Dressed in a new gown of blue that fit well thanks to laces on the sides, she reveled in the sensation of clean skin and hair. One foot soaked in the bucket while she unwound the bandage from the other.
“But which deity does that saying refer to: Cosmas or Fortuna?” As Wendy contemplated the linguistic ambiguities that made godliness just as likely to apply to a god or a goddess, she examined her injury and deemed it healed but grimy.
Wendy’s loose curls were nearly dry when she worked up the courage to thank Hook yet again. Armed with a clean self and fresh clothes, she made her way to the deck. The bucket she found too unwieldy and left by the brig door. Hopefully, Hook was out in the open air; she didn’t think she could ask him aboutunderthingsif he was in his quarters.
The afternoon light was not yet orange when she poked her head outside. Tam walked past the door where she lingered, and she called out to ask where the captain was.
“Quarterdeck,” he obliged, and pointed above and behind her.
Leaving the safety of her doorway, Wendy turned to follow his finger. Hook stood by the helmsman—Kalaakaar?—and stared straight ahead. One fortifying breath later, she marched forward to ascend to the quarterdeck. There, she took up a position against the railing.
Hook gave her a quick once-over, then faced forward again. “Is that one of your new dresses? It’s lovely.” He lifted his chin to squint at the crow’s nest. “I don’t know what all was sent to your quarters. I instructed the woman to procure whatever she thought you needed.”
A wave of relief washed over Wendy and weakened her knees. A woman had bought the undergarments and essential items.Praise either or both deities!
“Everything is quite perfect, thank you.” Wendy clasped her hands together behind her back.
Mirai appeared from some unseen location and traipsed over to Wendy, who watched as the cat daintily stepped on her new boots. Once two paws were on each boot, the feline leaned her entire body weight against Wendy’s legs.
“Haven’t seen you in a while,” she remarked dryly.
Unsurprisingly, Mirai didn’t answer. After a moment, she leapt to the railing beside Wendy. She then perched there and wrapped her tail around her paws.
“Was there something else?”Hook queried.
Wanting to stay by him for reasons she wouldn’t admit to herself, Wendy opened her mouth. “Why don’t you do anything about Peter?”Oops.Not quite the innocuous topic she had been going for, but it was too late to take the words back now. She forged ahead. “You clearly know how to get to Neverland. Your ship was anchored there.”
Hook surprised her by answering plainly, though he still wouldn’t look at her. “Yes, people who leave of their own accord can return if they continue to drink the water from time to time.”
A realization hit Wendy. “Is that what you were loading onto your ship in that cave?”
He nodded.
“How often do you need to drink the water?”
Hook tilted his head to address Kalaakaar while keeping his eyes on the horizon. “What do you think? A cup or so every week?”
The up-till-now closemouthed Kalaakaar considered, then nodded. “That sounds correct.”
“How—?” Wendy began.
Hook cut her off. “I don’t know how it works; we just know that it does.”
She rested her lower back on the railing and folded her arms. “Back to stopping Peter.” Hook’s nostrils flared, but she continued, “You know how to find Neverland, and you have a crew that wants to help.”
He scanned the horizon and flicked a glance toward the crow’s nest again. “What do you know about Pan? Aside”—he interrupted the aspersions she wanted to make about his character—“from his murderous tendencies.”
Pausing to consider what she actually knew, Wendy began to realize much of it was a blank. She started slowly, “Well, the book says he stays young because he refuses to grow up, but that can’t be right.”
“Indeed.” He eyed the coastline that was visible to their left, then checked one of the instruments that Wendy couldn’t even pretend to know how to operate. “Pan only looks young. He has lived for at least a century, maybe two.” He frowned into the distance. “It’s hard to find reliable information about him that far back.”
“So he’s more cunning and less immature than he acts, huh?” The breeze played with her drying locks.
“Much.” Hook began tapping his fingers on his leg. “What else do you know about him?”
“Uh . . .” Wendy watched Mirai hop off the railing and leave the quarterdeck.
“Did you know that he uses baku to track down fresh orphans?”
