The hardest part of the plan, of course, was that Pete had to sneak out of the house in the dark and paddle across to the mainland in the darkness of the night. He had never sailed at night before.
He waited breathlessly for his parents to fall asleep. Around 11 in the evening he could hear the steady sound of snoozing from the room next door, so he got out of bed and crept downstairs as quietly as he could.
But the front door was locked, and the key was nowhere to be found. Pete went to the back terrace door and gently pushed the handle. The door opened with a sharp creak: Pete listened anxiously to see if his mum and dad had woken up to the noise, but fortunately he heard nothing suspicious.
He rushed to the boat frantically: he had to hurry to get to Giovanni before the dream thief did.
He later described this mission to his friends as the scariest experience of his life. It was like a nightmare: the pitch black, the roar of the sea, the suspicious rocking of the boat. But Pete was not the one to be scared away from achieving his goals.” ““Hide under my bed and he won’t see you. I will close my eyes and pretend to sleep” said Giovanni, after Pete had managed to sneak up to his room unnoticed. “And if I do fall asleep… sorry in advance, but wake me when the thief comes!”
It seemed like an eternity that Pete had been waiting under the bed, and Giovanni’s breathing told him that he had fallen asleep.
But suddenly the window opened softly, and two feet appeared before Pete’s eyes. The dream thief stepped softly to Giovanni’s bedside without making a noise. He murmured something to himself very quietly.
“To banish? Me? That’s a joke. If you at least knew who you were dealing with, but you don’t! Arrogant folks, so full of themselves. Manono, yeah right. Magic Island, blah, blah, blah” leaning close to Giovanni in a scary way. “Well, well, let’s see what’s in that silly head of yours, child. What a smell, wow, my mouth is watering…! Ah, an oven… pasta… tomatoes…. You don’t dream about yesterday’s lessons at night either!”” ““Got you!” Pete shouted, and with the same momentum, he jumped out from under the bed and turned on the lights.
In an instant the room was bathed in light, even Giovanni woke up to it.
What surprised them the most was that there was absolutely nothing special about the dream thief. Maybe just one thing.
“Wow! I thought you were a boy!” Pete said, as that was his very first reaction. The dream thief turned into a pillar of salt. Giovanni sat up on the bed.
“Did you know that I just started dreaming about a giant cheese pizza? And you wanted to steal this awesome dream! Shame on you!”
The dream thief had been exposed. The old woman stood there in her tattered clothes, looking even more frightened than the boys. She was not used to being caught. Confused, she mumbled:
“Why should I be a boy?”
“I don’t know” said Pete. “Stealing dreams is such a boy’s job”.
The old woman stared at Pete with exhausted eyes for a few seconds, then burst out laughing. Her whole body was shaking, the boys could even see into her toothless mouth. ” “Suddenly the door opened: Giovanni’s mum was also woken up by the huge commotion. She had seen many things in her life, but she was not prepared for this sight. Believe me, you’ve never seen a more stunned mum than this one.
“Police! Honey, call the police! There is a strange woman in Giovanni’s room!” She shouted to Giovanni’s father, who had also woken up. But Pete, who knew that it would be over now, stepped in.
“Don’t call the police, I’ll take care of her. I’m taking this lady back to where she came from, where they will decide her fate”.
He had no choice: he had to tell Giovanni’s parents all about the mission, Manono, and the dream thief. He also told them what the shaman had advised. With the dream thief scared to death.
“That’s a rather unbelievable story, Pete,” said Giovanni’s father finally. “And you want to take this woman back to Manono in your boat, alone, in the middle of the night? I don’t think it’s a good idea”.
But Pete convinced them that it was not only a good idea, it was the only solution.” “The boat glided soundlessly across the water. The dream thief didn’t say a word. Pete mustered all his courage.
“What is your name? I’m sure your real name is not Dream Thief”.
“What business is it of yours what my name is?”
“Just curious. It’s at least another twenty minutes until we get to the island; though we can be quiet for all I care. You’ll talk to the shaman anyway”.
The dream thief hesitated.
“My name is Imelda. But we won’t get to the island. The shaman has cast a protective spell around the shores, in case you didn’t know. Your boat will stop and then we will be stuck. You will stay here with me. But at least you know my name now,” she chuckled.
At that moment, the boat really did seem to get stuck on something. Pete knew that there was nothing there, as he had done this trip a thousand times before, yet his paddles were useless: an invisible wall stood in his way.
“Hang on, little boy, because in a minute, the dolphins will be here, and they’ll tip us overboard and into the sea. I’ve run into this a few times. How predictable this shaman is!”