“Okay team!” Melanie clapped her hands together as her costumed cast-members lined up beside the colourful minibus that would transport them to the party. “Let’s take a look at you!” The same costume supplier that had create the bespoke Alice in Wonderland costumes which now hung in the storage area waiting for the next suitable request had produced these costumes too and really outdone themselves! With no creature costumes needed this time, they had gone all-out on the character costumes that were easily the equal of any seen on a West End stage or even in Hollywood!

First was Sophie dressed as Wendy in a very modest nightgown in pale blue, the collar right up to her neck and the sleeves gathered just above her elbows. The nightgown was, of course, equipped with a number of quick-release ties and fixings so that a few tugs could loosen it so that it would fall away. Beneath this she wore bloomers very similar to those Gemma had worn as Alice. In fact, Melanie had first had Sophie try on the same pair but due to their height difference resulting in Sophie’s longer legs, they did not look quite right so she had gone ahead and commissioned a new pair made to her new starlet’s measurements. Her hair was tied with a large, pretty bow that match the nightgown and her feet were bare.

Next was Luke in his rather spectacular Captain Hook costume, the coat an explosion of red velvet and gold brocade. Under this he wore a long black and gold waistcoat over a frilly white shirt and black pantaloons which were equipped with their own quick release mechanism in the belt which would be used in what she hoped would be a great comedic moment for the watching children. Below the knee he wore white stockings, held up with sock-suspenders, and highly polished black shoes with gleaming golden buckles. His head having been shaved then rubbed with hair-removal cream for the occasion, primarily a practical consideration for the cooking but something that had also been worked into the script for another comic moment, he wore a magnificent wig which gave him a mane of glossy black curls and atop this a very dashing tricorn hat with cold trip, augmented by white feathers. By his side, a stage-combat rapier that her had shown a remarkable aptitude with hung from a black and gold sash. The hook, which was permanently fused to the end of his arm, of course looked absolutely spectacular and the twirly moustache crafted from black, hear-resistant fibre and glued firmly to his upper lip completed the look.

Beside him stood Maria as Tiger-Lilly, her black hair in twin braids tied at the end with strips of red suede and a matching band around her forehead from which a single turkey-feather stuck up at the back. Her costume was a strapless suede tunic, tan in colour, trimmed around the top with more of the red which also formed a fringe long the diagonal hem which was barely lower than her hip on one side and fell to just above her knee on the other. It had been tailored to follow the contours of her lovely young body and was held together at the back with discretely concealed zip for tightness and practicality and once this was undone, it would be possible to pull it away in a single piece. She wore nothing underneath. At one point they had toyed with the idea of a loin cloth but it spoiled the line of her tunic and served no practical purpose. Like all the others apart from Luke, she was barefoot.

Second from last was Miranda, her Tinkerbelle costume made from sheer green chiffon that was infused with sparkly gold glitter but left absolutely no detail of her otherwise naked young body to the imagination. Her hair was up in a high ponytail with a gold scrunchie augmented with leaf-like pieces of the same fabric has her short dress which, like Maria’s, was strapless, the sides from the waist down cut away and the front and back in a jagged, leaf-like pattern. The makeup artists, as well as adding edible gold sparkle to her cheeks and all over her body, had formed pixie ears for her, matching her rich skin-tone exactly and making her look like a real-life pixie. Gold leather straps fitted with tinkling silver bells were around her ankles and wrists to produce her character’s signature sound in place of dialogue and her delicate, wired-gossamer wings were golden and held on over her shoulder with gold straps that Melanie hoped most of the children would assume were part of the dress. The way they were mounted made them flutter as she moved and produce and perfectly charming effect that they were all sure the young audience would love.

Finally was Peter! Taking inspiration from the original book as well as various adaptations, the costumers had dressed him in brown denim shorts, tattered above the knee and with very realistic artificial leaves sewn onto them and an open-collared shirt made from several layers of brown, green and yellow sheer fabric, all woven with a leaf-pattern, giving the look of a shirt made from skeleton leaves as described in Barrie’s original work. The sleeves and hem had the same tattered edges as Miranda’s dress and over his tunic he wore a brown leather belt with a stamped leat and acorn motif, a pouch and dagger hanging from it, and his sword hung from a matching baldric slung across his chest. His hair, always wild at the best of times, had been especially tousled and spiked to appear as if he had never once brushed it. Prosthetic ear tips like Miranda’s, so well blended with his own that even up close they looked real, completed the look.

“You all look amazing!” Melanie assured them in delight. “Let’s go give them a party to remember!”

“You know,” Luck chuckled as she paused half way onto the minibus to adjust the Permahard-induced erection under his trousers with his one hand that was still a hand, “it occurs to me that I have a pretty awesome advantage over the rest of you!” The grin on his face made it clear that this was the set-up for some witticism rather than any serious attempt at self-aggrandising.

“What’s that?” Miranda asked from behind him.

“I already know how delicious I am!” Melanie chucked and rolled her eyes.

“On to the bus with you!” she gave him a gentle prod in the backside with the tip of her blunted cutlass. “Or nobody will be getting eaten today!” It was true ‘though. Partly as compensation for the imposed disability in his final weeks of life and partly because they had no other particular use for it, Luke had been given his own severed hand to take home where his mum had used it as the basis for a delicious soup that he had very much enjoyed, confirming that the children at the party, not to mention their mums, were in for a real treat!

The minibus was alive with banter, singing and general excited chatter on the journey to the Campbells’ house, most of the cast unsure whether they were more excited about their performance or about cooking and Peter licking his lips in anticipation of getting a taste of all his new friends! Soon enough they arrived and tumbled off the bus in giggling excitement. Martin Campbell himself was there to greet them and exclaimed over the quality of their customers although, he observed, he should have expected no less after seeing the quality of the prop and set-pieces! Unlike the Alice party where the hosts had wanted the cast to go mingle with the guests before the show, it had been arranged that the performance this time would begin immediately. Peter was shown into the house, ready to make his grand entrance as had been practised the night before while the birthday boy was out with his Grandma and Melanie messaged her pirate co-workers who had been interacting with the children to let them know to get everyone settled down and then for those who were supposed to form Hook’s escort to come meet them out the front. Miranda was let into the garage which had a small door opening into the garden the other side of the house from where Hook and his crew would make their entrance so hopefully the children would not be looking in that direction when she emerged.

After a few minutes, two other pirates, including her boss Mr Anderson in his role as Smee, a part he admittedly seemed born to play, came around holding ropes with which they tied Sophie and Marie’s hands behind their backs. The host wished them them all a friendly “Break a leg!”, something that only Peter was at any real risk of, and went to join his family in the back garden, as eager as anyone to enjoy the show.

“BOOOO!” the children jeered as the villainous Captain Hook made his entrance, flanked by two pirates holding knives to the throats of the captive girls they pushed in front of them, their other arms across their prisoner’s chests. Melanie, as Billy Jukes, brought up the rear, walking backwards as if making sure nobody was following them, brandishing her cutlass menacingly.

“Quiet you revolting rabble!” Hook sneered at the audience. “Odds, bobs, hammer and tongs! What a vile and smelly group of ragamuffins!” The children giggled but quietened down. “But at least I shall have a great number of witnesses to my grandest achievement! For you shall all witness the moment I kill Peter Pan!” This earned him another round of enthusiastic boos which he shrugged off with the sneering indifference of suave pantomime villains throughout history. “Smee!” he ordered, “Secure the Wendy girl to that post then bring the Princess to me!”

Struggling and pouting as the moment demanded, Sophie as Wendy allowed herself to be led to an upright pole topped with a real skull. Other skulls of varying sizes and an assortment of bones lay scattered on the sand around it. Taking care not to appear upset or afraid lest the children should start to feel sad for her and get worried rather than just enjoying the adventure, Sophie instead acted angry and defiant as the rope around her wrists was untied only to be re-tied with her hands the other side of the pole.

“You brutes!” she scolded the pirates. “Just wait until Peter finds out about this!”

“My dear child,” Hook purred, “that is exactly what I am hoping for! When he knows that his two special ladies are in danger, he will not be able to resist coming to your rescue. Too bad he was not in time to save your brothers…” He picked up one of the smaller skulls and tossed it idly in his hand like a baseball. “On the plus side ‘though,” she leaned in close and sneered, “they were absolutely delicious!” He dropped the skull back onto the sand as if it were a simple piece of litter then pretended to pick his teeth with his hook. The audience’s enthusiastically outraged reaction was exactly what the cast had been hoping for – Luke’s Hook was definitely a villain they loved to hate!

“So that’s where they went!” Wendy exclaimed, looked down at the bones around her feet. “Whatever will Mother and Father say? Getting eaten at is surely not the future they imagined for my brothers bad enough but to be eaten by a bunch of uncouth, smelly cannibal pirates seems positively undignified!” This raised a hearty chuckle from the audience, reassured to see that Wendy seemed embarrassed rather than heartbroken by her brothers’ fate and also conveniently explaining the absence of John and Michael from the story.

“Hush, my dear!” Hook spoke almost soothingly, running his steel appendage through Wendy’s hair. “Your turn will come soon enough! If Peter doesn’t come flying at the sound of Tiger-Lilly’s screams, he will definitely be drawn by the aroma of roasting Wendy meat!” He gestured towards a spit setup, the inner metal and mechanical workings disguised by a rustic veneer making it seem like something a bunch of pirates could have cobbled together on their beach hideout.

“You’d better hope Peter doesn’t come!” Wendy narrowed her eyes at Hook. “Or it will be you who ends up eaten.” She paused for dramatic effect. “By a crocodile!” At the mention of this carnivorous reptile, Hook started, squealed in panic, much to the amusement of the watching children, and looked around in panic.

“Never mention that accursed creature in my presence again!” Hook roared in a futile effort to regain authority but Wendy just smiled at him smugly.

“Here’s the Princess, Captain!” Smee announced, presenting Tiger-Lilly to Hook as he walked to centre-stage on the sand-covered performance area. Although no longer holding a knife to her throat, Smee held the young girl firmly by her shoulders.

“I will never scream for you!” she glowered at him defiantly. “I don’t care what you do to me! I’ll never help you hurt Peter!”

“We’ll see about that, my pretty!” The Captain placed the tip of his hook under her chin to force her to look up at him. “Let’s see how you feel when the tide starts to come in over Skull Rock!” Watching from her place among the adult pirate ensemble, Melanie felt excited! Skull Rock was one of the tree spectacular and entertaining set-pieces she had helped to design and by far the largest!

The huge fibreglass skull loomed from Stage Left, part of the scenery that the pirates had walked past when they arrived with their captives, although nothing about it yet gave away its function as anything other than set-dressing. Roughly, Tiger-Lilly was shoved and prodded until she stood in front of it.

“Grab hold of her arms!” Hook ordered and Smee untied the rope that bound her wrists then he and the other pirate who had escorted her in took hold of one arm each, stretching them out in a cruciform pose. Still the fearless and noble princess stared forward defiantly, refusing to beg or to show any fear. “Such a pretty dress!” Hook cooed, plucking at the fringed border with his hook. “Best not to let it go to waste!” he sneered then reached behind the girl, hooking the tip his hook into the ring of her concealed zipper and yanking it down as if tearing the fabric. With his remaining hand, he grabbed the front of the garment and pulled it away with a flourish, leaving the pretty little actress completed nude except for her headband, her delicious young body utterly exposed, with no opportunity to hide her nakedness.

Some of the children gasped, some cheered and some booed the dastardly pirate again. Maria’s body looked absolutely delectable – athletic and tone with just a hint of feminine softness to her chest, belly and hips, her naturally tan skin an even colour all over and her pale brown nipples the size of chocolate buttons and every bit as appetising. Still stoically refusing to scream or to beg, she was dragged backwards and made to sit of an outcrop at the base of the realistically-painted fibreglass formation, as if sitting in the skull’s open mouth. Light plastic shackles, professionally painted to look like rusty iron, attached to chains that were designed to float rather than sink, were secured around her ankles and wrists.

“Any last words?” Hook asked in a low, dangerous tone, the politeness of his manner making the words even more sinister. “Ready to cry out to your hero for rescue?” But instead of replying in words, she made her feelings very clear by spitting in his face. “Very well!” Hook sneered sulkily, taking out a delicate, white lace handkerchief from his coat pocket and wiping his face. “Have it your way! Come, Smee!” He beckoned to his First Mate and to the other pirate. “The tide is fast coming in! Let’s see how long this little Brave can remain brave!” He laughed cruelly at his own joke then stepped aside as the skull seemed to come to life, rumbling ominously then creeping forward on concealed wheels until it was at the front of the performance area, if not quite the middle, affording everyone a perfect view.

“Having fun?” Martin Campbell whispered to his son who sat on his lap, transfixed by the whole performance.

“Definitely!” The boy nodded emphatically. “Hook is such a mean old bully! I hope Peter gets him!”

“I’m sure he will!” his loving, indulgent dad chuckled. “Let’s keep watching and see what happens!”

Controlled by one of the background pirates using a discrete remote control that none of the children noticed, a curved wall of thick glass curved around from inside the back of the rock, following a groove in the base, and locked into place meaning that Tiger-Lilly was now chained, naked, in what looked like a giant fish-bowl. It was then that the water, stored inside the skull itself, began to gush in from two outlets either side of where she sat. Although not uncomfortable, the water was hot, the glass specially heated with embedded micro-wires so that it would not steam up as it began to fill.

Maintaining her character’s defiant stoicism, Maria sat as the water rose past her knees then covered her thighs and rose up her belly. It was only as it neared her chest that she stood. As the water continued to rise, she felt herself lifted off the ground, floating higher and higher, tilting her head to keep her mouth and nose above the water as the tank continued to fill. Hook watching with cruel amusement, waiting for his captive to surrender to the torture and cry out for help but she remained resolutely silent. There was a jolt. Her body shuddered. The chains had reached their limit and would not allow her to float any higher. Maria had been warned about this moment and had actually practised a few times, with the water allowed to drain no more than thirty seconds after she was fully submerged but she knew that there would be no such reprieve this time!

Her body’s survival instincts kicking in, the in-built, animal tendencies that bypassed the conscious mind and could not be switched off, she took a final gulp of air and began to struggle against her bonds as the water rose over her head. As light as they were, the shackles were solid and very secure, unable to be removed without two-handed assistance, and the chains unbreakable, at least by an eleven year old girl! The pirates watched gleefully and the children in fascinated awe as Tiger-Lilly tugged on her chains and struggled towards the unreachable surface, desperately holding her final breath for as long as possible. Eventually the burning in her lungs made it impossible to hold it in any more and a stream of bubbles shot up angrily as she exhaled. It could not be long now, everyone knew, as the naked girl fought desperately, futilely, for her life, the pre-teen performer determined to the last to give the greatest, most memorable performance she could.

It was getting hard to struggle now. Unable to take in any more oxygen, Maria knew she was down to her final seconds. She was getting dizzy and sleepy at the same time, like the time she and her friend had stolen a bottle of wine out of her mum’s fridge and drunk the whole bottle between them. Her wrists and ankles hurt from the pinching shackles but her hands and feet were numb. Blackness was closing in. As she allowed the sweet release of oblivion to claim her, Maria’s final thought was a line from the scene that had inspired this part of the show in the book:

“To die would be an awfully big adventure!”


To be continued...