Forever Neverland Read online

  “Where are you going?” Asked John.

  “Out.”

  “Where?” Asked Peter.

  “None of your business,” Wendy answered, grasping the knob of the front door.

  Something dangerous flashed in Peter’s green eyes and he rushed forward. “It is too my business,” he said as he grabbed Wendy’s arm by the wrist and opened the door himself. “And I told you, we don’t have time for this!” He pulled her after him onto the front porch and then whirled to face her, pulling her close and lowering his head so that his words hissed across her lips. “You’re coming to Neverland,” he told her through clenched teeth, “because you belong there, with me, and I want to go home!”

  With that, Peter Pan pushed off of the front porch and took to the dark skies. Wendy screamed as she was lifted from the ground along with him. Her shoulder wrenched painfully. Fear clouded her vision, turning it a grayish red. She tried to call his name, but her voice was hoarse with terror. “Peter,” she croaked. “Peter, please!”

  The world rushed by them, Peter taking them up further and further just as fast as he could fly. Lights blurred and then dulled, ducking out of sight behind the cold fingers of rain clouds that whipped at Wendy’s face like ropes of ice. Tears froze on her cheeks and her heart sank into her stomach, her only solace the solid grip that Peter Pan had on her wrist. He wouldn’t let her go…

  She was about to try to call out to him once more when, suddenly, and a little painfully, Peter stopped.

  The world grew abruptly quiet and still.

  “It can’t be. . . .” He was gazing at something across a sea of white mist. His eyes were wide in disbelief.

  Wendy blinked hard and swung her other arm up so that she could get a grip on his jacket. It was wet with water vapor and slippery, but she dug her fingernails in as hard as she could and hung like a rag doll off of Peter’s forearm. And then she followed his gaze to see what it was that had given him pause.

  There, slowly sinking through the fog like the fin of a shark, was a ship’s flag – a skull and cross bones against a background of black.

  “The Jolly Roger,” she whispered, because that was all she could do.

  “Wendy!”

  Peter jumped at the sudden sound of John’s voice cutting through the haze below them. And in that moment, his grip on Wendy’s wrist slackened. Her arm, as slick with water vapor as his jacket, slipped through Peter’s fingers.

  It took but a heartbeat for Wendy Darling to disappear beneath the clouds. But, at least, as she fell, she found her voice once more, and her scream followed her down.

  Chapter Nine

  Hook heard the scream and looked up.

  “What in bloody – ” He murmured, frowning at the blanket of white that covered them. The scream grew louder and closer. Not knowing why he was doing so, Hook walked slowly across the deck until he felt that whatever was screaming would fall right on top of him.

  In the instant that she broke through the white mist, long hair flying all around her, Hook held out his arms. And Wendy fell into them.

  The impact knocked the wind out of her lungs, leaving her dazed. Her eyes were still shut tight. She didn’t open them. Distractedly, she threw her arms around her savior and held on tight, not knowing whether she was alive or dead – only that she’d stopped falling and was eternally grateful for it.

  Captain Hook stared at the young woman in his arms. He closed his eyes and then opened them again. She was still there. He closed his eyes once more and opened them once more. She was very much there – and she was holding him as if her life depended upon it. Hook could smell something vaguely sweet on her hair, and though he didn’t fully trust his senses just then, the scent reminded him of caramel apples and hot chocolate…

  A stony silence had fallen upon his crew. And then, within a few moments, a disbelieving murmur began to rise all around him. Pirates were crossing themselves and clutching tiny leather bags that hung on leather cords around their necks. Some were looking up at the clouds, wondering what else would fall through.

  Hook turned to face Smee, who was now coming down from the quarter deck, his eyes wide behind the spectacles he almost always wore. The look on Smee’s face was all Hook needed to confirm that what was happening truly was happening.

  A young woman had fallen out of the sky and into his arms. He tried to pull back and get a better look at her face, but she held on fiercely, burying her face in the white ruffle and laces of his under shirt.

  At this, a few of the men snickered. Normally, he would have none of that kind of thing, but at the moment, he really couldn’t blame them.

  And then he sensed it. That vibration that had been driving him on. That worrisome tickle at the base of his spine that caused his blue eyes to darken and his teeth to grind.

  With strong and fluid grace, Hook spun around, yanked the girl’s grip loose from his neck, and unceremoniously handed her to Smee. Smee took her easily, and in that instant, Hook caught a glimpse of her face, her eyes wide, her cheeks wet with tears, her lips red where she had bitten them.

  “Wendy?” He whispered.

  She blinked at him, her expression a combination of wonder and horror. “H-Hook?”

  And then he shoved his astonishment away, spun back around, drew his sword from its scabbard, and raised it above his head.

  Right on cue, the crew of the Jolly Roger heard a call come from the heavens above them. “Wendy!” A male voice, as familiar as it was different.

  Hook smiled, white teeth flashing. It was not a friendly smile.

  Like a cannonball in speed and fury, a young man dove out of the clouds, his dark garb a stark contrast for the blonde of his hair. In the space of an instant, he was above the Jolly Roger and backpedaling from the blade that was so suddenly there, directly in his path.

  Peter Pan barely managed to come to a stop, hovering in the air a mere hair’s breadth from the tip of Hook’s sword, which now rested ever so threateningly at the hollow of his young throat.

  A second later, Tinkerbell, still in her pixie form, also came skidding to a sparkling halt, hovering somewhere near Peter Pan’s shoulder and blinking rapidly in shock.

  “Peter Pan,” Hook greeted menacingly. “Lose something?” he taunted. His piercing blue eyes sparkled in the moonlight.

  Peter took a moment to register the situation, his eyes scanning the scene from Hook and his sword to Wendy, in Smee’s arms, to the other pirates, all lined up beside the rigging and shrouds, their hands readied on their weapons.

  Then he looked back at Hook.

  “Let her go, Hook,” he demanded, though his expression gave away the fact that he was confused and surprised by the state of affairs.

  Behind Hook, Wendy wriggled her way out of Smee’s grasp and stood, shoving the first mate away from her. Smee took it in good stride and simply shrugged.

  “Why Pan,” Hook purred, “It’s a long way down. Only a fool would let someone go from up here.”

  The words stung as Hook had intended them to. Peter flinched and then reared back in the air and drew a knife from a small black scabbard that hung from a black belt at his waist. The knife’s blade shimmered and then grew until it, too, was a sword. He held it in front of him in challenge.

  As if on cue, Hook’s men mobilized, several coming to stand between Wendy and Peter, effectively separating them. Another man, who had been behind Peter when he’d appeared through the clouds, closed in on Tinkerbell in one fluid movement, trapping her within a glass jar and slamming the lid on tight.

  The pixie shoved against the sides of the glass, but to no avail. And, trapped within a confined space, she dared not take human form, for the growing process – and the inevitable passing through the glass – would hurt, to say the least, and might even be fatal. As she had been five years ago, Tinkerbell was once more ensnared and useless on the deck of the Jolly Roger.

  “I don’t know how you got here, Hook, but you don’t belong in this world and I’m going t
o send you back out of it,” Peter hissed at Hook, leveling his own blade so that it crossed his opponent’s.

  From the jar where she was being held prisoner, Tinkerbell nodded her agreement, angry pixie dust chinking against the glass.

  “Yes, yes, of course,” Hook nodded agreeably. “Why wait for Neverland when we can kill each other right here and now?”

  There was a simultaneous blur of movement, and the ship was suddenly filled with the sound of clanging swords.

  Wendy found herself mesmerized by the sparring figures, trapped in a memory that refused to let her look away. Whereas she had indeed seen Peter Pan and Captain Hook fight once before, it seemed that it had been an eternity ago. And, Peter had been but a boy.

  Now, two men faced off on the deck of the Jolly Roger, draped in colors of blood and night, and whatever skills they’d possessed five years ago had only been amplified.

  However, this night, there was something strange flashing in Peter’s eyes, and he moved as if driven on by a demon. Five years ago, he fought with the pirate captain while wearing a smile on his face. Tonight, his teeth were clenched. His expression was dark.

  It worried Wendy.

  Five years ago, she, too, had been but a child, and had known nothing of fighting, save what she could create in the safety of her imagination. Hence, even though she had tried her best, swinging her sword with all of the strength a twelve-year-old girl could muster, she had, inevitably, been rather useless against the powerful muscle and expertise of grown pirates.

  However, now, Wendy was a young woman, and an athletic one at that. One of the first things she had done upon returning to her world was sign up for fencing. Her parents, desperate for her to take part in any social activity that might steer her mind clear of stories and make-believe, had been more than happy to oblige.

  So, she had also joined a martial arts class.

  And, unbeknownst to her brother John, as she was certain he would claim that she was wasting her time and that he was far more suited to such endeavors, Wendy had signed up for her school’s chess club. She’d done so with the faint, flickering feeling that, at some point in her future, it might be helpful to know how to strategize.

  And hence, as Wendy now watched Peter Pan square off against the notorious captain of the Jolly Roger, her instincts and training kicked in. With single-minded purpose, she sprang forward and pulled the sword from the sheath that was tied to the waist of one of the pirates in front of her.

  Surprised, the man spun around to stop her, but she quickly snapped the flat end of the blade against the side of his arm, sending him reeling back and gripping his arm in sudden pain.

  Then she whirled on Smee, forcing him to take several quick steps back.

  “Now, now, miss, take it easy,” Smee suggested, holding his hands up in the sign for parley. “Aint none of us‘ve got grief with the likes of you, an’ you don’t want to be goin’ and changin’ that, do you?”

  Wendy bit her lip and waved the sword slowly back and forth, nervously. She hadn’t planned to get as far as she had and wasn’t certain how, exactly, she had hoped to help Peter Pan.

  “The fairy,” she said, her strategizing brain kicking in before her conscious one could. “Release the fairy, you freebooting coxswain, and I won’t slice you open from your gullet to your gut!”

  Smee stared at Wendy, stunned into blinking silence.

  In a few seconds, Wendy noticed that everyone else on the ship had grown quiet as well, all of them staring at her in shocked wonder.

  Hook and Peter, who had both frozen at Wendy’s bellowed order, watched Wendy with a curious fascination. Hook’s ocean blue eyes sparkled, and a faint, mysterious smile played about his lips.

  “Wendy!”

  Everyone turned at the sound of the new male voice.

  John and Michael hovered over the far end of the Jolly Roger’s deck. John seemed out of breath and pale as the moon. Michael, on the other hand, with cheeks of pink and eyes that glittered gleefully, was obviously invigorated by his return to flight after five years of down time.

  At once, Wendy realized that John must have carried Michael up through the skies and that it must have taken an awful lot of effort – and mental control on the happy thoughts front – for him to make it so far.

  “Will the surprises never cease…” Captain Hook muttered under his breath. And then, using Peter’s distraction to his advantage, he struck. Hook’s wicked blade flashed like lightning and slashed a clean line into the leather of Peter’s jacket, slicing through the shirt beneath and cutting a red stripe across Peter’s chest.

  The attack surprised Peter, catching him off guard. He leapt back, clutching his free hand to his chest, and glanced anxiously at Wendy.

  She gazed, wide-eyed, utterly unsure of what to do next.

  “Capture those two, bind them and seal them in the brig!” Captain Hook bellowed, pointing the long of his sword at John and Michael. The crew of the Jolly Roger swelled to life, rushing the two boys nearly as one.

  John gasped and instantly tried to rise above the flood of pirates, but he only managed to clear their heads and the taller men were easily able to reach up and grasp him by the ankles. Michael, too, was taken, as his grip on his brother’s arm was wrenched loose and he was thrown to the deck of the ship.

  And that was the undoing of the Darling brothers, who were then roughly and efficiently bound and tossed below deck within the space of a few rapid heartbeats.

  “You’ve changed, Pan,” said Hook, in the midst of another upswing that once more forced Peter’s defenses.

  Peter grimaced, blocked the attack, and countered with one of his own. “And you haven’t,” he retorted, swinging his sword with renewed vigor. “Your heart’s as black as it’s always been!”

  “Said the young man dressed in garb of pitch,” Hook taunted, with a meaningful glance up and down Peter’s tall form. Peter chanced a quick peek down at himself and barely managed to bring his sword up as Hook’s sharp blade snuck in at another angle, nicking another piece of leather from his jacket.

  At the same time, a few pirates moved toward Wendy, and she whirled on them, slicing through the rope holding one man’s breeches in place, and knocking off another man’s hat with the flat of her blade. Her heart raced dangerously fast. “Stay back!” she screamed. They backpedaled, the man who’d lost his trousers doing so somewhat clumsily.

  “The fairy, I said! Set her free!” Wendy demanded, once more rounding on Smee until the tip of her stolen sword threatened the area just over his heart. Her brothers were captured now and Hook seemed to be gaining the upper hand with Peter, and Wendy knew that only Tinkerbell possessed the kind of magic that could turn things around for everyone.

  Peter fervently glanced toward Wendy, attempting to watch the goings-on, even as he fought off Hook.

  “You seem distracted, young man,” Hook continued, using a term that he knew most likely disturbed Peter to his core.

  “Shut up,” Peter hissed.

  Hook smiled. “I can’t help but suspect that you might have something on your mind other than beating me in battle.” He stole a look in Wendy’s direction.

  Peter’s green eyes flashed fire. “You leave her out of this, Hook.” His tone was low and held a note of very grown up warning.

  Hook’s grin was victorious.

  Peter swung his sword again and Hook easily crossed it, rushing forward to hold their positions as he turned to peer at Wendy. “Mr. Smee, stop playing around and take Wendy Darling to my quarters; it’s bad luck to have a woman on deck in the midst of a battle,” he ordered calmly.

  Wendy’s eyes went wide with surprise as Smee suddenly batted Wendy’s sword away as if it were a pesky fly. Before she could recover, another pirate came in from the side like lightning and wrenched the sword from her hand. They moved so easily and so quickly, it was as if they had purposely been holding back before. Perhaps they’d been unsure of their captain’s intentions for her. But they knew now,
and they acted upon his orders with swift efficiency.

  Before she truly knew what had happened, her wrists were being held tightly behind her back as she was simultaneously shoved toward the stairs that led to Hook’s cabin.

  Peter’s rage grew tenfold then, and the strangest thing happened to his eyes. Where he’d been gazing, heatedly, through eyes the color of forests only a moment before, he now stared at a blood-colored world through eyes that began to glow eerily red.

  Hook straightened and the smile on his face disappeared.

  “Well, well. . . ” he muttered under his breath. Slowly, he stepped back and lowered his sword.

  He studied Peter carefully as the teenager flexed and unflexed the fist holding his sword. Sweat trickled down the sides of Peter’s face to the collar of his jacket. “Fight me, Hook.” Peter gritted out through clenched teeth.

  Hook slowly shook his head.

  Wendy gave a small cry of surprise as she temporarily slipped on the mist-slick stairs leading to the captain’s quarters. Peter looked over in time to see a burly pirate grab her by both arms and lift her up the remaining steps.

  And then something in Peter snapped.

  Hook could almost hear it.

  The boy lunged forward, roaring with rage as he did so, and Hook was more than ready for him. With ease that came only from an eternity of practice, Hook blocked Peter’s attack, and then twisted his sword in a circular fashion, wrenching the slippery grip from Peter’s grasp. Peter’s sword went sailing across the deck to clank into the nearest mast and clatter to a stop.

  Peter gazed at it through his blood colored eyes, confusion and anger playing tag across his young, handsome face.

  But the tip of Hook’s blade once more at his throat drew Peter’s attention back to his opponent.

  Hook gazed at him steadily. “Get off of my ship, Pan,” he said, his voice so soft that only Peter could hear him.

  “Why don’t you just kill me?” Peter spat.

  “It would hardly be sporting to kill you in your current condition, young man.” Hook looked him up and down once more, his sea blue eyes at once telling and filled with secrets. “Get off of my ship before I throw you off.”