Hook even contributed a tiny fringed velvet pillow that looked more like a jellyfish than something fit for a bed. Wendy contemplated it now, wondering what hapless ship or manor it had been looted from.
She drifted off, almost pleasantly, in the gently rocking hammock.
It didn’t seem like any time had passed at all when her eyes snapped open to utter darkness. The terrible, disturbing noises of a ship full of sleeping pirates came from the berths above her: snoring, tossing, turning, talking or whining in their sleep…as well as other far more unmentionable noises.
Wendy tipped out of her hammock as quietly as she could, wincing at the creaks from the newly knotted ropes. Then she strapped on her leather satchel (now full of strange bits and bobs and pirate treasures) and climbed the ladder.
The pirate noises reached a crescendo as she pulled herself up onto the gun deck right behind their quarters. Her mind whirled through all the possible scenarios of being caught. She expected a hand to clamp down on her shoulder at any moment, her flight discovered. Although she tiptoed, it was probably unnecessary: the ship rattled and groaned like a haunted mansion as it rode the little nighttime waves. The planks she walked didn’t squeak at all.
Shaking and trembling she finally made it out to the main deck, where a great gulp of fresh air and an upside-down bowl of stars were a welcome relief. She studied the sky and finally managed to locate the Southern Cross, which was already fading in the false dawn. Funny that Never Land skies should be so similar to the real world’s, Wendy thought. Not London’s skies, of course, for rare was the night that one could see stars through the fog. And that particular constellation was of course absent from northern heavens.
The mizzenmast rose like a great sentinel. She cast a wary eye up to the crow’s nest, but it was empty; perhaps the most dreadful pirates on the seas of Never Land didn’t need to post a lookout for Royal Navy ships or potential foes. Still, the cockiness (or laziness) of it irked her sense of propriety.
She edged up to the rail and looked down. Directly below her was the balcony that hung off the captain’s quarters. While it wouldn’t have surprised her at all to see the nearly inhuman Captain Hook awake and smoking his infernal cigars, pondering whatever insanity it was that kept him going, the balcony was blessedly empty.
Far, far below that was the black sea, little white tips of its baby waves playing in the starlight.
“Quietly done, young miss,” came a voice from behind her.
She spun around. It was just Zane, but now he was shaking his head.
“That is, I was impressed with your sneaking, until it were obvious you had no idea I was here. You’ll never survive Never Land if you’re not on your guard.”
“Survive Never Land?” Wendy whispered indignantly. “It’s a place of fantasy and imagination. I lived Never Land growing up. It is mine as much as yours.”
“And how well do you know yourself then, I wonder,” the pirate said softly. “Anyhow, look.” He pulled back a tarp that was lying on the deck, unnoticed amongst the dregs and bits aboard a pirate vessel. A very tiny dinghy was revealed. It was more like the coracles children played with at the seaside than a proper boat.
Wendy sucked in her breath but didn’t say anything.
The pirate picked up the boat and gave it a surprising throw: it arced out almost like a fishing line before dropping to the water with a very minute splash. It could have been a large fish leaping from the water. Angelic blue phosphorescence dazzled for a moment in a ring around the boat before fading.
“Down you go, lassie,” Zane said, pointing to another rope tied to the railing.
Wendy looked at the old frayed-looking rope and the sea far below.
But she was an English girl. She squared her shoulders, took a deep breath, and saluted the pirate.
“Thank you, sir. I shall endeavor to repay your kindness someday.”
“Nobody salutes on a pirate ship,” he said with disgust. “We’re all equals here, except for the captain. More than anywhere else in the world, I might add. You should think about that some, missy. Off you go, then.”
He hoisted her up over the railing, making sure her hands were tight around the rope.
Then he let go.
Aside from antics in the nursery and some games when she had gone to school, Wendy’s