Tink was nowhere in sight.
Iridessa frowned. Tink got herself into this mess, she thought. I should just let her get herself out! But Iridessa didn’t move. She was mad, but she was also scared for her friend. If the pirates caught Tink…
All right, Iridessa, think, think, think! she told herself. Tink said she saw bottles in Captain Hook’s quarters. So that’s probably where she is.
But where are the captain’s quarters? Iridessa wondered. Bottom, or top? Front, or back? She didn’t know anything about ships.
At that moment, a tall man in a long scarlet jacket stepped through a door. There could be no doubt that this was Captain Hook. His black curls spilled from under a wide three-cornered hat. He had a long mustache. And in the place where his left hand should be, there was a fierce-looking hook.
“Smee!” he bellowed.
“Yes, Captain?” Smee answered.
“Smee, I’ve finished my lunch,” the captain announced. He walked up the steps to the front of the ship.
Now was her chance! Iridessa darted through the door. Behind her, Smee gave a snappy salute and said, “Aye, aye, Captain!”
Iridessa heard a clatter as soon as she flew into the captain’s quarters. Sure enough, there was Tinker Bell. She was struggling to lift a huge bottle made of clear glass. But it was too heavy for her. She had only managed to knock it over.
Iridessa flew to her friend’s side. “Quick—hide!” she whispered.
“Dessa?” Tink’s blue eyes widened at the sight of her friend. Heavy footsteps sounded outside the door.
“There’s no time! Get in!” Iridessa said. She shoved Tink toward the bottle’s open neck. Then she pulled a napkin over the bottle and climbed in after Tink. Under the napkin, she could just make out part of the room.
It was too dark under the napkin to see Tink’s scowl, but Iridessa knew it was there. “What do you think you’re—?”
Iridessa shushed her. They heard a cheerful humming. Smee came into the room, and Iridessa watched as he shook his head.
“Oh, what a mess!” he said. He collected the dishes from Captain Hook’s desk and dumped them onto the tray beside the bottle. “And we mustn’t lose this!” Smee said as he popped the cork back into the bottle. The fairies felt the bottle rise into the air. Smee was carrying away Captain Hook’s lunch tray!
Smee went out onto the deck, then down many flights of stairs to the kitchen in the belly of the ship. “Dear me, where has that cook got to now?” he muttered. “Ah, well. I’m the first mate, not a dishwasher. Let the kitchen boy take care of it!”
The humming and footsteps receded. The fairies waited for a few minutes. “It’s all right,” Tink said. “I think the kitchen is empty. We’re safe.”
Iridessa breathed a sigh of relief. “Great,” she said. “Now let’s get out of here—before someone comes back!”
TINK KICKED AT the cork, but it didn’t budge. “It’s stuck.”
“What?” Iridessa’s heart gave a flutter.
“It’s stuck,” Tink said again. “I can’t get it out.”
“Let me try,” Iridessa said. She pulled Tink aside and tried to push the cork out of the bottle. It held fast.
“It’s stuck,” she told Tink.
“I just said that,” Tink grumbled.
“Okay, let’s think.” Iridessa paced as well as she could at the bottom of the bottle. “Why don’t we just fly?”
“While we’re inside the bottle?” Tink asked.
“Sure! When we get back to Pixie Hollow, the other fairies can get the cork out.” Iridessa fluttered up and placed her palms against the top of the bottle. “It’s worth a try.”
“Okay.” Tink pressed her hands against the glass, too. “One…,” she said. “Two. Three!”
The two fairies fluttered with all their might. But the bottle didn’t move.
Tink’s face was pink with effort. “Well,” she puffed, “that…didn’t…work. Got any more ideas?”
Iridessa strained to catch her breath. “What about you?” she shot back. “It’s your fault we’re stuck here!”
“My fault?” Tink cried. Now her glow turned pink, too.
“You’re the one who had to get a bottle from Captain Hook!” Iridessa cried.
“Well, you’re the one who thought of it!” Tink snapped.
Just then, the fairies heard footsteps again.
“Quick!” Tink said. She crouched and pressed her hands against the curved side of the bottle. “Push!”
Iridessa didn’t have time to ask what they were doing. She just joined Tink and pushed. The bottle rolled forward, then stopped. It was stuck against the lip of the tray.
Behind them, the door creaked.
“Back up!” Tink commanded.
They did. The bottle rolled backward. And then, with a mighty rush, the two fairies rolled the bottle forward with as much force as they could. The bottle bounced over the edge of the tray. “Yay!” Iridessa cheered.
But the bottle kept rolling. “Whoa!” Iridessa cried. The napkin fell away, and she saw why they hadn’t stopped. They were rolling down a chute. And the chute led right out a porthole!
“Stop!” Iridessa cried. But they couldn’t stop. The fairies tumbled around inside the bottle as it dropped through the porthole.
Sploosh!
They landed in the water.
Right away, a wave washed over the bottle. Iridessa closed her eyes, sure this was the end. Once their wings got wet, they’d sink to the bottom of the sea.
But the bottle just bobbed to the surface.
“It’s okay, Dessa,” Tink said. She patted her friend on the back. “We’re safe here.”
Iridessa opened her eyes. The bottle was half in, half out of the water. On the other side of the glass, the sea was up to their waists. But inside, they were perfectly dry.
“I wouldn’t exactly say we’re safe,” she muttered.
“Iridessa, look,” Tink said. She crouched at the bottom of the bottle. A school of pretty blue and yellow Never minnows swam by. To the right, a silvery jellyfish with trailing purple tentacles floated peacefully.
Iridessa shut her eyes again. Looking at so much water was making her seasick. She was a very brave fairy, but she had her limits. “Stop watching the fish and help me think of a way out of here.”
Tink stood up and checked the cork. “Maybe you could stand on my shoulders and try pushing it out again,” she suggested.
Tink laced her fingers together to give Iridessa a boost. “Wait,” Iridessa said. “What will we do if I get the cork out of the bottle?”
Tink looked confused. “We’ll fly away, of course.”
“But what if a wave breaks over us before we can get out of the bottle?” Iridessa asked. “Our wings will get wet. We won’t be able to fly back to shore.”
Tink put her hands on her hips. “Are you saying we should give up?” she demanded.
“No,” Iridessa replied. “I’m saying we need a plan.”
“What we need,” Tink shot back, “is to get out of here. That’s the plan.”
Iridessa rolled her eyes. Some plan!
“Would you quit worrying?” Tink said. “Let’s take this one problem at a time—starting with this cork!”
“Shhh!” Iridessa said. She strained her ears, trying to hear something out in the waves.
“Don’t shush me,” Tink snapped.
“Listen!” Iridessa said. “Do you hear that?”
The two fairies held perfectly still. Suddenly, Tink’s face went pale. Iridessa knew that Tink had heard it, too—a steady ticktock, ticktock.
“What is it?” she asked Tink.
Tink slowly turned to look behind her. Iridessa followed her gaze—and found herself staring at a huge yellow eye set in scaly green skin.
“It’s the crocodile!” Tink cried, just as the reptile’s enormous snout opened to show rows of sharp white teeth.
There was no escape! The fairies watched in horror as the cro
codile’s jaws closed around them.
“WHERE ARE WE?” Iridessa asked. She could barely make out Tink’s face in the darkness. The only light came from their fairy glows.
Iridessa snapped her fingers and blew gently on the spark. The spark flickered, then grew into a bright light.
“We’re inside the crocodile,” Tink said in awe. “He swallowed us whole!”
Iridessa looked around. The belly of the crocodile was full of strange objects. She spotted a brass candlestick, a teddy bear, a hairbrush, and a straw hat. “This crocodile will swallow anything,” she remarked.
“Including that alarm clock,” Tink said, pointing to the clock. It was red, with a round face. It let out a steady ticktock, ticktock.
“So that’s where the sound comes from,” Iridessa said.
Tink sat at the bottom of the bottle. “Yes. Peter Pan always said, ‘To watch out for the croc, just listen for the clock.’ It warns you when he’s nearby.”
“The warning didn’t do us much good,” Iridessa said. She squeezed her eyes shut. A tiny silver tear trickled down her cheek.
Tink touched Iridessa’s arm. “It’s okay,” she said. “We’ll find a way out.”
Despite her words, Iridessa could tell from the look on Tink’s face that she was scared, too.
Suddenly, the bottle shifted and rolled forward.
“What’s happening?” Iridessa cried.
“I don’t know!” Tink yelled back.
The crocodile’s jaws opened. Daylight poured in, along with a flood of seawater and an old boot. A second later, the crocodile shut his mouth and it was dark again.
The boot rushed toward the fairies. It rammed against the bottle. “Hold on!” Tink yelled. The bottle spun.
“There’s nothing to hold on to!” Iridessa cried. She braced her arms against the sides of the bottle as it crashed into something.
A deafening ring—like the sound of a hundred bells—filled the crocodile’s belly.
“It’s the alarm clock!” Tink shouted. “I think we set it off!”
The croc’s belly gave a sudden lurch. His mouth opened, letting in daylight again. The bottle—and all the other junk in the crocodile’s belly—floated toward the front of the crocodile’s jaws. His mouth closed, and the bottle washed backward.
“I think he’s got the hiccups,” Iridessa said. She turned to look at the alarm clock. It had come to rest against the crocodile’s side. The bells at the top of the clock were buzzing, tickling him.
The crocodile’s belly lurched again. His mouth opened, and the bottle swept forward. But just when Iridessa thought they would wash out of the croc, the neck of the bottle banged into a row of white teeth. The crocodile’s jaws snapped shut again. The bottle washed back toward the center of his belly.
“Quick, Tink!” Iridessa cried. “To the back of the bottle—I’ve got an idea!”
There was no time to explain. Tink and Iridessa rushed toward the rear of the bottle and pressed all their weight against its bottom. The neck popped up a little bit. Iridessa hoped that it was enough.
On the next hiccup, the bottle washed forward. But this time, they were ready. The neck of the bottle was tilted upward, just enough that the bottle floated past the croc’s teeth—and right out of his mouth!
The crocodile looked at the bottle in surprise. Then his yellow eyes narrowed. He opened his jaws wide.
“He’s going to swallow us again!” Iridessa cried.
Hiccup!
The crocodile hiccupped three times in a row. Each hiccup pushed the bottle farther out of his reach. Finally, with a snap of his enormous green tail, he turned and swam off.
The fairies sat very still, breathing hard. Iridessa blinked in the bright daylight. Overhead, three white seagulls glided past. The sky was a deep shade of blue.
A slow smile spread across Tink’s face. “Well,” she said, “that was some adventure, wasn’t it?”
Iridessa couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “Adventure?” she shouted. “You call that an adventure? We were eaten alive by a crocodile! And we’re out in the middle of the sea!”
“We’re not that far from shore,” Tink said. She pointed into the distance. They could see a stretch of white sand and green palms. “Something is bound to come along and help us.”
Iridessa folded her arms across her chest. “Something—like what?”
“I have no idea,” Tink said. “That’s what makes it an adventure.”
“You really are impossible!” Iridessa cried, throwing up her hands. “The only thing that will get us out of here is a good idea. And in order to think, I need quiet. So don’t talk to me. You sit on that side of the bottle, and I’ll sit on this one.” Iridessa plopped herself down with her back to Tinker Bell.
“What am I supposed to do?” Tink asked.
“Anything you like,” Iridessa said. She put her hands over her ears.
Tink sat down, too. Now the fairies were back to back. Tink started to hum a tune.
“I can’t think while you’re humming,” Iridessa said through gritted teeth.
Tink sighed. She turned and looked at Iridessa over her shoulder. Finally, she asked, “Do you have an idea yet?’
“No,” Iridessa snapped.
“Oh, look!” Tink said. She jumped to her feet, making the bottle sway. “A turtle! Maybe he can help us!”
A bright green turtle with a large hooked beak was swimming past them a few feet away. “Over here!” Tink shouted. She tapped against the glass.
“Over here!” Iridessa chimed in. She tried to get the turtle’s attention by snapping and sending up a shower of tiny sparks.
The turtle turned slowly toward the fairies. He looked at them curiously.
“We need help!” Tink shouted through the glass. But the turtle just kept staring.
“Could you push us to shore?” Iridessa asked. “We’re trying to get back to Never Land!”
The turtle was silent.
“He doesn’t understand what we’re saying,” Iridessa said. If only we had Fawn with us, she thought, or one of the other animal-talent fairies!
“Help us!” Tink cried. She pounded her fist against the glass. “Help!”
But the turtle was already turning away.
“No!” Tink cried. “Don’t go!”
As the turtle swam off, his rear flipper knocked the bottle. The shore in the distance grew smaller and smaller, while the bottle floated farther out to sea….
THE BOTTLE HAD been bobbing along for hours. Across the water, the sun dipped to the horizon. The sky turned gold, then pink, then purple. Night fell, the moon rose, and the two fairies were still in the bottle, out at sea.
Tink stretched out on the bottom of the bottle and fell asleep. But Iridessa lay awake for a long time, looking up at the stars and trying to ignore Tink’s snores. She couldn’t stop thinking about the owl and the fairies in Pixie Hollow. The fairies would be safe tonight. They had scouts to watch out for the owl. But she knew that everyone must be wondering where they were.
Queen Clarion asked me to come up with a way to get rid of the owl, Iridessa thought miserably. And instead, I disappeared! Everyone probably thinks I gave up and ran away.
Iridessa sighed heavily. She had given her word that she would find a solution to the owl problem. And she had let everyone down.
Iridessa lay thinking most of the night. At some point, she drifted off to sleep. When she opened her eyes, the clouds at the edge of the sky were glowing orange. All around the bottle, the water shimmered and twinkled. The sun was rising.
Tink sat up and rubbed her eyes. “Wow,” she said when she saw the clouds. “Beautiful!”
Iridessa wished she could enjoy the view. But her heart was too heavy—and she was starting to feel hungry.
The sun was halfway up the sky when a white-capped wave came along. It pushed the bottle into a fast-moving current.
Tink leaned on her hands and knees, looking out the front of the bottle as they
zipped along. A school of flying fish swam next to it. They shot into the air playfully and splashed down beside the bottle.
“We’re finally getting somewhere!” Tink cried gleefully.
“Yeah, but where?” Iridessa asked.
“We’re going to wash up on shore. See?” Tink said. “The beach is getting closer and—Oh, look, the fish are swimming away!” The school of fish darted suddenly to the right. Tink waved merrily.
“Tink!” Iridessa shouted. “Watch out!”
Both fairies let out a cry. Their bottle was headed straight for a giant rock! The current pounded against the rock, sending foam and spray into the air. The bottle would be smashed! Iridessa squeezed her eyes shut.
But the crash never came.
Iridessa opened one eye, then the other. She was startled to find herself face to face with a beautiful creature. The creature was as big as a Clumsy, but far lovelier. She had long, blue hair and eyes the color of pale violets. Iridessa looked down and saw that the creature had a fish’s tail.
“A mermaid,” Tink whispered.
Iridessa had heard stories about mermaids. She knew they were unkind and vain. Still, she thought the mermaid was very pretty.
The mermaid stared through the glass at the fairies, her head cocked to one side.
“What has the sea brought us, Numi?” asked another mermaid in a voice as light and musical as a silver bell.
Another beautiful face peered over Numi’s shoulder. This mermaid had brilliant green eyes—like spring leaves after rain—and yellow-green hair.
“It’s a mystery,” Numi said. She gave the bottle a slight shake. The fairies stumbled against the glass.
Iridessa tapped on the glass. “Miss Mermaid,” she said politely, “we’d be grateful if you didn’t do that.”
Numi nearly dropped the bottle in surprise. “Oola, it talks!”