Here and there, they passed empty hollows, into which Peter sometimes pressed his hand to check whether they were still warm. You could never be quite sure whether it was just a deer that had been startled or a wolf sneaking up behind the next tree. Pan stopped the small group twice, told them to duck into the bushes, and waited until soft footsteps moved away again.
They were barely perceptible signs that he knew how to interpret and that even Slightly might have had trouble reading. A track in the damp ground, soft scratching on bark some distance away, or a suspicious snorting breath that picked up the scent? But no animal spotted the three boys, who hurriedly moved ahead under Peter's guidance until they finally spotted the spreading palm fronds a few meters ahead, between which the forest floor was lost in silvery white sand.
Peter paused and glanced over his shoulder at Jake.... he didn't need to say what they were all thinking. The Pip hadn't taken their route through the woods, no sign of Luke on that route, and if the other groups hadn't found him after all... There was a signal that the lost use in such cases and that Jake had also mastered. The distorted call of a barn owl is indistinguishable from the bird's animals, but human ears could very well perceive the subtle difference in vocal cords to the hooting of an owl.
If they had found Luke, Peter was sure Crow and Nibs or the twins would have called the other groups to come to them. But no signal had stopped them.... and so Peter had to concede, willy-nilly, that all they could do was check on the Jolly Roger.
With a slight wave, he told Slightly and the Pip to follow him between the palm trees, and as soon as they pushed their way through the smooth, barely sheltering trunks, the soft sand cushioned every step. That at least made it a little easier to move. Peter narrowed his eyes a little and peered ahead, where small beach huts had already appeared between the palms.
The makeshift warehouses for more worthless trinkets had been built by the pirates between the first palm trees in the cove, where they kept a few freshwater barrels, canvas, and ropes... as well as other odds and ends that one had to have quickly at hand at one's home anchorage. There was also a larger house, resembling a tavern, but it did not fulfill its function. In it, the pirates kept alcohol and a few supplies for those who were left on the beach to keep watch. There were a few tables and benches but no host or cook... the pirates had to get most things themselves if they wanted something.
Peter and the Lost had broken into this place more times than he could count, but there was never any treasure or other things worth stealing. Sometimes they would get blankets or rope here, but that was all, and these raids had meant that the tiny pirate settlement was always closely guarded. In the distance, a few lights glimmered from the windows; the raid on deck had also alerted the men here. Peter suspected, however, that the pirates were not expecting a second attack... at least not that night. One had to take every advantage one could get. Significantly, he instructed Slightly and Jake to kneel beside him behind four dense palm trees.
"Peter..." (...) "Do you think... there's a chance he's still alive... if they have him?" (Jake)
Golden eyes parted the darkness around him as the amber-speckled gaze slid to Jake. The troubled expression of a troubled boy peered at him through the semi-darkness, myriad terrible suspicions in the blue-green eyes. Peter tilted his head a little and rubbed his hand over his tense neck. So close to their mortal enemies and with what lay ahead, a familiar restlessness also settled in his muscles. The tingle before a confrontation, the nervousness that tightened every nerve like an instrument. But there was nothing of anticipation here; not even Peter was in a particularly euphoric or confident mood, and that was saying something. Still, the gold eyes betrayed just as little pessimism, and he nodded curtly to Jake.
YOU ARE READING
A Neverland Tale - HOOKED (eng)
Fantasy** Only one thing can still prevent Neverland's downfall: In the dark times when a star's light perishes, a new one must be found! ** Neverland - a world in which simply everything was possible as long as you could dream it. But behind a shining lig...
