Chapter 10 #2
Maggie did her best not to shoulder the frightened villagers, keeping her blade close to her side safely.
They eyed her with surprise, with amazement, with pride.
She kept her chin up as she moved, ignoring the aching in her legs, in her feet, in every muscle within her entire body.
The pain dulled the more she moved, and that was all she could ask for.
Peter and the Lost Boys could need her, they could need simple old Maggie Hart.
“H-Hey!” One fairy she passed turned around, tapping her shoulder. “Aren’t you Maggie? You run that restaurant, don’t you?”
Maggie nodded hurriedly. “I don’t mean to be rude, but –”
“You look like you could use some fairy dust!” The girl reached for her satchel and removed a leather pouch. Looking back up again, the container opened, she held it forward. “Right?”
“Honestly,” Maggie breathed, relief falling over her, “you’re a lifesaver.”
The fairy beamed before sprinkling a handful of dust over the top of Maggie’s head.
The magic settled into her skin and clothes before filling her with a rush of energy.
Within the same second, Maggie was rising into the air, once again trying to get used to the feeling of flying.
It was like learning how to walk, over and over again – though it was a struggle Maggie never minded experiencing.
Maggie looked behind her as she was lifted high over the town. “Thank you!”
The last thing Maggie saw was the generous fairy waving her arms high above her head before she shot toward the beach.
A fight was happening along the shore. Pirates took boats out from their pirate ship before docking on the sandy beach.
The Lost Boys battled them wildly, with brandished swords and handsome smiles.
Peg-legged pirates with boisterous hats and rags for clothes dueled the Lost Boys, some with patches covering one eye.
At the center, with a different sword in each hand, Peter brilliantly battled two pirates at once, the broadest smile stretching across his face.
There was no doubt in Maggie’s mind, the Lost Boys and their King were having the time of their lives.
Looking away, Maggie’s attention was pulled back to the pirate ship. It was the largest boat she had ever seen, with dark sails and masts erected high into the air. Crossbones decorated the boat, with a wooden mermaid carved into the pointed tip.
If the fighting continued on the town’s shore, it could flood into the town.
The people she had grown to know and care for would be put in danger.
And after all the time she had been given in Neverland, shouldn’t Maggie do something in return?
To show her gratitude, to let them know she cared just as much as the King of Neverland?
Maggie brandished her sword and flew directly toward the pirate ship.
The anchor had been dropped, leaving the ship still a little ways out from the shore. It looked as though there weren’t any stragglers left behind, not even someone to mop the wooden floors. Maggie landed on them with a creak, her lip tugging into a frown.
“Could use some cleaning,” she muttered.
There wasn’t much that Maggie knew about the anatomy of a pirate ship, but she didn’t think any of it to be too hard to figure out.
A captain always lied at the helm of a crew, and all captains needed a study to conduct their business in.
Perhaps a distraction capable of directing the pirates back to their boat could prevent any harm from befalling Neverland’s residents.
Maybe if Maggie managed to get her hands on… what was it that they liked to call it?
Pirate booty?
Maggie shook her head as she crossed the length of the ship. Below the wheel were a pair of elegant doors, with the only paint that hadn’t been picked off. Maggie grinned and rushed toward it, slipping inside cautiously.
The study was the nicest place she had seen on the ship so far.
Wooden bookcases lined the wall and there was a wide view of the ocean behind it, where a long window sat directly behind the main desk.
Golden coins and fragments of jewelry were scattered over a map within the center of the desk.
Maggie strode confidently toward it, running her hand along the loot to see if there was anything worth snatching.
Nothing stood out to her yet, and fear was beginning to prick at the confidence she had been using.
Slam!
Maggie whipped around, her sword drawn and trembling.
“Well, well, well.”
Out from the shadows came a tall and muscular figure, donned with a long leather coat and a red undershirt.
Jewelry sparkled along his fingers, around his neck.
A dark sword hung from his belt, a smaller one on the opposite hip.
And, slipping out from beneath the coat, was the handle of a flintlock pistol.
He reached for the hilt of his sword, moving with an excruciating slowness as he unsheathed it.
The realization of how much danger Maggie was in clicked in as the pirate spoke his next words, a sinister grin tugging at the corner of his lip. “What do we have here?”