Chapter 18
I leapt up, suppressing a yelp as a sharp rap at the door rang through the otherwise-silent room.
“One sec,” I called, hastily stuffing The Speaker’s note into my pouch as I stood.
Maybe Moll had finished those chores she’d insisted on not needing my help with? Or maybe it was Hook…But he’d been busy docking the ship at the city's small harbor last I’d heard.
“Yes?” I pulled the door open, poking my head out into the hallway.
“Just stoppin’ by to let you know we’re headin’ into town in a short while,” Trick-Eyed Tom answered in his rough, gravelly tone. “You should get your things together if you want to come.”
“Uh, yeah, I’ll be there soon.”
He moved as if to go but turned back before I had fully shut the door. “And lass…sorry again for misjudging you. You got more moxy than most of the pirates I’ve battled. Happy to have you as one of us.”
I nodded slowly, a little taken aback. “Thanks.” Part of me had wondered if the bloom would fall off the rose, but clearly The Devil’s Gauntlet had done the trick.
Tom dipped his head and limped off without another word, and I shut the door behind him. I’d never truly be one of them, but I’d managed to make a reluctant ally out of Captain Hook and get the admiration of the crew in short order, which was a good start.
I strode over to the wooden chest that held the scant pile of clothes I’d “borrowed” from the left over booty that was stored in the belly of the ship, and began rummaging through it.
Hook and I had come to an uneasy truce after the conversation we’d had the previous night, but I couldn’t shake my discomfort about it.
What would happen after he was done with the clock?
Would he truly just hand it over? And, more importantly, what exactly did he plan to do with it?
Based on his blinding hatred of Pan and Tink, I couldn’t imagine it would be anything good…
According to him, though, they were the true villains. Destiny had thrust me in the middle of this war, demanding that I pick a side. And, if the right choice was hidden somewhere in the prophecy, I sure hadn’t found it yet. Or the answers to how he knew anything about where I’d come from…
A tingle crept up my back as the dream from a few nights before threatened to come rushing back in, but the feeling was quickly replaced by a flash of irritation.
He’s a pirate, I reminded myself, forcing the thought aside. An ally in this mission or not, he still might well be your enemy.
I let out a sigh as I scooped an off-white shirt and tan breeches out of the chest, tossing them to my bed.
While this was all important, I was getting ahead of myself.
There was still a long road ahead of us if we were going to survive the journey to get the clock.
No point in borrowing even more trouble.
One step at a time.
Moll trudged in a short while later, just as I was about to step through the door. She let out an exaggerated sigh as she caught sight of me, wiping a streak of nonexistent sweat from her forehead.
“I should not have offered to do the laundry. Do you have any idea how vile these men are? Skid marks were the least of it. They?—”
“Spare me the details,” I cut in quickly. “Are you going to come into town with us? I’m sure Xander is going…” I added, grinning at the blush it brought out on her cheeks.
She gave me a playful shove. “You’re one to talk. Don’t think I haven’t seen the way you look at the captain.”
“Not even true,” I replied, making a mental note to keep my recent dream between me and the gods. I bit back a groan and turned to face my bed to hide my face as heat flashed through my cheeks.
“I can’t wait to see what a crew of monster hunters is like,” Moll mused, not seeming to notice my meltdown.
“I…I bet they’re really skilled,” I agreed, sucking in a calming breath. “Probably super tough.”
“They’ve gotta be, with how big those things are.”
“I didn’t see the whole serpent that came after me yesterday, but just the bulge in the water alone was scary enough.
The size of our hut in Little Alabaster.
And that’s what’s in the regular ocean. Imagine what they’re like in The Weeping Fen…
Pan said that Noru was the king of the jungle, so to speak. The biggest and the baddest.”
Moll’s expression darkened, drained of any trace of her previous enthusiasm. “I— I’m still finding that stuff you told me about Tink and Pan last night kind of hard to process. If what Hook said is true…if they’re bad people…we can’t leave those kids with them.”
I nodded grimly. “I’ve been thinking about that too, but it doesn’t seem like there’s anything else we can do about it right now.
Even if we could escape and find a way to sail there, with the invisible shield and all?
We’d never find the place. Hook has searched for years, and with a whole crew of experienced sailors and navigators. ”
If I thought long and hard about the room with the maps, tapping into my magic, I could piece together the general location of Neverland in relation to all the other landmarks.
If we wanted to go back there, we’d need more than that.
We’d need to figure out a way to home in and pinpoint, or else it would be like trying to find…
well, a magically hidden island in a ocean.
I strode over, laying a hand on her shoulder.
“We might be helpless to do anything for them right now, but let’s use this time to dig a little.
I’ve made some friends, and it seems as if you have, too.
Let’s see what other people say about Pan and Tink and get to the truth behind this feud.
Then, when the time comes, we go in knowing that we will do everything in our power to keep those kids safe. If we need to.”
It was as close to a promise as I could make under the circumstances, but it still felt hollow.
Moll gave a tight nod, then sucked in a deep breath.
“I hate it, but I know you’re right. For now, staying put gives us the best chance of helping them if they need us later.
” Her expression hardened, and her knuckles went white as she clenched a fist. “But if Hook is right…if they’re holding them hostage or hurting them in any way?
They are not going to recognize the side of me that they see next. ”
Moll and I stepped out onto the dock a short while later, following Hook and Xander’s lead as they headed into town.
Most of the crew had already gone ahead to the shops and markets to load up on supplies and secure lodging for the night.
And, while I’d been apprehensive about what Hook had in mind for the townsfolk when I’d first heard we were heading here to resupply, the crew wasn’t here to pillage.
Kraken Reef paid protection money to Hook, and, for all their flaws, the pirates in this world seemed to take that type of thing seriously.
A crowd of children of all ages milled around the edge of the dock as we approached, shooting us nervous glances when they thought Hook wasn’t looking, and a pair of fishermen hardly seemed to notice us, like this was all business as usual.
“Where’s the pub?” I asked, savoring the feeling of solid ground beneath my feet. The steadiness and lack of motion was almost disorienting after a couple days at sea.
“Not far,” Hook said, not sparing a glance as he tossed the words over his shoulder.
“Where are we going, exactly?” I called. The houses looked more or less the same as the ones in the shanty town had, but a glance around almost took my breath away. A pair of grassy hills flanked the quaint little seaside village, the reddish light of the setting sun just visible over their peaks.
When Hook didn’t bother to reply, the first mate chimed in. “There’s a little tavern that the Beast Bane Boys frequent right around the corner. And, if we’re lucky, they’ll be there. Even if they aren’t, the owner should know where they’re staying.”
“Doubt they’d even bother to open if they weren’t. They love a pint…probably account for half the place’s monthly sales,” Hook deadpanned. “And don’t call them that stupid name. It’s ridiculous.”
I made a quick adjustment to my mental image of the team of monster hunters as Fetch smacked down on my shoulder. “Any luck?”
He clicked his beak, and I could just make out a faint trace of blood on it as he peered down at me. He hadn’t had much opportunity to fish for more than small trout in The Hollow, but he seemed to be using the skills he’d honed in the cove surrounding Neverland on the open sea just fine.
Hurried footsteps sounded from our left, pulling my attention away from the bird, and I turned to see a pair of teen boys striding up to us.
“‘Scuse me sir,” said the taller of the two, a wiry, brown-haired boy who couldn’t have been older than fourteen. “I hope we ain’t botherin’ you, but I wouldn’t be able to forgive meself if I didn’t try…”
Hook silenced him with a hand. “No openings, lad.”
“I know we’re young,” the stouter, red-faced one cut in, “but we’re real strong for our age. Promise we won’t be deadweight. We’ll?—”
Hook’s expression darkened. “No. Openings. Now go, before I change my mind and bring you along as crocodile bait.”
They paled and their throats bobbed as they backed away, then turned and ran.
“Subtle,” I muttered.
Hook didn’t look at me, but Xander lifted both brows and shook his head ever so slightly.
The tavern came into view a few minutes later, with a half-rotted sign out front marking it as the “Siren’s Den,” right next to the carved image of a half-woman, half-bird creature.
I sent Fetch back to the skies as a bout of cheering erupted from within.
He wouldn’t like all the noise, and maybe he’d be able to get an hour or so of real hunting in before nightfall.
Another cheer sounded from within as Hook pushed the door open, but the patrons weren’t focused on us.
Most of them stood in a large cluster at the bar’s center, with a few disinterested drinkers chatting at the bar on the left side of the room.
The bartender scurried over as we entered the room, eyes wide with surprise. “Evening, Captain. What can I get you?”
“We’ve got a seeking job we need done. Are the boys around? Guessing they have something to do with whatever’s going on over there?” He gestured toward the room’s center with his iron hook.
The bartender nodded, scowling. “Taking bets on some game or other, as usual. Let’s see if they can keep from smashing my tables and mugs this time.”
Hook dismissed him with a wave of his hand, then made a beeline toward the center of the room. I craned my neck to get a better look as we approached the ring of men, a chill creeping up my spine at what I saw.
A massive hulk of a man sat across from another, leaner guy with dark hair who flashed a roguish grin as he extended his arm toward the table’s center. Moll’s elbow slammed into my side at the same time I noticed.
“Is that…it can’t be?—”
“Paddy O'Donnelly,” I whispered, as stunned as she sounded. I took another step forward, resisting the urge to call out to him. It was him, no doubt about it, but not the same him as I’d met in The Smudge. I scanned the crowd, finding the other three O'Donnelly brothers as we approached.
“No Billy…” I muttered. Like the first time I’d met them in Alabaster, their older sister and matriarch of the family was nowhere to be found. I pressed up to the edge of the crowd to get a better look as the larger man clasped Paddy’s hand at the table’s center.
Paddy raised his free hand, waving the crowd into silence. “So remember, the first rule is that there are no rules. When I win, this ugly lug is going to serve as my manservant for a week. If he wins…” He cut off, cocking his head as he glanced back at the other man. “What’d I bet again?”
“Fifty.” The larger man’s face was bright red with anger, and he gritted his teeth, seemingly from the effort it took to not leap across the table and throttle Paddy.
“Oh, yes. Fifty gold, apparently.” He frowned, looking the man up and down. “Actually… why not make it a hundred?”
The crowd whooped with glee at that, and the big man flashed him an almost imperceptible nod. “I’m going to rip that arm of yours clean off, little man.”
Paddy flashed a look of mock horror. “Ready to watch this bastard get what’s coming to him?” he called, “And remember; no outside interference. Other than that, anything goes.”
Jacob O’Donnelly strode over to the table, rolling his eyes with irritation as he raised an arm into the air. “Three, two?—”
The big man surged into action, grunting as he threw his arm sideways with everything he had.
Paddy’s hand stopped just inches from the table, and he gritted his teeth, trembling against the power of his stronger opponent. “Men,” Moll whispered at my side, her eye roll somehow making it into her tone.
Why had he even agreed to such a contest? Had he actually thought he stood a?—
Paddy’s free hand flew from the table’s edge, reaching directly under the table, and I winced as it smacked directly into the big oaf’s manhood.
And he didn’t stop there.
Still managing to keep his hand from smacking into the table, he grabbed hold of the other man’s parts, yanking on them with a feral roar.
His wrestling arm surged back to equilibrium, and then past it, as the big man screamed. And it was only when he had smashed his hand into the wooden surface of the table that Paddy stopped pulling.
His arm shot into the air as the crowd whooped and hollered. On another day, maybe they would’ve argued over whether this counted as a win. But not today. He’d already won them over with his antics before the match.
“Men indeed,” I said, echoing Moll’s previous statement with a chuckle.
The larger man rose from the table, lunging at Paddy, but he stopped short as the sudden movement seemed to send a spike of pain through his barely-attached nuts. “Y—you cheated!”
“I won,” Paddy corrected. His lips pulled into a smile as he added. “And that’s ‘you cheated, sir ’ to you, manservant.”