Authors: Barclay Baker
The four adults sat silent for at least ten seconds with mouths gaping open.
‘Hello? Hello? You still there?’ asked Jody.
‘Eh… yes,’ said Beth absentmindedly, remembering the wide open bedroom window. ‘Thanks Jody. Thanks for letting us know. We’ll keep in touch. Bye now.’
Suddenly they all talked at once.
‘Peter Pan?’
‘Never Land?
‘Fairy dust?’
‘Pirates?’
‘And they expect us not to worry?’
A loud knock at the door brought them back to the moment. The police! What were they going to tell the police?
Doug opened the door to two sympathetic looking police officers, one male and one female. The man spoke. ‘Mr. Paton? I’m DI Johnston and this is my colleague WPC Ferguson. You called to report some children missing?’
‘Yes. Yes,’ said Doug. ‘Please come in.’
The police officers stood close to the door of the living room and looked at the four distraught parents. WPC Ferguson took out her notebook and the DI began the questioning. ‘We’ll need the names, ages and descriptions of the children. So let’s start there shall we?’ The police officers made routine notes as the parents spoke and showed no reaction until they heard the girls were dressed in pyjamas.
‘You don’t mean to say these kids might have been out all night in just PJs? It’s two below freezing right now and snow’s forecast,’ said a very serious looking detective inspector. ‘A couple more questions and we’ll be on to this straight away.’
‘Have any of you any idea where they might’ve gone? Did they talk about going any place? Any clues at all to the reason behind their disappearance?’ asked the policewoman.
‘The bedroom window was wide open when I went in their room this morning,’ said Beth. ‘It looked like they left in a hurry. The lights and the ipod dock were still on.’
‘Jody says they’ve gone to Never Land with Peter Pan,’ said Yvonne McGregor.
‘Who’s Jody? Would she know anything about their disappearance? D’you have her number? We need to speak to her.’
‘She phoned a few minutes ago, just before you knocked at the door. She’s a friend of Amy’s and Shelley’s and she said she got an email from them this morning saying they were in Never Land, with Peter Pan. Actually she said an email was also sent to us but we haven’t had a chance to check yet,’ answered Doug.
‘This could be serious,’ said WPC Ferguson. ‘Sounds like somebody on the internet, posing as Peter Pan, may have lured your children away. We’ll take a look at your computer now, and we’ll probably need to take it down to the station for thorough checking.’
‘But if you take our computer, our kids won’t be able to contact us from Never Land,’ said Doug.
‘Never Land? Never Land? Come on now, sir. You don’t really believe that do you?’ asked the detective. ‘There is no such place as Never Land. Never was, and never will be. And there’s no such boy as Peter Pan.’
‘How can you be so sure?’ said Beth. ‘Did you know there really was a Darling family in Kensington Gardens? And we might be related to them.’
The police officers looked at one another as though they thought these parents were all totally mad. Doug switched on the computer and waited for it to boot up. He hit a few keys and typed in a password. ‘There it is,’ he said. ‘An email from Jack. From Never Land.’
‘What does it say?’ asked Beth as everybody, including the two police officers, peered over Doug’s shoulder, to read the email.
From: [email protected]
Subject : All OK
Hi all frends and family,
sory about our suden dissapearance. I was trying to hold onto Amys feet to stop her going threw the window when Peter threw some of the fairy dust on me too so here we all are in Never Land. I can’t tell you much about it yet becuse we have just got here. We were supossed to be back before morning…well Peter said we would be….but now he’s discovered that some pirates have made off with all avalible fairy dust and there is no way…or so he says…. that we can make more in time to get home by morning. Maybe tomorow morning if we sukseed in all the challanges it takes to get the ingredents. Pirates have never done this before so it is a bit of a puzzle. Tinker Bell said she heard them talking about kidnaping a scientist or something. Better watch out if you see anybody wearing an eye patch. Ha ha, just joking. We’re OK. I’ll take care of the girls. You can email us here. And I will try to keep you posted. Thats if I do’nt get eatn by a crocodile here in Never Land. Who knows?
Love Jack
PS Do’nt worry and do’nt go doing anything crazy like calling the police!
‘A bit late for that,’ said Rob, opening his mouth for the first time.
‘Well, wherever they are, that’s definitely Jack. His writing’s always peppered with spelling mistakes. He’s dyslexic you know. A smart kid…. but mildly dyslexic. I’d know his writing anywhere,’ said Beth, feeling reassured.
‘We’ll get back to the office and make a full report. Their descriptions will be circulated and all patrols will be on the lookout for them. If that really is your son’s writing, Mrs. Paton, it sounds like they’re fairly safe. Probably playing some sort of prank. But one thing is for sure, they are not in Never Land!’ With that the two police officers left in haste.
‘What’re we going to do now?’ asked Yvonne. ‘We can’t just sit around here and wait. We should be out in the streets, looking and asking questions and searching all the places they might have gone. We could phone all their friends, and contact the school and all their clubs. And what about trying….’
‘Good idea,’ interrupted Doug. ‘You go ahead and do that. I’ll stay here in case they come back. Meanwhile I’ll send a reply to this email right now, before the police come back and take our computer.’
Yvonne and Rob left and Beth put on her coat. ‘Are you going searching with Yvonne and Rob?’ asked Doug.
‘No,’ she replied. ‘I’ll leave that to the police. I’m going on another kind of search. I’m going to Register House to look further into the Darling connection. I just have the strangest feeling about this Doug, the strangest feeling. And what was that about a scientist being kidnapped? Yes, a very strange feeling indeed. I’ll see you later. Text me immediately there’s any news.’
Peter took the silver cube from Amy. ‘You might be reading it in the wrong order. It’s hard to know where to start with a cube,’ said Peter, studying the small metal object with the tiny writing. After a moment or two’s concentration he announced, ‘I think I’ve got it! Listen.’ He began to read.
‘Well done brave seeker, you passed the test.
And now clue number two,
From where you stand, walk 3 miles west
And this is what to do.
Stand still and close your eyes my dear
Don’t fall asleep my friend
But listen…. listen and you’ll hear,
The call of the Growzli Hen.
Five eggs are sheltered in that nest
And you must bring forth two
Be careful not to touch the rest
Lest a spell be cast on you.’
‘Claudia will set us down exactly where we should be and then we will follow the instructions from there,’ announced Peter. ‘This one should be easier.’ And he tossed the silver cube to Jack.
As predicted the dust seekers were laid gently on the ground some distance away from the foot of the volcano. They were just in time to hear the rumbling, hissing, stony monster build up to a crescendo and see flames and molten lava spew from the exact spot they had been standing on, not a minute earlier. The sound of the erupting volcano also stirred two sleeping pirates lying behind the rock. ‘Wake up, Noddler,’ said Jukes, shaking his comrade roughly. ‘Our quarry is back. And that volcano is spitting fire. We’d better get out of here and keep close to them children.’
‘That was scary,’ said Shelley. ‘I didn’t think we’d ever get down from there.’
‘It was exciting,’ replied Amy. ‘You have to have faith in Peter.’
‘Let’s just get on with this mad dust hunt. The sooner we do, the sooner we get back home,’ said Jack. He was finding it difficult to have faith in a boy who had fairies as companions. It went so much against everything he believed. He’d spent his whole life learning facts and now he seemed to be living in a fictitious nightmare.
‘What next? Let’s read the clue bit by bit,’ he said looking again at the metal cube now in his hand. ‘We have to walk three miles west, close our eyes and listen for the call of the Growzli Hen. That shouldn’t be too difficult.’
‘I agree, not too difficult at all,’ said Peter. He paused then went on. ‘But two miles west of here is Dragon Land and we have to go through it to get to where the nest is.’
‘So not too difficult huh? Thought it was too good to be true.’
‘We could be lucky. The Dragons may be asleep. Or they may be off somewhere on a hunt. The only way to find out is to proceed. And there is always Trevor if all else fails.’ Peter strode out in the direction of the nest. ‘Come on, keep up, we shall be fine. Don’t worry,’ he ordered.
‘Who is Trevor? And how can he help?’ asked Amy, hanging on Peter’s every word.
Peter paid no attention to Amy’s question. He continued to move at a pace almost impossible for the children to keep up. The two fairies kept close by him, one above each shoulder as if they were whispering in his ears. Jack grabbed Amy and Shelley by the hands and the three of them ran along behind Peter as fast as they could. The ground was easier to move over than the road to the volcano had been but it was covered in a kind of springy heather which slowed them down.
‘We must be getting close to Dragon Land now,’ panted Shelley as they approached a wooded area ahead.
‘Hey Peter,’ yelled Jack. ‘Slow down a minute, please. Where are we now?’
Peter turned but continued running backwards as he spoke, ‘The wooded area up ahead is Dragon Land and once we are through there we will be safe. They are probably asleep so do try to be quiet and not disturb them.’
‘Who is
Trevor
?’ asked Amy again, but once more Peter ignored her. He turned and entered the woods. Close behind followed the three terrified children, clutching hands, and trying not to make a sound. A little way behind them staggered two grumpy, out of breath, dishevelled pirates.
At first, all seemed peaceful. It was dark in the woods but as their eyes grew accustomed to it all they could see were the shapes of trees surrounding them. They were glad of the light from the two fairies, without which they would surely have lost sight of Peter. On they trudged, stumbling every now and then, but doing their best to keep silent. Suddenly from behind them came a thud followed by aloud cry.
Peter turned, ‘Shhh, I told you to be quiet. You will wake the Dragons!’
‘It wasn’t us,’ said Jack sharply. He was tired of Peter’s attitude and angry at being accused of something he hadn’t done. ‘The noise came from behind us. It must have been a Dragon.’
‘It can’t have been a Dragon. Never Land Dragons are silent. They are both flightless and noiseless,’ answered Peter.
‘Well who or what could it have been? What else lives in this awful place? Let’s hope the noise hasn’t wakened the Dragons,’ said Shelley.
They all stood rooted to the spot, and looked and listened intently. There was no more noise and no sign of movement.
Amy pointed ahead, and whispered, ‘Look. Two tiny red lights, just in front.’
‘And another two to the left,’ said Shelley.
‘And two more over there,’ said Jack.
‘These are not lights,’ said Peter. ‘They are Dragons’ eyes. That means they are awake and we are surrounded by them. Drat! I guess we will have to call on Trevor.’
‘Who
is
Trevor?’ asked Amy for the third time, but before Peter could answer her, all attention was focused on the red pinpoints of light. The six eyes became ten, then twelve and within seconds they were too numerous to count. Flames and smoke licked out from first one Dragon’s mouth, then another and another until the children were surrounded by a circle of fire, drawing closer and closer. Jack grabbed a broken branch from the forest floor and held it up as a weapon against the approaching beasts. Amy began to whimper and hid behind Jack, clinging to his shirt, while Shelley looked around for something to use to defend herself.
‘That branch will do you no good against the mighty Dragons,’ announced Peter from above their heads.
‘Have you got a better idea?’ said Jack. ‘And what are you doing up there? Come down and help us.’
‘I am helping you. You’ll never beat the dragons with that poxy piece of wood.’
As the circle of red lights and fire drew in so close that the children could smell the smoke and feel the heat, one beast broke ranks and lunged towards Jack. Amy screamed and dug her nails into Jack’s arm. Jack pushed the branch towards the menacing red eyes. A flame shot out from the Dragon’s mouth and the branch was at once a burning torch. Jack kept it in front of him as long as he could before he began to feel the scorching heat creep towards his fingers. He threw it at the approaching beast. The Dragon retreated but a few steps. The three children were trapped. They moved close together, back to back and looked hopelessly in all directions for an escape route. Amy began to cry.
‘Help us Peter. Why don’t you help us?’ pleaded Shelley.
‘It’s OK. I told you that branch was no weapon against the Dragons. But I have managed to call Trevor. You are safe now.’
No sooner were these words out of his mouth than the branches of the trees nearest to the children became as arms and the twigs, like fingers, grasped them and whisked them up into the treetops.
‘What the devil….’ began Jack, his limbs thrashing instinctively in all directions as he rose from the forest floor into the uppermost branches.
‘Hey you’re scratching me,’ complained Shelley, screwing up her face.
‘Better a couple of scratches from Trevor, than being torn to shreds by the Dragons,’ said Peter, smiling. ‘I told you not to worry.’
‘Oh Peter. You are so brave and clever,’ sniffed Amy wiping away her tears.
‘Brave and clever?’ said Jack. ‘Brave and clever? Don’t forget who got us into this mess. And he wasn’t very brave when we were down there fighting for our lives. He was sitting up in a branch just watching us. I don’t call that brave.’ Jack scowled in disgust at Peter’s behaviour.