the face. At least, flying
still works. Beneath me, the jungle is a blurred sea of green.
Headed north, I pass Mermaid Lagoon and fly out over the ocean
three quarters of a mile. In front of me rise the peaks of the
treasures den, the waves splashing against their rocky
sides.
I land on the one with the hidden trap door
and start moving stones aside. Lifting the second one, my finger
gets crushed between two rocks. “Ouch!” I stick the finger in my
mouth and suck until the pulsing pain ceases. Then I pull it out
and stretch all fingers as I twist my hand in front of my face to
examine it.
My hands are bigger now, and so are my feet.
Coordinating my movements takes some adjusting. I stumble a few
times and have bruised knuckles before all the stones are carried
out of the way. By God, I swear Hook will pay for this. He’ll pay
dearly.
When the entrance is free, I pull on the
leather strap attached to the wood and the door flaps open. The
familiar scent of rusty silver and gold that usually wafts at my
face then is missing. I peek inside and my heart stops for a couple
of seconds. A small jet of daylight lands on the ground of the
cave. It’s empty.
With a racing heart that obviously tries to
make good on the missed beats, I glide down and stand in a shallow
water puddle. All around me there’s only rock face. The floor is
wet and deserted. Nothing of the treasure is left. Nothing but a
small chest that carried the pocket watch for so many years.
The ultimate betrayal.
James gave me the key to the watch so I could
free it and deliver it right into his hands. I don’t know how he
found out about this hiding place, but I sure can count one and one
together. Angel. She told him before she left Neverland. Now my
brother has it all. The treasure—and the satisfaction to see me
grow older.
Every muscle inside me tenses to an aching
point. I start to shake, the blood draining from my head and limbs.
Falling to my knees in the puddle, I lift my chin and fist my hands
at my sides. A soul-tearing cry bursts out of my lungs.
“ Hook, you bloody bastard! I’m going to
run a sword through your heart for this!”
Chapter 4
AN ENTIRE MONTH lost! Dammit.
Gazing at the ever growing island outside the
windows of my study as we sail toward its shores, I fist my hands,
my nails digging deeply into my palms. Twenty-one times we’ve tried
to sail to London. Twenty-one times we kept finding Neverland. It’s
just like back then as we set off with Angel still on board and
tried to help her leave this place. There was nothing out on this
goddamn sea. In all these waters only one island exists.
Heck, did the fairies lie to me? Are the
gates of Neverland closed after all?
I spin on my
heel and stride out on deck, into the burning afternoon sun. Smee
tilts his head when he notices me and stops playing cards with
Potato Ralph. Passing them, I see it was a wise decision of my
first mate. He held a poor hand and would have lost the couple of
doubloons.
He follows me down to the main deck. “The
plan, Cap’n? Shall we round the isle and set off again?”
I face him and snap, “We’ve been covering all
routs in a ten degree interval. Do you honestly think it will make
any difference if we start the same routes backward?”
Smee lifts his hands in baffled surrender.
“Man, you’re in a mood today…” He laughs a throaty sound. I want to
put an end to it with showing him where the ship’s plank extends
out over the water. But it’s not his fault that we’re stuck
here.
I tamp down on my frustration, shoving my
hands into my pockets. As always, when I did this the past thirty
days, my fingers close around the two remaining beckon beans in
there and I’m tempted to swallow another. Maybe this time it’ll
work.
Fishing them
out, I stare at them for a long time. “ Think of Angel and eat one ,
she said. It’ll lead you in
the right direction. ” I bite my bottom
lip and fling the beans across the deck. “To hell
still works. Beneath me, the jungle is a blurred sea of green.
Headed north, I pass Mermaid Lagoon and fly out over the ocean
three quarters of a mile. In front of me rise the peaks of the
treasures den, the waves splashing against their rocky
sides.
I land on the one with the hidden trap door
and start moving stones aside. Lifting the second one, my finger
gets crushed between two rocks. “Ouch!” I stick the finger in my
mouth and suck until the pulsing pain ceases. Then I pull it out
and stretch all fingers as I twist my hand in front of my face to
examine it.
My hands are bigger now, and so are my feet.
Coordinating my movements takes some adjusting. I stumble a few
times and have bruised knuckles before all the stones are carried
out of the way. By God, I swear Hook will pay for this. He’ll pay
dearly.
When the entrance is free, I pull on the
leather strap attached to the wood and the door flaps open. The
familiar scent of rusty silver and gold that usually wafts at my
face then is missing. I peek inside and my heart stops for a couple
of seconds. A small jet of daylight lands on the ground of the
cave. It’s empty.
With a racing heart that obviously tries to
make good on the missed beats, I glide down and stand in a shallow
water puddle. All around me there’s only rock face. The floor is
wet and deserted. Nothing of the treasure is left. Nothing but a
small chest that carried the pocket watch for so many years.
The ultimate betrayal.
James gave me the key to the watch so I could
free it and deliver it right into his hands. I don’t know how he
found out about this hiding place, but I sure can count one and one
together. Angel. She told him before she left Neverland. Now my
brother has it all. The treasure—and the satisfaction to see me
grow older.
Every muscle inside me tenses to an aching
point. I start to shake, the blood draining from my head and limbs.
Falling to my knees in the puddle, I lift my chin and fist my hands
at my sides. A soul-tearing cry bursts out of my lungs.
“ Hook, you bloody bastard! I’m going to
run a sword through your heart for this!”
Chapter 4
AN ENTIRE MONTH lost! Dammit.
Gazing at the ever growing island outside the
windows of my study as we sail toward its shores, I fist my hands,
my nails digging deeply into my palms. Twenty-one times we’ve tried
to sail to London. Twenty-one times we kept finding Neverland. It’s
just like back then as we set off with Angel still on board and
tried to help her leave this place. There was nothing out on this
goddamn sea. In all these waters only one island exists.
Heck, did the fairies lie to me? Are the
gates of Neverland closed after all?
I spin on my
heel and stride out on deck, into the burning afternoon sun. Smee
tilts his head when he notices me and stops playing cards with
Potato Ralph. Passing them, I see it was a wise decision of my
first mate. He held a poor hand and would have lost the couple of
doubloons.
He follows me down to the main deck. “The
plan, Cap’n? Shall we round the isle and set off again?”
I face him and snap, “We’ve been covering all
routs in a ten degree interval. Do you honestly think it will make
any difference if we start the same routes backward?”
Smee lifts his hands in baffled surrender.
“Man, you’re in a mood today…” He laughs a throaty sound. I want to
put an end to it with showing him where the ship’s plank extends
out over the water. But it’s not his fault that we’re stuck
here.
I tamp down on my frustration, shoving my
hands into my pockets. As always, when I did this the past thirty
days, my fingers close around the two remaining beckon beans in
there and I’m tempted to swallow another. Maybe this time it’ll
work.
Fishing them
out, I stare at them for a long time. “ Think of Angel and eat one ,
she said. It’ll lead you in
the right direction. ” I bite my bottom
lip and fling the beans across the deck. “To hell
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