The Mermaids' Lagoon

At the edge of the island there was a vivid blue lagoon where mermaids swam and you could hear the surf breaking on the shore. The mermaids lazed on the rocks, combing their long hair, and splashing the children with their tails if they came too near. After a shower, they bobbed up to play games with the rainbow-coloured sea bubbles. On Moonlight nights they sang strange wailing songs, and on those nights it was dangerous to go near the lagoon.

A Neverbird had built her nest in one of the trees by the shore, and laid six eggs. One day the nest fell, and floated out on the lagoon. The mother bird still sat there, drifting about in her nest like a little boat. Peter warned the boys to be careful not to disturb her.

There was a huge black rock out at sea, which was always covered with water at high tide. Pirates used to tie up their captives and leave them there to drown, so it was called the Marooners' Rock.

One afternoon, when Wendy and the boys were having a nap on the rock, dark shadows began to gather. The sun went in, and the lagoon became cold and unfriendly. Wendy tried not to be afraid, even when she heard the sound of a boat approaching.

Peter, always on the alert, smelled danger. "Pirates!" he cried. "Everybody dive!"

The next moment the Rock was empty.

The pirate dinghy, rowed by Smee and Starkey, drew near. They had captured Tiger Lily just as she was boarding the pirate sip with a knife between her teeth. They had tied her hands and feet and were going to leave her on the Rock to drown. She showed no fear, for she was a chief's daughter.

Peter wanted to save Tiger Lily and have some fun as well. He could imitate Captain Hook's voice. "Ahoy, you lubbers!" he called. "Set the redskin free!"

"But, Captain, you told us ... " began Smee.

"At once, d'you hear?" cried Peter, "or I'll plunge my hook in you!"

"Better do what the Captain orders!" muttered Starkey nervously.

So they cut Tiger Lily's cords and she slipped like an eel into the sea.

Suddenly a cry came across the water. "Boat ahoy!" It was the real Captain Hook, swimming out to join his men. Smee held up a lantern, and Wendy could see Hook's evil face as he rose dripping from the water. He had come to tell his men of a plan to capture Peter and his gang.

"We may never get the better of those boys now they have a mother to care for them!" he said gloomily.

"I know!" said Smee. "If we can capture Wendy, she can be our mother!"

(Wendy nearly gave the game away by saying "Never!")

"A capital idea!" cried Hook, with gleaming eyes. "But first we must catch the boys and make them walk the plank!"

Then Hook remembered Tiger Lily. He was furious that his men had let her go. "I gave no such orders!" he said.

He was scared when he heard about the mysterious voice. "Spirit that haunts this dark lagoon tonight," he called over the water, "dost hear me?"

Peter could not keep quiet. "Odds, bobs, hammer and tongs, I hear you!"

"Who are you, stranger?" asked Hook hoarsely.

"I am James Hook, Captain of the Jolly Roger!"

"If you are Hook, then who am I?"

"You're a codfish!"

Hook went pale at this insult. He began to guess who was playing games. "Are you a boy?" he called.

"Can't you guess?" crowed Peter.

"Are you a wonderful boy?" said Hook cunningly.

"Yes, yes!" said Peter boastfully. "I am! I'm Peter Pan!"

At once Hook ordered his men to attack. "Into the water! take him, dead or alive!"

Peter whistled up the boys and all eight of them came to the rescue, armed with daggers. The boys put up a good fight. Before long, Smee and Starkey were swimming for their lives towards the pirate ship, overcome by Tootles, Curly and John.

Peter had ordered the boys to leave Hook to him, so they rowed for shore in the pirate dinghy.

Peter and Hook came up to breathe at the same moment, on opposite sides of the Rock, and stared into each other's grim faces. They climbed up, and Peter snatched a knife from Hook's belt. Then he gave him a hand up, so that they could fight fairly. But the treacherous Hook bit Peter's hand. Peter was so shocked by this mean act, he dropped his guard, and Hook was able to claw him twice.

The tide was rising rapidly, so Hook struck out for his ship, leaving Peter wounded. Wendy managed to pull herself up on the Rock, and collapsed in Peter's arms.

"We can't swim or fly to the island!" said Peter. "You're tired, and I'm wounded."

"Shall we be drowned?" asked Wendy.

Just then something touched Peter gently. It was the tail of a kite Michael had lost that morning, which had blown across the lagoon.

"This will carry one of us!" cried Peter, and he tied the tail around Wendy. He gave her a push, and she floated up into the sky.

Peter was left alone on the Rock, which by now the tide had nearly covered. Perhaps he was going to drown. He could hear the mermaids singing their sad songs to the moon. His heart beat like a drum. A strange smile came over his face. He thought—"To die will be an awfully big adventure."

* * * * *

But Peter was not to die! The Neverbird came by in her nest and rescued him. When he returned to the cave he saw twinkling campfires. The redskins had come to protect the boys from pirate attack because Peter had saved Tiger Lily. There was nothing they would not do for him.

Wendy's Story

Safe inside their cave, the children sat round for a make-believe tea. They were so excited that they started to squabble, so Wendy decided to tell them a story, to settle them down.

Just then, Peter came back. He had been to get the right time from the crocodile.

"It's story time!" said Wendy. She began to tell the story that Peter hated. It was about three children who had a nurse called Nana, and how they flew away from home one night, and how their father and mother missed them. "Think how sad they were when they saw the empty beds!" she said.

Then she came to the part that Peter hated most. She told them how much mothers love their children. "The mother always left the window open for the children to fly back. So they stayed away for years and had a lovely time."

Peter was very upset. "Wendy, you're wrong about mothers!" he said. Then he told them what had happened when he went back home. "I thought, like you, my mother would always keep the window open for me. So I stayed away a long time. Then I flew back, but my mother had forgotten me. The window was shut and there was another little boy in my bed."

Michael and John began to cry, and Wendy comforted them. They were afraid their mother might forget them, too. They begged Wendy to take them home.

The Lost Boys wanted to come too, and Wendy promised she would ask Mr and Mrs Darling to adopt them.

Peter was very hurt, but he was too proud to show it. He would not keep Wendy against her will. So he pretended not to care. "I will ask the redskins to show you the way through the wood, and Tinker Bell can guide you when you fly over the sea," he said.

"But aren't you coming too?" pleaded Wendy.

"Oh, no! They would make me grow up. I want to stay a little boy always, and have fun!"

Peter shook hands. He did not even give Wendy a "thimble".

Wendy measured out a dose of his medicine (it was only water) and put the glass on a shelf by his bed. "Promise me you'll take it!" she said in her motherly way.

"I promise! Lead the way, Tinker Bell!" ordered Peter.

Tink darted up the nearest tree, but nobody followed her. For it was at that moment the pirates made their dreadful attack on the redskins. The air was full of shrieks and howls and the clash of steel!

Below, there was dead silence. Wendy fell to her knees, and the boys all turned to Peter, holding out their arms, and begging him not to desert them. And he seized his trusty sword, ready to do battle.

The Children Are Carried Off

Hook and his fiendish crew had taken the redskins by surprise, attacking in the evening. Attacks are supposed to be at dawn, as everyone knows, so the pirates had a mean advantage. Tiger Lily and a small band of braves were the first to see them. They seized their weapons and gave their war cry, but it was too late.

Almost the whole tribe perished. Only the Chief, Tiger Lily and a few warriors managed to fight their way out.

Hook stood in triumph a little way from his crew, who were busy wiping the blood off their cutlasses. The night's work was not yet over. There was hatred in his black heart for Peter Pan.

None of the pirates was thin enough to wriggle down the holes in the tree-trunks, but they could hear what the boys were saying down below.

"Who has won the fight, the redskins or the pirates?"

"If the redskins have won," replied Peter, "they'll beat their tom-tom."

Hook signalled to Smee, who was sitting on the tom-tom. smee beat on it twice, an evil grin on his face.

"It's a redskin victory!" cried Peter.

The boys cheered and picked up their bundles to leave the cave, saying a last goodbye to Peter.

As they came up, one by one, each was caught by a pirate and thrown from hand to hand till he landed at the feet of Hook. There he was gagged and trussed up like a chicken.

Only Wendy was spared. Hook raised his hat to her with horrible politeness, gave her his arm and escorted her to join the others.

The pirates bundled the children into the little Wendy House. Four of them carried it on their shoulders to the Jolly Roger, while the others fell in behind, singing their hateful pirate song.

Hook was left behind. He looked carefully at the trees, and discovered one of them was more hollow than the others. He could just squeeze in. At the bottom, he could not open the door, but found a chink to peer through. He could see Peter lying asleep peacefully, on the great bed, and for a moment his cold heart was touched. Then he spied the medicine, which he could just reach.

Hook always carried a deadly poison on him. Reaching his arm through the chink, he poured five drops into the glass.

He climbed out of the tree like some evil spirit. Pulling his hat over his eyes, he wrapped his black cloak around him. Muttering to himself, he stole away through the wood.

Do You Believe In Fairies?

Peter slept till ten o'clock that night. He was wakened by a tiny knock on the door.

It was Tinker Bell, her dress all muddy and her face flushed. She told him that Wendy and the boys had been captured and taken to the pirate ship.

"I'll rescue them!" cried Peter, grasping his sword. "But first I must take my medicine!"

"No! No!" said Tinker Bell shrilly. "It's poisoned!" she had heard Hook talking to himself, as he slunk through the wood.

"How could it be?" said Peter. "Nobody has been down here."

He put the glass to his lips. Brave Tinker Bell flew between his mouth and the glass and drank the poison herself. in one gulp.

"It was poisoned!" she cried. "I am going to be dead!"

"Oh, Tink!" gasped Peter. "Did you drink it to save me?"

"Yes!"

"But why?"

"You silly ass," said Tink lovingly, and fluttered feebly to her tiny couch, in her own little room. She lay there gasping, her light getting weaker every moment. Soon it would go out.

She was whispering something. Peter bent down to listen. "If enough children believe in fairies, I might get better again!"

What could Peter do? All children were asleep in their beds. Then he thought of those who were dreaming of Neverland.

He called out "If you believe in fairies, clap your hands! Don't let poor Tinker Bell die!"

There was silence. Then there was a faint pattering of clapping. It grew and grew until it filled the cave. Then, as suddenly as it had started, it stopped. But already Tink was saved. Her voice grew strong. She flashed round the room, as merry as ever.

"And now to rescue Wendy!"

Peter came up through the tree into the moonlit wood and set out on his perilous quest. No one was about, except for the crocodile, which never slept, passing down below.

Peter swore a terrible oath—"Hook or me, this time!"

The Pirate Ship

The Jolly Roger lay at the mouth of the river, an ugly-looking craft with sloping masts, and one green light burning at her stern. The tired pirates were sprawling on the deck, or hunched over barrels playing cards. Hook himself paced up and down, joylessly. He had achieved his ambition, but he knew he was hated and feared by all.

In a fit of jury, he ordered the boys to be dragged up from the hold. He promised to spare two of them if they would join the crew as cabin-boys.

"Six of you must walk the plank!" he snarled, puffing away at his cigars.

The boys bravely refused the offer.

"Would we be free subjects of the King?" asked John.

"You would have to swear 'down with the King!'"

"Then we say No!" was the answer.

"Bring out the plank!" roared Hook. "And fetch their mother!"

Wendy was brought up to see her boys walk to their death in the briny ocean.

"Have you any last message for you children?" sneered Hook.

Wendy despised the pirates. She spoke out firmly. "All you mothers hope you will die bravely like true Englishmen!"

"Tie her to the mast!" Hook shouted.

The boys' eyes were on the plank. The last walk they would ever take. There was a grim silence. It was broken by a strange sound—the tick tick tick of a the crocodile!

Everyone looked at Hook. That terrible man collapsed with fear. The sound came nearer. Hook fell to the deck. He crawled along as far as he could go, crying to his men hoarsely, "Hide me! Hide me!"

The crew gathered round him. The boys looked over the side of the vessel and saw—not the crocodile, but Peter Pan! It was he who was ticking!

Hook Or Me, This Time

The crocodile's clock had run down at last and Peter was imitating it. He signed to the boys not to give him away, and slipped aboard, to hide in the captain's cabin.

The ticking had stopped, so Hook was brave again. He lined up the boys for a flogging and sent Jukes to his cabin to fetch the cat-o'-nine-tails. Jukes entered the dark room. There was a terrible scream, followed by a blood-curdling crow. Jukes had been killed by Peter!

Two more pirates followed, to suffer the same fate.

"Will no one fetch out this cursed doodle-doo?" grated Hook. By this time the crew had lost their nerve. No one else would venture.

So Hook sent in the eight boys. "Let them kill each other!" he said, cruelly.

This was just what Peter had planned. He unlocked the boys' chains with a key he had found, and armed them with Hook's weapons. Then they all crept out on the deck while the pirates' backs were turned. Peter freed Wendy and took her place at the mast, wrapped in her cloak.

Then he let out a terrific "cock-a-doodle".

The pirates spun round. "'Tis an unlucky ship," they cried, "with a captain with a hook!"

"'Tis because we have a woman on board," said Hook quickly. "Throw her over the side!"

"No one can save you now, missy!" said one of the kinder pirates, sadly.

"Here's one who can!" cried Peter, throwing aside the cloak. "Peter Pan!"

A great fight began. Swords and cutlasses clashed, and bodies fell into the water. Slightly counted up to eleven, and soon only Hook was left. His sword flashed like a circle of fire.

"Leave him to me, boys!" cried Peter.

Although his arm was shorter, Peter was nimbler, and soon wounded Hook. At the sight of his own ugly blood, Hook turned pale and dropped his sword. He rushed to set fire to the powder magazine, and blow the ship up. The daring Peter snatched the torch from his hand and threw it into the sea.

Hook backed away from the menacing Peter and climbed on the bulwark. Peter aimed a kick at him. Hook lost his balance and went slithering down into the sea.

* * * * *

The crocodile, who had followed Peter, was waiting patiently below. He opened his huge jaws and had the rest of Hook for his supper.

The Return Home

That night the boys slept in the pirates' bunks, and next morning Wendy made them all scrub the ship from stem to stern. Then they set off for home and England, with Peter as captain.

Meanwhile, in London, Mr and Mrs Darling were still grieving over the empty nursery and their lost children. Mr Darling was sure it was all his fault for chaining up Nana, and, as a punishment, he slept in her kennel. He even went to the office in it.

One night he had crawled into the kennel in the nursery, feeling very miserable. So he begged Mrs Darling to play the piano for him, in the room next door.

"Please shut the window!" he asked. "It's very draughty in the kennel."

"You know I can't do that, dear!" said Mrs Darling. "The children might come home!"

Little did she know that they were on their way! She went into the day nursery and played, till Mr Darling went to sleep.

The children had crossed the sea now, and were flying the last bit of the way. Peter and Tinker Bell were ahead of the others, as Peter had a plan. They found the open window and flew in. Peter was going to shut the window, so that Wendy would think her mother had forgotten her, and go back with him to the Neverland.

But Mrs Darling was sitting sadly at the piano, with tears trickling down her face.

"She is fond of Wendy, too!" thought Peter miserably. "We can't both have her. What had I better do?" Then he said, "Oh, come on, Tink. We'll let them in."

So Wendy and Michael and John slipped into the nursery, very surprised to see their father in the kennel. They decided to get into bed and pretend that they had never been away.

So when Mrs Darling came in to see if her husband was asleep, the beds were full! She thought it was a dream. Then the children spoke to her. She put her arms round them all, and called her husband and Nana to share her happiness.

Peter Pan had had many strange experiences that other children could never know, but now he was looking through the window at the one joy he could never share.

Peter did come back one day. The Darlings adopted the Lost Boys, and Mrs Darling let Wendy go back to the Neverland once a year to help Peter with the spring-cleaning. He was living in Wendy's Little House, which the fairies had put in the tree-tops for him.

Peter had not much idea of time, so he did not come every year. Once he left it so long that Wendy was grown-up and had a little girl of her own, called Jane.

You can guess what happened! Jane wanted to go back with him, and Wendy let her.

As Peter never grew up, one year Jane's daughter was the one who went. And so it will go on, as long as there are children, and Neverland, and Peter Pan!

(THE END)