"Jane Yolen - Lost Girls" - читать интересную книгу автора (Yolen Jane)

still wet in a closet. Peter and the boys seemed to know the way without
any need of light. But Darla was constantly afraid of stumbling and she
was glad when someone reached out and held her hand.
Then one last turn and there was suddenly plenty of light from
hundreds of little candles set in holders that were screwed right into the
living heart of the wood. By the candlelight she saw it was Peter who had
hold of her hand.
"Welcome to Neverland," Peter said, as if this were supposed to be a big
surprise.
 Darla took her hand away from his. "It's smaller than I thought it would
be," she said. This time she looked right at him.
Peter's perfect mouth turned down again. "It's big enough for us," he
said. Then as if a sudden thought had struck him, he smiled. "But too
small for Him." He put his back to Darla and shouted, "Let's have a party.
We've got us a new Wendy."
Suddenly, from all corners of the room, boys came tumbling and
stumbling and dancing, and pushing one another to get a look at her. They
were shockingly noisy and all smelled like unwashed socks. One of them
made fart noises with his mouth. She wondered if any of them had taken a
bath recently. They were worse тАФDarla thoughtтАФthan her Stemple
cousins, who were so awful their parents never took them anywhere
anymore, not out to a restaurant or the movies or anyplace at all.
"Stop it!" she said.
The boys stopped at once.
"I told you," Peter said. "She's a regular Wendy, all right. She's even
given me a thimble."
Darla's jaw dropped at the lie. How could he?
She started to say "I did not!" but the boys were already cheering so
loudly her protestations went unheard.
"Tink," Peter called, and one of the candles detached itself from the
heartwood to flutter around his head, "tell the Wendys we want a
Welcome Feast."
The Wendys? Darla bit her lip. What did Peter mean by that?
The little light flickered on and off. A kind of code, Darla thought. She
assumed it was the fairy Tinker Bell, but she couldn't really make out what
this Tink looked like except for that flickering, fluttering presence. But as
if understanding Peter's request, the flicker took off toward a black corner
and, shedding but a little light, flew right into the dark.
"Good old Tink," Peter said, and he smiled at Darla with such practice,
dimples appeared simultaneously on both sides of his mouth.
"What kind of foodтАж" Darla began.
"Everything parents won't let you have," Peter answered. "Sticky buns
and tipsy cake and Butterfingers and brownies andтАж"
The boys gathered around them, chanting the names as if they were the
lyrics to some kind of song, adding, "тАж apple tarts and gingerbread and
chocolate mousse and trifle andтАж"
 "And stomachaches and sugar highs," Darla said stubbornly. "My dad's
a nutritionist. I'm only allowed healthy food."
Peter turned his practiced dimpled smile on her again. "Forget your
father. You're in Neverland now, and no one need ever go back home from