Peter and the Starcatchers

Peter wakes and finds Molly on the beach. He thanks her for saving his life, but Molly insists she should be thanking Peter for risking his life to help her when she so desperately needed it. Molly found a barrel of water from the Never Land, which makes Peter wonder about the fate of his friends. They drag the barrel to a hiding place in the jungle, which is “so thick Peter [can’t] see Molly a few feet ahead of him” (234). From a plateau, they see Alf and the boys on the beach. Molly also spies the Jolly Roger approaching shore. 

Alf and the boys head into the jungle in search of water, as Alf scares the boys with stories of cannibalistic natives and the dangers of being marooned. Soon, the boys lose Alf in the thick vegetation, distracted by arguments about the dangers of lions and gorillas. James tries to lead the other boys back to the beach to wait for Alf, “feeling the burden of command” (243). The boys stop to rest, tired and scared, and notice that Tubby Ted is missing. While James looks for Tubby Ted, Thomas and Prentiss disappear. James cries in despair as someone approaches. 

Molly and Peter trudge through the jungle back toward the beach. They hear boys shouting nearby, but Molly insists that they stay quiet in case the pirates are also close. Peter obeys but resents “taking orders from her” (249). They hear more voices speaking in a language they do not understand. 

Black Stache and his landing party arrive on the island. Black Stache mistakes the trail from Molly and Peter moving the water barrel as evidence that the trunk was dragged ashore. He deduces from their child-sized footprints that Molly and Peter are on the island as well. Black Stache orders the pirates into the jungle. 

In the lagoon, the fish hover around the trunk. The starstuff transforms the fish into creatures that are not human and “no longer fish, either” (254). The creatures develop sophisticated thoughts, and focus on the trunk, the source of the magic. 

On the Jolly Roger, Slank and Little Richard break out of their cage thanks to the startled cow. They arm themselves in the kitchen—Slank with knives and Little Richard with an iron skillet—and subdue all the pirates still on board. Little Richard ties the pirates up and drapes them “over the main boom, like human laundry hung out to dry” (256). Slank finds pistols and swords and blows the pirates a kiss goodbye as he and Little Richard get into a dory to head for shore. Slank pulls a gold locket from his shirt, checking that it is safe and secure.

Two island natives take James captive. They bring James to their village, where Alf and the other boys sit on the ground under heavy guard. James tries to comfort Prentiss, but Tubby Ted blames James for leading them into the jungle. James counters that the natives may be friendly. Alf attempts to communicate with their captors, repeating the word “How” as a greeting, until the leader of their captors asks in English to “move this conversation along” (263). 

Molly and Peter creep up to the clearing where the island natives hold Alf and the boys. Peter sees a man pointing a spear at Alf and insists that he and Molly stop the man somehow. 

Slank and Little Richard row to the island. Slank correctly identifies the marks in the sand and laughs that Black Stache is tracking a water barrel instead of the trunk. Slank and Little Richard hide Black Stache’s longboat so the pirates will have to swim back to the Jolly Roger when they return. Little Richard asks Slank how he knows the trunk was not lost in the storm. Slank feels for his locket again and insists that he can feel its presence: “It’s here, and it’s going to be mine” (267).

The English-speaking native introduces himself as Fighting Prawn, the leader of the Mollusk people who live on the island. Fighting Prawn learned English while enslaved for 13 years in the British navy. Alf gives his name in return, and the villagers laugh because in their language “Alf means squid poop” (270). Fighting Prawn asks if anyone else from the ship survived the storm, and Alf confesses that he does not know. Fighting Prawn says ominously that “things seem to work best” on the island when the natives are the only inhabitants (270), and notes that visitors do not stay long on their island. 

Molly and Peter disagree about what to do next. Molly wants to look for the trunk, but Peter wants to use the starstuff to fly Alf and the boys away. Peter accuses Molly of caring more about the trunk than his friends, and Molly admits, “the trunk is more important than any of us…than all of us combined” (273). Molly leaves to find the trunk while Peter creeps toward the clearing. Peter is about to throw a rock at Fighting Prawn when another native, Fierce Clam, apprehends him. Fighting Prawn welcomes Peter into the clearing as he “was just about to explain our policy regarding strangers” (275). 

Black Stache and Smee are lost in the jungle, climbing the mountain while the rest of the landing party waits below. Through his spyglass, Black Stache sees Alf, Peter, and the boys talking to Fighting Prawn and assumes that they are using the trunk to negotiate. Black Stache resolves to sneak into the village and learn more. 

Peter expresses surprise that Fighting Prawn speaks English, and Fighting Prawn, exasperated, asks if Peter would rather converse in French. Peter asks the boys if they are all right, and Tubby Ted replies that they are fine “except for the part about being captured by savages” (281). Fighting Prawn takes offense. He experienced real savagery while enslaved by the British. On Mollusk Island, the only savages are outsiders. Alf argues that he is not part of the British navy and that the boys are children, but his words do not move Fighting Prawn.

Fighting Prawn steps away to talk with his tribe. There is a cage-like wall behind the villagers, 10 feet high and 40 feet wide. Peter is shaken by the realization that something lurks behind the wall. Fighting Prawn announces the tribe’s decision: all outsiders, including the children, will be fed to Mister Grin.

Slank and Little Richard wander into the lagoon where the starstuff has transformed the fish into mermaids. Little Richard, incredulous, declares that the island must be magic. Slank agrees, “There’s magic here all right” (289). Slank deduces that the mermaids have the trunk and plans to take it from them. 

Fighting Prawn explains that Mr. Grin is a giant crocodile that lived in peace with the Mollusk people for many years. One day, English sailors arrived on the island and decided to hunt Mr. Grin. The Englishmen caught and tormented the giant reptile for sport. Fighting Prawn’s son attempted to set Mr. Grin free, but the Englishmen shot him, and then refused to help when the enraged Mr. Grin attacked and ate the boy. In response, the Mollusk tribe attacked and fed the English outsiders to Mr. Grin. They wanted to set the crocodile free, but Mr. Grin had developed a “taste for humans” (292) and was now dangerous. The Mollusk people decided from then on to feed all outsiders to Mr. Grin to protect their island from invaders.

Peter insists that he, Alf, and the boys have done nothing wrong, and that they hate pirates as well, but Fighting Prawn allows no exceptions to Mollusk law. Desperate, Peter tells Fighting Prawn about the magic trunk. Fighting Prawn does not believe him, and throws Alf and the boys one by one over the wall. Peter jumps over the wall of his own accord to join his friends. 

Little Richard finds the mermaids very beautiful, but they flee from him when he smiles at them with teeth “the color of tree bark” (297). Slank and Little Richard follow the mermaids into a dark cave, despite Little Richard’s fear. Inside, a blond mermaid smiles at them, revealing shark teeth: It’s a trap. The mermaids attack Slank and Little Richard, but the men fight them off. Slank insists on following the mermaids deeper into the cave, where they find a hidden cove where many mermaids guard the leaky trunk and tend to their wounded. Slank shoots a mermaid who attacks Little Richard, and the frightened mermaids retreat while Slank approaches the trunk. 

Alf, Peter, and the boys wait in fear inside Mr. Grin’s enclosure. They try to escape back over the wall, but it is too high and impossible to climb. Peter hears Mr. Grin before he sees the giant crocodile, its eyes “two ovals, red, glowing, like coals, each with a cruel black vertical slit” (308). 

Fighting Prawn and the Mollusks wait on the other side of the wall and listen for Mr. Grin’s arrival. A small Mollusk girl sees something in the sky. However, the flying creature is too big to be a bird, so the Mollusks scatter in terror. Fighting Prawn thinks it looks like a flying girl and remembers Peter’s story about magic. 

Mr. Grin roars and snaps at the boys as Alf tries to protect them with a bone he found in the enclosure—leftovers of one of Mr. Grin’s previous meals. Alf stumbles and Peter strikes Mr. Grin with another bone to distract the reptile. Mr. Grin backs Peter into a corner, just as Molly flies into the enclosure and tosses Peter her locket of starstuff. Just as Mr. Grin closes his enormous jaws around Peter, Peter touches the starstuff to Mr. Grin’s snout. Slowly, Mr. Grin levitates out of the enclosure and “off into the jungle night” (316). 

Black Stache, spying on the Mollusk tribe, watches as Molly flies into the enclosure, certain that the flying is connected to the trunk and its mysterious treasure. Black Stache is about to give the order to attack when Mr. Grin rises into the air. The pirates freeze in terror. Black Stache, fearing mutiny, admits that the flying girl and flying crocodile are unusual. He tells the pirates that the flying is connected to the treasure, which grants great power, and “Power is better than gold” (320). To convince them to help him, Black Stache lies that he will share the power with all the pirates once they find the treasure. The pirates prepare again to attack when Peter, Molly, Alf, and the boys float into the sky, holding hands. 

Slank and Little Richard row away from the island, towing the trunk in Black Stache’s longboat. Contact with starstuff has magically healed Little Richard’s wounds from the mermaid fight. Slank is delighted that he will maroon Black Stache by taking his longboat, thinking, “The fool pirate. He never really knew what he was after. Nor who he was up against” (323). Slank wants to return to the Jolly Roger, throw most of the pirates overboard, and force the others to man the ship. Once in Rundoon, he will kill them and Little Richard. Though the moon is exceedingly bright, Slank does not notice “the trail of bubbles” following the dory (324). 

Peter, Molly, Alf, and the boys fly out of Mr. Grin’s enclosure with the help of starstuff. Peter shouts again to Fighting Prawn that there is magic on the island. Peter instructs the other boys on the basics of flying so they can follow Molly back to the beach. Unknowingly, the group flies directly over Black Stache and his pirates. Black Stache, unseen, aims his pistol at Peter’s heart, but decides he wants the trunk even more than he wants to kill Peter, and that “the boy would lead him to it” (327). Nearby, Fighting Prawn has the same thought. 

Mermaids attack Slank and Little Richard and capsize the dory. The mermaids carry the trunk away in a V formation, leaving the men wounded in the water. Slank, determined to track the mermaids back to their lair, pulls out his locket and asks Little Richard how he feels about heights. 

Peter, Molly, Alf, and the boys arrive at the beach. The boys are amazed by their escape, and most of all by flying. Peter thanks Molly for returning for them. Molly fears that the pirates already have the trunk, as she senses it moving around the island. Peter consoles her and suggests that they all get some sleep. Suddenly, Molly and Peter hear Ammm calling to them from the water.

Black Stache contemplates his dislike of children and crocodiles while hiking through the jungle after Peter and his friends. The pirates come to a crossroads, and Black Stache sends a scout down each path, Crenshaw to the south and Bates to the West. All of the other pirates have the same thought: “Glad it’s not me, going out there alone” (338).