She could not look back while Peter piggybacked on her, and she had no desire to either. She didn't want to know what a broken heart looked like. She suspected she would have an intimate understanding of that for herself soon enough.
Chapter 35
“Hurry up, Gwenny!” Peter cried, almost as loud as the wind in her ear. “We've got to get to the Never Tree before those lawyers do!”
Soaring over the sea, Gwen and Peter made haste to get away from the battleship and out of its weapons' range. Jay had never alerted the crew to their presence, so what few adults spotted the two flying children were not prepared to react. Once she felt a safe distance away, Gwen stopped trying to shoot paranoid glances over her shoulder and focused on flying fast enough to appease Peter.
No one could fly enough to satisfy Peter except Peter himself. His frustration found a productive outlet as he attempted to regain his own power. He wriggled off of Gwen's back, but kept an arm wrapped around her shoulders like a limping man. She steadied him and tried to correct for the lopsided flight that resulted from this imbalance. They didn't fly any faster, but at least Peter was recovering.
Feeling a little more confident in his safety, her worries turned to others. She yanked the tin can phone out of her overstuffed satchel—making sure not to let the heavy contract with reality flop out.
Shouting over the ocean's aggressive wind, she yelled into the can, “Rosemary, are you there? Are you okay?” She pressed the can to her ear and waited with her heart in her throat until her little sister picked up.
“Yeppers!” Rosemary answered.
“Where are you?”
“Guarding the Never Tree. Jam brought flashlights to help fight shadows!”
“Listen closely,” Gwen told her. “The adults are getting ready to send more things ashore.”
“Really? More? Like what?”
“Like lawyers, and a will-o-the-wisp.”
“What's that?”
“I'm not sure. It will catch you and give you to the grown-ups,” or worse, if it gets out of control. Gwen didn't know how to explain the gaseous trap to Rosemary when she hadn't even seen it for herself yet. “Don't chase any weird clouds or lights, and if you see any strange adults, stay away from them.”
“I don't get into cars with strange adults!” Rosemary declared.
“Right. Just stay away from them altogether, and tell the other kids. Peter and I will be there soon.”
“Okay, good! I was starting to miss you,” her little sister replied.
“Stay safe,” Gwen told her. “I'll see you soon.”
“Yeppers!”
The tin can line went dead, and Gwen considered the reality that she would never forgive herself if anything happened to Rosemary.
She realized Peter was steering them off course, pulling her slightly away from the island and starting to circumnavigate it. She didn't fight his pull, but she did question it. “Why don't we fly straight to the Never Tree?” Gwen shouted to him.
“We can't,” Peter shouted back. “There's only one way left to get to it, and it's the longest and most secret.”
Gwen had to trust Rosemary would stay safe until they reached her. The little girl had proved an admirable soldier so far. It wasn't unreasonable to think she could take care of herself a few minutes more.
Like dragonflies on the wind, Gwen and Peter moved faster than any ship could. They outpaced the Anomalous Activity flagship and, in short order, caught up to the Grammarian, halfway to the other side of the island.
Starkey's ship veered away from Neverland, however, making it clear he'd charted a course away from these dangerous waters. Gwen powered them forward without complaint as Peter swerved them toward the pirate ship.
“Hey ho!” Peter shouted at the crew. “Look at all you ugly codfish—where's your captain?”
Twill pushed past Hangnail and Lacroix, skirting between their legs and running over to see Peter.
“He's at the helm!” Twill announced. “That means he's driving the ship! He's teaching me to drive too. I can show you!”
Gwen and Peter hovered after the tiniest pirate. Committed to a life of piracy, Twill did not fly and seemed to have no compulsion to violate the laws of physics now that the laws of man no longer constrained him.
Starkey saw them coming and hailed them with a friendly wave. “This is where I leave you, Pan,” he told him. “We've all the prisoners this poor boat can carry, and I want to make good time getting them back. It's a pleasure doing such dastardly business with you, but I suspect we'll be at odds next I return.”
“If I ever see you again, I'll send the crocodile after you—hand and all!” Peter threatened.
Starkey smiled, his mustache curling with his lips. “We'll see about that,” he answered. With a nod and a wink to Gwen he told her, “I see you've made it out and back into the fray. You're as slippery as an eel in oil, Miss Hoffman. It becomes you.”
“Begone, you old shrimp-faced fiend,” Peter cursed.
“Goodbye, Peter!” Twill shouted, forgetting for a moment that they had become enemies.
Peter, never one for goodbyes or sentimental partings, zipped back off, still leaning on Gwen. They shot so fast into the sky, she almost didn't hear Starkey tell her, “Godspeed, Gwendolyn. The offer always stands.”
The wind favored them and Gwen and Peter made it to shore in record time. The breeze seemed to blow them back to the island, calling them home in this moment of distress. Peter doubled over as soon as he touched ground. The flight had caused greater strain than he had let on, and he needed a moment to recover from the exertion.
Gwen saw, half a mile down the beach and almost out of sight, the melted and dilapidated remains of their sandcastle defense. A team of pirates had already gathered the prisoners out of its dungeon and loaded them aboard the Grammarian. Like an abandoned and maybe haunted house, the sand castle slumped toward the ground, now uninhabited.
Closer, and
