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By Hook or By Crook	By : OktoberBlack Category: M through R > Peter Pan > Het Views: 14973 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Peter Pan, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
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Disclaimer: Not my characters (except for the ones that are). Not making any money off of them. Wish I were, never going to be. Don’t sue me, please.

Thanks again for the comments. I appreciate them. Anything you need to say, though, in terms of constructively critical comments (see? How can you tell I’m a teacher…) would be appreciated also.

By Hook or By Crook (for want of a better name)

Chapter Fourteen: The White Hats

Half an hour (and many cups of tea) later, I was dry, naked, and under the covers of Hook’s bed, just as he had demanded. Simon made sure of it despite all of my protestations.
“We have to keep him happy for now,” he said, laying out Hook’s dressing gown at the foot of the bed. “Everything will happen in good time. But for now, we’d best play along.”
“I guess,” I said, and considered once again what I’d seen in the square that evening. With a shiver, I huddled down into the covers. Then the front doors burst open, slamming against the walls, and Hook strode into the room.
“Pan!” he exclaimed as he strode to his desk. Simon ran out of the bedroom to see what he should do for the Captain. I slid out of bed and threw on the dressing gown before I joined them.

Hook was throwing whatever he could find of his belongings into a linen sack.
“Pan,” he growled. “Pan’s been sighted near the mermaid’s cove. We leave at first light.” He turned to me with a scowl. “Get dressed. We’re going back to the Jolly Roger.”
“Tonight, Sir? Surely leaving first thing tomorrow morning would be a better idea. Getting a good night sleep in a warm bed…” Simon began. I winced. Bad move. Hook had his sword drawn and pressed against Simon’s neck within seconds; his hook was wrapped around the back of Simon’s neck, holding him fast.
“What did I tell you about presuming, boy? You’re lucky I’m in a good mood or you’d be dead,” Hook hissed at him. Simon gasped against the sword pressed to his throat. He tried to nod without actually moving his head. “We’re leaving tonight for the ship. It’s late and I want my men ready to leave at dawn tomorrow.” Hook let Simon go and Simon fell forward, stumbling over his feet. “Here.” Hook pressed a few gold coins into Simon’s hand. “This should cover all of our expenses. Pay the bill.”
“Yes, Sir,” Simon said, and with a bow, he left the room. Damn. There went my last best chance of getting out of Neverland! Hook turned back to me.
“Didn’t I tell you to get dressed?”
“I’m going, I’m going,” I said, as I turned and walked back to my bedroom. I pulled on the first dress I could find and did up the laces as best as I could.

When I came out again, Smee was in the room with Hook.
“Smee! Help her with her laces, and then pack up her dresses to take with us. And we’ll need the litter to take us to the ship,” Hook commanded.
“Yes, Captain,” Smee said. He motioned to me to turn around and when I did, he pulled my laces tight and retied them. We grabbed the dresses from the closet and he led me out the door and down the stairs. “He’s in a right snit tonight, ain’t he?” Smee said to me.
“He does appear to be, yes,” I agreed, lifting my skirts on the stairs so as not to trip. Smee left me in the litter with the dresses, four large pirates watching my every move.
“You stay there, Miss, and we’ll be off in a tick,” Smee said as he headed back up the stairs to the Inn. I sat and looked idly out the window, wondering what would become of me now that Simon had deserted me. And then I saw him. Out of the corner of one eye, I saw Simon run out of the Inn and into the jungle. He was dressed completely in white. Bizarre. I perked up. Maybe all wasn’t lost after all.

When we got to the ship, the pirates aboard were working like mad to get everything ready for departure. They had obviously not been expecting to leave anytime soon, and seemed ill-prepared for Hook’s sudden decision to cast-off at dawn. Hook threw me into his cabin and locked the door; he went out on deck to supervise the preparations himself. I lay down on his bed and willed myself to go to sleep—after all, I reasoned, if we were to head out to look for Pan at dawn, I’d need at least some sleep, right? And it must have worked, because I was roused from a sound sleep several hours later by loud sounds on deck. I sat up and rubbed the sleep out of my eyes before I headed to the slatted windows to see what was happening.

The deck was on fire.

I blinked and rubbed my eyes again. No, the deck wasn’t really on fire. There were men with torches coming aboard from the sides of the ship. They were dressed in white! I searched among them for Simon, and saw him, sword in hand, battling with one of the pirates I’d never seen before. More men were swarming over the sides of the ship, but the pirates were ready for them. The battles fought looked fierce and painful; men were falling to the deck, bloody and dying, both pirates and white hats. One of the men in white ran up the stairs to Hook’s cabin.
“Stand away from the door, Miss!” he yelled. I ran back to the bunk just as he shot the lock apart. The door flew open. “Come on!” I didn’t need a second invitation. I ran to him and he grabbed my hand, pulling me to him. Out on deck, the fighting had grown worse; Simon had evidently killed his pirate and was working his way toward Hook. I watched in horror as they fought. Hook was obviously the better swordsman, but Simon was holding his own. And then Hook was down as Simon’s sword slashed across his chest.
“No!” I heard the voice cry out, but didn’t realize until a moment later that it was my own. I tried to run to see if Hook was okay, but the man in white held me fast. Simon leaned down to see how badly Hook was wounded. It looked from here that Hook was mortally wounded. I couldn’t see blood, but his coat was in the way… And then Hook jabbed viciously upwards with his hook, eviscerating Simon with the blade.
“Simon!” the man holding me cried. Hook stood up and turned toward us, noticing that I was out of his cabin for the first time. He started across the deck, but was stopped by another white hat with a sword. “C’mon!” the man holding me yelled, pulling me toward the docks. We raced across the ladder they’d stretched from deck to dock, letting it fall into the water behind us, and then down the dock to a horse and cart they had waiting. The man threw us both into the back before shouting “Go!’ to the driver. And then we were off, heading away from the docks and away from Captain Hook.

I glanced behind us as the cart rumbled away and could see several pirates in pursuit. Hook had killed the white hat who’d attacked him, and was now battling with another. My last glimpse of him before we rounded the hill was the sheer frustration and anger on his face as he watched us get away. I turned back to look at the road ahead of us, unsure how I felt about this. I wanted to escape, sure, but somehow, I guess I didn’t think it would be that… bloody. Why I didn’t expect that, I don’t know. It certainly didn’t make any sense. A rescue would have to involve swords and blood and death… And I didn’t want Hook to be angry at me either. I knew that didn’t make any sense, but I couldn’t help how I felt. And I felt sorry for him, just a little bit, because I knew he’d grown attached to me in a way and would, in his fashion, miss me.

“Are you all right, Miss?” the man next to me asked.
“I’m fine, I’m fine, “ I replied.
“I’m Martin, one of Simon’s friends. We grew up together in the same village,” Martin said, holding out his hand to me. I shook it firmly and he sighed. “I never expected he’d get killed trying to save a damsel in distress.”
“I didn’t expect him to die either,” I admitted.
“Well, we’re on our way at least. He wouldn’t have wanted his death to be a total loss. We’re heading into the jungle, where we’ve stashed some clothes for both of us. And then we’re going to see a man who can help you get home,” Martin said.
“Home?” I asked.
“Yes, Miss,” he said. “You’re one of the cruise ship people, right?”
“Hook sank the cruise ship I was on, yeah,” I agreed.
“He’s done it before. But even before he started on the cruise ships, people from your world came to ours. Peter Pan was one of ‘em and so are his Lost Boys,” Martin said.
“That’s right,” I mused. “So there must be a way to get from one world to the other.”
“I’ve heard that this man we’ve got to see, Stephano, was once a Lost Boy, but he managed to find his way home to your world. Then he came back and now he lives by himself, up in the hills in the jungle.” Martin pointed out something to the driver and we suddenly cut into the jungle. I hadn’t seen the opening in the foliage until we were almost on top of it. “We’re almost to the first check point. We’ll change clothes there so we don’t stand out as much, and then we have to continue on by foot, because the jungle gets too dense from there on in for a cart and horse.”
“Got it,” I agreed. My head was reeling. I might actually get home! If, that is, I could make it through the dense jungle with Martin, without Hook chasing us down first, or without us getting eaten by a jaguar… and provided this Stephano actually tells me how to get home. Frankly, I wasn’t holding my breath, but at least there was some kind of hope. And hope was enough for me at that point. I sat back in the cart, looking at the jungle above my head. Maybe, just maybe… this might actually work.
- 13
- 14
- 15
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By Hook or By Crook