Understanding dawned on his face. He snapped his fingers and pointed at her. “You’re Wendy the Storyteller! Peter mentioned you.” Something about his “revelation” felt off. “He described you as a girl, not a full-grown woman.”
Prickly heat flared to life everywhere his invasive eyes touched her person.
“Normally, you’d be right.” His smile was patronizing, but maybe that wasn’t what the others saw. “However, the day after Sadiq’s death”—he paused to rest his fist on his heart—“there was a ‘training accident.’ I got him pretty good with my sword.”
All around her, the crew nodded or made sounds of comprehension. A couple chuckled with appreciation.
“What does that mean?” she hissed to Raghu when Sophus began outlining his plan.
Raghu lifted his cup and spoke out of the side of his mouth. “Pan can heal rapidly, but it uses up lots of juice.”
“Ah.” Wendy kept her head down for the rest of the meal and simply listened to Sophus expounding on which route to take through the rocks surrounding Neverland and plotting specifics for the two ships to coordinate their attack. One detail caught her ear: The supposed spy was directing theJolly Roger’s crew to take a path Wendyknewhad recently been updated with anti-pirate traps.
She tugged on James’ sleeve, but he ignored her. When Sophus looked away, James slid his hand under the table and squeezed her knee once.
“Wait,” he breathed, then picked up his fork again.
Caution stilled her tongue. No longer hungry, she pushed her food around for a bit, then settled on folding her hands in her lap. Her leg jiggled with impatience. James pressed his knee against hers. No doubt she was bouncing the whole bench. Wendy took a deep breath and tried to focus on the comfort of that physical contact.
On the outskirts of the clearing, a tiny blue flash drew her eye. Seconds later, the light returned, confirming her suspicion that the sheeries were bored. If she remembered correctly, Min-Jun had been sent to guard that edge. Watching him shift his weight and repeatedly set a hand on his weapons, as first one sheerie, then the other, tried to entice him into the trees entertained her for the last few minutes of the meal.
Finally, Sophus stood to signal the end of dinner. He motioned for everyone to head to the beach. Wendy followed James but turned around when she heard a loud clatter.
Sophus was on the ground, laughing as Maaka and Mücahit helped him up. Raghu had turned back, as well, and when he was closer to the table than to his captain, their host yelled, “Now!”
Men poured out of the woods—far more men than Sophus had named earlier. Each was armed. Several held spearguns orharpoons; the rest had swords. None of theJolly Roger’s crew carried weapons that could match that display.
Sophus made a show of brushing himself off and swaggered over to James. He accepted a device that Wendy couldn’t identify from one of the men. “How do you like my army?” He surveyed the crowd. “Pretty great, huh?”
James said nothing.
“Most of them were hired especially for this occasion.” The newly exposed villain put a hand by his mouth and whispered theatrically, “Can’t go sharingallour secrets.”
He aimed his contraption at James, who instantly stepped in front of Wendy.
“Interesting,” Sophus remarked. “Works for me.” Then he pulled the trigger and a weighted net wrapped around the pair.
James may have been able to remain standing if Wendy hadn’t been hit in the back of the knee by one of the weights. She went down hard and took him with her.
A cry went up from the crew of theJolly Roger. The harpoon wielders took a step closer and the protests fizzled out.
Sophus sauntered over to the pair on the ground with a laugh. He rested the net gun on his shoulder and bent to look down on them. “Here’s how this is going to work,” he said through a toothy grin. “You two are going to join us on an expedition.”
Someone—Wendy thought it might be Phillip—squawked a protest that turned into a grunt.
“While your crew here”—the jovial villain wiggled his fingers at the powerless men—“are going to get back on your ship and take a vote to choose their new captain.”
James growled something indistinct.
“What was that, dear boy?” Sophus cupped his hand around his ear. “You think we should get on with it? I agree. Gentlemen!”
Smashed together as they were in the tight net, they had no choice but to watch as Sophus directed his men to herd the crew back toward the beach. Wendy hoped Smee and Cooper could somehow upset the crook’s plans, but in her heart of hearts, she knew he would have prepared for several scenarios.
When Maaka, Raghu, and the others were beyond the scope of the lanterns in the clearing, Sophus ordered the remaining men to hoist James and Wendy to their feet. Completely surrounded by mercenaries, neither one had a chance to flee or resist being bound with rope. Wendy’s legs and arms were left free; only her hands were tied. And in front of her, too.Fools, she thought.I’m female, not helpless.She whispered instructions to Disa when they set her aside to deal with Captain James. He earned rope around his hands, more rope securing his arms to his sides, and a gag for good measure. If they hadn’t needed him to walk, his ankles surely would have been lashed together, as well.
The trussed duo was led in the opposite direction of the beach. Sophus held a lantern out for Wendy, but the men justhauled James to his feet whenever he tripped. The trees stood close together in this part of the woods. Eventually, the ground began to slope downward, and Wendy thought she heard water.
When the source of the sound came into sight, some of the men she recognized from Sophus’ introductions hurried ahead to stabilize the craft tied to the bank. The hired muscle loaded the abductees into the boat. Again, Wendy was treated with care; James was handled like a sack of potatoes.
