The children and Mrs. Darling were comforting Nana with pats and cuddles. Nana’s stomach was upset from drinking Mr. Darling’s medicine.
"It was only a joke," Mr. Darling said. It was clear that nobody had any sympathy for him, and this upset him. "All you care about is that dog. What about my feelings?" he shouted. Then he said, "The proper place for a dog is tied up in the yard!" To prove his point, Mr. Darling dragged Nana from the nursery. He pulled her outside and chained her to a tree in the backyard.
Suddenly ashamed, he sat down on the back steps and cried. He knew he had made a mistake, but Mr. Darling could not give in. He couldn’t face his family if he had to admit that he was wrong. So, that night, Nana was left in the backyard, away from the nursery.
Mrs. Darling put the kids to bed. They could all hear Nana barking outside. John whimpered, "Poor Nana. She sounds so unhappy."
But Wendy was wiser. "That is not Nana’s unhappy bark. It’s how she barks when she smells danger."
Mrs. Darling checked the nursery window to make sure it was properly shut. "Oh, how I wish I weren’t going to a dinner party tonight!" she thought to herself. She was worried about leaving the children in the nursery without Nana to watch them. "The night lights will keep you from harm," she told the children. She tucked each child into bed. She sang each a song. She kissed them good night on their eyelids and, with that, she left the nursery.
Then Mr. and Mrs. Darling went out into the night. They didn’t have far to go. The dinner party was at Number 27, only a few yards away from their house. It had been snowing, and they were the only people in the street. The stars shone down on the soft white covering of snow and on the couple. But as soon as the door of Number 27 closed behind them, the stars, who were friends of Peter Pan, whispered, "Go now, Peter!"
Back in the nursery, Wendy, John, and Michael had fallen asleep. A bright light darted from one dresser drawer to another. It was not really a light, though. When it rested for a moment, you could see it was a fairy no larger than a hand. The fairy’s name was Tinker Bell. A perfect miniature figure, she was beautifully dressed in a tiny leaf. She had found a way into the nursery to look for Peter’s shadow.
Suddenly the window blew open, and Peter flew into the nursery.
"Tinker Bell," he called softly, "where are you?" He had carried the fairy part of the way from Neverland, and her fairy dust was still all over his hands. "Come and help me find my shadow!" Peter said.
The ring of a tiny bell answered him. This was Tinker Bell’s fairy language.
When Tinker Bell explained that his shadow was in the dresser, Peter rummaged through all the drawers, spilling everything all over the floor. He made a terrible mess, but he didn’t notice. He also didn’t notice that he accidentally locked Tinker Bell in one of the drawers.
Finally, Peter found his shadow. He was delighted. But how could he attach it to himself again? Peter put the shadow on the floor and lay down on it. But it wouldn’t stick to his body. Next he tried to glue it on with soap from the bathroom. But this didn’t work either. Frustrated, Peter sat down and cried.