She didn’t intend to sleep. She isn’t safe here, and neither is Jane. She’d only meant to sit for a moment with her back against the smooth trunk of a tree and rest her aching eyes. But her traitor mind had lulled her with images of home, Jane and Ned and Mary, all of them safe and far away from Peter’s grasp. Then she’d woken among tangled roots, her pulse racing, feeling some horrible thing, just out of reach.

Wendy puts a hand to her face, brushing at the imprint of leaves pressed into her skin. She tries to brush the dreams away, too, but they aren’t dreams. More like a memory, but one dissipating like smoke, slipping beyond her reach.

She stands, stretching, and her joints pop. It’s not just from lying on the ground with roots poking awkwardly into her back. She’s aged. She’s grown up. And Peter is still the same boy she left behind. She thinks of him standing at the foot of her daughter’s bed—the wicked grin, the fire-bright hair.

The elusive memory returns, sharp as a knife slash—his hand in hers, running through the trees. I’ll show you a secret. A really good one. One I’ve never shown anyone before. The sensation is so real, Wendy gasps aloud to catch her breath. But when she tries to grab hold, the place where the memory should be is a ragged hole, like fabric with a bit torn out. Come on, Wendy. Keep up. It’s the best secret you’ve ever seen, I promise.

Wendy clenches her jaw, leaving her teeth aching. Whatever did or didn’t happen last time she was here isn’t important. What matters now is Jane.

The sky was flush with stars when she’d sat down to rest, but now the sun is up, steadily climbing the sky. There’s no telling how much time she’s lost. She moves at a quick clip until she emerges from the trees and back onto the beach. Wendy is surprised to find the ship much closer than she thought. Did the landscape shift as she slept, the coastline curling in upon itself at Peter’s whim? Or did she walk farther than she realized?

The sand bears dimples in the places the tide doesn’t reach, the memory of feet surrounding the ship without drawing too close. She remembers the welcome party of boys that greeted her, Michael and John when Peter finally brought them down from the sky. There are long branches scattered around the remains of the ship’s hull as well, the kind that might be used as a shelter. Was Jane here? Did Peter bring the boys to meet her on the same spot where Wendy met them herself?