The Untold Stories of Neverland: The Complete Box Set

by K. R. Thompson

The man continued coughing, never stopping for breath.

  “He be choking to death!” someone exclaimed. “There be blood coming out! Get ’im back to the ship!”

  A flurry of motion ensued as the others in the boat picked up their oars and changed their course back to the boat, no doubt in hopes that Smee would be able to save Long Jeff. The ship’s doctor had nearly come with them, but as luck would have it, Hook told him to stay aboard the Roger.

  Jack glanced over his shoulder and spotted his white head at the railing. He had seen what happened. At least he would be ready for…whatever the curse entailed.

  The longboat passed by, close enough that Jack could see Long Jeff’s arm, the white linen of his shirt flecked with blood. He was quiet now, the coughing had ceased, but somehow Jack didn’t think the worst had come for the man.

  “All right then,” Beckett said, getting everyone’s attention. “Best we move on then. The cap’n won’t like it to see us just sitting here.” He nodded toward shore where Hook’s bright crimson coat could be easily seen as he stood on the sandy beach staring out at his crew.

  That was all it took for every hand to get back to rowing and a few moments later, the bottom of the boat scrubbed against the bottom of the inlet.

  Hook wasted no time giving out his orders once the boat was secured. All of the other boats, save the one that returned to the ship, had arrived before them, the pirates already dispersed, looking for any sign of Peter Pan, the Neverlings, or the girl.

  “Take the northern path.” Hook tapped his hook against the map in his hand before handing the parchment to Beckett. “We meet back at the boats at nightfall, unless we find them before then.”

  The northern path! Jack fought to keep the smile off his face and stay neutral until the captain turned his back and headed the opposite direction. If he was careful, he would be able to get away from his group and go back to the place he had found Lorelei.

  He waited while Beckett gave the pirates instructions, nodded solemnly that he understood his orders when Beckett’s gaze moved over him, and took his place at the very back of the group as they set off.

  It didn’t take long to meander off the well-trodden path and make his way to the beach. He caught a glimmer of red by a large rock and realized that while he was trying to get to her, Lori was trying to get his attention.

  He rushed to the rock and knelt down as she pulled herself free of the water to her waist, one hand gripping the rock, while the other stayed fisted.

  “Jack,” she said with a smile, looking over his shoulder to make sure there was no one else around. “Jack, you dropped this when you got out of the boat.”

  He held out his open his hand and she dropped his necklace into his palm. Without thinking he leaned over and kissed her.

  She pulled back just the slightest bit, surprised, then gripped his arms and pulled herself up and kissed him back. The kiss deepened and it felt as if Jack were being warmed from the inside out. Every sensation seemed to send ripples of magic along his skin—from the soft brush of her lips to the light scent of flowers that were growing in the crevices of the rock between them. Time stopped and for a moment there was no one else in Neverland—no Peter Pan, no Lost Boys, no pirates. No one bent on revenge, and no one forgetting.

  There was only Jack and this beautiful mermaid who had somehow stolen his heart, and for the first time, he couldn’t imagine ever leaving Neverland.

  5

  Time to Go

  JACK WASN’T SURE if it had been weeks or months that had passed by, but he didn’t care. Every day that they searched the island, he always found a way to get away from the others and meet Lori in their special place between the dunes.

  He didn’t think about leaving Neverland anymore. Instead, he was happy to spend all of his time with her, while the others continued to search. The pirates never found Peter Pan’s hiding place, though they sometimes caught glimpses of the Neverlings in the forest, but the children were always quick and melted away into the shadows before they were ever caught. The Indians in the mountains weren’t quite so quick to disappear, and the crew had accidentally caught one of their children once. The little girl had been quickly turned loose once they realized their mistake and luckily no one was held to blame.

  “I be getting bored o’ this,” Boggs grumbled as he got into the longboat one morning. “Every day, same ol’ thing. I should be pickin’ more fruit for my never-right, not chasing after ghosts. At the rate this be goin’, we’ll be runnin’ out soon.” He fixed Jack with a steely eye. “And if I get my way once we get to the shore, ye be comin’ with me. No more runnin’ off, aye?”

  And it just so happened that he did end up getting his way. Hook must have understood the plight of his crew and waved Boggs off to the never-fruit orchard, ordering Jack to accompany him.

  “Ah, he still has some sensibilities. A happy crew is a crew that still has its grog,” Boggs said with a knowing look as he pulled a large basket out of the boat and handed it to Jack. “Here, lad. Ye be younger than me. You carry it.”

  Jack groaned as he slipped his arms into the rungs of the pack basket. He’d not get to see Lori at all today if the cook had his way about it. They’d spend the entire day picking fruit.

  “Ach! Quit ye belly achin’,” Boggs admonished. “Beats trampin’ around in the woods all day.”

  That’s what you think, Jack grumbled to himself. I’d rather spend time with Lori than I would anything else.

  “If ye move this slow when its empty, I’d hate to see ye lug it when it be full,” Boggs frowned as he turned and led the way to the orchard.

  Jack sighed. There were worse things he could be doing, he supposed, though at the moment, he couldn’t really think of any. As he followed Boggs, his mind wandered to a set of sparkling emerald green eyes, a swirling mass of red hair, and a soft pair of lips that held the most beautiful smile in all of Neverland.

  “Pick up the pace, lad. At this rate, we’ll have to capture a pixie to make a fresh batch,” Boggs’ words brought him back to reality, but just barely. So long as more squashed fruit was added to the mix, the never-right stayed at the right consistency, though it weakened a bit more each time. If they ran out, they’d have to start over and if there was one thing Jack was sure of, it was that a pirate crew without grog would most definitely not be a happy pirate crew.

  “Aye,” he replied, shifting the empty basket on his back. “I’m coming.”

  Boggs turned, a twinkle in his eye. “The way ye be distracted, if I didna know any better, I’d think a lass had caught yer eye.” He shrugged. “But bein’ as there aren’t any lasses on Neverland, I guess that not be it!” He patted his stomach thoughtfully, then looked down at the tattoo woman. “Too bad. I can’t recall who this one is exactly, but I think she would ’ave been a lass that I would’ve liked to meet.”

  Jack’s heart dropped to his stomach. He hadn’t thought of leaving Neverland in all the time that he’d known Lori and now they were all forgetting again. A memory of his mother’s face passed through his mind, her smile filling it. He still remembered her. Didn’t he owe it to the others to help them remember too?

  “I HAVE TO find a way to leave Neverland,” he told Lori the next day. “They don’t remember any more.”

  She frowned and a tiny crease dented between her brows. Jack wanted nothing more than to take his thumb and smooth it away. “But what if you don’t come back?”

  “We always come back. No matter how hard I’ve tried in the past, we always come back to the same place. It’s as if we’re locked here.”

  “But what if you don’t come back?” she repeated, her green eyes filling with tears. “What if you find a way back to your world?”

  “Don’t cry, Lori.” Her tears were more than he could bear, so he scooted closer to the water and gathered her up to him, letting the surf splash over his legs. “I always come back. I won’t ever leave you. Even if we sail away tonight, I’d be back first thing in the morning.�
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  He rested his chin on top of her head as she wrapped her arms around him. He felt small wet drops soak through his shirt, proof that he hadn’t stopped her tears after all.

  Maybe it was time to let his memories die, he thought. Maybe it was time to stop chasing an old life and begin thinking of the one he had.

  JACK SAT ON a bench in the corner of the room. Boggs was busily humming to himself, his head down in a barrel, a wooden paddle in one hand, inspecting his freshest batch of never-right.

  He leaned against the wall, listening to the cook hum the familiar notes of Maddie Lee, remembering the last time he’d heard the song was the last time the Roger had sailed away from the island. Smee had sang it then, his Irish accent becoming thicker the farther he’d gotten into the song. How long had it been since they’d gone? Two weeks? Three? A month? A year? Long enough for everyone to forget again—and long enough for him to find a reason to stay in Neverland.

  He sighed. It was as if an invisible fog had settled upon the crew, freezing them in time, clouding their minds to anything that wasn’t of Neverland. Normally, by now, he’d already be planning another way of getting Hook to sail away from the island and restore their memories. But now, he wasn’t so eager to do so. He took his pendant out of his pocket and held it by the end of its broken chain, letting the charm spin back and forth like a magician’s favorite trick. Ever since Lori had given it back to him, he hadn’t bothered to sew it back into his shirt. It wasn’t quite as important as it had once been.

  Lori’s vibrant eyes and her beautiful smile filled his mind and he remembered the look of disappointment that covered her face when he told her of his plan to leave the island again. He couldn’t imagine life without her now—couldn’t see spending the rest of his time in a world that didn’t have her in it.

  Neverland isn’t so bad, he tried to convince himself. Likely we’re trapped here for all eternity anyway. What good is it to remind everyone of the life they had if they can’t go back to it? I have something to live for here now. I have Lori, even if we do have to meet in secret.

  Some small part of his subconscious realized Boggs had stopped humming. The sudden silence broke his thoughts and he looked up to see the man staring at him, a look of complete bewilderment on his face. The full tankard Boggs had been holding fell to the floor, rolling end over end, sweet contents splashing across the wooden floorboards. He took a few stumbling steps toward Jack, his eyes locked on the necklace Jack still held, the charm still spinning.

  It was as if a haze lifted from the man’s eyes and a passionate look of hurt passed over them, only to be replaced a second later by a hate that seemed to burn hotter with each passing second.

  Before Jack could so much as move, Boggs had picked him up by the throat and shoved him against the wall so hard spots appeared before his eyes. The chain burned as it whipped through his fingers as Boggs snatched the necklace from him. Jack jerked forward for an instant before being slammed into the wall again.

  “Ye wee thief! Where did you steal it from?! Where?” Boggs demanded. His hand closed around Jack’s throat tighter with each word as if he wished to squeeze the answer out of him. “Never took it off…” he muttered to himself, looking down at the charm. “…never took it off. Always kept it near...” A panged expression painted his face and he winced before turning his attention back to Jack, giving him another squeeze, followed by another shove. “Best ye answer me lad, I’ve no use for a thief!”

  Jack gasped, pulling at the pirate’s hand in as much an attempt to get air as to speak. “My….myyy…,” he wheezed.

  Seeming to realize he wouldn’t get his answer at the rate things were progressing, Boggs eased his grip only enough that Jack managed to get his breath. He still dangled in the air like a fish out of water. “Did ye get it from Oralee, or Annabelle?” Boggs asked. Jack felt the muscles in the man’s hand quiver, as if it was taking every bit of control that he had not to continue shaking him around like a rag doll. “Margaret O’Malley? Dari Morton?”

  How many wenches has he been with? Jack’s brain was a muddled mess, trying to make sense of things. The man had attacked him and was now firing out a different woman’s name with each breath, his eyes becoming wilder with each name he spoke. His didn’t have the crazy gleam in them that the captain’s held, there was something else in them…something anxious.

  “My…mother…gave it to…me,” Jack managed to rasp.

  “You be lying to me,” Boggs snarled, but he didn’t tighten his grip on his throat again. “She’d never take it off, ne’er give it to anyone.”

  “I’m not lying!” Jack had finally gotten enough of his breath back that his temper was beginning to flare. He jerked his necklace out of Boggs’ hand and held it against his chest. He might very well die this night, but he was determined to leave this blasted island with everything he came with, however little it may be. He closed his eyes for a second, then opened them up and glared at Boggs. “My mother gave it to me. If you’re going to kill me, then get it over with!”

  Boggs’ eyes widened. “Who…who be yer mother, lad? What was her name?” he asked softly.

  “Ana Whaley Pritchard.”

  The grip completely loosened on his throat as soon as he said the name and Jack slid the few inches down the wall, his feet finally touching the ground. Boggs took a step back. Then another. He fell backward onto a barrel and sat there, staring at Jack as if looking at him for the first time. “How did I no see it before? My stars, ye have her eyes and I never saw it…and ye have her fiery heart.”

  Jack looked at him blankly. “You know my mother?”

  “Knew her. Aye, I did.” The pirate rubbed his stomach, a wry expression on his face, as if he was remembering another lifetime. “And loved her more than any one man ever loved in this life.”

  Critically, Jack’s gaze dropped to the cook’s round stomach. The woman on it looked absolutely nothing like his mother. His mother was slender, lithe, with a mass of flowing dark hair and a kind smile, even though she did have the temper Boggs spoke of. The tattoo woman in front of him looked like…like a female version of Boggs. As if the tattoo had taken a life of its own, Boggs’ flesh quivered, making the large woman jiggle back and forth. Perhaps Jack had been too quick to judge the man as sane. After all, he’d just spit out the names of more than a half dozen women. More than likely, most of them were acquaintances met in a tavern—and even more likely, the likeness of this tattoo belonged to one of them. Jack crinkled up his nose at the thought, not liking at all where his brain was taking him. “My mother is not Natasha de la Costa.”

  “Aye, she was. And though so much time has passed, I pray to all that be holy she still is, for I can no bear the thought of losing her a second time. Used several names, she did, so as not to be caught when we ran from the Duke. We lived as pirates, raiding down the coast, most time wi’ her dressed as a man so as not to raise suspicions. But then she was pregnant wi’ you and ’twas too hard to hide. Besides, a pirate ship be no place to have a babe, so I left her in a safe place and promised to come back once ye were born. Took longer than I thought to make it, but when I came back, she was gone. The woman in the house said she died and the little one with her.” Tears filled Boggs’ eyes, glistening in the glow from the candles. He brushed the back of his hand over his face. “Should’ve known better than to trust ’em. The Duke bought their silence and lies, most like. I should’ve asked for her body. Once we get back, I’ll make it right. The Duke of Cardona won’t be fit for fishes when I be done wi’ him.”

  Jack shook his head. There were still too many questions, too many gaps that hadn’t been filled. He stayed still for a minute, trying to get his mind to wrap around it all. His mother had always told him that his father was a sailing merchant. She’d moved them to London after learning the ship he had been on was known to frequent the ports there. He frowned, suddenly remembering his grandfather who had accompanied them on a big ship. He had been the one to buy the house and
make sure they were settled. Come to think of it, he did talk strangely.

  Boggs nodded and Jack realized he’d been thinking aloud. “Nessie’s mother was English, but her father be Spanish. Tell me, does he have lots of little round scars on his forehead?”

  “Yes, they’re like little dots that go all the way up to his hair.”

  Boggs gave him a satisfied smile. “Likely under his hair, too. I gave those to him the day I stole Nessie away. Old bugger had it coming for promising her hand to the Duke.” His face grew serious and he got up from his place on the barrel. “Lad, I want ye to know I never would have left her—or you—if I’d known ye were alive. I’d have fought to me last breath to get ye back.”

  He reached out and flipped the charm over that still rested in Jack’s palm so that the crude P+N that had been roughly carved into the metal showed. “My own ma gave this to me the day I left for the sea. Told me it would always help me find the way. The day I married Nessie I carved our initials on it and promised her that I would love her until the day I died. I placed it around her neck and from that day, she ne’er took it off.”

  “She always wore it until that last night,” Jack said quietly, looking down at the charm. “She gave it to me the night Pan took me away. She promised it would always keep me safe.”

  Boggs closed Jack’s fingers around the necklace. “And it has, aye? That small trinket has held many promises and broken none. What say ye we leave this cursed island, son? I’ve left her waiting far too long.”

  THE FIRST THING to do, according to Boggs, was to restore Beckett’s memory next. “We’ll be needing the lads ready to find ways of leaving. They’ll be needing to remember who they are to do that. John Beckett will know yon charm. He helped to rescue Nessie and he was there when I married her. We met up later on, both signed up to sail wi’ Blackbeard, then he stationed both ’o us to the Roger. Strange, that fate put us on this same ship, eh?”