Maggie’s mouth opened and closed a few times. “You’re serious? You had a good luck charm?”
“We’ve had terrible luck since we lost it!” Hook snapped, earning a collective nod from his surrounding crew of pirates.“Why do you think you burnt my cabin down? Or that the King of Nothing and his league of Nobodies beat us?”
Maggie looked over her shoulder at her company. Peter and the Lost Boys were struggling to hold their laughter in. Dash’s face was burning an unbelievable shade of red as he held his breath, one hand gripped tightly across his lips. As she turned back to Hook and his pirates, they looked far more than annoyed with them.
“I don’t thinkeverythinghas to do with your missing good luck charm,” Maggie murmured.
Hook waved his hands dismissively. “Did I ask whether or not you believed in it, my lady? My crew and I were in need of a new good luck charm. We snatched up the next best thing.” A devilish smirk crawled across his face as he twirled the long hair growing at the bottom of his pointed chin. “And you know what? There’shardlya thing as valuable as our good luck charm that would be convincing enough for us to part with it.”
Maggie frowned. That couldn’t have been it. Coming back after nightfall to steal the thing was always an option, but it was the worst one in Maggie’s opinion. What good would it do, if not feed into the cycle of treachery and thievery? The pirates only had the statue because they felt the need to steal it in the first place. How did stealing it again right any wrongs? Something told Maggie that even if they did get the statue back in such a way, it wouldn’t help the plant to begin producing berries once more. They needed to do it the right way, whatever that even meant.
“There is one thing you’d want more, isn’t there?” Maggie asked.
Hook rolled his eyes. “Don’t you ever catch a hint, my lady?” He shook his head and turned his attention to Peter. “King of Nothing, get your pet out of here before I set my crew loose on her!”
“So if we retrieved your good luck charm,” Maggie quickly blurted, seconds before Peter had the chance to grab her elbow, “you wouldn’t be interested in a trade?”
The pirates spoke in rapid succession, often over one another.
“Is she serious, Captain?”
“Can she get it back, Captain?”
“We don’t have to have bad luck anymore!”
“They can get our statue back so we don’t have to !”
“Captain, we should –”
Hook slammed his foot against theJolly Roger’sdeck with the same flair as a child younger than five years old. The sound ripped through the rising conversation, forcing the slew of pirates to take one collective step away from their fuming captain. Hook did not bother to turn and face them, he didn’t need to, even if he was going to scold them.
“Shut up, you fools!” Hook barked.
Peter’s hand snuck around Maggie’s elbow in the same breath. There was no doubt that Captain Hook was a dark and dangerous man. Pirate or not, crew or not, he was simply angry and that never had a chance of boding well. Maggie felt the fear snake up her chest and wrap its sharp tendrils around her hammering heart. Hook breathed in the same way Maggie imagined a dragon to: heavy inhales with loud and obnoxious exhales, as if smoke was curling out of his nostrils.
The captain paced in front of the mermaid statue before he spoke again. The edge in his voice was nowhere near gone, and his hand didn’t leave the hilt of his long and twisted blade. He turned, stopping in his path directly in front of Maggie. He loomed over her like a cold chill, his long shadow cascading across her frame like a blanket.
“So brave, my lady,” he murmured.
She held her head up.
“Fine,” he bellowed, catching everyone’s attention. “You and the King ofNothingmay have your statue back if you return my good luck charm. If andonlythen.”
Maggie hesitated when he extended his hand out. “How will I know you’ll keep your end of the deal?”
The pirate’s handsome face turned mischievous, hidden truths dancing behind his wild eyes. “A pirate’s word is unbreakable, my lady.” He pushed his hand out further.
With the eyes of her company and Hook’s all holding onto her expectantly, Maggie quickly took his hand, and felt as though she was signing her life away as they shook hands.
Hook retracted almost as quickly as it began. “How splendid,” he muttered. “Peter Pan running an errand for Captain Hook.” He flashed a brilliant grin. “As it always should be.”
“You wish,” Peter muttered.
The tension grew only heavier the longer they remained there, with or without a deal. Maggie knew that they wouldn’t last in a still peace for much longer.
“Hook,” she said, “could you tell us more about your charm?”
The captain sighed loudly, his arms stretched out lazily behind his head. “Oh, it’s a rather extraordinary thing, my lady. While the statue itself might look to be heavy, the thing itself is lighter than a single feather.”
