Beyond Neverland (sequel to Forever Neverland) by Heather Killough-Walden

Author:Heather Killough-Walden
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: pirate, young adult romance, peter pan, neverland, wendy darling, heather killoughwalden, captain hook, beyond neverland, forever neverland
Publisher: Heather Killough-Walden

Chapter Eighteen

An indeterminate number of miles and exactly five impossibilities away, Michael Darling fell.

I wonder if Neverland and Wonderland are related?

It was a random thought, one of many that he’d experienced over the last several minutes. It seemed he’d been falling forever. There was nothing but fog all around him, graying out his world. He had no idea how fast he was falling, or how far he’d gone. But everything seemed unreal and fuzzy, and he was certain that any second now, he would gently touch down onto some checkered floor in a room with multiple doors and a piece of cake that said “Eat me.”

So, when he suddenly hit something hard enough to knock the wind from his lungs and found himself engulfed in ice-cold water, it would have been a gross understatement to say that it took him by surprise.

Shock ram-rodded through him, at first hurting like a million needles thrust ruthlessly into his nerve endings, and then turning him numb from the inside out. He waited a moment before trying to inhale, not because he was smart enough to keep from doing so under water, but because he had no choice. His chest was paralyzed, his vision blinded, and all sense of direction had been hurled madly from his consciousness.

There was some smaller creature inside of Michael, screaming its head off at that moment. Maybe it could be likened to his inner child, if he weren’t still a child himself. Little by little, that creature’s voice grew louder, until the scream was ringing in Michael’s ears – and then erupting from his own throat as he shoved up through the surface of the water, his arms flailing madly, his eyes blinking with desperate fury.

He screamed, and then he inhaled, and then he screamed some more.

And then, little by little, the world cleared around him and his cries of fear and pain drifted off into a shivering, gasping whimper as he spun in water-soaked circles, taking it all in.

He was in a small cove. The lagoon stretched a mere hundred feet or so, circular in shape, and was secluded. All around the water’s edge were willow trees, thick grass patches, and smooth stones for perching…. Or were they for hiding behind? Such as you would when the Lost Boys were hunting for you and it was your turn to make it to the mighty, hollowed-out oak before they could find you?

Michael’s brow furrowed. He turned again, scanning the banks a little more slowly now, a realization settling in to take the place of the numbness and cold.

There. That was the tree Tootles had tried to climb, but failed. And the boys had laughed…. Up that path there was the trail to the Natives’ camp…. The other way was a fake trail to the Lost Boy’s Tree, set up to confuse the pirates.

He even recognized the smell. Like earth and rain.

I’m in Neverland.

The realization was almost as numbing as the water had been upon impact. Michael looked down at

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