The Legacy of Peter Pan

Chapter 5: The Journey to London

Over, under, and through the clouds Peter flew. So quick he was nothing but a blur of green. Despite his speed, his shadow was ahead of him, the dark mass slinking across the cottony clouds like a snake. With an angered grunt, Peter internally cursed himself. He never should have trusted his shadow. It was the only being more tricky and mischievous than himself and Peter knew this. But being oblivious, Peter had followed the shadow and now it had brought him out of Neverland into the London sky.

There was a chill in the air. Winter was breathing right down the neck of Autumn. Peter paid no mind to the sharp cold pricking his skin, feeling like thousands of tiny needles. He squinted his eyes, unable to spot the shadow. The boy slowed to a stop. He was practically inside of a cloud. Surely a shadow should be easy to spot here. He carefully "walked" about the cloud and frowned.

"I'm tired of playing this game, Shadow!" He growled. "So, hurry up and come on out!"

From behind him, Peter heard the faintest of stifled laughter.

Peter swivelled around, and as the shadow began to take off once again, he grabbed the shadow's ankle.

"Gotcha!"

But the shadow was cunning and determined, so it shot off out of the cloud and back into the clear air. Now being dragged by the shadow, Peter held on to the shadow's ankle with all his strength. He attempted to dig his heels into the ground to stop the quickly moving mass, but no such ground existed.

It continued like this for the next few moments, Peter tugging harshly on the leg of the shadow and the shadow pushing forward like a sled dog mushing through the snow. If there was to be a passerby on the street this time of night, they would have only heard a whoosh!, and a distant, "Traitorous shadow!".

    The shadow finally changed courses, and took a harsh dive towards a small quiet town house. Peter knew this house immediately. It was still the quaint red bricked home he'd seen on that silent street in Bloomsbury so long ago. But Peter didn't have time to demand the shadow turn around, for soon he was smacked into one of the large windows of the house, his shadow leaving him behind and darting into the house much like a ghost. But since Peter was not a ghost, there was no way for him to simply fly through the solid window as his troublesome shadow had done. Peter sighed in frustration. He rested his hand on the chilled window. The last thing he wanted to do was poke and prod around for his shadow, running the risk of someone spotting him.

    He cupped his hands to the glass and peered through. It was the old nursery! He frowned. But it was...empty. The ground that used to be scattered with a multitude of toys was now bare. A carpet of dust rested on the chest of drawers, and the beds in the room were stripped to their mattresses. Next to the open doorway, stood his shadow, who waved at him and snuck off into the hallway. Peter lightly banged his fist on the window.

"You! Ugh, Come back!" He begged.

Peter hurriedly took off from the window sill and landed on the roof. Trying to be as quiet as possible, Peter ran down the roof over to the opposite side of the house. Nearing the edge of the roof, the boy dropped to his knees and gripped the eaves, leaning over to see if his shadow had come out the other side and was somewhere in the small backyard. Instead, he spotted an open window.

    Wendy Darling was having a difficult time falling asleep. She tossed and turned in her covers. There were too many things to be thought of and worried about for sleep. Wendy couldn't help but replay Jack's words in her head over and over.

"If I were to ask for your hand in marriage..."

She tried to imagine her and Jack kissing. She grimaced. It was not a pleasant sight at all. For the hundredth time that day, Wendy wished she could be a little girl again. Back when the thought of marriage was barely a twinkle in her eye and she spent her days having marvelous playtimes with her younger brothers. She couldn't believe there was ever a time where she'd thought she was 'ready to grow up.'