"What is it?" asked Molly.

Peter, to her annoyance, held up a hand to quiet her, then said to Tink, "What did he mean by that?"

Tink chimed a few short tones.

Peter shook his head and said, "Strange."

"What?" said Molly, exasperated.

"Tink says your father doesn't want us to rescue him right now," said Peter.

"What? Why not?"

"He wants us to stop the rocket from going up."

"What rocket?"

"There's another rocket in the palace courtyard. Your father says if we don't stop it from going up, there will be no morea" Peter hesitated.

"No more what?" said Molly.

"No moreaworld," said Peter.

Molly stared at him. "What on earth does that mean?"

"I don't know," said Peter. "But he told Tink we haven't much time to stop itathe rocket. However it is you stop a rocket."

Molly looked at Tink, then at Peter. "Whatever Tink thinks she heard my father say," she said, "I still intend to go to him first."

The soft, golden glow that Tink usually radiated quickly turned to a deep maroon. She fired off a blast of bells.

"Molly," Peter said, "Tink saysa""

"I don't care what Tink says," Molly snapped. "I'm going to find my father. I'm going to rescue him, with or without you!" She drew her locket out from under her robe.

Peter grabbed her arm. "Listen, Molly," he said, "we'll rescue your father, I promise. But he told Tink we have to stop the rocket first. Think about it. He wouldn't say that if it wasn't important."

Molly shook Peter's hand off. "You do as you please," she said. "I'm going to find my father now." She opened the locket. Instantly the alley filled with a golden glow. She raised the locket and carefully poured a small amount of starstuff onto herself. As the glow traveled the length of her body, she began to rise up into the sky, which was now a deep blue black.

"Molly!" Peter shouted. But before he could say another word, she leveled her body and disappeared over the rooftops. Peter braced to launch himself after her, but then stopped. He turned to Tink.

"Were there people working on the rocket?" he said.

Yes, chimed Tmk.

"All right," he said. "We'll go see about the rocket first. Then we'll help Molly rescue her father."

If there's still a world, chimed Tink.

"Right," said Peter softly. "If there's still a world."

CHAPTER 48.

THE SHIP WE WANT.

GEORGE AND THE OTHER BOYS were hiding amid a cl.u.s.ter of wooden barrels, up a gentle hill from the harbor. As the sun descended, they listened to the bustle of the docks ease into the lazy murmur of evening. As dusk deepened to night, the boys raised their heads and surveyed the scene.

The harbor was shaped like a horseshoe, with five docks sticking out from the rocky sh.o.r.eline. The docks were crowded with sailboats: some small fishing vessels, and some larger cargo ships. The sails were triangles, with spars connected to masts at odd angles.

"Those are strange-looking boats," said Prentiss.

"Never seen nothing like 'em," agreed Thomas.

George frowned. "You mean," he said, "you've never seen anything like them."

"That's what I said," said Thomas.

George sighed. "Those ships are called feluccas," he said. "Ancient sailing craft. Quite all right for rivers and low seas, but sadly lacking for our needs."

"Yes," said Prentiss. "Sadly lacking, those feluccas." Thomas giggled. George, annoyed, was about to say something when James tugged his robe.

"What about that one?" he said. He was pointing to a tall mast directly below them.

George crept forward between the barrels for a better look. The other boys followed. "Ah," said George. "Now that's more like it. Dutch or French built. Square-rigged. Nearing a hundred feet, I'd say. Excellent, James!"

"But it's not in the water," Tubby Ted pointed out. He was right: the ship sat atop timbers, its stern aimed toward the sea.

"It's being repaired," said George.

"He wants to steal a broken ship," said Tubby Ted. Prentiss and Thomas snickered.

"We're not stealing," said George. "We're borrowing. And it's not necessarily broken; it's under repair. Painting, refitting, that sort of thing. It looks to me as though it's ready to be launched. But at the moment it has no crew, so we can easily take control."

"Right," said Prentiss. "Control of a ship that's not in the water." Thomas giggled again.

"Laugh if you want," said George. "But that's our ship. That's the only one that can get us home."

"But how do we get it into the water?" asked James.

"That's the problem," agreed George.

"Will there be food on the ship?" said Tubby Ted.

George ignored him, studying the ship. The sky was quite dark now, but there was light to see by, thanks to the fat moon just starting to peek over the horizon. Tubby Ted began to poke around among the barrels, in case one of them contained food. He noticed that one seemed to be leaking liquid from a seam. He sniffed the liquid, then took some on his finger and licked it.

"Umm," he said. "Not bad."

"Ted," said James. "This isn't the time toa""

"What is that?" said George, looking at Ted.

"I dunno," said Ted. "But it's not bad."

George dabbed his finger into the seeping liquid, then tasted it. His gaze went from the row of barrels down the hill to the ship. He smiled. "It's olive oil! Well done, Ted."

"You mean we can eat it?" said Ted.

"No," said George. "But we can definitely use it to our advantage."

CHAPTER 49.

THE APPETIZER.

SHINING PEARL AND THE PIRATE named Hurky crouched in the thick jungle around the clearing outside the gate to the pirate fort. By moonlight they could see that the gate hung partially open. They had been hiding there for half an hour, not moving a muscle, listening for Scorpion warriors but hearing only jungle sounds.

"They must have left," whispered Shining Pearl, finally.

"Or they're sleeping," said Hurky, his eyes on the fort.

"Either way," whispered Shining Pearl, "I'm going to go in."

Hurky looked at her for a moment. "All right, then," he said. "Let's go."

Keeping to the edge of the clearing, they crept to the gate. Reaching it, they stood still for a minute, listening. Shining Pearl glanced up and saw a bright streak shoot across the sky, then another, then another. She had seen shooting stars before, but never three so close together; she wondered if it was a sign.

Hurky's attention was on the gate. He put his hands on the rough wood and pushed. The gate swung open slowly, making a creak that sounded much too loud to Hurky and Shining Pearl. They waited another minute but heard nothing. They went inside. Shining Pearl jerked to a stop. Just a few feet away, the body of a pirate lay on the ground, an arrow sticking out of his chest, a reminder of the battle that had taken place here when the Scorpions had overrun the fort.

Shining Pearl stared at the body. It looked ghastly pale in the moonlight. Hurky tugged at her arm.

"Nothing to be done about him," he whispered. "The cap'n's cabin is over there." He pointed to a hut across the compound.

They went to the hut, where a piece of canvas served as a door. Shining Pearl pulled it aside and entered. She gagged at the stink of sweat. At first the cabin appeared to be empty, but then she saw something dark on the floor in the corner. She picked it up and examined it by the moonlight. It was a ragged pair of pants, worn, tattered, full of holes. And very smelly.

"That's what you asked after," said Hurky, wrinkling his nose. "The cap'n's pants. He hardly ever took 'em off."

They left the hut, trotted across the compound to the gate, and slipped out. Hurky pulled the gate shut. Shining Pearl was holding Hook's pants at arm's length; even in the open air, they reeked. She started across the clearing, then stopped, her eyes scanning the dark jungle.

"What's wrong?" whispered Hurky.

"Listen," she answered.

Hurky c.o.c.ked his head. "I don't hear nothing," he said.

"That's what bothers me," whispered Shining Pearl. "The jungle is too quiet."

"Maybe it's because of us," said Hurky.

"No," said Shining Pearl, pointing across the clearing. "It's because of them."

Hurky looked up and gasped. Four Scorpion warriors, each holding a spear, had stepped out of the jungle and were moving across the clearing, spreading out to prevent their prey from escaping. Shining Pearl and Hurky, with nowhere to go, backed up toward the fort. The Scorpions stopped a few feet away. They were grinning, their teeth bright white in the moonlight.

One of them said something. Neither Shining Pearl nor Hurky understood it. Their backs were now against the gate. The Scorpions laughed at them, enjoying their terror. One of them raised his spear and pointed it at Hurky, then at Shining Pearl, then back at Hurky, then back at Shining Pearl again, as if deciding which one to impale first.

The Scorpions found this game so entertaining that they didn't notice the movement in the jungle behind them. But Shining Pearl saw it: the treetops shaking as the trunks were shoved aside by something huge and powerful coming through. A moment later Shining Pearl saw the two orbs glowing red in the moonlighta"eyes, reptile eyes, impossibly big, impossibly far apart.

Now the taunting Scorpion warrior pulled back his spear for the kill. He had chosen his target: Hurky would die first. Hurky did not see the ma.s.sive thing in the jungle behind the Scorpions; he had dropped to his knees, his eyes on the gleaming tip of the spear that was about to end his existence. Hurky's lips moved in soundless prayer. The warrior's hand tightened on his spear; his arm tensed for the kill.

And then the jungle night was filled with a blood-chilling roar, and the ground shook as a ma.s.sive creature longer than a war canoe lunged from the jungle. The Scorpions turned and gaped at the sight of the giant crocodile known as Mister Grin lumbering toward them, opening jaws huge enough to swallow a standing man in one gulp.

The Scorpion warriors froze for an instant, and that was an instant too long. The huge croc, moving faster than would seem possible for a thing of such monstrous bulk, was across the clearing and upon the warriors, whose spears were no match for Mister Grin's snapping jaws and long, sharp, jagged teeth.

Shining Pearl reached down and grabbed the arm of Hurky, who was still kneeling and too shocked to react to the carnage in front of him.

"Come!" she said, jerking him to his feet. "Hurry!"

She ran along the fence and into the jungle, Hurky stumbling behind her. They plunged into the undergrowth. Shining Pearl angled to the right, pushing through the thick vegetation until she found the path that led to the place where Smee and the other pirates would be waiting for them. With Hurky right behind, she raced up the path, away from the clearing and the awful screams of the Scorpions.

Gradually the screams grew less frequent. Then they stopped. Shining Pearl was breathing hard, but she dared not slow down. She knew that what had drawn the giant crocodile into the clearing was the pants she held in her hands, which smelled so strongly of the croc's favorite delicacy: Captain Hook. Now that Mister Grin was done with his appetizer, he would be after the next course.

He would be coming after Shining Pearl.

CHAPTER 50.

UNANSWERED QUESTIONS.

PETER AND TINK, keeping to the shadows, flew up the side of the ma.s.sive palace-compound wall, away from the guard towers. The moon hung low on the horizon, but the heavens above were coming alive. Fiery meteors streaked across the sky every few seconds in a dazzling display.

Peter poked his head over the wall and surveyed the scene. He saw the palace courtyard illuminated by a large ring of torches on poles thrust into the ground; in the center of the torch-lit ring stood the rocket, next to which a scaffold had been erected. Slightly and the other boys were lugging buckets of black powder from a distant wagon to the rocket. There were soldiers everywhere, most of them holding rifles.

As Peter and Tink watched, Slightly and the other boys finished loading the powder. Viktor Glotz shouted an order, and two soldiers appeared carrying a cage containing a monkey.