04.1-CHAPTER 4 THE FLIGHT part1-kv

CHAPTER 4 THE FLIGHT  part1

"Second to the right, and straighton till morning." That, Peter had told Wendy, was the way to theNeverland; but even birds, carrying maps and consulting them at windy corners,could not have sighted it with these instructions. Peter, you see, just said anythingthat came into his head.

At first his companions trusted himimplicitly, and so great were the delights of flying that they wasted time circlinground church spires or any other tall objects on the way that took their fancy.

John and Michael raced, Michael gettinga start.

They recalled with contempt that not solong ago they had thought themselves fine fellows for being able to fly round aroom.

Not long ago. But how long ago? Theywere flying over the sea before this thought began to disturb Wendy seriously.John thought it was their second sea and their third night.

Sometimes it was dark and sometimeslight, and now they were very cold and again too warm. Did they really feelhungry at times, or were they merely pretending, because Peter had such a jollynew way of feeding them? His way was to pursue birds who had food in theirmouths suitable for humans and snatch it from them; then the birds would followand snatch it back; and they would all go chasing each other gaily for miles,parting at last with mutual expressions of good-will. But Wendy noticed withgentle concern that Peter did not seem to know that this was rather an odd wayof getting your bread and butter, nor even that there are other ways.

Certainly they did not pretend to be sleepy,they were sleepy; and that was a danger, for the moment they popped off, downthey fell. The awful thing was that Peter thought this funny.

"There he goes again!" hewould cry gleefully, as Michael suddenly dropped like a stone.

"Save him, save him!" criedWendy, looking with horror at the cruel sea far below.

Eventually Peter would dive through theair, and catch Michael just before he could strike the sea, and it was lovelythe way he did it; but he always waited till the last moment, and you felt itwas his cleverness that interested him and not the saving of human life. Alsohe was fond of variety, and the sport that engrossed him one moment wouldsuddenly cease to engage him, so there was always the possibility that the nexttime you fell he would let you go.

He could sleep in the air withoutfalling, by merely lying on his back and floating, but this was, partly atleast, because he was so light that if you got behind him and blew he wentfaster.

"Do be more polite to him,"Wendy whispered to John, when they were playing "Follow myLeader." "Then tell him to stop showing off," said John.

When playing Follow my Leader, Peterwould fly close to the water and touch each shark's tail in passing, just as inthe street you may run your finger along an iron railing. They could not followhim in this with much success, so perhaps it was rather like showing off,especially as he kept looking behind to see how many tails they missed.

"You must be nice to him,"Wendy impressed on her brothers. "What could we do if he were to leaveus!" "We could go back," Michael said.

"How could we ever find our wayback without him?" "Well, then, we could go on," said John.

"That is the awful thing, John. Weshould have to go on, for we don't know how to stop." This was true.Peter had forgotten to show them how to stop.

John said that if the worst came to theworst, all they had to do was to go straight on, for the world was round, andso in time they must come back to their own window.

"And who is to get food for us,John?" "I nipped a bit out of that eagle's mouth pretty neatly,Wendy." "After the twentieth try," Wendy reminded him."And even though we became good at picking up food, see how we bumpagainst clouds and things if he is not near to give us ahand." Indeed they were constantly bumping. They could now flystrongly, though they still kicked far too much; but if they saw a cloud infront of them, the more they tried to avoid it, the more certainly did theybump into it. If Nana had been with them, she would have had a bandage roundMichael's forehead by this time.

Peter was not with them for the moment,and they felt rather lonely up there by themselves. He could go so much fasterthan they that he would suddenly shoot out of sight, to have some adventure inwhich they had no share. He would come down laughing over something fearfullyfunny he had been saying to a star, but he had already forgotten what it was,or he would come up with mermaid scales still sticking to him, and yet not beable to say for certain what had been happening. It was really ratherirritating to children who had never seen a mermaid.

"And if he forgets them soquickly," Wendy argued, "how can we expect that he will go onremembering us?" Indeed, sometimes when he returned he did notremember them, at least not well. Wendy was sure of it. She saw recognitioncome into his eyes as he was about to pass them the time of day and go on; onceeven she had to call him by name.

"I'm Wendy," she saidagitatedly.

He was very sorry. "I say,Wendy," he whispered to her, "always if you see me forgetting you,just keep on saying 'I'm Wendy,' and then I'll remember." Of coursethis was rather unsatisfactory. However, to make amends he showed them how tolie out flat on a strong wind that was going their way, and this was such apleasant change that they tried it several times and found they could sleepthus with security. Indeed they would have slept longer, but Peter tiredquickly of sleeping, and soon he would cry in his captain voice, "We getoff here." So with occasional tiffs, but on the whole rollicking,they drew near the Neverland; for after many moons they did reach it, and, whatis more, they had been going pretty straight all the time, not perhaps so muchowing to the guidance of Peter or Tink as because the island was looking forthem. It is only thus that any one may sight those magic shores.

"There it is," said Petercalmly.

"Where,where?" "Where all the arrows are pointing." Indeed amillion golden arrows were pointing it out to the children, all directed bytheir friend the sun, who wanted them to be sure of their way before leavingthem for the night.

Wendy and John and Michael stood ontip-toe in the air to get their first sight of the island. Strange to say, theyall recognized it at once, and until fear fell upon them they hailed it, not assomething long dreamt of and seen at last, but as a familiar friend to who theywere returning home for the holidays.

"John, there's thelagoon." "Wendy, look at the turtles burying their eggs in thesand." "I say, John, I see your flamingo with the brokenleg!" "Look, Michael, there's your cave." 

"John, what's that in the brushwood?" "It'sa wolf with her whelps. Wendy, I do believe that's your littlewhelp!" "There's my boat, John, with her sides stovein!" "No, it isn't. Why, we burned yourboat." "That's her, at any rate. I say, John, I see the smoke ofthe Indian camp!" "Where? Show me, and I'll tell you by the waysmoke curls whether they are on the war-path.” "There, just across theMysterious River." "I see now. Yes, they are on the war-pathright enough.” Peter was a little annoyed withthem for knowing so much, but if he wanted to lord it over them his triumph wasat hand, for have I not told you that anon fear fell upon them? It came as thearrows went, leaving the island in gloom.

In the old days at home the Neverlandhad always begun to look a little dark and threatening by bedtime. Thenunexplored patches arose in it and spread, black shadows moved about in them,the roar of the beasts of prey was quite different now, and above all, you lostthe certainty that you would win. You were quite glad that the night-lightswere on. You even liked Nana to say that this was just the mantelpiece overhere, and that the Neverland was all make-believe.