Peter & Emily, The Girl From New York

by Thomas Hayes

Chaptrer Eighteen

  “What the heck are we gonna do now?” I asked.

  “The same thing we were gonna do before,” Peter replied. “This will just make our entrance that much more exciting.” He pointed to the far end of town. “See that brick building there, Emily? To the right of the mansion?”

  I looked that way. Tucked in the corner of town, there was a dilapidated, run-down building with a tin roof, surrounded by trees. Not far from it, up a short driveway, there was an elegant mansion.

  “Yeah?”

  “That’s the prison. Every single one of the Neverlanders that Hook’s captured are being held there. That’s where you and half the fairies are headed.”

  “What’s with the mansion?”

  “That’s where Hook lives. But don’t worry, he won’t be there—he’ll be fighting with us.”

  “Oh, that makes me feel so much better.”

  “On my count, when I hit five, you head straight towards that prison. Keep yourself in the forest as much as possible. Don’t turn around, and don’t look at what we’re doing.”

  “Why?”

  “Because it won’t be pretty. You’re gonna hear a lot of screaming and yelling and probably some explosions. Hopefully most of the screaming and yelling will be coming from the pirates.”

  I grew nauseous. Seeing Hook and the pirates again was one thing—but now, the Natives, Lost Boys, Wes, Peter, and Tiger Lily were going to do battle with them? It wasn’t anything I wanted to think about.

  “How many guards will be at the prison?” I asked.

  “Hopefully not many. But the fairies will take care of that. They’ll know what to do.”

  I looked behind me. The fairies, Lost Boys, and Natives had caught up with us, after making their own trek through the woods.

  “What do you say, Tiger Lily?” Wes asked. “Are your people ready?”

  “I’m sure they are. Most of them have been looking forward to this moment for a long time.”

  “Okay,” he replied. “Looks like the fairies are ready, too. So we’re just waiting for your word, Peter.”

  Peter stared at the town. The party was in full-swing—the pirates were hooting and hollering, dancing like drunken fools, and laughing like maniacs. Even from here, you could see that every one of them had a bottle of booze of some kind in his hand.

  “On one,” Peter said.

  I wasn’t ready. I didn’t want to be separated from the others. It suddenly dawned on me that since I had arrived, I hadn’t been on my own. Peter or Tiger Lily had been with me from the beginning. Now, I was going to be alone.

  “Four,” Peter said. Everyone behind me was silent, their eyes fixed on the pirates.

  “Three,” Peter said. Someone grabbed my arm. It was Wes.

  “It’s okay,” he whispered. He smiled. He must have seen how nervous I was. “The fairies will be with you. You’ll be fine. Just run. Very fast. And don’t forget you’re the legendary Tinker Bell. She would never be afraid of something like this.” He winked.

  “Two,” Peter said.

  “I’ll keep an eye on the prison,” Wes whispered. “I won’t let anything happen to you.”

  “One!”

  Peter raised his sword and let out a fierce battlecry. On his command, all of the Natives and the remaining Lost Boys did the same, raising their own weapons and screaming into the night. When Peter took off running down the hill, they followed, sprinting straight toward the town. If I didn’t know any better, I would have thought it looked like a group of kids playing capture the mountain, running toward the other team.

  A WHOOSH! flew past by my ear, and then a rainbow-colored, twinkling cloud of light sped down the hill behind the group. I realized it was half of the fairies that had come with us, and when I looked to my right, I saw that the other half of the fairies were no longer there—they were flying through the woods towards the prison.

  But I couldn’t move. I was supposed to be going with them, but I couldn’t. It was like my feet were nailed to the earth. I kept telling myself to run, but my legs weren’t listening. I wasn’t even sure if I was breathing, or if I could breathe. God, I was scared.

  “Emily!” someone shouted. I looked down the hill, and saw Wes. He had stopped, halfway to the town. Over his shoulder, the pirates had noticed Peter coming, and were now sprinting straight toward him, their weapons raised. “Run!” Wes shouted.

  But I still couldn’t. I watched in awe as the pirates clashed with Peter, the Natives, the Lost Boys, and the fairies. Over the sound of yelling and swearing, I heard the clanging of swords crashing against each other. Among the crowd, I spotted Tiger Lily. She drew her bow back and let an arrow fly toward a rooftop. I heard the ZIP! of the weapon through the air, and then across from her, a pirate with a pistol fell from a house and onto the ground.

  Then there was a massive BOOM!, followed by an orange flash. I squinted and turned away as my skin and clothes were washed over with an immense warmth. When I looked back, one of the pirates’ storefronts was in flames, and several Natives lay on the ground next to it, unconscious.

  “Emily!” Wes shouted again. He stood halfway down the hill. “Get out of here! Run! To the fairies! Go!”

  Another explosion, another flash of orange. Finally, I snapped out of it. I ran, as fast as I could, in the direction of the fairies, leaping over roots, stones, and downed trees in my way. My only thought was to get as far away from the town as possible.

  Then, over the sound of another explosion—thankfully quieter now that I was further away—I heard a voice yell out.

  “Peter! I was hoping you’d join us! Welcome to the party!”

  I looked to the mansion. Hook stood at the end of the driveway, with Smee by his side.

  Peter walked toward him

  “You knew I’d come. That’s why you did this. You knew I’d be here.”

  “Oh, you got me!” Hook laughed. “I can’t get anything past you, Peter, can I? Am I becoming too predictable in my old age? I’ll be sure to mix in a few surprises to keep you on your toes. I only hope your friend from America will be joining us, too.”

  Wanting nothing to do with that, I turned to the direction of the prison and ran faster. Finally, I saw the cloud of multi-colored fairies that I was supposed to be with. They were huddled together behind a hedge of bushes, low to the ground, with their lights dim. Reaching them, I crouched.

  “Sorry,” I said, breathing heavily. “I just…I was…”

  One of the fairies—a curvy one in a yellow dress—flew to my face. She wasn’t happy; one hand was on her hip, and the other was held out, as if she was saying “Where were you?”

  “I’m sorry, I got stuck back there for a second. I don’t do this every day, give me a break. This is all new to me.”

  Catching my breath, I peered around the hedge. The brick, tin-roofed prison wasn’t far away, and at the front of it stood two pirates. One was skinny and one was heavy with a big belly, and they were both holding long, copper-barreled rifles.

  “What are we gonna do about them?” I said. “Now that we’re here, how are we gonna—”

  As if answering my question, two of the fairies—a blue and a green one—broke from the pack. They flew into the air, over the roof of the prison, and then down, hovering over the two pirates. As they fluttered there, glowing in the night, they shook their wings and made fairy dust fall toward the pirates.

  I watched as the shining substance covered the two men—the thin pirate got hit with the green dust, and the heavy one got hit with the blue dust. They looked at each other, confused, and then looked at their own hands. Their entire bodies were now twinkling, and it looked like they had just crawled through the glitter-covered scrapbook of a middle schooler.

  “What’s all this?” the heavy one asked.

  “I don’t know, but I think it’s the—”

  The fairies above them each unrolled a scroll of paper, so both pirates were forced to look at a pencil drawing. In front of the skinny
pirate, there was a picture of a pile of gold, and in front of the heavy pirate, there was a slice of chocolate cake.

  “Look at that,” the heavy pirate said.

  “That looks…”

  The two pirates then levitated into the air, their bodies no longer obeying the rules of gravity.

  “Hey!” the skinny one shouted, his body tumbling. Soon he was upside down. “What the hell is this? Where are the fairies?” He reached for his sword, but he was spinning so fast he dropped it.

  “Get out of here!” the heavy one screamed, swatting at the blue fairy, who was fluttering over him. He kicked his legs and tried to run, even though he was in mid-air. “Get this stuff off of me!”

  The thin pirate panicked, wiping the dust off his arms, but it was no use. He and his buddy were floating away, rising above the prison.

  I laughed, but then the heavy one reached for his pistol.

  “I’ll kill every last one of you! I hate you damn demon bugs!”

  I ducked, nervous, but then a group of fairies flew up toward the floating men. The fairies split into two groups, with one half pushing the skinny pirate, and one half pushing the heavy one. As if the two men were ping-pong balls, the fairy clouds kept ramming into them over and over, sending them flying further away. Soon, though the pirates were flailing their arms and trying to fight back, they drifted off toward the trees and over the horizon.

  When the pirates were so far away I could no longer see them, I turned toward the yellow fairy.

  “Well, that oughta do it.”

  She smiled back and nodded, proud. Then, she motioned “c’mon!” with her arm, and I followed her toward the tall metal door of the prison.

  “Do you have a way to get in there?” I asked.

  The yellow fairy whistled, and pointed to a purple fairy. The purple fairy then darted right into the door’s keyhole. After a few clicks-and-clacks, the door creaked open, and we were free to enter.

  “Geez, I guess being small comes in handy sometimes.” I nervously followed the fairies into the prison. “You guys don’t mess around. I’m glad I’m with you.”