Peter and the Starcatchers (41 page)

“What did you do with the starstuff?” she shouted. “How did you do it? Where is it now? Who…”

“Wait!” laughed Peter. “One question at a time!”

“Is the starstuff safe?” she asked.

“Yes,” he said. “I’m taking you to it now.”

“Oh, Peter, thank heaven,” she said. “But what happened? Where
were
you? After you left us to climb over the point, we came ’round the long way to the beach, and you weren’t there.”

“Right,” said Peter. “I waited for a while, but there was some kind of fight going on up the beach. So I went up to have a look.”

“You were
supposed
to wait for us,” said Mol y.

“I know,” said Peter. “I didn’t intend to get close, but then I saw…”

Peter hesitated.

“You saw
what?
” said Mol y, impatiently.

“I saw a mermaid,” said Peter. He looked sideways at Mol y, who was staring at him.

“You don’t believe me,” he said.

“No,” she said, slowly. “I do. Do you remember when I told you about the strange things that starstuff does to animals? The minotaurs and such?”

“Yes,” said Peter.

“Wel , that’s where mermaids come from,” said Mol y. “The trunk must have leaked starstuff into the water.”

“Maybe it did,” said Peter. “Wel anyway, I found this mermaid on the beach, and she was hurt, bleeding from the head, and I had your locket, and there was a little starstuff left, so I gave it to her. I’m sorry, Mol y, but I was afraid she would die, and she was so…
beautiful.
” Mol y gave Peter a very sharp look, but he missed it.

“Go on,” she said, cool y.

“After that,” Peter said, “things happened so fast. The starstuff healed the mermaid, and there were these
other
mermaids, and they were al excited about something, and I fol owed them along the beach, and there was the trunk! With nobody around it! So I ran up to it, and…and…”

“And
what?
”

“I’m not sure,” said Peter. “I think somebody hit me, because I had a raging head pain when I woke up, in the water, and Teacher was holding me.”

“Teacher?” said Mol y.

“The mermaid I saved,” said Peter. “Mol y, she saved me.”

“How do you know her name is Teacher?” said Mol y.

“I dunno,” said Peter. “I just
know.
I can feel her thoughts, and she can feel mine. Isn’t that incredible, Mol y?”

“Yes,” said Mol y, sounding quite unhappy, although Peter didn’t notice.

They were at the mouth of the lagoon now; Peter, with Mol y fol owing close, altered course slightly, leaning slightly to the right, toward the jumble of rocks at the base of the waterfal in the center of the curving beach.

“So anyway,” continued Peter, “I was in the water, with Teacher and the others keeping me afloat, and Teacher told me—not by speaking, you understand, but by…”

“Yes, by thinking, you told me that,” said Mol y.

“Right, by thinking, she told me that she knew about the trunk! She cal ed it Creator. And we decided to find it, so we went back to the beach, and we saw the fight going on, with you and James jumping on Slank, and Alf fighting that huge man. And we saw the trunk was unguarded. And that’s when we came up with our plan.”

“You and Teacher,” said Mol y.

“Yes,” said Peter. “She’s very clever. You’l like her.”

“I’m sure,” said Mol y.

“While you were fighting,” said Peter, “we grabbed the trunk and carried it quickly—you won’t
believe
how fast the mermaids can swim—out to the rocks. My biggest fear was that we wouldn’t be able to open it, but somebody had already bashed at the hinges, and it was easy. And there it was, inside—Mol y, it was
amazing
—and I took it out, and hid it behind the rock.”

“You
touched
the starstuff?” said Mol y. “Peter, in that quantity, it could have kil ed you!”

“I didn’t touch it directly,” said Peter. “It was in a locked metal box, a yel ow box, like gold. It’s very powerful, Mol y; much more so than the locket. I only held it in my hands for a moment when I lifted it, and I nearly fainted from that. Anyway, I think the box must have leaked, because there was loose starstuff in the wooden trunk. That’s why the trunk glowed so much. I dumped the loose starstuff onto the rock, next to where I hid the metal box. Then I put the wooden trunk on the rock and yel ed to Slank.”

“A good thing, too,” said Mol y. “He was about to stab me.”

“I know,” said Peter. “I was scared to death he’d figure out the trick, but he believed me, and took the trunk. Of course he took you, too; I hadn’t expected that.”

“I bet Teacher did,” muttered Mol y.

“What?” said Peter.

“Nothing,” said Mol y.

“But I had the loose starstuff,” said Peter, “so I waited a bit, figuring Slank would let his guard down, then I came after you, with the mermaids fol owing, to make sure Slank didn’t come back.”

“Thank you, again,” said Mol y.

“It’s nothing,” said Peter. “Ah, there’s the rock.”

Just ahead was the flat rock from which Peter had stood with the wooden trunk. From this, the seaward side, Mol y could see that the rock had a ledge just above the water; on that ledge rested a gleaming gold box, radiant in the moonlight, almost too bright to look at directly. Next to it was a smal glowing pile, the remains of the leaked starstuff.

As she swooped close, Mol y saw mermaids in the water, and several more sitting on the rock. Peter swooped in and landed lightly among them; he had become quite an accomplished flier. Mol y alit next to him. The mermaids studied her with frank curiosity.

“Mol y,” said Peter, “this is Teacher.”

She was, as Peter had said, beautiful, her long blond tresses flowing elegantly down her front. Mol y felt hideously dowdy in contrast; her dress was wet, her hair a tangled mess.

“I’m sure you two wil be great friends,” said Peter.

Mol y and Teacher eyed each other in the manner of two young women who wil never, ever, be great friends.

“I must take care of the starstuff,” said Mol y. “We’re rid of Slank, I hope, but there are stil those pirates about.” She bent down to examine the gold chest, only to draw back quickly when two mermaids lunged toward her, hissing.

“They’re guarding it,” said Peter.

“Wel , tel them to stop,” said Mol y.

Peter turned to Teacher, and they exchanged a look that nearly drove Mol y insane with jealousy, though she hid her feelings wel . Then Teacher, looking none too happy, grunted something, and the two hissing mermaids retreated.

“You can touch it now,” said Peter.

“Thank you,” said Mol y coldly.

She bent to examine the chest, putting her hand on it, then quickly pul ing it away, overwhelmed by the power she felt emanating from it. Peter was right; it was
much
stronger than her locket had been.

Mol y was worried. She final y had the starstuff, but what could she do with it? How could she get it off this rock? And if she could, where should she move it? Would it be any safer on the island, with the pirates, and the savages?

Mol y felt tired and cold, and no match for the crushing burden of responsibility for solving a problem far beyond her limited Starcatcher training. She wanted to cry, but she did not want Peter to see her cry, and she
especially
did not want Teacher, with her flowing hair, to see her cry. And so she stood and turned toward the sea, and felt the burn of tears, and, not wanting to be seen wiping her eyes, blinked them, first in irritation, and then again in amazement, as she saw it, coming around the point on the right side of the lagoon: a longboat, four oars per side, moving swiftly, guided by the familiar, graceful, arcing form of Ammm…

“AHOY!” cal ed a deep voice from the longboat, and Mol y didn’t care now who saw her cry, because she knew that voice better than any other in the world: the voice of her father.

T
HEY WERE ON THE BEACH NOW: Peter, Moly, Leonard Aster, Alf, James, Prentiss, Thomas, and Tubby Ted. After his tearful reunion with Moly, Leonard had insisted that she and Peter get off the rock, and that the mermaids keep their distance, while his crew of Starcatchers dealt with the box of starstuff.

From the beach, the scene on the rock looked unearthly: the Starcatchers, five men and three women, were clad head-to-toe in shiny gold-colored clothing, including gloves, boots, and helmets whose face masks had only the smal est of eye slits. They shone like human chandeliers, their gleaming costumes reflecting both the moon—now low in the sky, but stil bright—and the bril iant light radiating from the golden starstuff box.

As Leonard and the others on the beach watched, Leonard explained that the shining clothes were, in fact, made of gold: it had been spun into fibers and woven by a process known only to the Starcatchers, who had learned, over the years, that gold, and only gold, could contain the power of the starstuff.

“That’s why the Others put this batch of starstuff into that golden box,” said Leonard. “But they didn’t do it correctly. The box must be constructed so that air itself cannot pass in or out. If it’s done right, the starstuff can’t escape, and it can’t be detected. That’s why I found nothing odd about the fact that I felt nothing from the trunk on the
Wasp
—I assumed the golden box inside was made correctly.

“But of course the real reason was that there
was
no starstuff inside the
Wasp
trunk—it was a ruse that, I’m ashamed to say, fooled me completely. The real starstuff box—the one on the
Never Land
—was not made properly; the Others don’t have the experience that we have, or the expertise, or the craftsmanship. They couldn’t make the box tight enough.

And so the box leaked. In fact, it’s been leaking since it was back in Scotland; apparently some of it got on a lizard or snake, which transformed into some sort of strange gigantic creature, which managed to escape into Loch Ness. I certainly hope that’s the last we hear of
that.

“In any event,” continued Leonard, “we’ve got the starstuff back now, thanks to you, young lady. You did wel , Mol y.
Extraordinarily
wel —a young Starcatcher, alone, defeating Slank and that giant of his…”

“It wasn’t just me,” said Mol y. “It was Peter, too. In fact it was
mostly
Peter.”

“Is that so,” Leonard said thoughtful y, studying Peter.

“It is, father!” said Mol y. “Peter was
wonderful.
There’s so much I need to tel you, but for starters, he rescued me from Slank, and he came up with the idea of taking the starstuff out of the trunk.”

“That wasn’t just me,” said Peter, blushing. “That was Teacher’s idea, too.”

“I suppose,” said Mol y, coldly.

“Teacher?” said Leonard.

“That mermaid there,” said Peter. “The yel ow-haired one.”

He pointed to where the mermaids were gathered, a few yards offshore. Teacher was the closest, watching them—watching Mol y, actual y—and looking quite unhappy.

“So you picked up the golden box?” Leonard asked Peter.

“I did,” said Peter.

“And how long did you hold it?”

“I don’t know,” said Peter. “A few seconds, I think. I can’t say for sure. As I told Mol y, I almost fainted.”

“You almost did far worse than that,” said Leonard, but softly, to himself.

“What did you say?” said Mol y.

“Nothing,” said Leonard. “Mol y, did you touch the box?”

“Only for the briefest instant,” said Mol y. “I had to pul my hand away. I don’t know how Peter managed to pick it up.”

“Nor do I,” said Leonard, studying Peter now with an intensity that Peter found disconcerting. “Nor do I. Tel me, Peter,” he said. “How did you fly out to rescue Mol y from Slank?”

“I used the loose starstuff,” said Peter. “I poured it out of the trunk, and scooped some into my hand.”

“I see,” said Leonard. “And you gave some to Mol y, so she could fly back with you, is that right?”

“Yes,” said Peter.

“Mol y,” said Leonard. “Can you fly now?”

Mol y closed her eyes, concentrating.

“No,” she said after a few moments. “It’s worn off.”

“Peter,” said Leonard. “Can
you
fly?”

Peter’s body immediately started to rise.

“That’s odd,” he said, hovering a few feet off the ground. “Usual y I have to try, but this time…I just thought about it, and here I am!” He floated gently back down.

“I see,” said Leonard, his expression grave.

“Father,” said Mol y, “What is it? Is something wrong with Peter?”

“Not
wrong,
no,” said Leonard. “Not exactly.”

“What do you mean?” said Mol y and Peter together.

“I mean,” said Aster, “that the starstuff may have changed Peter. Just as it changed the fish in this lagoon”—he gestured toward the mermaids—“it can change people, too, if there’s enough of it.”

Peter was pale. “How did it change me? I don’t feel any different.”

“Fly,” said Leonard.

Immediately, Peter rose again.

“That’s how,” said Leonard.

“You mean…you mean I can just…
fly
now? Without needing more starstuff?”

“Yes,” said Leonard.