“Time runs differently here, James. Though you’ve been here a day, many years have passed in the human realm.” He couldn’t fathom how so much time had passed in his own world while he was in this one, and he became anxious for his mother, reminding himself of his promise. He didn’t want to delay his trip to Never Land, but decided he’d better talk to his men about planning a raid, or going back to where the Dreaded Queen had sunk into the ocean to see if they could retrieve its treasure. “But you already have the treasures you need at your fingertips. Take the contents of this box to London, and sell all but the mirror and iron clock to that shop in Eaton Square. It will be more than enough for your mother to pay the death duties and save the estate. Then you can go to Never Land as you wish,” said Lucinda.

“I’ve already made a deal with Circe. She is sending me to Never Land,” said James.

“Are you sure she will keep her promise, James? I know she tried to talk you into staying in the Dead Woods. What’s to stop her from going back on her word?”

“Queen Circe doesn’t seem like a liar to me. I think she will keep her promise, though I doubt you would should I ever be foolish enough to make a deal with you.”

“We have no intention of going back on our promise, James. Unlike Circe, we want you to go to Never Land; it, too, is our greatest wish to send you there, because we want you to bring us Tinker Bell in exchange for your true wish.”

In that moment he felt he understood their motivations for wanting him in Never Land, and he didn’t understand why Circe didn’t just share that with him. Perhaps she was trying to protect the fairy; he didn’t know, but to James it didn’t seem like a sinister plot that involved him other than getting the Odd Sisters something they wanted in exchange for what he truly wanted.

“What do you want with Tinker Bell?” he asked. He knew who Tinker Bell was; she was in all of Peter Pan’s stories, the ones he had learned as a young boy. Tinker Bell was one of Peter’s greatest companions. Never Land wouldn’t be the same without her.

“She belongs in the Many Kingdoms, James. She was sent from here many years ago by her own ilk, never to return. You are right to think Circe is trying to protect the fairy, but Tinker Bell is not that fairy. She is in league with the fairies who banished her, and now the poor dear is lost and adrift in Never Land. We simply wish to bring her home again,” said Lucinda.