Second Star to the Right

Epilogue

"All children, except one, grow up."

~J.M. Barrie, Peter Pan

Epilogue

John laid Wendy down on the bed in their small room at Granny's Bed and Breakfast and tucked her in. He walked towards the door and turned out the light. Before leaving, he turned and looked at his sister. 

She looked so peaceful, the memory spell had worked. She slept with a smile on her face, no longer remembering the long time she had spent in a cage captured by Pan. She didn't remember the times in Neverland before it either. Rumpelstiltskin had done the boys a favor for helping him by removing her memories about Neverland. She no longer worried about the shadow. She was safe. 

John turned out the light and quietly closed the door. He locked the door, then shoved the key in his pocket and zipped up his jacket. He walked down the stairs and out the front door of Granny's. He walked down Main Street and waved to the people he passed, grinning the entire way. He veered off to the left toward the beach to meet his brother. 

Michael was sitting on a rock, holding two cups of scorching coffee. John sat down beside him, and Michael handed him a cup. John took a sip, then stared out at the ocean. 

"What are we going to do, John?" Michael asked, breaking the silence between them. John sighed and took another sip before answering. 

"I don't know. She won't adjust well to this century. She had a hard time getting over the cars, let alone a cell phone." John said. Michael remained silent, and in perfect unison the brothers took a drink of their coffee. The silence between them loomed in the air as the waves crashed a few yards from their feet. 

"We have to take her back, John." Michael said after a while. John ran a hand through his hair and sighed again. 

"We can't, Michael. You know that time traveling magic doesn't work." John replied sternly. "We've tried it before." John whispered, remembering the failed mission to prevent Wendy from ever going to Neverland. 

"We haven't tried the necklace." Michael offered. 

"We don't even know if it works! It's from not just another realm, but another dimension! It could be dangerous!" John yelled. 

"The man in the blue box said-"

"I don't care what the mad man in that police box said!" John fought. "It's too dangerous. I'm the oldest, and what I say goes."

"Technically, Wendy is the oldest."

"She's a fifteen year old girl!" John yelled. 

"She was still born first!" Michael yelled back. "We have to think of what's best for Wendy! And right now, I think that's returning to turn of the century London, England."

John sighed. Michael was right; Wendy was their priority. "Alright, alright. We'll give it a go. If it doesn't work, we do whatever I decide, understood?" John offered, and Michael nodded. They tapped their coffee cups together and drank in unison, toasting to a new beginnning. 

"I'm really going to miss Starbucks." Michael said, and John laughed for the first time in a very long time. 

*********

Wendy was fast asleep in her bed, and she would be for another twenty four hours until the potion's side effects wore off. She slept very peacefully, and stirred only when a cold wind blew into the room and waved the curtains. The window was open, and when windows are open, things can get in. 

Pan's shadow crept into the room of Granny's Bed and Breakfast. It looked at Wendy, sleeping in bed. 

If she knew her destiny, she wouldn't sleep so easily. The shadow thought. He turned and floated over to John's bag. He opened it and pulled out a shiny gold necklace that could travel through time. Magical British school children have the strangest trinkets. The shadow thought. 

John and Michael had made plans for the necklace, but so had the shadow. He waved his hand, and a small burst of smoke engulfed the jewelry. This necklace could now only travel to one time in history, the rule of King George the I in England. There, Wendy would make one decision that would change the course of history forever. And there was no turning back. 

The shadow flew out of the window just as John and Michael returned. 

Pan's shadow looked up into the sky and knew exactly where he was going: the second star to the right, and straight on 'til morning. 

THE END