James could hear the sounds of the mermaids’ laughter as he rowed from the lagoon, and wondered what he was doing there. He had risked his life to get to Never Land, and everyone there seemed to hate him no matter what he did. Everything will be fine in three days, he kept telling himself. Everything will be as it was meant to be. But he couldn’t stop thinking of Circe’s warnings, and he was starting to fear she was right.

Later that night James tossed and turned in his bed, wondering if what the mermaids had said was true. The idea of the Lost Boys’ mothers endlessly searching for their sons was a horrible thought. He had never considered what it must have been like for his mother all those years ago; he had only thought of himself. He had spent his life resenting his mother for claiming him, and now he couldn’t help but think of her alone in London, grieving for her dead husband, and for her son who had abandoned her. And what of Peter’s and the Lost Boys’ mothers? Were they, too, grieving for their lost sons? Had so much time passed that they were mere spirits trapped forever in the labyrinth, searching for their sons? The idea sent a shiver through James. He pulled up his blankets tight under his chin, and tried to banish these horrid thoughts from his head, and remember what was important:

He was back in Never Land, at long last, and soon he would have what he truly wanted. Friends.

Chapter XIV

A terrifying scream echoed through the Many Kingdoms, and all who heard it knew Circe was awakened by a nightmare. The Dead Woods was shrouded in darkness except for the glow of the golden flowers that illuminated the headstones, crypts, and their weeping angels as the queens of that land sighed in despair.