Page 45 of Lost Starlight
“I think they love some things about each other, butno, they do not have the kind of love that you feel for Peter. You are a great example to me, little sister. I shall find a love like the one you have found. I want better for my children than what we had.”
“I wish we had talked about this sooner,” I said.
“I do, too. Sorry for failing you, but I couldn’t take it. I had to escape our home.” He looked at the sea with regreton his face.
“You have not failed me, Michael. Thank you for being here for me, now,” I said with a smile, nudging him in his shoulder.
“Thank you, Wendy,” he said with a smile. We looked out over the sea for a while in silence.
“I miss him,” I whispered.
Michael pulled me into his arms. I do not know how long we stood there—how long Michael, the brother I had underestimated, held me, but I cried and convinced myself that he did not know about my tears. There was a sort of healing in those tears, and a renewed hope that maybe I would have to distance myself from my mother; still, I could have a stronger and closer relationship with Michael in the future. That hope was bright.
“We are here!” Dominick said from the wheel of the ship.
Boats were lowered into the water with splashes after the anchor was dropped.
I pulled away from Michael, wiping away my tears.
“Thank you,” I said.
“Anytime. I am here for you. Let’s find Peter so you will no longer have to leave these wet spots on my jacket,” he said playfully. I poked his side, and he laughed. “I’m jesting, you know. If you ever need me, I am here.”
“I know, and that means so much to me. Truly,” I said.
“Okay, let’s go find your prince.”
Chapter Nineteen
Peter
Present Day
“There’s a ship! It just docked on the south side of the island!” Stone called out to me from the beach, where we had set up camp for the night, and I intended to start training the boys how to fight and hide; however, they were more skilled than I was at hiding.
“Is the shipherein the bay or further out at sea?” I asked
“On the other side of the island. This is the north side,” Stone answered.
“Okay, are you all ready to go and defeat Captain Hook and his pirate crew?” I asked, walking from the tent. The group of boys were sharpening their weapons and gathering supplies, but as they were gathering, a swarm of pixies came chiming into the camp.
“Princess, Princess!” they chanted.
Fear surged through me. Were they saying that I needed a princess here? Just as they wanted Gwen to be the mother and me as the father of the last group of children they stole?
“No, I do not need aprincess.”
“Peter! Peter! Save us!”
“Save you from Hook? Yes, that is my plan.”
“Save the stars! The stars!” they rang again, and I looked around as they swarmed me.
“What are they saying?”
“Lost starlight,” Stone said slowly.
“It is midday.”
