted to come along. Plum decided that the forest was too dark for her and flew back home. They continued along the same path they had taken before. Lily was proud of herself because she recognized several of the fairy houses. Neverland was becoming very familiar to her. She specifically remembered the most beautiful house she had seen yet. It looked like a giant red rose, upside down with a door on the side of it. She imagined that the soft petals would be so comfortable to lay on. It looked completely out of place here in this dark forest.
After another few minutes down the path Peter took a sharp turn and veered off into the thick forest. Lily was worried about getting lost without something to follow, but she just continued after him. She was qu
ite a ways behind him, but she was always behind him. He was always in a hurry. Never just stopping to enjoy what was going on. He was always so busy trying to make everything perfect for everyone else. Peter seemed to feel responsible for everything, especially everything that was going on with Neverland. Whatever was causing the death of this island, he would be the one to figure it out.
Lily kept following Peter through the forest, falling more and more behind. Until suddenly, he was gone. There was no way he’s gotten that far in front of her. Where was he? This place seemed even scarier when she was alone.
“Peter!” She called.
“I’m down here.” She heard a faint voice call.
She walked slowly toward the voice, trying to figure out where it was coming from. She walked a few feet and then
“AHHHHHH” Lily screamed and she continued to slide down.
She had fallen through a hole in the ground and was sliding down a mud path. She was equal parts terrified of where she’d end up and exhilarated by the thought of where she’d end up. Neverland never failed to surprise and excite her.
Lily finally hit the ground with a thud.
“Hey there.” Peter said through a smile, standing over her.
He held out his hand helped her up.
“You could have warned me.” she said to him.
“That wouldn’t have been as much fun.” He laughed.
Lily got to her feet and Peter lead the way down a new path. This was overgrown with vines and plants. You could barely tell a path had once been there. If she had thought the mermaid cove was the strangest place she’d ever been, that had now changed. She knew they were underground, but she kept forgetting that fact because you couldn’t tell just by looking around. Everything was so overgrown, that it wasn’t strange that you couldn’t see the sky. It was huge here and everything grew in bright, beautiful colors. A few times, she would have sworn that she saw some of the plants moving. But there was no wind underground, so how?
Lily slowly continued following Peter, while completely in awe of her surroundings. She had no idea where they were, but it was amazing. The walked a ways farther and then came to a circle of trees. They walked between two and Lily saw the most amazing thing she’d ever seen. There was a giant ancient looking tree, with what appeared to be a bowl shaped in the middle of it. Coming from somewhere, but nowhere that Lily could see, were small flecks of what Lily recognized to be pixie dust falling into it.
“This must be the source.” Lily whispered.
She wasn’t sure why, but she felt like she needed to observe some reverence here. Peter didn’t reply.
“This is the source, right?” she repeated.
He just nodded in reply.
“Peter, what’s wrong?’” Lily was worried. Peter looked like he was in shock.
“The dust…” he replied.
“What about it?” she asked.
“Its flowing.” he responded.
Lily had forgotten about what Peter had told her about the source being dry. It was the entire reason everything else was dying. But here it was, actually flowing. Not a lot, but last time Peter checked it had completely stopped.
“Do you think the fairies found a cure?” She prodded.
“If they had they’d be back by now.” he said, still not taking his eyes off the old tree.
“How long do you think it’s been flowing?” Lily asked.
“From the look of it, at least a week. I haven’t been here since before you ran away.” he explained.
“What in the world could have revived it?” Lily asked.
“I have no idea.” he replied flatly.
After they stood there a bit longer, just staring, Peter broke his silence and plastered a huge smile on his face.
“Let’s get out of here.” he suggested.
“Um, ok.” Lily agreed.
She had no idea what was going on or why he was acting the way he was. He should have been thrilled. Neverland was probably saved. Shouldn’t they be rejoicing?
Peter headed off, opposite of the direction they came. Lily was confused but decided it was best not to question him. They walked for an hour in silence. She felt like she would die if she took another step. Peter looked back at her.
“Almost there,” He promised.
Right on cue, Lily could see light coming from somewhere up ahead. They came to a beach, where a small boat was waiting. Peter flew to the oars and Lily stepped in, ready to be out of this weird place. He paddled a few feet and Lily realized they were exiting a cave. He continued to row, so she turned around to look at where they had just come from and realized that the cave looked like the opening of a mouth. In fact, the whole thing looked like a giant skull made of rocks. She turned back around, preferring to watch where she was headed, instead. She could see the glistening beach of Neverland, just ahead. Peter still wasn’t talking, so she decided to just soak in the breeze and sun, and watch the seagulls fly overhead.
Chapter 17
The boat slid over the sand and came to a stop. Peter leapt out of the boat and went to take Lily’s hand to help her out.
“I’ve got it.” she stated.
She loved becoming more and more independent. There was something about Neverland that made you feel like you could conquer the world. Not that she wanted to.
Peter still seemed troubled. Or at the very least, confused. Something about that dust baffled him.
“Let’s play a game.” Lily suggested.
She really wanted to take his mind off of his worries.
“A game would be great.” He replied.
“Hide and go seek?” She suggested.
At least on land she could actually play.
“Sure, but I get to hide first.” he requested.
Lily nodded and put her face against a tree to count. Peter flew off.
“Not so far that I can’t find you” she called though her arms.
Once she got to 20, Lily looked up and glanced around her. She couldn’t see any trace of where he might have walked, so she figured he was up high. She started looking at the tops of the trees.
Lily finally spotted Peter after five minutes of searching. His back was to her and he was standing very still. Lily thought that was perfect. She’d be able to sneak up on him. She started climbing. She used to be a terrible climber, but she had gotten a lot better since coming here. She figured that probably had something to do with the fact that she lived in a tree for almost a week. Her climb was slow, but considering the size of the tree, she was pretty impressed with her new skills.
Lily finally made it to where Peter had been hiding. Well not really hiding, more like just standing frozen in place. Lily was confused as to why he wasn’t even trying to hide. Maybe he figured she could never make it up here. Well he was going to be impressed with her new skills now too. She walked up right behind him, prepared for Peter to turn around, but he didn’t. Lily stood up on her tip-toes to see where he was looking.
Lily squinted and looked around, but she didn’t see anything unusual. When her eyes finally adjusted to looking toward the sun she saw a ball of glittering green gold off in the distance. She had seen it enough now to know that it was pixie dust. A big ball of Pixie dust headed toward Neverland. The fairies returning maybe? No, Peter wouldn’t react this way because of fairies. Peter looked scared.
“What is it?” Lily asked.
He shook himself off and planted his fake smile again, for the second time today.
“It’s nothing, let’s get home. I’m tired and hungry.” There was urgency in his voice. He tried to mask it, but it was there. And he was never tired or hungry. But Lily decided there was no point in pushing him for more information. He would never give in. She would just have to wait it out and see.
“Come now.” Peter urged.
Lily tore her eyes away and followed him. Unfortunately it was harder to get down than it was to get up. Peter wrapped his arms around Lily and picked her up. She knew she was too h
eavy for him to fly with. He did a fly/ jump and landed on the large branch below them. He did his fly/ jump all the way down. When they got to the ground he released her and urged her to walk quickly with him.
“Why are we going so fast?” Lily complained.
“We need to find dinner before it gets dark.” he explained.
She could hardly disagree with that logic. She was starving. She hadn’t eaten since breakfast. Peter often forgot that she needed to eat multiple times a day, so she spent a lot of time hungry. She tried not to say anything because he would just feel bad.
They made it back to the tree house in record time.
“Are we going to go fishing or hunting?” Lily asked.
“We are going to do neither,” he replied.
“What do you mean?” she pressed.
“I am going to go get something for dinner. You wait here. I’ll hurry.” he answered.
“But why?” she asked.
This didn’t make any sense.
“It’ll be faster if I just go. I know you skipped lunch so I want to get you food as fast as I can,” he explained.
Of course he was worried about her. Once again, worrying about everyone else. But she did love that someone put her first. That had never been something anyone had ever done for her.
“Ok,” she gave in, “Just hurry. I hate being here alone.”
“I will, I promise” He replied.
And she knew he would because he always kept his promises.
While Lily waited for Peter to return with dinner, she sat on her bed and careful looked over the little pieces of her past life. She had lost her father’s pocket watch and that gave her so much guilt. It also made her cling ever harder to the things she had left. She held her mother’s handkerchief to nose. She pretended, like always, that she could smell her. While she breathed in her mother she rolled Thomas’s marbles around on her bed. She missed him, like always. Then she reminded herself that they were both home and happy with the families they were meant to have.
Lost Girl (The Lost Series Book 1) Page 9
