The mermaid refused to move, so Wendy and James stood in water that sloshed around their ankles or knees depending on the swell.
Sophus motioned to someone they couldn’t see. “I had wanted to stay and watch this part,” he called, “but it seems I’m needed by my lord.” He nodded to the mermaid. “So instead, I’ll leave you with this: For Peter Pan!”
At his words, a section of the hull swung open to reveal a dark square. Something moved within that darkness. Mild curiosity turned to dread as the shadows refused to give up their secret and shouts from inside the ship became audible. The look of triumphant satisfaction on Sophus’ face gradually morphed into irritation. He turned and waved his arms. Wendy could make out the animated tone of his voice, though the words were lost.
She exchanged a confused glance with James, then returned her gaze to the ship in time to see a large, scaled beast hit the water. Its entrance was graceless, likely caused by the boards that were hastily withdrawn. Wendy absently noticed that the trapdoor had swung closed again, but her attention was glued to the agile green log headed their way.
“Who carts a giant saltwater crocodile around with them?!” she protested.
“Get in the tree,” James urged.
She acquiesced to his nudging on her shoulder blade. The water made her attempt to run more of a floundering scramble.James dropped the sword to grab her waist and boost her into the tree. The defiant palm groaned under her weight and swayed alarmingly. Wendy was less than thrilled to see that her perch was barely taller than her captain.
The mermaid sang a short something at the beast that caused it to swerve in the opposite direction with a growl. Seizing her opportunity, the water faery launched herself off the sand, pumping her powerful tail to skedaddle.
James used the delay to retrieve the longsword and take up a defensive stance.
“What about the croc?” someone on deck was asking as the anchor lifted out of the shallow water.
“He’ll be fine. We can pick him up tomorrow or next week,” Sophus dismissed. “Hook! I have faith in my pet. But should you manage the impossible, starving in the name of Peter Pan is just as good.” He tilted his head. “Maybe even better. Huh!”
Wendy didn’t watch the ship leave. All her attention was on the incoming threat. The absurd hope that Sophus was a kind pet owner who fed his creature on a regular basis was dashed when the croc lunged for James. She watched with her heart in her throat as he dodged to the side. A pathetic palm frond blocked her view for a critical second, and she missed what happened.
The reptile thrashed his gargantuan head back and forth for a few minutes. When he settled down, she saw something sticking out of his eye. James must have done that. Was it his knife?
The giant maw opened to hiss—a sound that plucked at Wendy’s nerves. The noise had no effect on James, who took the opportunity to stab the sword into the soft pink gullet. He whipped his hand out before the teeth could close on his arm, leaving the weapon behind. Then he pulled out the long, thin knife and went to work on the crocodile’s other eye.
Wendy stopped watching when it became clear that James would win. With the fear wearing off, she had no desire to witness the creature’s death. She shimmied down the palm tree. Or fell out of it, rather.
Once the beast stopped twitching, James latched onto a front leg and tried to drag it farther out of the water. Nothing happened.
“Why don’t you leave it where it is?” Wendy questioned.
He grunted with his second attempt. “We can’t waste food,” he said between labored breaths.
“Are you going to use our only shade to start a cook fire?”
James rested his hand and hook on his hips as he examined his kill. “We’ll have to.”
“Can you start a fire with your mind?” she teased.
“Of course not.” He finally turned to face her.
“Then how else will you manage it?”
“I—” He closed his mouth again. “I’ll figure it out when I’m hungry enough.”
Wendy nodded, then plopped onto the sand with the morning sun at her back. After spreading out her skirt to help it dry,she leaned on her hands and looked up at him. “Care to join me?” She patted the sand.
James accepted her invitation with a heavy sigh as he settled on the ground. He pulled off his boots and set them to the side.
She followed his lead, then tilted her head to look at him. “I still want to know, why a ridiculously huge crocodile?” Now that the immediate danger was past, Wendy could feel her hunger-induced crankiness kicking in. She made a conscious effort to keep it at bay. James didn’t deserve her ire, temporary or otherwise, after saving her life.
“That’s for me.” He rested his arms on his knees, then held up his hook. “Peter fed my hand to a crocodile twenty years ago.”
“Why did he take your hand? Everyone else seems to have been maimed in ways designed to hurt them the most.” Wendy brushed at a salt-stiff strand of hair that kept blowing in her eye.
“That wasn’t his original plan.” James scooped up a handful of the dry sand and watched it trickle through his fingers. “He nearly got me to slit my own throat, but my brain kicked in at the last second and I redirected the knife.”
