CHAPTER FIVE

Neverland Awakes

Neverland awoke when its people and animals heard that Peter was returning. The lost boys went to find for Peter, the pirates went to find the lost boys, the Indians went to find the pirates, and the beasts went to find the Indians.

The lost boys went out dressed in the skins of animals that they had killed. Each boy had a sword. They all walked in one line. There were always a different number of boys on the island. Before there were many, but some grew up into adults and Peter didn't allow adults to stay on the island as a lost boy. Others left Neverland to return home to their mothers. Now there were only six lost boys on the island.

Tootles was the kindest of the boys. He had very bad luck. Every time he left the group—even for just a few minutes—they would have an exciting adventure and he would miss it. He would always return and find the other boys standing over their most recent killed enemy.

Nibs was almost always cheerful and was a good fighter. Slightly was very proud and Curly was famous for taking the blame for other people's mistakes. The last two boys were twins, and they were always close together.

The pirates were a terrible and violent group. The pirate named Cecco was famous because he would always write his name on the bodies of his killed enemies using their own blood. The pirate Bill Jukes once killed a hundred men in a single day and his whole body was covered with dark tattoos. Gentleman Starkey also loved to kill but was always very clean and wore nice clothes. The shipman Smee was very ugly and often would kill people just for fun. He carried a weapon called The Corkscrew because it looked like a corkscrew that people use to open wine bottles.

There were two other pirates called Noodler, whose hands had six fingers, and Skylights, who only had one eye.

The terrible Captain James Hook was lying comfortably in a carriage that his men pulled. He was the most violent pirate of the group. He was also the largest and darkest. He had long black hair that was arranged in curls. Strangely he had lovely blue eyes. They didn't look like pirate eyes, but when he was killing they became bright red and horrible to look at.

Captain Hook was famous for having amazing courage; but he was not always brave. He was scared of two things: the great crocodile that lived on the island and looking at his own blood—it was thick and purple instead of red. Hook was always smoking two cigars at the same time.

The most scary and horrible thing about Captain Hook was his missing right hand. He now had an iron hook instead of a hand and he used it to kill all his enemies. Hook's would always kill in the same way. He would cut into his enemy with his hook, and then kick their bodies away. He would do all this while smoking his two cigars.

This was Peter Pan's terrible enemy. Both of them were like kings in Neverland, but which of the two would kill the other and win the final battle for the leadership of the island?

Many Indians also lived on the island. They, like the pirates, were famous for being cruel to their enemies. Still, they did not like or hate the lost boys; the Indians only hated the pirates. They were always moving silently around the island, hunting the pirates. They carried sharp swords and knives, and they covered their bodies with bright war paint. Each time they killed a pirate, they would cut off their hair and hang it on a rope around their necks.

The biggest Indian was Great Big Tiger. He always walked in front of the other Indians. He carried the hair of so many pirates that it was difficult for him to walk. The other famous Indian was Tiger Lily. She was an amazingly beautiful and brave young woman who all the Indian men loved. She liked to be alone and kept the men away from her with her knife.

On this night that Peter returned to the island, the Indians were all full of food and wine. The beasts that followed the Indians around the island were still thin, angry, mean, and very hungry. These beasts included tigers, lions, and bears. They were so hungry that their tongues hung out of their mouths as they followed the Indians.

The most terrible and famous of these beasts was a huge crocodile. This beast was always searching for the same target. That target was Captain Hook. You, the reader, will soon learn all about this crocodile.

After the boys had walked around the small island several times, they decided to rest near their home.

"Where is Peter? I wish he would come back faster," said Tootles, "I want to hear his stories about Cinderella. I think my mother must have been just like Cinderella."

The other boys all nodded their heads. Peter would not let them talk about mothers when he was there, but they often talked about mothers freely when he wasn't there. They soon stopped talking though. They became silent because they heard the pirates singing their terrible song.

The boys quickly jumped into six small holes, each hole cut in its own trees. Each hole was the same size as one of the boys, so that big adults could not get in. They had disappeared before the pirates arrived.

They had a very strange home! The pirates had looked for it for many years, but the entrances were very hard to see. Each boy, including Peter Pan, had his own entrance. The seven entrances were all hidden well; only by moving some piles of leaves and wood could somebody discover them.

When the pirates came close, Cecco saw Nibs running through the forest. He lifted his gun up, but Hook used his hook hand to pull down his gun and stop him.

"Let me kill him!" Cecco begged.

"No!" said Hook, "The Indians will hear the noise from your gun! Do you want to be killed? They'll cut off your head! Also, one boy isn't enough; I want to kill all those boys at the same time!"

Hook then turned towards Smee, his most loyal pirate.

"Only one of those boys is important to me, their captain Peter Pan! I want revenge on Pan. He cut off my hand and fed it to the great crocodile of the island."

"Now I understand why you are so afraid of crocodiles!" Smee said.

"No, I'm not afraid of all crocodiles," Hook corrected him, "I'm only afraid of that one crocodile. It thought my hand was so delicious that it has followed me for a long time, waiting to eat all of me!"

Hook then sat down on a huge mushroom and lifted up his hook hand.

"That crocodile would have already eaten me, Smee, but I fed it an old clock that is always making a loud TICK TICK TICK sound. When I hear that tick, I always run to get away."

"Someday," said Smee, "that clock will stop working, and then you won't be able to hear the crocodile."

"Yes," said Hook, "I am afraid of that time," Hook whispered.

Suddenly Hook jumped up and screamed in pain.

"What's the problem?" Smee asked.

"This mushroom seat is really hot!" Hook exclaimed, "My legs are burning hot!"

The two pirates looked down at the mushroom where Hook was sitting. It was the biggest mushroom they had ever seen. They tried to pull it out of the ground and it came out easily. They saw that the mushroom didn't have any roots. Even stranger, smoke was coming out of the place where the mushroom was before.

"It's a chimney!" yelled Hook.

The pirates had found the chimney of the lost boys' secret home. When enemies were close the lost boys always covered the chimney with a mushroom.

The boys were inside speaking loudly. They were making plans to welcome Peter Pan home. The pirates listened to their conversation for a while. They all smiled and put the mushroom back in its old place. They then searched around and discovered the holes in the trees.

"It's time to kill them all like you wanted, Captain!" laughed Smee. His eyes were bright with excitement.

"Yes!" said Hook, "I have a plan. We will first return to our ship. We will then cook a big cake covered with green sugar. But that is not all; we will also put poison in the cake! We'll then put the cake near the mermaids' lake. The boys often swim and play there. When they find and eat the cake, they will all die!"

"Your plan sounds delicious!" exclaimed Smee. And all the pirates began to sing.

Just as they finished singing they heard another sound: Tick-tick-tick.

"It's the great crocodile!" said Hook terrified. He ran away quickly, followed by Smee and the other pirates.

The boys soon left their secret home and came back outside; they were safe again.

"Look!" shouted Nibs, "There is a huge white flying towards us!" The boys all looked toward the sky.

"The bird looks tired and it sounds like it is crying," said Curly.

In reality it was not a bird; it was Wendy.

Wendy was now quite close to the boys. Tinker Bell was flying all around her and hitting her with her little fists.

Tink then flew down to the boys and said, "Peter wants you to kill Wendy!"

"OK!" replied the boys happily. The lost boys always listened to Peter's orders. They quickly jumped down into their secret home and got their bows and arrows. Tootles came back fastest and prepared his bow.

"Move, Tink!" he shouted. He then fired an arrow into Wendy's chest. Wendy fell straight down to the ground with a loud sound.

(end of section)