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

Thomas prodded him for more details, and he recounted his watery mermaid-aided escape from the pirate lair. He was just finishing when an angry and accusing burst of bel s from Tink caught the boys’ attention, and they looked up to see Peter swoop down into the clearing, his bare feet skidding ruts in the dirt as he landed.
    “Peter!” shouted al three boys at once. They peppered him with questions, but he silenced them with an upraised hand. Silencing Tink took a little longer.
    “There isn’t much time,” Peter said, once they were al quiet. “You must listen careful y. There are bad men on the island. They came by ship and they captured Shining Pearl.
    But it’s not her they want; it’s the starstuff.”
    “But the starstuff is gone!” said Prentiss. “Mol y’s father took it!”
    “That’s right,” said Peter. “It’s al gone, except for this.” His hand touched the gold locket that hung on a gold chain around his neck—the locket given to him by Lord Aster.
    “Fighting Prawn told them that Lord Aster took it, and now they’re going to England to get it.”
    “So they’re leaving the island?” said James.
    “Yes,” said Peter.
    “So we’re safe,” said Thomas.
    “Yes,” said Peter. “ We’re safe. But Lord Aster isn’t. And neither is Mol y. These are very bad men.” Peter did not tel them about the troubling figure in the dark cloak, and the strange thing Fighting Prawn’s shadow had done. He didn’t want to scare his friends. Besides, he wasn’t exactly sure what he had seen.
    James studied Peter, frowning. “Peter,” he said, “what did you mean when you said there isn’t much time?” Peter looked at his friends. He felt a tightness in his throat. “I have to go to England,” he said.
    “What?” said al three. Peter looked down, not wanting to see the fear on their faces.
    “But how?” asked James. “Even if you could fly al that way, how could you find it? The sea is enormous.”
    “I know,” said Peter. “I’l have to fol ow the ship.”
    “The ship ?” said Thomas. “The very bad men’ s ship?”
    Peter nodded.
    “But what if they see you?” said James. “What happens when you get tired? Where wil you sleep?”
    “I dunno,” said Peter. “But I have to try. I have no choice. I can’t just stay here and do nothing while they go after Lord Aster and…and Mol y.” Tink made an unpleasant sound. She did not care for Mol y.
    “But if you leave, what wil we do?” said Prentiss. “Who wil be our leader?”
    “James wil ,” said Peter. He stepped forward and put his hands on James’s shoulders. As he did so, he realized that James, who had always been smal er than Peter, was now precisely the same height.
    He’s growing older, thought Peter. By the time I get back, he’ll be taller than I am. If I get back.
    “You’l take care of them, won’t you, James?” he said.
    James, his eyes wet, sniffed and nodded bravely.
    “There’s a good fel ow,” said Peter, squeezing his shoulders, then turning away and coughing to cover up a sniff of his own. Turning back, he said, “The Mol usks are here, if you need help. Just stay away from those pirates, al right?”
    James, Thomas, and Prentiss nodded, and Peter saw tears on al six cheeks.
    “It’s al right,” he said. “I’l be back. I promise you.”
    The three nodded again, not looking the least bit convinced.

    “Al right, then,” said Peter. “I’ve got to get going before the ship leaves.”
    He rose a few feet into the air and hovered, looking at Tinker Bel . She turned her back on him and folded her arms.
    “Wel …I guess I’m going alone, then,” he said. Then, with a wave to his friends—displaying a jauntiness he did not feel—Peter swooped up over the trees and turned toward the water.
    For a moment the clearing was silent. The silence was broken by an explosion of bel s—and it was a very good thing that the boys did not understand these bel s—as Tink shot into the sky,