Chapter 11 #2
“Has to be. She’s the only one with enough power to bind Ari’s will to keep her from giving us a name.”
“That no-good fairy.” What did I ever do to make her hate me so much? “And to think I always believed she was goodness and light and a friend to Wendy and the Lost Boys.”
“A friend to the Lost Boys, sure.” Nibs finally pushes Ari out of his grasp. “The Darlings, not so much, no.”
“Why?” I can only think of one reason, but that can’t be it. There’s no way a fairy could be—
“Jealous.” Coy watches Ari as she hobbles away across the sand, her back bent, her head hanging low. “She’s always been possessive of Peter, but this behavior is far worse than ever before.”
“What?” I pull my collar and peer down my shirt to see if there’s a mark where her spell hit me.
It’s clear, the skin unmarked. “She’s got no reason to be jealous.
It’s not like she and Peter are together.
Besides, I’m not here to get into a relationship with a perpetual boy who never wants to grow up.
I can do that just fine on the mainland, thank you very much. ”
Coy smirks. “The way you talk …”
“What about it?”
“Oi!” Slightly calls as he walks up, his gaze on the burlap sack in his hands.
“I’ve got some good bits of cod and some mostly fresh filets of halibut.
I snagged a loaf of bread from Polly, and it only has a little mold around the back.
I got a sack of grain, though, so we can make our own.
And the star of the show—” Slightly pulls a small bag from his pocket, then finally looks up at us. His face falls. “Wait. What’d I miss?”
“Nothing. What’s in the bag?” Coy asks.
He holds it up toward me, and that’s when I catch the scent on the air. I swallow a moan. “Coffee!” I grab at the bag, but Slightly holds it over his head so I can’t reach it. This is so not the time for a game of keep away. “I need it in my veins!”
He clucks his tongue. “Careful, Moira. I had to give up half my pirate gold for this, so we can’t waste any.”
“I’ll pay you back.” My mouth waters at the heavenly scent. “I promise. Just give it to me.”
“Peter will cover it.” Coy glances around. “Speaking of, let’s get back to the cave. The moon’s getting high. We don’t want to be caught out when it’s overhead.” He puts a hand on my shoulder, forcing me to stop trying to jump up for the bag. “You can have some when we get back, all right?”
I huff a little, but he does have a point. The only hut with smoke coming from it is Carge’s, and I’m not interested in sharing his fire or my coffee. “Okay, I’m ready to go. Like, yesterday.”
“I got everything I need.” Slightly hefts a sack over his shoulder. “Let’s get to it.”
I take one last look around the tiny village, my eyes trying to pick out the shape of Ari amidst the gloom. I don’t see her, but I could swear I feel her eyes on me as we make our way back up the beach and into the forest, the darkness gathering around us as we trek back the way we came.
The eerie forest makes me think back to what Geo had said in the tree. “Do you know what the shadows are?” I ask.
Nibs stops short, and Tootles turns to look at me with wide eyes. “Shadows?”
“Yeah, Geo was asking Peter about them when he took me up into the Nevertree. He said they come out on a full moon.” I glance up, but the moon is shrouded in clouds again.
“Geo is full of shit even on his good days.” Coy gestures for us to keep walking.
I pick my way across a stream, then climb the bank on the other side. “He seemed scared, though. The others did too.”
“I don’t know anything about shadows, but—”
“I think Peter’s shadow attacked me in my dorm room.” I pipe back up as the memory returns. “Like it was a real, living thing. Which is crazy. But so is all this.” I offer Coy my hand, and he takes it and heaves himself out of the stream bed.
“Peter’s shadow is different. It’s real,” Tootles says. “Like another Peter, but even sneakier, if you can imagine.”
“I can’t.”
“That’s not what Geo’s talking about. He thinks there’s something hunting Lost Boys on the full moon, and he’s right,” Coy says.
“We stay inside when the full moon rises. The island is ruled by it, all manner of wild things crawling along the ground and flying through the air. It’s dangerous to be out.
But there are plenty of Lost Boys who think they can survive it, who think they can slay the beasts that roam and roar.
They always pay for it with their lives,” he finishes grimly.
My imagination begins to conjure monstrous creatures with a multitude of eyes and mouths. Fangs dripping with venom and claws red with blood. I shiver as I stare at the dark forest, the creatures surely just beyond the edges of my vision.
“Don’t fret. You’ll be in the cave with us. Nothing can get to us down there. Not even pirates.” Coy’s attempts at reassurance fall flat, especially when I can see Tootles shaking as he glances this way and that.
“If Geo’s wrong, then it’s just the regular horrifying monsters that kill the Lost Boys?” I yank my arm forward when my shirt snags on a thorny vine, ripping a hole in it. “Shit!”
“You okay?” Coy’s already at my elbow and inspecting the tear.
“I’m fine. I shouldn’t have tried to pull away like that.” I frown at myself. It’s not as if I have another change of clothes. I should be more careful.
“Slightly can mend it. Don’t worry.”
We continue through the woods and up over the top of a rocky area that leads down to the sea cliffs. The breeze here is strong and whips my hair back from my face. I can smell the sea spray and hear the thundering waves. It really is a beautiful island.
We dip back into the woods as a light drizzle begins to fall. When we pass by a grove of gnarled trees, Nibs halts and stares at the ground.
“What is it?” I look at the same spot but see nothing except some dead leaves and small plants.
“The path moved.” He groans and adjusts his glasses. “The island is playing tricks again.”
“We know the cave is ahead. Let’s just skirt along the edge of the swamp to get home.” Coy stares off in the direction we’re heading.
“I hate the swamp.” Tootles wrinkles his nose.
“It’s not my favorite either, but if this rain keeps up, Moira will be soaked in no time. We should get inside.”
“I’m fine.” I don’t particularly want to get soaked through, but the idea of going through a swamp sounds even worse.
“Keep moving, Nibs. We’ll know we’re in the right place if we come to the swamp, and then we can decide how to go from there.” Coy speaks with authority, and I can tell he’s Peter’s second in command.
We keep trekking as the rain falls harder. A streak of lightning cuts through the sky over the sea to our left, and the booming thunder that follows makes me jump.
“Almost there,” Coy reassures me. “Keep going.”
A smell wafts to my nose, one even worse than the town’s scent of rotten fish. I put my hand to my nose. “What is that?”
Nibs and Tootles stop and peer around into the noisy darkness, the raindrops dampening sight and sound. But not smell.
Nibs changes course and heads up a gentle slope toward the sea.
“Nibs! We don’t have time for this. The storm’s almost on us!” Coy bellows.
Nibs doesn’t stop, so we follow him, the soggy ground clinging to my shoes as we climb. The smell gets stronger, and I press the fabric of my shirt over my nose.
“Moira.” Coy grips my shoulder and pulls me to a stop. “I think you should stay here.” He keeps me in place as Slightly walks past us.
“No.” I’m not going to be left behind. Not when I have no clue what’s lurking in the trees.
His face is strained, his gaze on Nibs who’s forging ahead despite the rain and lightning. “Nibs, we have to get Moira to the cave!”
Nibs makes it to the top of the small rise, his figure in dark relief against the sea. Tootles follows, and they both stand and look at a tree to their left.
“What’s that?” I take a few more steps before Coy’s hold on my arm stops me.
“Moira, don’t look.” He steps in front of me, but not before I see what’s hanging from the tree limbs. Two bodies.
“It’s Turley and Chas!” Slightly calls.
“Oh my god.” I blink against the rain, my mind spinning. “Who is that? Who did that?”
“Lost Boys. They’ve been missing for a while.” He turns and encloses me in his arms. “We feared Hook had gotten them.”
“Hook did this? Killed them and just left them like this?” I sniffle as Coy rubs my back.
“Don’t look. Shh. It’s all right.”
“It’s not all right.”
The others come back to us, their faces grim.
“Pirates.” It’s all Nibs has to say.
Coy turns me away from the bodies, from the cruel way they were left for the others to find. “Come on. Let’s get home.”
Dread seems to spread its wings over us and sink in its claws. The war Hook is raging against the island isn’t just some figurative thing out there in the ether. It’s happening, and those men swaying in the wind are the evidence of just how real it is.
The sky darkens even more as the rain finally lets loose, crashing all around us and shaking the trees overhead. Our steps quicken, and we push through the undergrowth as the lightning flashes closer, the strikes seemingly on top of our heads.
We break into a run, streaking through the dark until another bolt of lightning strikes nearby and makes everything bright as day.
That’s when we see the spears ahead of us, held by a band of warriors hunkered down and prepared to attack.