“Ouch, you bloody little—” But then both of them went tumbling toward the other end of the ship as the mermaids and crocodiles rocked it so severely that James almost fell into the ocean with Tinker Bell tight in his grip. The banquet tables went sliding past him, dumping the feast into the ocean. With the hand not holding Tinker Bell, he plunged his knife into the deck and held on to keep himself from going overboard.

“Skylights, Mullins, and Smee, protect the Lost Boys and don’t let them go overboard!” yelled James. He looked frantically for Peter, but he couldn’t find him. “I think Peter is overboard, someone find him!” yelled James as the ship slammed back into its correct position.

Tinker Bell was struggling in James’s hand; he was afraid he was squeezing her too tightly, but he couldn’t find a jar or container or anything to put her in so she couldn’t fly away. He felt stupid for not thinking of that before then. She kept biting his hand, over and over, making him shake her furiously, her magic pixie dust now cascading all over the deck of the ship, causing it to rise into the air. Everything was happening more quickly than he had planned. He wasn’t ready to take the ship to the Many Kingdoms; he couldn’t leave until he knew Peter and the other Lost Boys were okay, and what was he going to do about the mermaids when he got back?

“Smee, is everyone accounted for?” asked James as the ship lifted from the water. Everything was going terribly wrong, but he was determined to pull it off.

“Everyone is accounted for except for Peter; the mermaids are looking for him now,” Smee said. “Sir! What are you doing?” The ship sailed higher into the air. “What of Peter?” Smee said, looking overboard.

James rushed to his side to see if he could see Peter below. “I’m not doing this, Smee. It’s the pixie dust. I think it’s taking us back to the Many Kingdoms.”

“Well, make it stop, sir!” said Smee, squinting to see what was happening below. “We can’t leave without knowing if Peter is okay. And what will we do about the mermaids? They’re bound to tell Peter what we did.”

“They won’t have to!” said a voice from above. James turned around to see Peter flying toward him at great speed, his sword pointing in James’s direction. James had never seen Peter so serious, and so fierce. It threw him off guard, giving him the most unsettling feeling.

“You better let her go, or I will have your head!” said Peter when he landed on the deck of the ship, his sword raised and his face gravely serious. “Tink, Tink! Are you okay?” he yelled. She answered by giving James’s hand another bite.