“Be brave,” she whispered to herself. “Be brave.” That reminded her of someone . . . who?
Wendy reached for the tree, and with determination and a small cry of terror, she leapt into the air, wrapping herself around the branch, her feet leaving the secure, safe wooden platform. She screamed out loud as her body slid down the tree, ever gaining speed as her tiny hut disappeared above her into a quilt of leaves. Faster and faster, she was sliding, her hands becoming lacerated with tiny slivers. I’m going to hit the ground, she thought with a rush of fear. Oh dear, how does one stop? But then she was yanked off the tree by a strong arm and set on her feet. She took a breath and burst out laughing before turning to Oxley.
“Well, that was terrifying.” She paused. “And fun!”
Wendy heard padded steps approaching behind her.
“Ah, your brother is here, so we can start the tour!”
Wendy spun around and saw John standing silently behind her, arms crossed. He looked angry, as always.
“JOHN!” Michael squealed, launching himself at his brother. “Where did you sleep? Why didn’t you sleep with Wendy and me?”
Wendy watched her brother’s face as it finally bowed to the unleashing of love from Michael. Oxley cracked a sly smile.
“John was up with the Generals, going over the beginning plans for a raid!”
“A raid?” Wendy asked. Her eyes narrowed. “John will be participating in a raid? But he doesn’t know anything about that.”
“Shut up!” John snapped.
“John! What’s gotten into you?”
Oxley frowned. “John, be nice to your sister.”
John moaned. “Fine.” He turned to Michael. “I was up late with Oxley here, Abbott, and Kitoko. We were talking battle strategies for a pirate raid.”
“And what exactly would you know about pirates, or raids, or battles?” Wendy voiced, her tone growing more aggressive than she would like.
“More than you,” he muttered.
“All right, children,” Oxley said in a calm voice, which was amusing considering Oxley was younger than Wendy. “Shall we take the tour?” Oxley stepped back. “You’ll see the Teepee and the Table tonight, so, Darlings, why don’t you pick? What would you like to see?”
John cleared his throat. “I . . . I would like to see the base of the tree. I want to understand the physics of how it holds everything up.”
Wendy almost laughed out loud. “Oh, John,” she said. Here they were, on a magical island, and John wanted to understand the science of it. She reached out to ruffle his hair, but he stepped away, annoyed.
“You’re not our mother,” he snapped. She recoiled, stung by his words, remembering how he had looked at her with such hatred the night before.
Wendy turned away from him. “I’d like to see the water, I think—the beach?”
“I can show you that!” With a wide grin, Ox loped over a few feet to the largest branch that Wendy had ever seen. Several thick ropes dangled down from its upper branches, and Ox began tying one around himself and Michael.
“There are, of course, several ways to get anywhere in Pan Island, but this is probably the fastest.”
Wendy looked at the ropes, frayed at the ends, thinking that a longer way down would probably be fine with her. He looped one around Wendy’s waist, and John’s, and gave the ropes a tug. Then he turned his face upward.
“DARBY, MATE! TAKE US ALL THE WAY DOWN!”
“Yes, sir!” came the reply from one of the branches above. Oxley laughed.
“Darby will be a General soon, we hope. He’s a good chap. Getting old enough now.”
Wendy hadn’t been aware that anyone was near them, but as she looked up into the tree, she could see the subtle movements of dozens of boys, watching them. Boys everywhere. Where was Peter? For reasons that she wouldn’t let herself linger on, she was desperate to see him. Ox took her outstretched hand in his own and gave a tug on the ropes that pulled them up on their tippy toes. Then he leapt off the tree, off the platform that held him, and disappeared into the canopy below. Wendy followed with an unladylike screech, John with a cry of pure joy. At first they were free-falling, or so it seemed, but then there was a gradual tightening of the rope around her waist, and it seemed that they were in a controlled fall. Wendy dangled helplessly in the air, her feet circling above Oxley’s head, eternally thankful that she wasn’t wearing a dress at the moment. She leaned forward and looked down at the ground, still hundreds of feet below her.
“What do we do now?”
“Watch!” Oxley grinned. He swung forward toward the largest nearby tree branch and placed his feet up against the trunk, leaning backward on his rope belt. Soon, he was horizontal to the ground, and began steadily walking backward down the trunk. It was astonishing.