Suddenly Peter was not as carefree as he had been. He was now on the alert.
He looked down in the growing darkness and pointed to the smoke rising from a campfire below.
"See that smoke?
It comes from the camp of the Indians just across the Mysterious River."
Peter explained to the children. "Those are smoke signals.
They are on the war path.
And look," he said, pointing to another part of the island.
"There are the pirates getting ready to shoot their cannon, called Long Tom, at Execution Dock.
We need to be on our guard."
With this, Peter sent Tinker Bell up front to lead the way.
Her glow provided enough light for everyone to see each other and the land below.
All had been quiet in Neverland while Peter was gone.
When Peter was not there, life on the island was always more peaceful.
The fairies and mermaids even took an extra hour to get up in the morning.
Rather than fighting, the pirates and the Lost Boys just made faces at each other when they met.
The Indians planted their corn, and the wild animals looked after their young.
But when Peter arrived, the action began!
Peter told the children about the pirates and their ship, the Jolly Roger.
Their eyes lit up when he talked about the pirates' wicked leader—Captain Hook!
The children had heard of him and his evil reputation. Michael began to cry.
John asked, "Is he as mean and as big as they say?"
"Well, he's a bit smaller now," replied Peter, "because I cut off his right hand."
"Then he can't fight?" replied Michael hopefully.
"Oh no, he can fight. He's as fierce as ever.
But now he has an iron hook instead of a right hand.
In fact, he's been known to claw people to death with that hook."
"Well, I wonder what it would be like to meet him!" said John.
He was almost looking forward to a pirate adventure.
"Not me, I would be too scared!" cried Michael.
"As captain, there is one thing I demand of each boy who serves under me," said Peter.
"If we meet Hook in a fight, you must leave him to me."
"Ay, ay, sir," replied both boys.
"But right now, we aren't ready for a fight," Peter declared.
"Let's get out of sight.
The pirates might already have seen us because of Tink's light."
"Tell her to put out her light," the children cried in unison.
"Her light only goes out when she is asleep," said Peter.
"But we can put her in John's top hat."
When Tinker Bell thought Peter would carry the hat, she agreed happily.
But when Peter gave the hat to Wendy, Tink was upset.
After thinking about it, the fairy decided not to make a fuss—at least not just yet.
With Tinker Bell in the hat, the group's guiding light was gone.
They flew on in complete silence.
Suddenly, Peter and the children became enveloped in a ghostly stillness.
"If only something would make a sound . . ." sighed Michael.
As if to answer Michael's wish, there was a huge boom!
The pirates had fired Long Tom into the sky.
The cannon's roar echoed through the mountains and sent the group flying in different directions.
No one was hit, but Peter was thrown far out to sea.
Wendy was blown upward. She still held John's hat with Tinker Bell in it.
Tinker Bell wasn't a bad fairy. Sometimes she was really good.
But at this moment, she was bad.
She hated Wendy because she was jealous of Wendy's feelings for Peter.
It would have been better for Wendy if she had dropped the hat, but Wendy would never have let go.
After the cannon blast, Tinker Bell popped out of the hat and tinkled something in fairy language.
Wendy did not understand.
She assumed the fairy was saying "Follow me."
What else could Wendy do? She followed.