Free Peter and the Shadow Thieves by Dave Barry, Ridley Pearson Page A

us,” he said, “we’l shoot your daughter where she stands.” Fighting Prawn said nothing, his rage barely contained.
    As Nerezza and his men climbed into the longboat, Ombra spoke to Shining Pearl. “We wil let you go now,” he said. “But you wil not move until we row away, do you understand?”
    Shining Pearl, not looking at Ombra, nodded.
    “Let her go,” said Ombra.
    Slank released the girl and quickly climbed into the dory. In an instant, without apparent exertion, Ombra flowed aboard.
    “Row,” he said, but Slank was already pul ing on the oars, as were the men in the longboat with Nerezza. As the boats slid away, Shining Pearl stood absolutely motionless.
    Then, as the longboats rowed out of pistol range, Fighting Prawn opened his arms, and his daughter ran up the beach and into his waiting embrace. Fighting Prawn hugged her hard, but his eyes remained on the two receding boats, his thoughts far away, in England.
    It was not Fighting Prawn’s business anymore, now that these outsiders were gone from his island. But he knew Aster was a good man and a loving father. And as a father, Fighting Prawn wished that he could warn Aster of the danger now heading toward him.
    Peter, watching from the night sky, was thinking the same thing.

CHAPTER 14
THE FAREWELL
    I N THE DRIFTWOOD HUT where the Lost Boys lived beneath a roof of withered palm fronds, only Thomas had managed to remain awake. So he was the first to hear the faint but distinct sound of bel s in the distance. As it grew louder, he realized it was coming toward him from somewhere in the jungle.
    “They’re here!” he announced, shaking Prentiss awake.
    “What?” said Prentiss, sitting up, yawning.
    “Peter’s here!” said Thomas. “I hear Tinker Bel .”
    “Peter?” said Prentiss, wide awake now. “Where?” He and Thomas had grown very worried when neither James nor Peter had returned by nightfal .
    “Wil you be quiet ?” said Tubby Ted, sticking his head out from under the piece of canvas—an old sail—that the boys used as their col ective blanket. Tubby Ted had been dreaming of chocolate cake and wanted to get back to it.
    “But Peter’s back!” said Thomas.
    “Good for Peter,” said Tubby Ted, ducking back under the canvas. “Wake me up if he’s brought anything to eat.” Thomas and Prentiss rose and untied the hut door, a ship’s cargo hatch that had drifted to the island. On the outside was a sign with these words scrawled in charcoal: The two boys stepped outside into the moonlit clearing around the hut and the relative cool of the deep jungle night. They peered at the trees, and Prentiss shouted, “There she is!” He pointed to a glowing bal of light dancing toward them through the treetops. In a moment, Tinker Bel was flitting in front of them, an unhappy expression on her tiny, delicate, birdlike face.
    “Hel o, Tink,” said Prentiss tentatively. “Is everything al right?”
    Tinker Bel answered with a discordant din. Thomas and Prentiss didn’t understand her bel language—none of the boys did, except, of course, Peter—but it became immediately obvious that, in Tinker Bel ’s opinion, everything was most certainly not al right.
    Prentiss was about to seek clarification, when he and Thomas heard a noise at the edge of the clearing. They turned and saw a figure coming toward them in the moonlight.
    “James!” shouted Thomas. He and Prentiss ran toward their friend, who looked very tired and had scratches on his bare arms and legs from the trek over the mountain in the dark.
    “Are you al right?” said Prentiss.
    James managed a weak smile. “I’m…Yes, I’m al right. Is Peter here?”
    “No,” said Thomas. “Isn’t he with you? I mean, Tinker Bel is here.”
    “Yes,” said James. “Peter sent her with me, to guide me back.”
    “Where’s Peter, then?” said Prentiss.
    James told them briefly about his rescue, and the little that Peter had told him about Shining Pearl. Eagerly, Prentiss and