Captain James Hook and the Siege of Neverland Read online

  “If I die now, you get nothing. You see, I remember all of it.” I made a point to tap my head as though she didn’t understand.

  “You value yourself too much and assess my patience too little.” She reached below the water and pulled out a shell with a clasp on the lid. She unlatched it and a faint blue light floated gently in the air. “This is you, all that you were, and I still have it.” She watched me for a breath. “Confused? It slips from you, no matter how many times you go through and come back.” She closed her shell and turned to the water. “I’ll be seeing you soon to collect the rest.”

  “Like hell you will,” I said. “I’ll leave and take them all back with me. All two dozen of us. Gone for good.”

  “There aren’t that many of you anymore,” she snickered.

  “Does it matter? Eighteen, two dozen, or two hundred. No doubt you’ve already spent whatever we are all worth. Say what you will about our commerce, the shiny rocks and metals we trade in don’t come back to bite us on the ass.”

  “You gamble too much with your life, James Hoodkins,” the mermaid said.

  “It’s easy to gamble when one more loss puts you out of the game anyway.”

  “Indeed it is,” she said as her eyes rolled black.

  We covered our faces and turned away.

  The presence of her gaze beat down on me like a hard rain. I felt myself weaken, then… nothing. The weight was gone.

  I looked up and saw Jukes wading into the water. He was waist-deep by the time I reached him. I wrapped my arm around the larger man’s neck and pulled with all of my strength. Jukes barely leaned back. One shrug from the large man threw me to the sand.

  “Would you gamble as much with his life?” she asked. The mermaid swam up beside Jukes and dragged him down so that only his head was above water. “I know him from your thoughts. He’s a mixed bag, this William Jukes. Almost as valuable a haul as you are.”

  At that, she dunked him. He resurfaced and gasped. Panic seized his expression.

  “No!” I shouted. “You’ll get nothing out of this.”

  Again, she dragged him underwater, this time for several seconds. He came up to the surface with fresh scratches on his face and neck. She rose behind him and drove his head below again. “I get to watch you suffer. You value your memory so much. I hope this one lasts you a lifetime.”

  I pulled my pistol and aimed it at her. She dove to the right, freeing Billy Jukes. He raised his head above water and swam to the shore. I stretched out my hand for him, but missed as Jukes was dragged underneath.

  Valuable moments passed without movement.

  Without a plan or so much as a thought, I dove into the cove after my oldest friend.

  It took me seconds to realize how stupid a move that was. I was exposed. Had she wanted me in the water, I just served myself up freely.

  I drew a knife and readied myself for an attack.

  None came.

  I waited, suspended in the water as though time stopped with me.

  Water pushed all around. It was slow and I felt a second pulse, then a third. The fourth pulse directed my attention down to a light beneath the rock where I was just standing. I swam to it, lower and lower, until I came to an expansive underwater seascape. Fish of all colors circled me. For a moment, the rings of coral looked like the floor of the bay, but the size and distance were all wrong. Not only that, but the water was far warmer here than at any other part of the island.

  I followed the light up to the surface and found myself in a humid cavern. I stepped up onto the rocky floor and walked toward the reddish-gold light that led me forward.

  Something beneath my feet shifted and I dug my fingers into the black-brown dirt wall.

  After a few steps, I came to the intersection of three tunnels, one on the right and the other two stacked atop one another on the left. The glow was bright in all three. I crawled into the tunnel on the right, but the rock scalded me and I had to back away. I waved my hand at the opening of the tunnel on the bottom-left and felt the bite of heat after only a few seconds. Finally, I stuck my arm into the tunnel on the top left and felt an uncomfortable, if bearable, heat.

  I took off my coat and soaked it in the water again. I then gripped the soft dirt and pulled myself up into the tunnel, which was a tighter fit than I would have liked. Using the wet coat as a barrier for my hand, forearm, and knees, I ducked and crawled for what must have been thirty yards, adding in the rises and dips along the way. I came to an opening and the reddish-gold light poured into the cramped tunnel.

  Four feet of rock extended from the tunnel into the open cavern. I looked out over the ledge and heat washed over me. I covered my face and looked again. About sixty to seventy yards below, a pool of volcanic rock churned expectantly. I stood upright in the furnace and looked for my next move.

  There were several openings the rock wall on the far side. I walked toward them.

  As I passed an opening on my right, a gust of air blew past me. Moments later a second gust of wind blew in from the same opening. I jumped past the opening before the third gust, then turned and looked into it. There was a pale white light at the end of the tunnel, but I was unable to make it out before a pillar of steam pushed out a fourth gust. I waited for the release to end before I looked in again. This time I saw rushing water and jagged rock wide enough for a ship to sail through.

  Thoughts turned in my mind as I made out my position on, or rather in, the island. At the end of that opening was the north cave, which couldn’t be more than seven hundred yards from where I stood. Water must flow into a break in the rock where it meets the volcanic core of the island. Steam rises to the top of the mountain and makes the fresh-water waterfall. I smiled, satisfied with my observations. I had to tell Starkey.

  I continued around to the far wall and passed through a tall vertical crack in the rock. The jagged passage widened the further I traveled. The red light faded behind me and a blue light spilled in at the end.

  The passage opened to a rocky dome. Ripples of blue light broke through the water and danced on the walls and ceiling. I looked over the edge of the narrow path and saw tiny orbs embedded in the rock. I knelt down to the bank and watched the orbs pulse. There were thousands of them, enough for centuries of lost souls.

  Water surrounded a narrow pathway that led to a mound in the center. On the mound was a smoking iron cauldron. I walked to it, but stood a good distance from the giant pot. Green and purple steam flowed over the edges and kissed the gentle licks of fire beneath it.

  “Beautiful, yes?” a dark voice said behind me.

  I whipped my head around and caught the long auburn hair and slight frame. For a beat, my heart leaped, but it was only for a beat. The body of Gabriel walked to the large pot and peered into it.

  “Your cauldron is boiling over,” I said.

  “It does that from time to time,” she said in a voice now richer than before, deeper. “And it’s not mine. I am watching it for someone.”

  She turned to me and again I took note of how her body moved. Her walk, the confident and relaxed hang of her shoulders, the whole way she carried her body was different. This woman was no more Gabriel any more than she could have been Emily.

  She smiled at me. “You’re thinking of her again, aren’t you?”

  “Yes,” I said. “Among other things.”

  “Are you disappointed that I’m not her?”

  I paused for a moment, “Yes.”

  “Good,” she said. “You’re of no use to me if you’re lost.”

  “Am I to perform some service for you, Morgan le Fay?”

  At that the woman stopped short. Her eyes narrowed and she breathed deep, slow breaths. Even the water stilled its movement. “How did you know?”

  “Bertilak referred to the time you sent him to terrorize your brother.”

  “Half-brother,” she corrected, “and that harlot of a wife of his. What did he say exactly?”

  “He called himself the terror of Arth
ur’s table.”

  “Ah,” she said. “The man likes to boast.”

  “Yes, he did.” I let my words hang in the air until I saw understanding in her eyes. “Another clue was Gabriel’s behavior, which you seemed to put an end to.”

  “Yes,” she said, placing a hand on her lower stomach. “About her behavior.”

  I paused for a moment to consider her meaning. “I am no Gawain, nor am I to be your new Lancelot.”

  “Beyond any doubt,” she said, assessing me as though for the first time.

  “But if nothing ages here…”

  “Nothing?” she asked. “Plants don’t grow? Beasts and men have stopped multiplying?”

  She was right. Ivy crept up the castle walls. That one Lost Boy became more of a man each time I saw him. Even Tiger Lily spoke of the ill-fated birth of one of her tribe. Growth was everywhere, as present as death. I tried to make that realization fit into how I was certain the island worked, but came out the other end more confused than before. Bertilak and Gabriel said that they learned to stop asking questions. Maybe they were right. Complacency presented itself as an option and I tore it down and burned it in my mind. Some may find comfort in yielding to what they don’t know or can’t control. I am from a different stock.

  Morgan le Fay cleared her throat and I saw her examining me again. When I was nine, a dog snuck in behind the back gate of our house and started digging in the grass. There was no bone. There were no rabbit holes. It just dug for three hours. I watched it the whole time, wondering what, if any, thought was going through its head. Morgan le Fay had the same expression on her face now as I did then and I grew angry. “What?”

  “This discussion will happen, but at another time.”

  “That’s just fine,” I said. “I’m here for Billy Jukes. The mermaid took him from me.”

  “He is surely dead by now.”

  “I don’t think so. He has his memory. He’s useless to her dead.”

  There was a splash to my left, followed by a familiar voice. “Why not barter for him?”

  Instinctively, I looked in the direction of the voice and was met by the two dark eyes of the mermaid. It only took a moment, but I was transfixed. My heart soared. I approached, ready to give myself to her fully. Everything that I was belonged to her. I saw that now.

  “No more.” Morgan le Fay’s voice pierced my trance and I shook my head clear. My wits returned and I cursed my frailty.

  “You interfere still in our ways,” the mermaid said.

  “You are a parasite, Yara,” Morgan said.

  The mermaid snarled. “You use my name so freely? We belong here. You are a faded memory.”

  “One beyond your grasp.”

  “For now,” the mermaid said.

  “Ladies, I’m flattered at the attention,” I said, but stopped short when I saw the look in both of their eyes.

  “You are meat and trade,” Yara said. “That is the extent of your worth to me.”

  “I still have use for you,” said Morgan le Fay. “But I can adjust my plans if you grow bothersome.”

  I raised my arms in surrender and said, “That’s all well and good, but twenty men are going to leave Neverland through the waterfall in forty-seven verses.”

  Both women looked at me curiously.

  “You lie,” Yara said.

  “Are you sure of that?” I asked. “Can you afford to be wrong?”

  “What are you talking about?” Morgan asked.

  “His men sing constantly like birds. I do not know why,” Yara said. Her eyes were still as black as coal. I watched them move and focus. Even though Morgan loosened their hold on me, they were no less fascinating. “He is threatening to have them take back their memories. It is foolishness. We will have all of them soon.”

  “Not if we leave.”

  “We’ll put beasts in their way” the mermaid said.

  “Most of the men have loaded pistols.”

  “They will not survive the walk.”

  “Enough will,” I said.

  Morgan stepped between us and asked, “You are willing to sacrifice a whole crew to save that one man?”

  “Yes,” I said to her. “I made a promise.”

  She looked at me curiously again. “A promise to someone long dead.”

  “But not long forgotten.”

  Moments passed in silence. I counted the beat silently then said, “Forty-five verses.”

  “Enough,” Morgan said. “Yara, go and get this man he is talking about.”

  The mermaid scowled and struck the water with her fist. She then twisted and dove below.

  “You’re lying to her,” Morgan said. “You have no intention of leaving.”

  “She doesn’t know that.”

  “I would be more careful. The mermaids have become an impressive force in my exile. They used to only be concerned with luxury. Now they are predators.”

  “They are merchants,” I said, “and amateurs at that.” I put my hand on my sword and gave Morgan le Fay a wry smile. “A tale from the far east calls them ningyo and says that eating one will give a man immortality.”

  Morgan smiled. “You already have immortality as long as you are in … Neverland, I believe you called it?”

  “That’s Peter Pan’s name for this place,” I said.

  Morgan le Fay’s smile broadened. “Is that what he calls himself now? Peter Pan? Tell me, does he have a council around him?”

  “Of sorts,” I said. “They are children as well, mostly runaways and otherwise without homes. He calls them the Lost Boys.”

  “The Lost Boys?” Morgan laughed. “Oh how far he has fallen from this father’s traditions. Does he fight?”

  By reflex, my eyes dropped to my missing hand.

  Morgan’s laughter quieted to a solemn tone. “Well, I suppose he still has some of his father in him.”

  “I’m going to kill him,” I said. “Slit him across and watch his guts spill out at my feet. Is this a problem for you, Morgan le Fay?”

  She considered my words for a breath. “Perhaps things would go better for you here if you had less ambition.”

  The cauldron’s smoke turned red and Morgan hurried to it. She reached in one of the pouches on her belt and sprinkled a black and gold powder into the mixture. She then added a stem and leaf that I didn’t recognize. She caught me watching too closely and a smirk grew on her lips. “I have much to teach you, James Hoodkins, about the ways of this island.”

  “It’s alive,” I said, not sure how the idea came to me. Her eyes urged me on approvingly, so I kept talking. “It takes in water and food from its mouth and churns it in a volcanic stomach. It breathes and gives life to others.” My mind raced as each new realization surfaced. “Moreover, it listens. It responds to the wishes of those who are here.”

  “If you are quiet, you can hear her wishes as well,” Morgan said. She stood watching me for moments as my mind opened further. “Even gods fight. Sometimes they die, sometimes not. She rooted herself here in a suspended life, holding time in place for as long as needed.”

  “Like when a man sleeps when recovering from a grave injury.”

  “Yes,” said Morgan le Fay with a smile. “Her bones built the foundation of this island. When she rises, the rock and stone will crumble in on itself.”

  “Killing all who remain?”

  “Is that a problem for you, James Hoodkins?”

  “Some don’t deserve to die as horribly as they’ve lived,” I said. “How much time are we talking here?”

  She placed a hand on her lower stomach again, “Soon.” A bubble grew large in the pot and burst, sending drops over the side of the cauldron. She wiped the edges and stirred again. “We took the baby and followed her here, but her strength is my strength and she was weak then. Fairies stole Peter away at the orders of their king.”

  “Their king…” I repeated. “Oberon, your son.”

  “That’s right,” she said, smiling again. “Then Bertilak and his fool
of a wife bound me to that cell, I don’t know for how long.”

  “My guess is anywhere between five to seven hundred years,” I said. Shock ran across her eyes and her face reddened, but I decided to ask my question anyway. “Why did they turn on you? Legend… history tells of their service to you.”

  “We didn’t know how the island affected the mind. I was immune, but they forgot me along with all of their loyalties.” She stirred more aggressively and repeated, “Five to seven hundred years.”

  “Couldn’t you have fixed it with a wave of your hand?” I asked. She looked at me for a moment before figuring out that I was still talking about the Forgetting.

  “It is an effect of her recovery,” she said. “I could no more change it than you could, which makes the mermaids’ ability to trade in it that much more impressive.”

  Thousands of questions danced on the edge of my tongue, but a splash washed away the course of our conversation and sprayed water over my shirt and pants.

  We turned as Yara dropped Billy Jukes in a heap. He coughed and spat water onto the rocks.

  I walked over and knelt beside my oldest friend. Jukes was heavy, but I managed to help him sit upright. I then looked to Yara. “Make me an offer.”

  “We wait you out then skin you all one at a time,” she said.

  “Enticing,” I said. “But how about this? We walk. All of us.”

  “But you now make up more than half of the people on this island,” Yara said. “That would cripple us.”

  “Serves you right for trading in what you don’t own,” I scolded. “You see, we don’t need or want you. You want us here, so make me an offer.”

  The mermaid scowled.

  “Fine,” she said finally. “You get to keep yours.”

  “Permanently,” I said. “Without having to go back.” The mermaid snarled, but I put up my hand and cut her off. “I’m not finished. The men can travel between this world and our own unencumbered by you and your kind. No trances. No interference. If any man suffers a single scratch from your people, I march every one of them through.” I smirked. “That is unless you want to work out an arrangement to entice them not to go, on a man by man basis.”