The last thing Maggie saw was the generous fairy waving her arms high above her head before she shot toward the beach.
A fight was happening along the shore. Pirates took boats out from their pirate ship before docking on the sandy beach. The Lost Boys battled them wildly, with brandished swords and handsome smiles. Peg-legged pirates with boisterous hats and rags for clothes dueled the Lost Boys, some with patches covering one eye. At the center, with a different sword in each hand, Peter brilliantly battled two pirates at once, the broadest smile stretching across his face. There was no doubt in Maggie’s mind, the Lost Boys and their King were having the time of their lives.
Looking away, Maggie’s attention was pulled back to the pirate ship. It was the largest boat she had ever seen, with dark sails and masts erected high into the air. Crossbones decorated the boat, with a wooden mermaid carved into the pointed tip.
If the fighting continued on the town’s shore, it could flood into the town. The people she had grown to know and care for would be put in danger. And after all the time she had been given in Neverland, shouldn’t Maggie do something in return? To show her gratitude, to let them know she cared just as much as the King of Neverland?
Maggie brandished her sword and flew directly toward the pirate ship.
The anchor had been dropped, leaving the ship still a little ways out from the shore. It looked as though there weren’t any stragglers left behind, not even someone to mop the wooden floors. Maggie landed on them with a creak, her lip tugging into a frown.
“Could use some cleaning,” she muttered.
There wasn’t much that Maggie knew about the anatomy of a pirate ship, but she didn’t think any of it to be too hard to figure out. A captain always lied at the helm of a crew, and all captains needed a study to conduct their business in. Perhaps a distraction capable of directing the pirates back to their boat could prevent any harm from befalling Neverland’s residents. Maybe if Maggie managed to get her hands on… what was it that they liked to call it?
Pirate booty?
Maggie shook her head as she crossed the length of the ship. Below the wheel were a pair of elegant doors, with the only paint that hadn’t been picked off. Maggie grinned and rushed toward it, slipping inside cautiously.
The study was the nicest place she had seen on the ship so far. Wooden bookcases lined the wall and there was a wide view of the ocean behind it, where a long window sat directly behind the main desk. Golden coins and fragments of jewelry were scattered over a map within the center of the desk. Maggie strode confidently toward it, running her hand along the loot to see if there was anything worth snatching. Nothing stood out to her yet, and fear was beginning to prick at the confidence she had been using.
Slam!
Maggie whipped around, her sword drawn and trembling.
“Well, well, well.”
Out from the shadows came a tall and muscular figure, donned with a long leather coat and a red undershirt. Jewelry sparkled along his fingers, around his neck. A dark sword hung from his belt, a smaller one on the opposite hip. And, slipping out from beneath the coat, was the handle of a flintlock pistol. He reached for the hilt of his sword, moving with an excruciating slowness as he unsheathed it.
The realization of how much danger Maggie was in clicked in as the pirate spoke his next words, a sinister grin tugging at the corner of his lip. “What do we have here?”
11
“Silence is not your ally here, my lady.”
Maggie’s face scrunched up. Minutes had passed since the pirate entered the study. She couldn’t will herself to utter a word, her eyes frantically snapping around the room in desperation. There had to be a way out of the mess she just found herself in. But there weren't any Lost Boys to jump in the way of danger, no King to whisk her off to safety.
There was only Maggie and the pirate.
There were only their swords, pointed directly at the other.
His head tilted as he looked her up and down. Scruff covered the pirate’s chin and cheeks, colored a rusty brown. Disgruntled hair that lacked a comb fell across his face in a rugged way – in a way that might’ve been considered handsome, though Maggie was ignoring the thought as much as she could. He wouldn’t stop giving her that smirk, a look that made her skin crawl.
“Well I’m curious now,” the pirate murmured. “Who are you?”
Maggie lifted her chin, teeth gritted. “I could ask you the same question.”
“Ah,” the pirate cooed. “The lady speaks.” A brilliant smile flashed across his face. “Don’t tease me now, my lady. All ofNeverland knows who I am.” He took a slow stride forward, the sword never once lowering. “But I have not had the honor of meetingyou.Now,” he paused, one brow crooked, “what is that lovely name?”
The adrenaline was shifting into something else. Maggie was quickly running out of options. The pirate in front of her was growing bolder, testing her boundaries. He crept closer and closer with every passing minute. But Maggie was beginning to get the sense that the pirate in front of her had some similar qualities of the rest of Neverland’s inhabitants, one who never minded a game or two.
“How about a game?” Maggie asked.
The pirate’s brow shot up. “I’m listening.”
“You say everyone on Neverland knows who you are,” she said, ignoring the tremble that was lingering in her voice. She shrugged as he pressed closer. “I don’t.”
The words struck his confidence for a split second. “Don’t lie, my lady.”
