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In the swirl of passion	By : Lywhn Category: M through R > Peter Pan > Het Views: 35043 -:- 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
- 14
- 15
- 16
Chapter 15 – Plans and intentions

“Where could she be?“ Michael asked, now looking at an irritated, worried Peter Pan.
It had been nearly an hour since they’d missed Wendy. At first, the boys assumed she hid somewhere in the bushes to relieve herself, but soon came to the realization that something wasn’t right.
“I don’t know!” the leader of the Lost Boys answered. “But I’m beginning to think that there’s something fishy going on. She goes missing almost every day! And each time, it’s Hook who’s taken her, but he never hurts her or threatens me. What’s going on?”
John didn’t respond. He had his own ideas. Somehow, he knew that his sister was meeting the pirate, but not by force. If she had been taken by force, she would have returned exhausted, spent. But every time she returned from the Jolly Roger – impossibly escaping under her own power – she seemed even more at ease and grown-up than before. No! Something was wrong here!
Suddenly they heard a rustle in the bush, and Peter’s hand flew to his knife. As the branches parted, he let his hand drop again, since the newcomers were no threat to the boys. Pan made a slight bow, hearing John taking a deep breath. This made him smile, and he cast a gaze over his shoulder. As he saw the face of his friend, he started to grin widely, while the other boys giggled.
John’s eyes were big as saucers, and he blushed several shades as he stared at the young, copper-skinned beauty who stood next to a tall warrior with wild black hair and one single feather dangling from his hair and over his shoulder. Peter suppressed a chuckle. “Greetings, Great Bear and Tiger-Lily,” he said politely and the Indian princess gave him a friendly smile, before she stepped over to John.
The boy had blushed from hairline to toes, oblivious to the amusement of his friends. “My heart is light as a bird to see John again,” she whispered, and smiled shyly at him.
The eldest of the two Darling sons cleared his throat. He had seen Tiger-Lily shortly after their return to Neverland and he’d been astonished to see how tall the Indian princess had grown, even prettier than he remembered her. And one more thing had changed: she spoke English now very well. She had learned it for him, as she admitted during the dinner in her parents’ tepee, and John had been flattered. But the strange adventures in the last week and a half with his sister had driven thoughts of the Indian girl from his head.
But right now, his thoughts about his sister vanished. “Yeah. I m-mean, hello, Tiger-Lily… er… h-how are you?” Heavens, since when did he stutter?
“Fine.” She cocked her head. “I thought you would visit me.”
John glanced at his toes and back. “I… I am sorry, but… uh… there had been… trouble, because of the taking o-of my sister, and…” He stopped and met the gaze of the warrior, who seemed, stolid or not, very amused.
Then Great Bear turned to Peter. “Pan should be come with me. I must show him something.”
The eternal boy lifted one brow, while he glanced at Great Bear. The warrior really was a tall man – even taller as the chief Rain-in-his-face – and wore his long, black hair loose. He was clad in leather-pants, painted with black spots like drops and stripes. Extra long leather-strips were fixed knee-high, and the seams were fringed. On his feet were light moccasins, sewn with pearls and wild boar bristles. His torso was covered by a leather vest, painted similar to the pants. For trappings, he wore only a dark headband about his wild silky hair and a choker of bones and leather. Across his back he slung a bow and a full quiver. A long knife was fastened at his belt as well as a tomahawk. He was one of the greatest warriors of the tribe, and belonged to Tiger-Lily’s family.
Peter bit his lips. He and the Indians had built a friendship a long time ago, and they were the only grownups he trusted. If Great Bear now looked him up, then there really was trouble. But… “I am sorry, Great Bear, but Wendy is missing and--”
“I believe what I wish to show you has to do with the disappearance of Brave Feather.”
John, who only had eyes for Tiger-Lily, now looked at the tall warrior and frowned. “Brave Feather?”
Great Bear nodded. “Your sister. The white girl has shown much courage as she fought beside Pan against Iron-Hand, and saved him in the end.”
“Iron-Hand?”
Peter rolled his eyes. “He means Hook! You know, Indians have a way with names!” Then he turned his attention at the warrior. “You know where Wendy is?”
The Indian shook his head. “No. But I know where you can start your search.”
The boy was already on his way. “So what are we waiting for? Let’s go!”
A short hike later, they reached the place Great Beat wanted to show him. None of the boys had asked how both Indians had found them – or this place. The Natives had a sixth sense for things like that.
Peter stopped in his tracks and looked with wide eyes around him. The flowers had started to wither and the grass was brown. The ferns looked ill, and the leaves of the trees had gone limp. “What in the world … ?” he began, looking across the little clearing at the old Indian woman, who sat in the grass and held something in a great sheet in her lap.
John stepped up beside Peter and recognized the woman immediately, knowing the handsome dark face, the white hair – now plaited in two braids – the yellow leather dress and the quiet chanting that he heard in his last visit to her tepee: it was Medicine Woman, the healer of the tribe.
Great Bear gestured to the eternal boy and Peter approached the old healer. He paled as he saw the many tiny, winged bodies in her sheet, motionless, unconscious. He recognized the fairy-queen among the magical creatures and…
Peter let out a cry and sank next to the Indian woman on his knees. “Tink!”
The medicine-woman lifted one hand and laid it softly on the boy’s shoulder. “Pan should not be afraid. His little friend isn’t badly hurt.”
With trembling fingers the boy took Tinker Bell’s tiny body and held her close to his breast, warming her with the heat of his own skin. She was cold, but not so cold as she had been more than four years ago, when she had drunk Hook’s poison. A small cut was on her forehead and she had several bruises on her normally white skin. “Tink,” he whispered. “Please wake up.”
His friends surrounded them, and he heard sharp intakes of breath.
“There are many footprints in the grass,” Great Bear told the boys. “Big, heavy and sharp – those of men with solid boots.”
Peter looked up. “Pirates!”
“It seems so. Another is there, too. Someone light, small. The tracks show that the smaller one was surrounded and there was a fight. The footsteps of the small one end, and the tracks of someone big are heavier after that. Brave Feather has been carried.”
The face of the eternal boy went dark and hard with anger. “I’ll kill him!” he hissed.
“It wasn’t Iron-Hand!” Great Bear remarked. “His footsteps are not as this one. His feet are smaller.”
“And never did Iron-Hand affect Neverland like this!” Medicine-Woman said, and nodded around her.
A very small ringing came out of her lap, as one fairy slowly awoke. Instantly the three Indians and the boys bent over her. It was the fairy-queen, who dizzily lifted her head and looked with wide, uncomprehending eyes around her. Then her gaze found Peter, and, lurching, she tried to stand up. The Indian healer offered her one finger to steady herself, which the fairy gladly took. She seemed to collect her strength, rubbed her head and then the humans felt the soft pressure deep in their heads. “It was him!” Her voice sounded week.
“Hook?” asked Peter growling.
The fairy-queen shook her head and moaned, holding tightly to Medicine-Woman. “He – the stranger with the long, black beard.”
The eternal boy pressed his lips together, while his friends all shouted over one another. “Blackbeard has Wendy?” Peter wanted to make sure.
The fairy-queen looked straight at him. “That isn’t your biggest problem!”
“Hey!” Michael protested. “This damn bastard has my sister and you--”
“Shut up, Michael! You’re speaking to one of the ancients of Neverland,” Peter cut in, giving the boy a glare.
The fairy only smiled shortly, then she continued: “This man you call Blackbeard doesn’t belong to Neverland. He brings no good and wherever his feet touch, it begins to foul.”
“But why?” Peter asked, bewildered. “He’s just a pirate like Hook and--”
“No! He isn’t like the other one. After all, Hook has a human heart and soul – and they are regaining their warmth and light. His bitterness and hate are starting to melt away. And he isn’t and wasn’t completely evil like… Peter Pan! Don’t you dare look at me like that!”
The leader of the Lost Boys grimaced. “With respect, Your Majesty, but Hook is thoroughly malignant.”
The fairy-queen shook her head, this time with less trouble. “There is a long history of hostility between the two of you, and therefore, neither of you is able to see the good in the other. Almost everyone has a good side, Peter. Sometimes it is difficult to recognize it.”
The Indian healer nodded, acceding. “It is always a dual. Black and white, good and evil, dark and light. None of them could exist without its other side.”
Peter frowned. “This is too complicated. Up until now everything was easy: Hook was evil and I was good!”
Medicine-Woman laughed quietly and stroked his ruffled hair. “You’re a child, my boy, and it is your right to see the world like this. But child, nothing is like it seems to be!”
John cut in: “Beg pardon, Miladies, but my sister is in the power of one of the most dangerous men in the world, who is, by the way, insane. Don’t you think that this has priority?”
“John’s right!” Peter confirmed. “We have to rescue her and force Blackbeard to leave as soon as possible!” His gaze found Tinker Bell, who still lay unconscious in his hands. Worriedly, he showed her the fairy-queen. “Majesty, could you please have a look at her?”
The ancient creature smiled as she faced the fear of the boy. Would anyone ever again say that Peter Pan was uncaring? He did care – only he didn’t show it very well. She appraised her ‘sister’ and looked up to the stressed crystal-blue eyes of the boy. “She will be very unsteady and will need rest. Gave her time, and she will be fit again.” Peter thanked her and stood up, holding Tink securely at his chest again.
“If you need help, I will convene a powwow,” Great Bear told him. “I am sure that our chief and the other warriors would fight at your side, White Son!”
The leader of the Lost Boys gave him a warm, grateful smile. “Thank you, Great Bear. But I think we have to be very careful. We have to confront the new gang, but at first I have to free Wendy, so that she is out of the line of fire.” He handed Tinker Bell to Slightly. “Take her to the hideout and take care of her.” To the others, he said: “Go with him. I will spy out the ship and find out where he’s holding Wendy captive. Maybe I’ll have a chance to free her. I could be a little longer. Don’t start anything till I’m back – hopefully with Wendy. Then we can make a plan so that Blackbeard leaves for good. And maybe Hook as well! I’ve had enough of pirates!”
With this he flew into the air like a flash, leaving his friends behind him.

“That sentimental idiot!”
Richards knew better than to comment on his commander’s outburst. Blackbeard strode like an angry tiger up and down in his cabin, with all the grace of a buffalo. His heavy steps could be heard two decks below, and every one of the crew avoided the captain’s quarters. Teach’s small eyes glistened with rage, and finally he took the dagger – the one that Hook had shot out of his hand -- and threw it with all his might and an irritated outcry at the wall. The blade lodged inches deep into the wood, vibrating. Richards thought briefly that he’d need a pair of pliers to remove it. “First, he pestered you that he wanted to have this boy, and swore bloody vendetta, and then he goes soft ‘cos of a lass! He ain’t a pirate no more, but a shame for the whole fraternity!”
Richards still didn’t say anything, which was more healthy in this situation. But he had to agree with his commander. All right, the girl was a beauty, and he really would like to have her, but paying such a high price, as Hook had done? Not a chance!
On top of that debacle, he didn’t understand Hook at all. Of course it was a disgrace to be defeated by a BOY, but why had he delayed the whole matter for nearly a full year now? By all the demons of the Seven Seas, why he didn’t set the whole island on fire and force the boy out of his hideout? Another glance out of the now-open windows affirmed that the island just wasn’t that big. Richards knew that Blackbeard would never allow a young boy to put him in such a circumstance!
Teach continued in his tirade. “He paid for t’at hussy! Can you believe it? He PAID, for God’s sake – just like any obedient lackey of the Crown! Since when does a pirate pay for something? And then three or four times more than th’ little bitch is worth! He must be completely crazy!”
Jack cleared his throat, stroking his moustache. “Maybe she is really dear to him or--”
Blackbeard sneered. “Dear to him? All right, she really must be a damn good lay that he preferred her over his vengeance! But I tell you this, lad: his blue blood was interfering, just like before. He can’t change his spots! The training of t’at noble education is a too great a handicap to…”
He stopped when he saw the open mouth of his second. “’Scuse me, Cap’n, but what did ye say? His ‘blue blood’?”
Teach looked at the lieutenant and nodded. “Aye. Y’ heard right. Our dear James is a nobleman. As far as I know, he comes from old respectable money. He bumped someone off, as he was a very young man, and the guy he killed was the son of one of the King’s best friends, to Jas’ misfortune. He should’a hanged in London, but his father ransomed him with an enormous sum, and his death sentence was changed to slavery. Barbeque captured the ship he was on, and Jas joined his crew. The rest you know.”
He refilled his glass and a second one, giving it to Richards. “And the result? He commands a lovely ship like the Jolly Roger, and rots at the shores of this odd island, hunting children and acting like the great cavalier.”
Jack tried to digest this new information while Teach started again to pace a groove into the floor of his quarters. “I never liked big ships. Too heavy, too slow, too stodgy, too eye-catching. The Queen Anne’s Revenge belonged to ‘em as well, as mighty and beautifully she is. All right, she’s my flagship and I’m still proud of her, but she’s too slow.” He rubbed his chin and took a seat. “But the Jolly Roger I could fancy,” he continued as he sipped at his rum. “She’s well armed and adapted to a pirate’s needs. She’s quick and agile. You only have to think of the rig: shroud-sails even between all masts! T’at gives a top-speed of nearly 15 or 16 knots, if I figure right – and t’at independent o’ the wind direction! She could escape every naval vessel!” He slammed his fist on the table. “And such a ship is commanded by a … a milksop! He could ravage the Caribbean Sea with such a ship! I really ask m’self how he got that ship – maybe BOUGHT it!” For a moment he roared with laughter – a laughter of anger. “Not that I haven’t wrangled the Revenge from my dear ‘partner’ Stede Bonnet. But he ain’t as good as a pirate, and I think his stay at the Queen Anne’s Revenge for the moment doesn’t bother him too much.”
He shook his head. “But Hook… he called himself the scourge of the Seven Seas, and melted because of a mere slip of a girl!”
Richards sat down as well, and sipped at his rum. “Maybe it was pure luck that he captured the Jolly Roger?”
“No!” grumbled Teach. “He’s always been the clever one, good with strategy. I’ll give ‘im t’at! He invented feints und ploys that even Benjamin and Barbeque didn’t know. It’s been told that because of one of his plans, Barbeque was able to defeat three Navy ships and captured them. And his crew was fierce outnumbered. At first, I thought it was sailor’s yarn, but as Barbeque came to Jamaica with his old ships and three new one, we all realized the genius of his ‘clever head’. James made a really sweet trade, but never as a privateer. He always attacked every ship that crossed his way, but I think he preferred the English ones.
“And he flourished. Heavens! And the same man sits here, now, on this God forsaken island with Natives and flies with human bodies and hunts CHILDREN! Some people say that I’m crazy. You tell me, what you would call a man who could rule a part of the world, but instead plays tag with boys?”
There was a knock at the door and he barked a “Come in!” Israel Hands, his helmsman and a further officer of his trust, his first mate Henry Moleaux, a small dark-haired man, entered. “Ye’ve called fer us, Cap’n?”
Blackbeard waved impatiently to close the door. “Aye! Sit down and have a drink with us!”
Surprised the helmsman and the first mate obeyed, and looked even more perplexed as Blackbeard filled his and Richards’ glasses as well as a third and a fourth one – this time with wine. It was highly unusual that Teach invited his men to a drink in private. Curious, they didn’t have to wait long for what their commander had to tell them.
“I want to make it short, lads,” he began. “I plan to take the Jolly Roger!”
All three men looked at him with wide eyes, and it was Richards who finally spoke. “May I’ve yer permission to speak open, Sir?” Blackbeard nodded and took a sip of his wine. “Capt’n Hook belongs to the fraternity, and is amenable to our General Laws. He even signed the code, as you told me the day before yesterday, while we saw his ship the first time out at sea. I agree with ye that the Jolly Roger really is a beautiful good ship, which could serve us right well, but if we be attacking Hook, then we risk damage to the ship, and we’re breaking the code.”
The other men made muttered in consensus, while Blackbeard scornfully replied, “The code! Every ship has its own. And referring to our General Laws – well, they’re more like guidelines, ain’t they?”
“Wit’ all due respect, mon Capitaine,“ Moleaux said slowly, his French accent now thickened. “Mais t’e guidelines are very clear specified in such cases. Non capitaine, ‘oo is a member of the fraternity, is allowed to ‘arm another capitaine, ‘oo is also a member of it. And to capture ‘is ship is a part of t’is all, too, n’est-ce pas?”
Teach laughed silently. “Henry, Henry, if you wouldn’t be such a good, damn mate I would’a sent you overboard a long time ago. Can you tell me, how will Hook demand his rights as a captain of the fraternity? When and where?” He stood up to fetch another bottle of wine.
“In Nassau on t’e Ba’amas,” the Frenchman answered. “When ‘e is returned…”
A low chuckle escaped Blackbeard’s throat, while he refilled all glasses. “”WHEN, Henry, this is the word on which depends everything. And a dead man cannot demand anything!” He looked in the slightly shocked faces of his men. “All right, our dear James is amenable to the code and our General Laws.” He explained his point of view. “But don’t forget that these rules also say who has the right to be called a pirate. To be a buccaneer means to capture ships, taking hostiles and to demand ransom, plundering towns near the sea, and make deals for protection money – and above all: to take booty! Our dear James doesn’t do any of these things. He’s been out of the whole business now for a whole year, and not one of us has heard anything about him since then. I say: he ain’t a pirate no more! He got no right anymore to fly the black flag and to be called a buccaneer. And because of this, he forfeits the protection of the fraternity and the code!”
He stopped for a moment and took a deep sip from his glass. “By the way: you all know that I don’t give a damn about the code!”
The three other men grinned and chuckled. Of course they knew that Blackbeard only obeyed his own rules – which could change from day to day. But that didn’t matter as long as his proposals ended with a large booty, which was almost always the case.
“How ye want to proceed, Sir?” Richards asked and Teach saw the curiosity on the faced of the two other men. “Hook’s ship is better armed than ours, and the number of his crew is near the same to ours.”
“Aye!” Israel Hands grumbled. “He really has a little crew seeing the size of his ship!”
Blackbeard shrugged his shoulders. “Our luck. So we really have a chance to defeat them without much loss at our side.” He started to grin. “And if my plan is successful, we won’t lose one single man, disable the whole crew of the Jolly Roger, and take the ship. We should avoid an open fight, especially with an opponent like Hook. He is brilliant, but this time I’ll be cleverer than he. This will be a rude awakening for him, when the trap closes over his head and…”
He stopped as he heard a noise from the still open windows. “What was that?”
Richards stood up and went to the windows, leaning out of one, and looked skeptically around him. But he could see nothing. Above him several sea-birds croaked in the soft breeze and beneath him he might have seen the slender bodies of dolphins, but they submerged so fast he couldn’t be sure that he saw them right. “Not’ing, Sir!” he reported. “Only birds and I t’ink I saw several dolphins. T’at’s all.”
“Éventuelle it was t’e flyin’ boy?” Moleaux asked suspiciously.
Blackbeard shook his head. “I don’t think so. The young idiot doesn’t know that it was me who caught ‘his’ girl and will suspect that his ‘old friend’ Hook has done it. Poor boy, if he only knew…” He giggled with false sympathy and signaled to Hands to close the windows. “Who knows? Maybe the boy really is on his way to the Jolly Roger right this moment and our dear James will get his chance to kill him – before he himself will be send to Davy Jones’ Locker! And if not, it’ll be a pleasure for me to do it m’self. This churl had ruined my best weapon-sash and made me look like a fool in front of Hook. I really would like to send him to his creator. And the wench as well – o’ course after you’ve had her, Richards. I always keep my promises!”
He leaned back and lit a pipe. “Back to our plan, gentlemen. Capturing a ship always takes priority over a good lay and a bizarre flying lad!”

It was early afternoon when Hook finally finished his inspection of the Jolly Roger. He had to admit that his men had really outdone themselves, and that the whole ship and weapons were in excellent condition. This was vital -- the crew could be filthy and look like dogs, but the ship and the weapons had to be top of the line. All of their lives depended on it, and it was generally known that the ships of the buccaneers were often in better condition than those of the royal Navy.
Somewhat reassured, Hook decided to return to his quarters and to look in on Wendy. He’d been having difficulty concentrating during the inspection. Over and over again, his thoughts had been distracted as he pictured his girl lying terrified in his arms and clinging to him like a lifeline. And then the sight of her under the blankets – pale, with swollen eyes and nose, bruised cheek, a split lip. Alas, he still wanted to knock Blackbeard out, throwing him and his entire crew overboard, and afterward to lie down at Wendy’s side and to hold her, even in her sleep.
He rubbed his face as walked into his cabin. He still couldn’t believe it, but he couldn’t deny it anymore: he was madly in love with her. His whole being threatened to burst with energy and an odd joy, mingled with a strange urge to simply weep or to--
Hook stopped dead at the sight before him. A slender figure, clad in leaves and with a mess of short sandy-gold locks, kneeling on his bed, trying to waken the sleeping form snuggled in the bedclothes.
Peter heard the door open and the heavy steps coming nearer, and whirled on the mattress to face his enemy. “What have you done to her this time, Hook?” he snarled; his blue eyes flashing, while he pointed at his friend, still fast asleep.
Lost for words, the captain could only stare at him. This insolent cub had the galling nerve to invade into his own quarters, daring any risk, sit on his bed and then have the impertinence to accuse him of doing something to Wendy. He! - Who would die for the girl! He was self-possessed enough to say “Nothing!” before he recognized what he said.
“Nothing?” Peter repeated unbelievingly, while his face darkened with fury. “She’s hurt, doesn’t wake up, and you tell me you’ve done nothing?”
Hook’s gaze could have frozen fire. “I gave her a sedative after Blackbeard had tortured her!” he hissed, and asked himself in the same moment why he bothered to justify himself.
Peter’s eyes widened. “A sedative? Blackbeard tortured her?” He bent over her, forgetting the man, and took in the injured cheek, the swollen eyelids and the red nose – tracks of her weeping – and the split on her bottom lip. “That son of a bitch!” he whispered, childishly stroking her hair. “Wendy has never done anything to him and he--”
“Don’t you think that you should be more worried about your own safety?”
Hook’s voice sounded directly behind him, and before Peter could react, he felt the strong hand of his foe on his neck and was jerked from the bed. He grabbed for his knife as Hook hurled him against the wall. This drove all breath out of Peter’s lungs. That instant, the captain was over him, tearing the knife out of the sheath, throwing it out of reach, and pressing the sharp tip of his hook against the boy’s throat. Peter stiffened for a moment, feeling Hook’s hand gripping his hair, while the tall strong body of the man trapped him solidly between himself and the wall behind the boy.
“I knew that you’d come, Pan!” he growled. “But I didn’t think that you’d be this reckless, to flit without a second thought into my private quarters. You should have known that I’d wait for you!”
The boy pushed with all his strength against his enemy, but without result. Hook was stronger than he, and without a weapon or a chance to fly he was subdued, especially with the sharp blade at his throat. Fear ran through his veins, but nevertheless, he looked straight into blue, blazing eyes before him, where he could see his death. He had underestimated Hook. No! He had been really reckless. But he’d learned by eavesdropping at the other ship that Wendy wasn’t on board anymore, and that Hook had her, he’d been too relieved to find her so quickly in the captain’s quarters, and had set aside all caution -- a mistake that might now cost him his life. He knew that Hook would show no mercy, not after all that had happened since they met first – and especially during Wendy’s fist visit in Neverland and several days ago in the caves. The captain would never spare him, this was sure.
“Please, let Wendy go!” be begged hoarsely. “You have me now and don’t need her anymore.”
James only sneered. ‘Boy,’ he thought, ‘if you only knew the way I need her! ‘ Aloud he retorted: “The whole island will go to hell, if you die. Do you really want her to die in ice and snow?”
The boy’s glare turned toward the slender figure on the bed and then the open windows. Clouds had begun to hide the golden light of the sun – a signal that Neverland’s golden child was in danger. Peter swallowed a lump in his throat and tried to fight against the growing fear. “Would you…” He stopped a moment and took a deep breath, feeling suddenly sick. “Would you take her with you?”
Hook lifted one brow and grinned. “Of course! Do you know that you’re doing me a favor with this last request?”
The boy didn’t answer for a moment, didn’t know what worried him more: that Hook seemed to be happy to take ‘care’ of Wendy or that the buccaneer would kill him within moments.
James looked with great satisfaction down at the suddenly very pale face of his foe. The boy knew exactly what lay ahead of him, and he was afraid. What had he once said? ‘To die would be an awfully big adventure’? It seemed he had learned during the great fight four and a half years ago that dying wasn’t the adventure he wanted.
And Hook couldn’t wait any longer to fulfill his greatest wish. “Any last words, Pan?” he asked almost gleefully and looked into the widening eyes of the boy. Peter felt ice flowing through his veins. In that moment, he saw the red sparks in the eyes of his adversary, he knew that his time had run out. This was the end. Hook would kill him – not tomorrow or next week or someday, but NOW! He felt his stomach turning and heard an odd buzzing in his ears, while heat and coldness streamed through his whole body at the same time.
“Wait!” he whispered. Hook’s icy smile widened, as he wrenched Peter’s head, exposing his neck. Peter looked at him with panic in the eyes, as the man lifted his hook for the deadly blow.
Finally he would take the boy’s life as the brat had taken his hand and his freedom from him. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth!
“Please wait!” gasped the boy, feeling mortal fear overpowering him completely. He had known that Hook might someday win, but to face the defeat was harder than he’d imagined. He didn’t want to die. Never! This was one of the reasons why he wanted to stay as a boy. An adult would grow old and would die someday, but not a child. Not a child … But just now, he was forced to face death in its most brutal form: he would be murdered – in this very moment.
His sight blurred as his gaze was fixed on the deadly steel above him. “Wait! Please!”
Hook slashed down, and Peter released the velvet coat and, with both hands and trained reflexes, intercepted the right arm of the man. Desperately, he used all his strength to hold the iron claw away, even though he knew from prior experience that he just didn’t have the strength to sustain against his enemy. Adamantine, irresistibly, the sharp blade neared his throat, no matter how hard as he pushed. The deadly metal touched his skin and he felt his heart sinking.
Hook’s breath stroked his cheeks, and tears sprang into Peter’s eyes as he felt the first stabbing pain. “Listen!” he screamed shrill. “Please listen!”
An evil smile played around his enemy’s mouth. “You have really found any last words in your sparrow-sized brain? I grant you one last sentence, but hurry, boy!”
Peter’s thoughts whirled through his mind. This was his last chance. If he didn’t get an idea now, he would be dead in the next second and… And then he remembered what he had heard at the other pirate-ship during his ‘visit’ at Blackbeard’s windows. “Blackbeard wants to capture your ship!” he blurted out, hoped against all hope that this news would cause him pause.
The pirate-captain only stared at him for several moments. “What did you say?”
Breathlessly, the boy repeated: “Blackbeard wants to capture your ship.” He felt with horror the sharp tip of the blade scarifying, clawing, tearing his skin, and closed terrified his eyes. This was it: the end!
“I award you a second sentence!” He heard the deadly calm voice of his enemy like through a thick fog.
“He… he wants to take the Jolly Roger for his own and kill you,” Peter whispered and didn’t dare to move a muscle. Only millimeters parted him from sure death.
“You are lying!” Hook hissed. “Blackbeard would never break the code or our General Laws and--”
The boy opened his eyes again, dark from fright. “He doesn’t care about the code or the General Laws of pirates. I heard it with my own ears. I was just outside his window as he said it to his men.”
With a growl, the captain pressed Peter’s head even harder into the wall behind him. “The truth, Pan! Tell me the truth, or I swear I will slit you open top to bottom! And believe me: that would be far more painful than simply cutting your throat!”
Peter believed every word Hook said. He was completely helpless at the moment, and stood already with one foot in the grave. “I’m telling the truth!” he stammered. “Please believe me! I listened in on Blackbeard and three of his men, as I searched for Wendy. He wants to build a trap for you, kill you and take over the Jolly Roger!”
Hook’s gaze seemed to reach even into his soul as the pirate start to weigh the possibility that Pan simply had created a story to save his sorry existence, or that the boy spoke the truth. “Three questions: Why? When? How?”
Peter swallowed arduously. “First take your hook away.”
The pressure build up and this time the blade drew blood. “Answer my questions!” snarled Hook, losing his patience.
“Take your hook away!” the boy screamed in new risen panic.
“I’ll give you three seconds, Pan. After that--”
“I’ll swear I won’t fly, but TAKE THE HOOK AWAY!”
A silent sigh reached their ears and Hook looked back. Wendy had turned in her sleep, facing him and the boy now. Her angelic features were relaxed and a soft smile lay upon her lips. And suddenly, Hook realized that she didn’t know that she was about to lose her dearest friend. She wouldn’t even have a chance to say good-by – which was more merciful, because it would hurt her too much. He knew that, in a special way, she cared for the boy very deeply, even loved him and…
And with cold clear logic, he realized that she would never forgive him if he killed the boy. If it happened defending himself during a fight, she could possibly accept it, but never if he simply murdered him like this. His blood-lust was doused like ice-water on a campfire.
Peter felt new tears welling up in his eyes, as he followed Hook’s gaze. “Please, don’t do it in front of her!” His voice was choked, and James could feel him trembling. Heavens, the boy was going to die and the only thing that seemed to matter for him in this moment was that ‘his’ Wendy was not to see it. Hook’s attention went back to Wendy, who trusted him enough to return to him over and over again, to sleep in his arms, to laugh and talk with him and look at him with shining eyes. He would lose all of this. He would lose HER – his Wendy, his love! The concept was almost agony. And he had to decide NOW, what was more important for him: his vengeance against Pan or possibly a life with his sweet Wendy?
And, by the way: if Blackbeard really planned to betray him and even their General Laws, then this could mean the end of all of them -- and Pan knew more about it. Damn it to hell, but he needed the boy alive now!
With a frustrated shout, he tugged the boy away from the wall, dragged him by the hair to the table, and shoved him hard onto one of the chairs. With his hook back at the boy’s throat, he half sat at the table and pulled out his re-loaded pistol; pointing it at the Peter. “And now talk!” he commanded firmly, finally removing the hook.
Peter rubbed his throat, damp with his own blood, while he tried to calm down. He was shaken to the core and ashamed as he realized that Hook could see his fear. But he couldn’t change that. He still was scared; knowing well that the danger was not gone, merely postponed. He moistened his lips and gazed at the pistol, trying to squelch the sickness in his stomach and calm the trembling in his fingers and knees. He thought he could feel the still remaining presence of the Grim Reaper in the cabin.
He cleared his throat. “We found the place were Wendy was captured,” he began and cleared his throat again, still hoarse from the pressure of the man’s hand. Even if he was still afraid it rankled him that he had shown weakness in front of his mortal enemy. “Several fairies had tried to help her, but Blackbeard’s affect on Neverland hindered them too much.”
James lifted his hook in an interrupting gesture. “Wait a moment. Blackbeard’s affect on Neverland?”
Peter nodded. “Wherever he walks, the flowers and the grass started to wilt and the fairies--”
“—were unable to fight Blackbeard and his men as they usually did!” Hook finished.
Bewildered, the boy’s forehead furrowed. “How do you know this?”
“Wendy. She told me that when I brought her here.”
Peter couldn’t believe it. “WENDY told you about the fairies’ problems? Why?”
“Because she was worried about your cheeky fairy-friend Tinker Bell. Don’t ask me why, after all this insulting insect on two legs had done to her during her first stay in Neverland!” These last words were murmured more to himself than to Peter.
The leader of the Lost Boys blinked. What the heck was happening to Hook? Why did he care what Tink had once tried to do to Wendy?
“Go on!” the captain ordered.
“The fairy-queen was there as well. After she awoke, she told me that Blackbeard had caught Wendy, so I flew to his ship to look for a chance to free her. The windows of his cabin were open and I heard him talking with his men. He said…” he moistened his lips again, his mouth had gone dry, “he said that it would be a rude awakening for you when the trap closed over your head and…” He hesitated. If he told Hook everything he knew, the pirate had no further reason to let him live.
“I’m still listening, Pan!” The darkened face and the tone in Hook’s voice advised the boy to go on. He bit his lips. He knew that he had no other choice but to tell the captain everything. “He was there with three of his men. One large with blond hair he called Richards.”
“His first officer.”
“The other man had the name Israel.”
“Israel Hands, his helmsman,” Hook nodded.
“And the third spoke with a strange accent and was called ‘enry.”
Hook thought for a moment. “His first mate, Henry Moleaux, a Frenchman. The three are his most important men on board.” He gestured for Peter to continue.
Peter took a deep breath. What he had to tell the captain wouldn’t please him, and was worried that Hook’s certain wrath would be unleashed on him. “Blackbeard said that…” He tarried again.
“What did Blackbeard say?” James’ impatience was renewed.
“He said that you no longer have the right to be called a pirate.”
There. It was out. He held his breath as we waited for Hook’s reaction.
It wasn’t the explosion he was expecting. The man’s eyes simply narrowed. “Why?” was all he asked.
Peter knew his foe well enough to realize that this was the silence before the storm. “He said that to be a pirate, you have to plunder and capture ships, and that you didn’t do anything like that for nearly a year now. He meant that you’ve forfeit your rights of the … the ‘fraternity’?”
The buccaneer nodded slowly. ”An association of most pirate captains, which has its own rules and laws that you have to stick to,” he explained shortly.
The boy took another deep breath. “Blackbeard said that you have no right to be still a member of it, and that because of this, he could capture your ship without worrying about explaining himself in front of the other pirate captains.”
The crease between Hook’s eyes deepened; his mouth became a pale line and his eyes glistened like ice. Peter felt chilly. “Was this all?” James’ voice sounded like a growl.
Peter shook his head. “No. He told the other ones, he wouldn’t capture the Jolly Roger in an open fight. He wouldn’t risk damaging her and… and that he would kill you, so that you couldn’t accuse him in Nas… Na saw?”
Hook’s jaws ground. “Nassau. A town on an island in the Caribbean Sea – one of our headquarters.” He felt hot wrath pulsing through his veins. He knew that Teach would be irritated because of his actions earlier, freeing Wendy, but to ambush him was simply… He couldn’t find a word for it. “This damn, perfidious, abject, two-faced, malodorous treacherous rat!” he hissed. “When shall the whole thing happen?”
The boy shrugged his small shoulders. “I don’t know. I only heard that you would have a bad awakening.”
The nostrils of the man flared like that of a savage stallion. “Did you hear exactly what he plans?”
Again Peter had to negate the question, shaking his head. “Either they had talked about it earlier or they didn’t get that. Blackbeard heard me, and Richards went to the windows. I managed to fly out of sight before he could see me, then the windows were closed and I came to your ship to search for Wendy.”
A wild curse passed James lips, while he lashed his hook into the wooden surface of the table with such force it cracked. “That false, devious, dishonorable, double-dealing, mendacious punk!” he snarled. “What he intends is against every one of our General Laws, laws he signed as well!”
Peter watched his archenemy closely. His face had turned white, and then crimson. It was lucky for the boy that Hook was so angry with Blackbeard, distracting him. Almost! Because suddenly the captain wrenched his hook out of the table, cocked his pistol and pushed its muzzle under Peter’s chin. “Are you telling me the truth, Peter?”
The boy nodded quickly, and felt once more the sickening fright returning. “Yes!”
Hook tilted his head. “Why? Why do you warn me?” His voice was dark, questioning, and his glowing gaze would have put even the bravest man to flight.
Even Peter, who was hard to scare, was again terrified. “Because Blackbeard doesn’t belong here and his influence makes Neverland sick. And because he’s a coward, and has no spark of decency. You’re my enemy, but at least you have decency and good form. He has none!”
James examined him for a long moment and sneered. “That was the first nice thing you ever said to me, Pan.” He bent forward. “It doesn’t have anything to do with having a muzzle at your head, or does it, my boy?”
Peter frowned indignantly and lifted defiantly his chin. “Nothing on the world would force me to say something I don’t mean. Not even you and your pistol and hook, or Blackbeard’s fist!”
For a moment longer, Hook stared at him, then he sat back, but held the pistol still aimed on him. “If you are telling the truth--”
“I AM telling the truth. I don’t lie!” Peter interrupted, irritated.
“If you’re telling the truth,” Hook repeated deliberately, “then you have done my men and me a big favor. Let me guess: You want something in return.”
The boy lowered his gaze. “Not to kill me would be a nice start,” he murmured, and Hook snorted.
“I knew you’d say this.” Thoughtfully, he let his gaze roam over the dirty but handsome face of the boy sitting before him and the blood that ran from his throat over his chest. He could see the lingering fear in Peter, even if the boy was eager to not show it. If anything was true about what Pan said, then he and his men owed him their lives. He had never dreamed that Blackbeard would be such a treacherous worm, and it would have been a ‘rude awakening’ for him if the other pirate-captain could have carried out his plan without any warning. Anyway, it would be bad form to kill the boy now.
But on the other hand, he had so often been the object of Pan’s pranks and attacks that this warning was only a small repayment. Normally he wouldn’t hesitate to send him straight to hell, but then his gaze drifted to Wendy. ‘You will lose her if you kill him!’ whispered the unwelcome voice in his mind, and he again felt a pang in his stomach.
Biting back a curse, he stood and gestured with the pistol toward the desk. Slowly Peter followed the request, stood up as well and tensely walked in front of Hook to the desk. “Turn around!” James ordered, and with a nervous glance in his direction the boy obeyed. “Don’t you dare break your word and try to fly. I’ll shoot you down before you’re an inch in the air!”
Peter knew that Hook was capable of this. Even if he were very quick – the bullet would hit him without any doubt. “Put your hands behind your back!” Again the boy did as he was told, heard sounds behind him, and then his wrists were bound together with a thin, strong rope.
“What are your intentions?” he asked hoarsely. Would Hook really kill him after what he had done for him? Would he send him over the plank or…?
“That depends upon your prediction. If you’ve lied, you will wish that you’d never been born. Be sure of it. Sometimes the way you die is worse than the result! If you have told me the truth --” he felt the boy shiver for the slightest moment, and turned him roughly around. “—then perhaps I will grant you an easy, quick death.”
Satisfied, he saw Peter’s eyes go wide and his face turn white again. “I am telling the truth, Hook. And you owe me your life, and you still want to kill me?”
“Do you really think I would spare you, after all you’ve done to me since the beginning?” His voice was derisory and calm at the same time, and scared Peter even more.
He swallowed, while the chills returned. Of course he had known that Hook would never spare his life, but nevertheless the captain’s decision was like a blow in the stomach. He bit his lips and lowered his gaze. “No,” he whispered.
“But you’d hoped for it!” James stated soberly, never looking away from the boy. A mute nod was the answer. The captain lifted Peter’s head with his hook and looked straight into the crystal blue eyes, where he could see the fright and desperation. He heard Wendy shifting in bed again and knew that he couldn’t kill the boy this time. No, not when he wanted to have a chance to win the girl’s love. But he wouldn’t say anything about his intention to the boy. He would let him stew in his worries until tomorrow. That was only a small payback for what this cocky tormenter had done. All he said was: “We’ll see.”
He gripped Peter’s neck and forced him to come with him. The boy threw a last glance to Wendy. If no miracle occurred, it was certain that he would die soon, and that he would never see her again. He prayed that someone would come to their rescue, but he had ordered his friends to wait for his return and had stupidly told them that ‘it could last a little bit longer’. When they would decide that this ‘little bit longer’ was too long, he could be dead already.
Hook followed his gaze and chuckled. “Heavens, boy, this ‘thimble’ really has changed you! And may I say, for the good?”
Peter didn’t bother to respond to Hook’s mocking. Anything he would say would give Hook more ammunition to taunt him with.
The captain left his quarters with his prisoner. Outside, the sky was still dark with heavy clouds and a cool wind blew over the sea. The voices on deck went suddenly quiet as the men saw whom their commander had caught. Smee came quickly up the stairs and to Hook. “Take him to the brig and chain him up there!” James ordered, and the boatswain waved two other pirates over to help him. They all knew the tricks of the boys well enough to take great care that he didn’t get a chance to escape again.
Peter’s look was fixed on Hook. The captain’s last sentence ‘we’ll see’ after his admitting that he had hoped for mercy, had reawakened new hope in him, but Hook’s features didn’t give away anything. James could read the questions and the mute begging in the eyes of the boy and smiled wickedly. Only days ago, he had been in a similar situation, and Pan had only laughed and flown away. It would be good for him to feel the unease and fear for a short while – even if it wasn’t for any use. The boy would forget it in several days.
“Bring him down, Smee, bandage his throat and take care that he has food and water.” Peter wasn’t the only one who stared at him bewildered. Hook grinned widely. “What is it? Have none of you ever heard of a condemned man’s last meal before?”
The boy paled again, and threw a last desperate glance over his shoulder, as he was taken away, while the whole crew roared with laughter.
Hook sighed. Finally – finally! -- he had Pan and what did he do? He locked him in the brig and planned on letting him go as soon as he had sent Blackbeard back from whence he had come. And this all because of this sweet girl resting in his quarters – his sleeping beauty and…
Just a moment! Did he really think of her in fairy-tales again? Alas! He had absolutely lost all reason!

TBC…
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In the swirl of passion