Take the Yellow Brick Road [Ways to Wonderland Book 1] [OLD VERSION]

The Jolly Rodger

Weeks passed onboard the Jolly Rodger. The seas had been relatively calm so far, but as everyone assured Carter and his friends, the worst was yet to come. Carter had managed to find some new clothes -a white gilly shirt, brown pants and some new boots- and had adapted well to life on the ship. Georgia had let him keep the knife he had fought her with, which hung at at his waist from a belt. Over his time on the ship, he had used the blade to ,slowly but surely, carve a small wooden doll. The dolls gladiator matches were a regular sport onboard the ship. A crewman had told carter that on long voyages, they held army sized battles, in which every doll they could find was placed into a team and released onto a battlefield. Unfortunately, Carters voyage wasn't deemed long enough for such an event.

He had found that the way the dolls came to life was a star dust, a magical substance gained from shooting stars. With just enough, you could create living puppets. Carter had finally decided his doll was ready enough to be entered into a fight. He watched as it dodged a strike from its opponent, only to be cut down from behind. Carters doll slumped to the ground, it's sword skidding across the area floor. The opposing doll stood above it, before plunging it's blade into Carters puppet. Sighing to himself, Carter fished his doll out of the area and headed back to his cabin.

Later that night, Carter was shaken awake by Felix. The scarecrow led him out onto the deck, now lit with a mixture of lanterns and small glowing orbs which floated effortlessly around in the air. The entire crew had gathered around the fiddler, who was accompanied by a pirate with a flute and another with a lute.
"What's going on?" Carter asked Felix.
"Party." He replied.
Carter yawned. "What for?"
"No idea!" Yelled Felix, grabbing Carter and pulling him towards a small bench. Sitting across the bench were the twins, Otto and Smee. Carter sat down next to Otto. Hook stood up from nearby and tapped his hook against a metal tankard. The musicians stopped playing, and crew eventually settled down.
"Your probably all wondering why I called this gathering!" Hook yelled over the final murmurs. "Well as you all know, on this voyage we are harbouring four-"
Otto hissed at the captain.
Hook nodded. "Sorry, sorry. Five guests. Well imagine my surprise when I found out that the Red Twins, Fiona and Georgia, turn 16 on this very day!" He held up his tankard. "To the twins!"
"To the Twins!"
The crowd cheered. Carter looked across at the girls. Their faces had turned as red as their hair.

The music began playing once again. Otto jumped from the seat and walked towards the the ships pet, a skinny black cat called Marsha. Carter went to say something to Felix, only to discover he had disappeared. He looked up to see the scarecrow dancing with Fiona in the centre of the crowd. A few others of the crew had joined them. Carter looked over at Georgia. "Do you, um-" He began, "Would you like to-"
Georgia cut him off. "Yes." Carter stood and held out a hand. Georgia took it and he helped her to her feet. She pulled him into the crowd of pirates and began dancing.
"You are terrible at this!" She yelled over the noise. Carter blushed.
"Am I really that bad?" He asked. Georgia considered him for a moment.
"No." She winked at him. "You're worse."

***

Carter woke up the next day with a pounding headache. He left the quarters he shared with Felix to find the rest of the crew shared a similar fate. He saw several pirates passed out on the deck, either drunk or just tired. Felix walked over to him.
"You too?" He asked amused. Carter groaned. Felix seemed perfectly fine. No headache, not tired, perfectly fine. Carter looked at him. The sun to his left made his head throb even worse.
"Do you not need sleep or something." He asked.
Felix shrugged his shoulders. "Probably not."
Carter huffed. "Well good for you." He took a tankard from a nearby bench and took a drink. He couldn't tell if it were rum or water, and he didn't care.
Otto slinked over to him. "Morning sunshine. How's the head?"
Carter groaned again. Both Otto and Felix laughed at him. He barely resisted the urge to hit them both. Carter left to find the twins.

He found Fiona sitting on a bench. He sat down next to her. She had dark bags under her green eyes.
"Can I do something crazy?" She asked. Carter looked at her confused. He nodded. Fiona took a deep breath... And slapped him across the face.
"What the hell was that for?" Carter exclaimed. Fiona shrugged.
"Thought it might wake me up."
"Did it?" Carter asked.
She shook her head. "Nope, you?"
Carter nodded. "Duh!"
Georgia sat down in between the two and dropped a tiny green ball into each of their palms. She popped one in her own mouth. Carter did the same. It tasted like like freshly buttered scones. He instantly felt more awake, and leant back, feeling the pain subside in his head among immediately.
"You, Georgia." He muttered. "Are a life saver."
She grinned, punching him in the arm. "Was there ever any doubt? Come in, I've got something to show you."
She grabbed his arm and pulled him unsteadily to his feet.

Georgia pulled Carter to his feet.
"You good?"
He nodded, and she pulled him towards the side of the ship. The Jolly Roger entered into dense fog, and Carter could barely see Georgia beside him.
"What's going on?" He asked, his muscles tensing.
Georgia gently turned his head back towards the fog. A massive land mass appeared in the distance, mountains and valleys etched into the skyline.
"Wonderland?" Carter asked. Georgia shook her head.
"Course not. My haven't been sailing long enough for that, or at least according to Hook. This, is Treasure Island.