“You have a report?” he asked Beckett, who looked rather shocked to see him.
“Aye, Cap’n,” Beckett managed, then took a breath as if collecting his thoughts. He continued, “The lads came back from hunting a short while ago. The Indians refuse to hunt for us anymore. They found the girl’s body and they aren’t sure who to blame. They be makin’ noises that anyone who comes to their village is an enemy.”
“Leave them be. We will provide for our own. No man is to approach them, we will honor their wishes,” Archie said. It was the least he could do for Tiger Lily’s people. If they wished to be left alone, he would make it so, even if it meant several disastrous trips before his men learned to hunt. “Smee said there is a man wishing to join our crew, send him up.”
“Aye, Cap’n. He is right here.” Beckett motioned to a teenage lad that had been waiting by the railing. He had been silent and Archie hadn’t seen him until this moment. “I’ve been teaching him the ship. He’s nimble and quick on the ropes. The only man I’ve seen any better with the mast was Harper.”
At his friend’s name, Archie’s eyes narrowed. A breeze came, ruffling the boy’s blond hair. He squinted at him, giving Archie the vague impression that he had seen this boy somewhere before. “Are you one of Peter’s men?” he asked without preamble, mentally ticking off each of the young boys in Peter’s troupe that he had met.
“I used to be, but I’m not anymore.”
“What is your name?”
“Runt.”
Archie had opened his mouth to say that such a thing was impossible, but no words came out. The anxious expression on the lad’s face was an exact replica of the one he had seen on the young boy’s face as Runt handed him the first of Peter’s maps. In a matter of days, he had somehow gained a decade of age.
“It happened after the first day. He fell asleep a young boy, and woke up as he is now,” Beckett explained, “The island’s spell wore off when he left. He’s as old as he should be, from my way of thinking.”
“Won’t Peter be missing you?” Archie asked. “If one of my men were to disappear, I would search until I found him.”
Runt shook his head, “No, I told Beetles to tell him that I was leaving. Besides, he’s gone after Wendy now.” At Archie’s questioning glance, he continued, “He told me that since he took away Tiger Lily, he would bring me someone new. He found someone named Wendy in the grown-up place. He was going to bring her here to be our mother.” The lad frowned, as if he found the thought not to his liking, “I don’t want to be a Lost Boy ever again. I wish to be a pirate.”
“Will you tell me all that you know of Peter and his whereabouts?” Archie asked, “To become one of my crew, you must tell me all you know.”
“I will tell you.” Runt nodded. “Every single word of it.”
Archie motioned to Beckett. “Bring the book. Let the lad make his mark. He will join our crew.”
“Aye, Cap’n. While I go, is there a heading ye wish for us to sail? The sun is nearly set.” Beckett turned to head toward the stairs.
“No, we won’t be leaving. We will wait here for Peter’s return, however long it should take.”
Beckett nodded and left, returning moments later with the leather bound book.
“Make your mark and join our crew.” Archie pointed to the empty space under the last scrawled name.
“Aye.”
Pirate words sounded odd coming from him, Archie thought, fighting to suppress a smile. “Welcome to the crew of the Jolig Roger, Runt.”
The words that came out of the lad’s mouth next, chased away every hint of a smile and darkened his heart even further. “Thank you, Captain Archie.”
“No, that is not my name.” A fresh wave of darkness washed over his heart as he fixed his newest crew member with his cold, blue eyes. “The one you knew by that name died in the cavern with the one he loved. There is nothing and no one left for me in this life.” He lifted his left arm, letting the last rays of dying light catch the silver on his new hand. “Now—and forevermore—I will be known as Captain Hook.”
1
A Means of Escape
THESPA, QUEEN OF the water sprites, and ruler of all the Never Sea, returned to the human world with a profound sense of dread. As the leader of the watery half of Neverland, not much worried her.
At least, it hadn’t until the humans began forgetting about magic and the sprites began dying.
This trip back to the human world wasn’t one she had made out of choice—necessity brought her here. She’d come to find someone to believe in her, possibly several someones, depending upon how successful her quest proved to be. Then, she’d bring them back with her as a sort of insurance so she’d never have to come to this wretched place again.
Fish won’t do, she decided, staring at the wide-set eyes of one particularly ugly pufferfish. She stood on a wide piece of coral, deep beneath the waves of this warm human ocean, and looked around. More unintelligent fish, crabs, and other sea creatures milled about, none looking particularly pleased or excited to see her. The only ones who showed any interest in her at all were the ones who stopped just long enough to see if she was a small, sparkly bit of food.
This could take forever. Her wings dipped down in dejection. I wonder how long it took the pixie to find that flying Peter-boy?
One of the golden pixies, Tink, had been the first to bring someone to Neverland. When that proved successful, she’d brought a handful more. Her Lost Ones, the pixie had named them. They were, Tink explained, the ones the human world wouldn’t miss.
Thespa crinkled her nose in disgust. As a creature of the sea, she didn’t care for humans. Though they resembled water sprites and had legs to walk about on, they lacked a graceful set of wings that could take them through both water and air. And they most certainly didn’t have any magic. Humans were meant to be above the sea, not below it. Still, the idea of taking someone or something to Neverland that wouldn’t be missed did appeal to Thespa. She sighed, wondering again how long it took Tink to find her Lost Ones.
She started to fly from her perch and try a new place when something stopped her. Literally.
Thespa looked down and scowled, kicking the errant strand of seaweed that had twisted itself around her foot. The bit of green plant gave way at her vicious kick, but left a long green streak of slime down the length of her leg as a parting gift. This, of course, did absolutely nothing to improve her mood.
She was so aggravated that something extremely important had escaped her notice—the gaping jaws of an eel headed directly at her. Her anger disappeared in a fleeting second, but it was too late to move.
Then, a hand wrapped around her an instant before the monster’s teeth snapped.
Nonplussed at missing its small, sparkly appetizer, the eel swam off in search of another easy, unsuspecting meal.
Once the hand opened, Thespa let out an uneasy breath and looked up into a pair of wide, silver eyes, framed by long locks of blond hair.
At first, she thought she’d been saved by a human, but then she spotted his long tail and realized he was as much a creature of the sea as she—and he was exactly who she’d been searching for.
NERIDA WATCHED ODESSA swim toward the surface. The light from above sparkled on the scales of her sister’s tail, bringing out the bright blue hues, making her look magical. Her red hair streamed back, catching in the currents as she ascended closer to the water’s end.
A giant shadow loomed above, evidence of a passing ship filled with humans. Nerida shuddered. Interacting with humans was forbidden—as was anything in the outer world—but the two mermaids had come to test fate, rules or not.
The braver sister, Odessa had suggested this visit with the out-worlders. There was an ancient myth that if any mermaid could make a sailor fall in love with her, he would be hers forever and a powerful spell would cast that would bind him to her for all time. Odessa wanted to prove it true.
Not many were brave enough to test this fable—a
nd those who survived hadn’t succeeded in producing anything but lust from the humans. In fact, nearly all of the merfolk stayed safely below the shadows of the ships for fear of being caught in their great nets, but Odessa had never shown fear of anything. This time was different, though. It wasn’t an adventure Odessa sought—it was escape.
As the firstborn daughter of Muir, the northern sea king, Odessa was betrothed to Cassius, the firstborn son of Taron, the king of the southern seas. The two sea kings wished more than anything for their kingdoms to be united someday, but neither wished to bow to the rule of the other. So the two concocted the plan of marriage and a single kingdom that would only occur upon both of their deaths, which was unlikely to be anytime soon as merpeople typically lived very long lives. Still, Odessa hated the idea of her future marriage and her one wish was to be free of the sea kings’ plan.
Nerida grimaced at the thought of anyone having to be married to Cassius. It would be a terrible fate for her adventuresome sister. His name meant hollow and it fit him. She had met him several times and had found him to be the most self-centered, egotistical, and generally annoying creature she had ever come across—and she had had the misfortune of knowing a few sharks who held more than their fair share of arrogance.
“If I can bind a human to me, I shall prove myself worthy of someone better than Cassius,” Odessa declared before starting for the surface. “No mermaid has ever made a human fall in love with her. That would be the greatest power our people would ever see. It would change everything. Don’t you see, Nerida? Our two kingdoms could become one without my having to marry anyone. They would think me powerful enough to do as I wished.”
Honestly, Nerida didn’t see how it was going to change anything. Still, she bit her tongue and let her sister think the answer to all of the problems below the surface of the ocean lived in the adventure that floated on top of it.
Near the surface, Odessa stopped and turned, giving Nerida an enormous, bright smile. She was close enough to the top of the sea that the sun shone down on her red hair, making it sparkle as brilliantly as the rubies they had once discovered in the shipwrecks scattered across the ocean floor.
Don’t go. The words never made it past Nerida’s lips as her sister broke the surface of the water a short distance from the ship.
Please come back…
A lump rose in her throat as she watched Odessa rise out of the water. A stray beam of sunlight caught on her, causing the blue scales covering her chest and stomach to glimmer. At the base of her throat, a shell necklace swayed back and forth, in time with the waves. Then, Odessa rose higher out of the water, leaving only her tail below the surface.
Dread settled like a weight, heavy in Nerida’s stomach as her sister began to sing. “My love sails on the dark, black sea…”
The first few words echoed in the water around her, eerie and magical.
Nerida relaxed as her sister’s melodic words soothed the dread away. If anyone can make a human fall in love, it will be her. I wonder where she learned this song? Odessa was infamous for swimming near the coastlines, much to their father’s chagrin. More than once, she had come back with strange tales of women singing on the beaches as they stared out at the sea, mourning their lost ones. Perhaps this was one of their songs.
“My love sails on the dark, black sea while I watch from below.”
Nerida shook her head and smiled. No, this was a song of Odessa’s making, unless she had twisted a few of her own words into the lyrics to make it her own.
She listened as the sounds from the ship quieted. It was truly happening, she could feel the difference in the water. Odessa had bewitched them. Still grinning, Nerida darted upward.
Then, the spell broke without warning.
Shouts from the ship drowned out the words of Odessa’s song. Before Nerida could form a coherent thought, the mesh of a heavy net cut through the water, blossoming like the tentacles of an attacking octopus. The dreaded form sped toward her, dragged downward by the weighted edges.
But she wasn’t the humans’ target.
Her blood froze as she realized the descending net wasn’t empty. Her sister’s panicked struggles were barely visible against the rope. The net was pulled back just as it reached her, the coarse ropes scratching her arms and catching at her hair. Odessa’s chilling scream drowned out all sounds of the ship above. The weight of the net had thrust her sister back under the water just long enough that Nerida saw her terrified face.
Nerida swam for the net, hoping to find some way of saving her. Odessa managed to put her arm through the web of ropes, reaching for her. Just as Nerida touched her fingertips, the net was pulled free of the water.
Her sister’s shrill screams echoed for what seemed like an eternity. Then, her cries cut off as the ship groaned back to life. The sounds of muted laughter filled Nerida’s ears as the humans celebrated their unexpected catch.
She pushed back the screams that threatened to tear from her own throat as the shadow of the ship moved once more. They were leaving.
And Odessa was gone.
MONTHS HAD PASSED since Odessa’s disappearance. While the pain of her loss hadn’t lessened for Nerida, it had only grown for her father.
Though hundreds of years old, Muir was as strong as mermen a fraction his age. The lines on his face were the only things that belied how old he really was, and right now those lines were deepening. One would never guess this was the same jovial merman who once had taught his daughters to romp through the tall grass of the ocean floor without fear. That merman had vanished the instant Nerida told her father of Odessa’s fateful encounter. She realized his sense of safety shattered at that moment, leaving the mighty king terrified of the humans.
It didn’t help that four other mermaids had gone missing after Odessa. Since then, the number of ships on the water had grown—and so had Muir’s fear.
“Something must be done about the humans,” Muir thundered as he thrust his golden staff downward, the end piercing the shale floor of the throne room. The sound echoed against the walls and the room fell quiet. Hushed whispers replaced the echo a moment later, as her people wondered what exactly the sea king had in mind. The fact that Taron, the sea king of the southern seas, sat a short distance away, with a face as grim as her father’s, made Nerida wonder if perhaps the two mermen hadn’t decided to use this meeting to plan for a war on the human race. She watched as her father’s mighty red tail flipped in agitation and a frown spread across his ancient, wrinkled face.
“The humans are a deplorable race, unfit to sail upon our waters,” he continued with a growl.
She fidgeted in her seat, while her father recounted the last known facts of the missing mermaids to Taron. She rubbed the shell hanging on her necklace—Odessa’s necklace. Nerida had found it days later, drifting in the foam near the place where her sister had been taken. Each time a mermaid died, her body became one with the sea, disintegrating into foam that would ride on upon the waves. That necklace floated amongst what was left of Odessa—proof she was forever gone. Proof that humans were capable of evil, dark things.
But she wasn’t so sure those other four mermaids had found the same fate as her sister. It was possible they had come across a testy shark who had caught a fancy for the flesh of a mermaid. It had happened before, and it could happen again.
Nerida said as much and was rewarded with two scowls. One from her father, one from Taron.
“No, it was the humans,” Muir growled, striking the floor with the staff again. Shale splintered away, tiny bits of yellow and green shards floated with the current. At the rate he was going, the castle floors would soon be reduced to nothing but rubble.
“The ocean is no longer safe for us,” Taron agreed, his long white beard bobbing up and down in the water. “However, we have no need to fear. There is no need for us to fight them. My son has found the solution to our plight, Muir. Both of our kingdoms will be safe. We’ll never have any fear of humans again.”
Nerida looked across the room, where the buff, blond merman lounged near the door as if he hadn’t a care in the world. He caught her glance and blew her a kiss. Nerida gritted her teeth, wanting nothing more than to wipe the leering grin off the sea prince’s face. Unless Cassius had managed to manufacture some sort of poison that would kill humans the instant they placed their boats upon the sea, he was lying.
Nerida rolled her eyes at the misplaced trust of the old sea king. Cassius wasn’t smart enough to swim away from electric eels, much less solve the problems of two sea kingdoms. It was a pity that he’d been born first, instead of Annalise, his sister. That shy, young mermaid hung back in the recesses of the throne room, her wide, intelligent green eyes taking everything in.
“So how exactly are you going to solve this dilemma with the humans?” Nerida asked.
Cassius rose out of his chair and started toward the throne slowly, and Nerida swore he enjoyed knowing all eyes were on him. As if fully aware of Nerida’s wish to be rid of him, he stopped directly in front of her.
“It’s simple, really,” he said with a shrug. “We merely go to a place where there are no humans.”
Muir bristled, his face going red. “Go to a place where there are no humans, you say? They are everywhere, you fool! We will never escape them in this world.”
Finally, someone is making sense. Nerida fought to keep the grin off her face.
“Muir, please,” Taron said quickly, as if to appease him, “Let the boy explain.”
Muir grunted, finally nodding. “Go on, then.”
“The way to escape the humans is to leave this world,” Cassius said. He paused, giving the words time to sink in before continuing, “I came upon a water sprite who promised to show us the way should we decide to leave this place.”
The Untold Stories of Neverland: The Complete Box Set Page 26