Sky Lights (16 page)

The professor had his doubts, but he had no choice. This way, he would see Wendy soon. She was obviously still very much alive.

‘But how will the shadows know what to do?’ asked Shelley.

‘We must put a plan together and transmit it to the shadows,’ said Peter. ‘I know about these things,’ he continued vaguely.

‘There are two pirates and I heard them call each other Noddler and Jukes,’ said Jack. ‘We need to set two shadows on each pirate.’

‘My shadow can overcome any pirate single-handedly,’ said Peter haughtily. ‘My shadow can……’

‘Look, Peter, we’re a team and we have to work together. It’s not a slur on the ability of your shadow. We just want the job done quickly. Is that all right?’

‘Very well,’ agreed Peter. ‘For the good of us all, I will allow my shadow to work with Amy’s.’

He didn’t look too pleased about it but to appease him, Amy said, ‘As soon as we overcome the pirate, Peter, your shadow can take over and I’ll get mine to look for the keys, so it can let us out of here.’

‘I was just thinking that,’ said Peter. ‘That’s our plan.’

‘Right, let’s split into twos. Amy and Peter will take on Jukes, while Shelley and I deal with Noddler,’ said Jack. ‘Put the rolled up shadows down in front of you, then put one hand on each shadow. Tell them to work together to overcome the pirates and to leave them tied up.’

The children arranged themselves on the floor as Jack had suggested, and with serious expressions on their faces, laid their hands on top of the shadows. Their lips mouthed words of instruction and encouragement over and over. The four rolled up bundles began to quiver and shake under the children’s hands as the chanting grew faster and louder until the whole room was vibrating with the energy they were creating.

‘Do it now,’ cried Peter, as he grabbed his shadow and laid it flat on the floor and threaded it carefully under the door. It slipped silently through the merest of gaps and disappeared. Amy quickly followed suit, then Jack and Shelley. It was all over in a few seconds.

‘I wish we could see what’s happening on the other side,’ said Shelley.

‘No problem,’ replied Peter. ‘I can show us the other room. The fairy dust can turn the door into a crystal window. It only works one way, so we’ll be able see into their room but the pirates won’t see into ours.’

‘Why didn’t you tell us about that?’ said Amy.

‘You didn’t ask me,’ Peter said huffily. ‘I can do all sorts of things. You only have to ask.’

‘Oh, Peter,’ said Shelley. ‘How can we ask if we don’t know what to ask for?’

Peter threw some fairy dust over the door and they watched in amazement. The wood took on a liquid like consistency, shimmered, and finally became clear. They clustered round and held their breath, anxious to see what would unfold. They could see the two pirates, Noddler and Jukes, seated at the far side of the room, a pair of ancient pistols on the table in front of them, their belts and cutlasses slung over the backs of their chairs. Of the shadows, there was no sign. The children looked all around the room. There was nothing to show that the pirates were not alone.

Then Jack nudged the others and pointed at the floor on the pirates’ side. There, just in front of the magic door, was a dark shape, like a stain, spreading out across the wooden floorboards. It travelled slowly and silently, like a ghostly black river, until it was right behind the pirates. As the children watched, riveted, the dark shape split into two and began to climb up the wooden chair legs where the pirates sat. Bored with their wait for the fairy dust, they were blissfully unaware of what was about to happen. Jukes sat brushing non existent fluff off his sleeve. Noddler was picking at a scab on his hand. He felt a cold clammy sensation envelop his legs.

‘What the….’ he started. Looking down, he saw a dark shape wrapping itself round his legs. He tried to stand up, but lost his balance and fell over. Jack’s shadow leapt up on to its feet, grabbed the pistol from the table, and aimed it at Noddler who fell back on to the floor in alarm. The pirate scrabbled across the floor, dragging Shelley’s shadow with him. He reached up and grabbed the belt holding his cutlass. It was such a disadvantage having his hands on backwards, that, although he managed to get a grip on his sword, when he slashed with the metal blade, he only succeeded in chopping off two of the table legs. Meanwhile, the other two shadows had sneaked up on Jukes. Peter’s shadow had poured itself under the chair and crept up the far wall where it took up a menacing pose in the unmistakeable shape of Peter Pan.

‘Jumping jellyfish,’ shouted Jukes in fright, as he sprang to his feet. Amy’s shadow crept up the back of the chair and leapt on Jukes’s back. She clasped her hands round his neck as he cowered away from Peter Pan’s shadow, which was dominating the room. Jukes, realising he was under attack, whirled round. Amy’s shadow billowed out like a cape. He twisted and turned so violently that it lost its grip. It slithered to the ground and lay in a heap.

Jack pounded on the door as he saw his sister’s shadow fall. ‘For goodness sake, Peter! Help her!’ Peter’s shadow was oblivious to Jack’s plea and continued to torment the pirate. Jukes, now free, grabbed his cutlass from its scabbard and raised it above his head. Amy’s shadow, winded, crept under the shelter of the table to recover, while Jukes, regaining his nerve, began to stalk Peter’s shadow. He brought the blade down in a mighty slash but the shadow quickly turned sideways. The blade flashed through the air without making contact. The shadow turned to face him once more and the pirate slashed again. The shadow jumped the other way to avoid the cutlass. All the pirate could see was a fine black line, hovering in the air, so thin was the fabric of the shadow.

Jukes tried a new strategy, as Peter’s shadow taunted him. The pirate took the sword in two hands. The sharp blade sliced through the air as if to remove the shadow’s head. Before the blade could strike, the shadow’s head rolled down to its chest and the sword whistled harmlessly through the space where the shadow’s neck had been. Almost immediately, the head unfurled itself and thumbed its nose at the pirate. Enraged, Jukes redoubled his efforts. Peter’s shadow continued to dodge and dance its way round the room while Jukes tried in vain to pierce it with the cutlass.

Shelley’s shadow had wrapped itself round the table legs, along with the hapless Noddler, to keep him subdued. Jack’s shadow grabbed the pirate’s belt and fastened it tightly around Noddler’s waist, trapping his arms to his sides, and pinioning him to a leg of the heavy table, his hands sticking out grotesquely. The pirate was reduced to a quivering wreck, unable to make any sense of what was happening in the cabin.

Shelley’s shadow was able to unwind from Noddler’s legs now that he was immobilised. She pointed to Jukes who was still slashing away wildly at the nimble shadow of Peter Pan who had quite forgotten their plan and was enjoying himself immensely while dodging the cold steel blade. Jack’s shadow reached out, grabbed Jukes by the leg, and up ended him in a classic Tae Kwon Do throw. Jack, on the other side of the glass, could hardly contain himself. ‘Did you see that?’ he asked. ‘My shadow knows what I know.’

Amy’s shadow, now recovered, crept out from under the table and wrapped her body round Jukes’s head. Blinded, he struggled valiantly, but when Shelley’s shadow wrestled the cutlass from his grasp, he gave up the fight and the shadows were able to truss him up as well. Amy’s shadow got down to the business of feeling in the tunic pockets for the keys to unlock the door. Seconds later, the three children and Peter entered the room.

Peter’s shadow continued to taunt the pirates with fierce gestures. ‘Did you see how my shadow beat the pirates?’ crowed Peter. ‘My shadow was the bravest of them all.’

‘If you say so,’ said Jack, wearily, knowing there was no point in arguing with Peter. ‘Our plan worked and that’s all that matters. We are free and the pirates are tied up.’

‘How do we reattach the shadows?’ asked Amy. ‘What happened in the book?’

‘Wendy sewed them on,’ replied Shelley, ‘but we’ll have to do it later. Let’s roll them up and take them with us.’

‘And let’s not forget the pouch of fairy dust,’ said Jack.

‘Oh yes. The fairies will be so grateful to me for returning the fairy dust to their nests,’ beamed Peter. ‘They will be amazed to hear how I single-handedly beat the pirates to escape with the fairy dust.’

The three children rolled their eyes at one another and smiled. They knew that they had to rely on Peter to get them home again safely.

‘You said we could email to let our parents know we are O.K.,’ Amy reminded Peter. ‘Can we do that before we do anything else? They’ll be frantic by now.’

‘Good point Amy,’ said Shelley. ‘Can you take us to your computer first?’

Peter and the girls went off to send the email while Jack went back into the prison to pick up the pouch of fairy dust. It was still almost full, although there was a fair amount spilled on the floor from the shadows. He wondered whether he ought to try to gather it up but decided they probably had enough. He pulled the drawstring tight to seal the bag and placed the loop over his head.

He popped his head into the room where Jukes and Noddler lay. He couldn’t help laughing at the sight of them. They’d deserved all they got. ‘Right then, I guess we’ll shortly be on our way home. Adios amigos.’ He gave a cheeky salute to the trussed up pirates and was just about to leave the Jolly Roger when the others came back.

‘Let’s go right now.’ Shelley was anxious to get away.

‘Just a minute,’ said Amy, ever the kind hearted one. ‘I don’t think we should leave the pirates tied up, no matter how wicked they’ve been. They could starve to death before anyone finds them. Remember the “Fairy Dust Seeker’s Agreement” told us to be kind to foe no matter what. Can we at least set one of them free?’

‘Well, I suppose so,’ said Jack. ‘Why don’t we set Noddler free? It’ll take him a while to undo the belt on Jukes, with those hands of his. And just to be on the safe side, we won’t leave them any weapons.’ He picked up the pistols and handed them to Peter. ‘I’ll take the cutlasses. We can dispose of them as we fly.’

Jack set off for the door, followed by Shelley carrying two rolled up shadows and Peter with the pistols and the other shadows. Amy loosened the belt on Noddler before joining them on the deck. Jack sprinkled each one with fairy dust and they took off into the sky with an unusually quiet and thoughtful Peter leading the way. He’d never had such a close call before. He wasn’t about to admit it but these Scottish kids were pretty smart, and definitely plucky. He wondered if they might like to stay and become lost boys in Never Land.

Noddler wriggled out of the belt that bound him and fumbled with the buckle of the one that was restraining Jukes. It took him a good five minutes to extricate the other pirate and by the time the two of them staggered onto the deck, and looked up at the sky, there was no one in sight.

‘What’s Skylights going to say now?’ muttered Jukes. ‘Here we are stuck in Never Land while he’s in Edinburgh waiting for us to come and bring him the fairy dust. Not only did you drop ours into the sea, but now these pesky kids and Peter Pan have outwitted us and taken all the new stuff.’

‘We’re scuppered,’ wailed Noddler. ‘When he finds out, Skylights is going to have us whipped, or keelhauled, or he’ll make us walk the plank.’

‘Well that’s just it. He’d better not find out. And anyway, Skylights is in Scotland and they don’t allow things like that to happen. It’s against human rights.’

He stomped back into the room and poked his head into the children’s prison. ‘Hey, Noddler,’ he shouted. ‘Come and look at this. There’s a lot of fairy dust been spilt on the floor. Maybe we can still get to Scotland.’ He pulled a handkerchief out of his pocket and began to mop the fairy dust into a small pile. Then he cast his eyes about for something to carry it in. ‘Hey, Noddler,’ he shouted. ‘Have you got another pouch or something to carry this fairy dust in?’

Noddler felt in his pockets and pulled out a pouch similar to the one the children had used. It was not quite empty, but Noddler, already in the bad books with Jukes, was anxious to do anything to please him. ‘What about this?’ he said. He took it over and helped Jukes sweep most of the dust into it. They kept the final few specks in their hands and sprinkled it on themselves as they went out the door. They felt the familiar weightlessness as they rose up into the air and once more headed for Scotland, not far behind Peter and the children.

‘Well gentlemen?’ The professor made eye contact with each of the pirates in turn. ‘If one can one call pirates gentlemen? I meant what I said just now. Nothing else happens in this lab until I see my daughter.’ John spoke with a false bravado hoping the pirates would not suspect how scared he really felt.

‘But of course, we agree,’ growled Skylights. ‘Fitzsmee, me old matey, look smartly, go and bring the girl through here.’

‘Through here? You mean she has been in this building the whole time?’ asked John, astounded, but immediately feeling more optimistic. He raised his voice. ‘I want to see her right this minute or we’re not going ahead with waking Hook from the dead.’