A startled yelp slipped past her lips as an arm wrapped around her shoulders, pulling her to a stop. “Friends,” Hook called out.
Of course it was him. He practically ignored her for days, and now he picked this moment to call attention to her? She wiggled against him, but he held firm.
“This is Tink, our newest crew member.”
She couldn’t meet anyone’s gaze, especially not as they drew quiet, listening to the captain.
“Show her welcome here. We’ll stay the night and be off to Rochland in the morning.”
“Such a short stay,” someone murmured.
Now Tink did look. Faces of strangers stared back, yet many held a hint of the familiar. Parents, grandparents, siblings. The likenesses were easy to see. No wonder they lived here in this hidden cove.
Long ago, she’d asked one of the elders why the pixies lived in the Sylvanna Vale. Why couldn’t they all come and go and live with other races throughout Neverland?
“To keep you safe, my dear,” he’d said. “To keep us all safe. If the other races know who you are, what you are, you’ll be in danger.”
“But why?” she’d asked, tugging on his robes, staring up at the pixie who’d seemed so tall. He was shorter than her now.
“Pixie dust is essential to our way of life. It’s part of everything, our very way of being. But those outside see it as magical, a tool to wield as they see fit, if they even know how to use it.”
Her little brows had scrunched together. “A tool?”
The elder had knelt before her, his weathered palm on her shoulder. “I’ll explain when you’re older. For now, know that we protect those we love by keeping them hidden.”
Hook pulled her ever so slightly closer to him, and she let him. He was talking, saying something about their journey, but she barely heard it over her racing heart and thoughts. “That’s it, we leave at dawn.”
Conversation resumed. People headed toward shore. Hook’s arm slipped from her shoulders. “You’ll stay here while we’re gone, there’s a—”
“Wait, what?”
She spun to face him as the peaceful bubble of hope she’d felt a moment ago shattered. “I’m going too.”
“It’s safer—”
“No!” She stamped her foot. “Queen Titania said we’re to do this together. You’re not leaving me behind.”
No way she was going to just sit here and twiddle her thumbs. Plus, she couldn’t risk Hook sneaking off and retrieving it on his own, or the queen saying she hadn’t helped and thus didn’t earn her reward. Tink shoved her fists to her hips and stared up at the pirate captain.
“As my lady commands.” He swept a mocking bow. “But be warned, the Green Witch can be…interesting.”
High-pitched squeals filled her ears. Blonde women flooded in around her, blocking sight of Hook’s retreating form.
“Oh, she’s so small!” The taller woman—one of Smee’s sisters?—strung an arm through hers.
“You’ll stay with us. It’ll be so nice to have another woman around,” a second, slightly shorter and stockier one, said as she took her other arm.
“Girls,” a third reprimanded them, the oldest sister, by the looks of it—and heavily pregnant. Barley stood with his arm around her.
Tink gaped like a fish. “Your…wife?”
He grinned.
“I hope he’s been kind,” the woman said. Her arms settled over her rounded belly. “Now, let’s get you settled.”
Before Tink could protest, the women herded her down the dock.
Chapter 14
