"But then Peter, how do you get to Neverland?"
"You fly, of course."
"Fly?" Wendy looked up at the boy stunned. He had said it as if it wasn't the most impossible idea ever.
Peter caught Wendy's shocked expression and laughed, "Sure! Flying is easy!" To prove his point, Peter jumped off of the bed and made a few laps around the nursery. Adding in the occasional flip or twist, to show just how good he really was.
Wendy stood up from the bed trying to follow Peter's maneuvers. "Easy for you perhaps," She argued slightly dazed as she watched him do a somersault. "And maybe you didn't know this Peter, but, I don't know how to fly." She quipped.
Peter spun around to land on top of her bed completely ignoring the mocking tone. "Then I'll teach you." He grinned.
Wendy tilted her head, "Would you really Peter? Would you really teach me how to fly?"
Her outward expression was weary; she was testing him to see if he meant what he said. She hoped beyond hope he did.
He was about to share something that was very important to him with this wonderfully peculiar girl. That thought created an interesting sensation inside him. It was new, but felt almost natural. It resembled the warmth of a sunbeam mixed with the thrill of a pirate fight and a dash of pixie dust. Peter peered into Wendy's sea blue eyes.
"Of course I will teach you to fly." He promised sincerely. "But first, I need to know one thing."
"What's that?" Wendy whispered.
Peter's face went somber; there was a glint of mischief in his eyes. He held his hand out to Wendy.
"Do you trust me?"
Wendy looked hesitantly from the outstretched hand to the boy who was offering it. She really didn't know this boy. Well she knew him from her stories but that was completely different, she had imagined those. If Wendy was a logical, proper, young lady she would have said no and tossed him outside.
But Wendy was a dreamer, a wish maker, and here was the magical boy from her stories offering to teacher her to fly. But did she trust him? Wendy searched Peter's emerald eyes looking for something to dissuade her; she found nothing. Wendy Darling trusted Peter Pan.
"I do."
Wendy slipped her hand into Peter's outstretched one. Their hands tingling with the contact. Peter's cocky grin could have outshone the sun.
"Of course you do!" he said pulling her up onto the bed. "I'm Peter Pan, what's not to trust?"
Wendy merely arched her eyebrow and smirked. Peter laughed and reached down for her other hand.
"Well it's a good thing you trust me Wendy-Lady," He smiled coyly and pulled her in close. "Because Faith and Trust are the first two parts in learning how to fly. Now I want you to close your eyes until I tell you to open them."
Wendy obeyed.
"And no cheating!"
"I won't peak Peter, I promise." She huffed.
Once Peter was sure her eyes were completely closed and she wasn't cheating, he began to lift them off the bed and up towards the ceiling.
Wendy gasped. There wasn't solid ground beneath her feet anymore! A bit frightened, she began to tremble and clutched Peter's hands tighter.
Peter rolled his eyes and blew a breath. If she trusted him why was she so scared? Silly girl didn't he say he wouldn't let her fall? He had to find a way to get her to calm down. It would make it very difficult to teach her if she broke his hands in the process.
"Wendy," Peter began softly. "Wendy, take a deep breath. Remember you trust me? I won't let anything bad happen." He tried to give her hands a comforting squeeze. "Have faith in me."
Wendy began to relax her grip at his words. She took a few deep breaths and calmed her nerves. Trying to forget that there wasn't anything beneath her, and to focus instead, on Peter's voice.
Peter stopped them once they had reached the ceiling. "Alright Wendy. You can open your eyes now." He smiled and watched for her reaction.
"Oh!"
Wendy glanced down at her dangling feet. Then back to Peter, and then looked around the room.
"Oh!" Her eyes grew bigger. She was flying! She was actually flying! How impossibly wonderful! She smiled and let out a little giggle.
"Peter I'm flying! I'm actually flying! Look at me!"
He was, and he couldn't hide his amusement. She thought this was flying?
Peter smirked. "Ha! We're not flying yet Wendy, we're just floating. This is more like flying!"
He began to pull her around the room slowly then moving faster. Turning them in circles, zig-zagging from wall to wall, and up and over the beds where her brothers slept soundly. To an outsider, it would have seemed like the children were dancing a peculiar waltz; Peter leading and Wendy following closely behind laughing. It was dizzying, thrilling, and new. Wendy loved it.
After a few more minutes Peter landed them on the window seat, allowing Wendy to gather her bearings. Once the room was no longer spinning she looked over at Peter.
"That was wonderful Peter! I think I quite like flying!" Wendy said gleefully. Mimicking Peter she placed her hands on her hips confidently.
Peter gave her a humored look. "Oh sure you like this kind of flying, the easy kind. The "not really flying but I think I am" kind."
Wendy scrunched her nose. "What do you mean the easy kind? We were flying weren't we?"
"Sure we were" He leaned back and put his hands behind his head. "But that is the easy stuff. Anyone can do that." Peter sat back up. "Would you like to go outside? See what real flying is like?"
Wendy paused open mouthed. "Go outside?" She cocked her head to the side. "Do you mean it? Can we really? Oh please can we?"
Grinning Peter threw open the nursery window, "Why not?" He led Wendy out onto the window ledge. Then moved so that he was behind and to the right of Wendy.
Peter took her right hand in his right. Then slowly he looped his left arm around her slim waist. Wendy's breath caught in her throat. Her heart and stomach fluttered as she became aware of just how close Peter was.
"Are you ready Wendy Lady?"
His breath tickled her ear. She felt her cheeks rise with heat, and for once couldn't speak. Wendy peered back at Peter and nodded her head.
"Alright Wendy! Here we go!"
.................................................................................
The street lamps cast a warm glow as Peter steered them out of the window and into the cool London night. They rose up and over the tree where Peter sat during her stories and flew out over and the street.
Wendy was amazed at how differently things looked from this point of view. She smiled. So high up, large things appeared rather.... She paused her thought. So...high...up. Wendy made the mistake of looking straight down. Although they were no more than two stories in the air, the distance was so much greater than the distance from her nursery floor. She swallowed hard and held onto Peter's arm securing her waist.
Peter, sensing the change in Wendy and realizing the cause, decided to have a little fun at her expense.
"Oh! I forgot to ask," Peter gasped with feigned innocence. "You aren't afraid of heights are you Wendy?"
She threw him a hard look over her shoulder. "No." She straightened up as much as she could. "No I am not afraid of heights; I just hadn't occurred to me how high up we were. That's all."
"Oh if that's all" Peter shrugged, a dangerous gleam to his eye.
Wendy released her hold on the arm at her waist and smoothed her nightgown. Missing the conniving gleam, she continued. "Yes, that's .....AHH!"
Her sentence ended in a startled scream as Peter shot up into the night. He laughed as Wendy closed her eyes and clung to him for dear life. He continued to fly faster and higher into the sky. This was going to be fun!
Wendy didn't know what was happening! Heart replaced stomach, and stomach dropped to her toes. She'd scream again, but she couldn't force any air out of her lungs. They seemed to have disappeared. The wind whipped her curls around her face and stung her cheeks.
Then as suddenly as it started... it stopped.
"You can open your eyes now." Peter chuckled noticing her white knuckles.
Wendy didn't dare move...or breathe. Once she located her breath, and without opening her eyes she turned on Peter.
"Peter Pan! You are the most vile, wicked boy who ever lived! You scared me half to death, and gave me no warning! You should be ashamed for treating a lady like that! I hate you and shall never forgive you!"
Feeling a bit remorseful Peter tried to amend his somewhat wrong doing.
"Aw, come on now Wendy. It wasn't so bad. I didn't let you go, I kept my promise, and you're safe. I just wanted to have a bit of fun."
She huffed, but did not speak. Peter tried again. "Wendy please, I wasn't trying to be mean. I wanted to show you how real flying felt! Wendy, open your eyes! You don't know what you're missing!"
Hesitantly and reluctantly Wendy peered through her lashes. All she could see were tiny lights, fireflies? She opened her eyes wider and gasped, all anger melted away.
Beneath her was laid out the whole of London. It was magical. Tiny pin pricks of light mapped out streets and houses. Thick dark patches showed tree covered parks. Buckingham Palace and London Bridge and donned more lights and shone regal and stately. The clock tower stood a proud and protective sentry in the night, guarding its beloved city. Moonlight glowed on the river Thames. The glimmering water turning it into liquid silver. And high above the town, stars twinkled and played on night's stage.
Peter cautiously glanced out of the corner of his eye at Wendy. "Quite the view, isn't it?"
Wendy turned over her shoulder, starlight dancing in her eyes. "It's the most magnificent thing I have ever seen! It's absolutely breathtaking!"
Peter beamed with pride. But there was still an uncomfortable thorn poking his mind distracting him from being fully happy. He didn't like that Wendy had been angry at him. He didn't like feeling that he had done something wrong. Which he hadn't! But none the less, Wendy thought he had. And he didn't like that. So he seeing her temper dissipate, Peter tried again. "Are you still cross at me Wendy?"
For a brief moment Wendy turned up her head, refusing to look at him. But then she saw the stars and realized she could never stay mad at someone who showed her all this.
"No Peter," she sighed, turning to him. "I am not cross at you."
He breathed in a sigh of relief. Thorn gone, he could move on. "Now that you've seen the view Wendy, how about we go explore it a little closer?"
"I would like that very much." Wendy beamed.
This time Peter knew to give a warning in advance. "Hold on tight Wendy- Lady! We're going to fly!"
And with that they hurtled towards the city.