12 Extremely Happy Hook

CHAPTER 12 Extremely Happy Hook The pirate attack was a complete surprise. Hook had broken all of the rules the pirates and

the Indians normally followed when they fought. He attacked in neither the time nor the place that was allowed. When it was over, almost all of the Indians were injured. Only Tiger Lily managed to escape unharmed. Finished with the Indians, the pirates still could not rest. It was, after all, not the Indians they had come for. The Indians were just bees to be smoked out so they could get to the honey. The pirates wanted the lost boys and Wendy and, most of all, Peter Pan. Peter was an awfully small boy to inspire such a big hatred in Hook, even if he had thrown Hook's hand to the crocodile. But there was something about him that enraged Hook. It was more than Peter's courage, or his cuteness. It was his cockiness, his absolute confidence in himself. This is something many children have, but most grown-ups have lost it entirely. Perhaps Hook had lost some of his, too, and wanted it back. The question was: How could the pirates get

down the hollow trees, which were perfectly sized to allow each individual lost boy down but no one else? Below, the boys were still trying to figure out who had won the battle. "If it was the Indians," they reasoned, "they will beat their tom-tom drums. It is always their sign of victory." Perched at the edge of the hollow trees up above, the pirates heard this. Smee happened to be sitting on a tom-tom, which Hook ordered him to beat immediately. After a moment of confusion, Smee understood and smiled. BANG! BANG! BANG! went the tom-tom drum. "The tom-tom!" the pirates heard Peter cry. "The Indians have won! Let's go up and celebrate with them!" The lost boys cheered, and Hook ordered his men to take their positions and get ready for the boys to come up through their trees. The first to emerge was Curly. The pirates

threw him around like a ball—from Cecco to Smee, then Starkey, then Bill Jukes, then Noodler. One by one, all of the boys were plucked from their trees and tossed around in this manner. It was, to say the least, a different kind of flying than they were used to. The pirates then gagged the boys and tied them up. With Wendy, the pirates behaved differently. After all, she was a lady—or, rather, a little girl —and even pirates have some manners. When she emerged, Hook offered her his arm and bowed so elegantly that she blushed. When they tied her up, they used the softest rope they had, apologizing and making sure that they weren't hurting her. When it came time to tie up Slightly, however, the pirates found that it took far more rope than it had for the other boys or Wendy. It turned out that Slightly had been sneaking so many snacks lately that he had grown greatly. In fact, there

had come a day when he no longer fit in his tree. How had he gotten into and out of the cave? Each night while the other boys slept, he had secretly started to widen the hole in his tree. "Why are you so much bigger than the other boys?" Hook demanded. "Why, you're practically as big as a grown-up." While the pirates found extra rope with which to tie him up, Hook had a brilliant idea. He knew how he was going to get Peter, who was still down in the cave. He signaled for the other pirates to take the lost boys and Wendy to the ship and leave him alone to his plans. Tiptoeing over to Slightly's tree, Hook saw that it was now wide enough to let him through. He listened for any sound from down below, but all was quiet. Was Peter asleep? Was he waiting at the bottom of the tree with his dagger in his hand? The only way to find out was to try. Hook took a deep breath, stepped into the tree, and let

himself fall. When he hit the ground, he crouched for a second, waiting for his eyes to adjust to the dark of the underground cave. Finally, things began to take shape. In the corner, he saw the great bed and, on it, Peter sleeping. For once, Peter wasn't pretending. He was unaware of what was happening up above. He believed the Indians had won the battle, and that the lost boys had gone up to celebrate with them. He was happy for the Indians, but the lost boys were going to leave him, and Peter didn't feel like celebrating. Oh, he had pretended not to care, but he was very sad. And when he got sad, he got sleepy. Today he was so sleepy that he didn't even dream. It was in this sad, deep, dreamless sleep that Hook found Peter. As he stood over the bed and looked down, Hook felt slightly sorry for the boy. After all, Peter was only a child, and Hook wasn't completely evil. But then Peter smiled in his sleep—perhaps he