Hooked Nightmares and Fairy Tales (Midlife In Neverland #3)

Chapter 1

Maggie

Weave. Duck. Parry.

The words echoed in Maggie Hart’s head like a mantra, the repetitiveness hitting her with the strength of a children’s teacher.

They were written in the treehouse’s training room, where the mannequins and boxing dummies were stored.

Targets surrounded the words, intended for volleying arrows, Maggie quickly came to learn.

As the Lost Boys and Neverland’s King sought to train Maggie in the ways of swordmanship, the first lesson she learned was to memorize the three keys to winning.

Weave.

The wind sliced at her bare arms as she soared high above Neverland’s forestry green treetops. A dark shadow danced in the corner of her vision. The figure went by unseen, until the wide glowing sun blocked its silhouette.

Peter Pan, Neverland’s ageless and handsome King, dove down toward her, his wooden sword dark within the light.

Maggie weaved in the opposite direction, riding the wind as though they were ocean waves rolling through the sky.

Peter’s thrust went through the spot where she'd been, the wood shrieking in the air with his undeniable speed.

“Not bad,” Peter shouted as he twirled about, until he was facing her once more. “But can you get past –”

Before he even finished, Maggie released a musical laugh, and shot by him.

His distant shout followed her along the wind until it puffed out of existence.

A laugh rippled out from between her lips.

Sure, they were trying to train Maggie to be able to hold her own with a sword, but she couldn’t help but have her own fun with it.

When would she have another chance to play with swords in the air, flying with the aid of fairy dust sprinkled across her curved frame?

A few weeks had passed since the water supply had returned to the Everything Plant.

Maggie tended to store those thoughts in the faraway pockets of her mind.

The less she thought about the plant and why she had been brought to Neverland in the first place, the easier it was to get through the fun of the day.

The moment she let herself dwell on the truth of reality, Maggie stumbled and staggered, the fairy dust losing its power for a moment or two.

It isn’t until her thoughts are focused once more on her flying that her control over the fairy dust comes back, too.

Besides, there were more important things at hand.

If Maggie wanted to be prepared to deal with more pirates, she needed to be better at holding her own.

She was lucky before, when Captain Hook had her in his grasp, literally in his grasp.

Peter came eventually, but there was a chance that he never would’ve shown up at all.

For all they knew, Maggie had been tucked away in their treehouse, far away from any battles or harm.

The next time she found herself wound up in such a dangerous pickle, there might not be any daring King coming to save her.

Without even realizing it, Maggie coasted lower to the treetops, her speed drifting away. Her thoughts raced, her mind suddenly drawn back to the Everything Plant and its latest conundrum.

“Gotcha!”

Twitch burst through the treetops, a slurry of leaves exploding out from behind him. His wooden sword was long and crooked, already reaching her own, long before he had the chance to meet her face to face.

Duck.

Maggie shut her eyes and the fairy dust sank out of her.

Immediately the sensation of falling perilously to the ground rushed through her, the wind quickly pulling up at her feet as she gained speed.

But she only fell for a moment of two, quickly reopening her eyes to let the dust sprinkle back through her limbs once more.

As Twitch stumbled forward, his sword slashing and dicing through air, Maggie reappeared behind him, her wooden blade already at the ready.

“Gonna have to be faster than that, Twitch,” Maggie called out, “if you wanna catch me!”

He whipped around, face red and beading with sweat. “Why, you –”

With a giggle, Maggie twirled around, and flew down toward the island.

It was early in the afternoon and most of the townspeople were out and about in the marketplace.

The rays of light that usually followed fairies around made Cricket Hollow shine as though it was the beating heart of Neverland.

Maggie quickly approached the bustling town, slicing and weaving around the acorn-shaped houses and stalls filled to the brim with freshly picked fruits.

Behind her, the Lost Boys and Peter quickly rushed to keep up.

The fairies below gawked and exclaimed at what they saw, pointing their fingers to the sky.

Above the marketplace, the boys managed to create a loose circle around Maggie, stopping her from flying away.

The fairies and natives gathered below, whooping and hollering at the spectacle.

Whispers, so jumbled together that they grew to a loud chorus, reached Maggie from where she hovered, her sword at the ready.

“My money’s on Maggie! She’ll show them!”

“But that’s Peter Pan! And the Lost Boys!”

“Sure, sure. But do you know who Maggie Hart is?”

Pride nestled its way into the center of Maggie’s chest. The feeling was often unfamiliar and readily mistaken as having a sour stomach.

But the longer Maggie stayed in Neverland, her growing successes quickly outweighed the plethora of failures she might’ve made in the past. Something once so vain as pride came as easily as happiness, as readily as despair.

She earned it, and Maggie had no intention of letting it go anytime soon.

The townspeople below sought a show, and she was ready to show them – as well as the Lost Boys and their King – all that she had learned so far.

Parry.

The Lost Boys approached first. They each had a different tactic they excelled in: Twitch leapt forward with a sharp assertiveness, one that could not easily be ignored or deflected.

Dash often followed suit, his name finally coming into play.

He moved with an unmatched speed, swiping and slashing his wooden sword recklessly in front of him.

Scamp and Dusty were a package team, coming forward at the same time.

Their reserved natures gave them the element of surprise, especially in Dusty’s case.

Scamp’s youthful energy gave him a leg up over many people who were far too old to move in the same way.

Dusty might’ve been the most quiet and soft-spoken out of all the Lost Boys, but his technique was undeniable. He was a protector, a defender.

Together, Neverland knew them as an unstoppable force.

Maggie grinned.

The onslaught began as she believed it would.

Twitch came first, but Maggie was at the ready.

When he thrusted forward, his eyes lit up with excitement, she gripped her wooden sword with two hands, putting all her weight into blocking his moves.

The wood snapped and creaked as they made contact, but they were enchanted enough to keep them from breaking beneath the pressure.

Maggie shoved, using the weight of her parries to shove Twitch back.

He backflipped through the air, tumbling legs first into Dash.

Scamp and Dusty came upon her like summer rain.

Quiet and unheard of, barely seen in the afternoon sunlight, until they were suddenly there, undeniable, unavoidable.

They moved in tandem with each other, forcing Maggie to back up and duck rather than parry.

The key, she knew, to getting by their act was the opposite of agility: unmoving.

She remained still, as if her feet were planted in the air, blocking and parrying their blades.

They ascended on her, trying to force her to back away, and were utterly surprised when she did not do so.

With a push against her blade, the pair were flung backwards.

“Nicely done,” called out a voice from behind them. Peter twisted around the beaten Lost Boys, his short wooden blade resting at his side. “You’re getting better with every day.”

“But?” Maggie raised a brow, sensing the teasing humor in his voice.

He pressed forward, the smirk undeniable as it tugged at his lip. “Sure, you can learn all our techniques, but there’s one thing no one else on Neverland has ever done.”

With her curiosity piqued, Maggie began to lower the blade. “Oh, yeah? What’s that?”

“Well, beat Peter Pan in a race of course!”

Maggie exploded through the air before any more words could be said.

She didn’t need to know any rules, to know where they would be racing too.

By that point, she felt as though she had lived in Neverland for all her life, and racing Peter Pan and his Lost Boys was just another day. An average, fun-filled day.

The world of the island raced by as Maggie centered in on the treehouse.

The patio they usually flew into was already open, the wooden doors pulled out wide to let them in.

Even at her distance, Maggie made out a small golden shape waiting on the patio, a yellow tail swishing happily above the creature’s furry head.

Maggie flew through the doors, skidding against the wooden floors before she came to a halting stop beside the back wall.

“Nice try,” Peter said, already leaning against the wall, as if he had been waiting for a while. “But you’ll have to be faster than that next time.”

Maggie’s jaw dropped. “How – but – you – how –?”

One by one, the Lost Boys trickled in behind her.

They were already laughing as they tossed their wooden swords onto a pile on the floor.

Sunny, who was sunbathing on the patio, rushed to greet everyone as they returned.

With his tail erected up in a straight line high above his head, Sunny rubbed along all their ankles before pausing beside Maggie lovingly.

She squatted down to pet him between his ears.

“I don’t understand,” Maggie murmured. “I didn’t even see you. How did you beat me back here?”

Peter smirked and shrugged. “Well, I am Peter Pan, after all.”

“Alright, alright,” she muttered as she straightened back up, a laugh caught on the back of her throat. “Now, if I recall correctly, I had a freshly baked pie cooling in the –”

Before she even had the chance to finish speaking, the boys were racing to reach the kitchen first. Maggie sighed as she followed behind them, Sunny trotting at the same pace as her.

The Lost Boys tumbled and rolled down the stairs, Peter leading the way.

Dash gained speed and slipped by Twitch, only to lunge and wrap his arms around his King’s long legs, in the same fashion as a toddler.

Peter went crashing to the floor below, his groan echoing through the stairwell.

Maggie watched their race unfold. Of course, none of them waited long enough to hear her say that there were plenty of pieces to go around, but that was besides the point.

She simply enjoyed experiencing their freedom, their will to have fun, their insistence to be happy.

It seeped into her the longer she remained in Neverland, the sadness she once might've carried on her shoulders slipping away with every passing day.

Once they reached the kitchen, the Lost Boys were in a pile on the floor, with Peter being the only one left standing.

Maggie seamlessly stepped around their dogpile and pressed into the kitchen.

Peter’s comfortable steps followed close behind, the swinging doors opening and falling behind them.

Maggie reached her cooling pie, the fruits on top glistening with the crystallized simple syrup she'd brushed over them.

She grabbed the knife to slice the pie when the rest of the Lost Boys funneled into the kitchen, not hesitating to tackle their beloved King to the ground with a loud, floor shaking thud.

“Would you guys relax?” Maggie asked through a laugh, already placing the pieces on the round dessert plates. “There’s more than enough for everyone.”

Their rushed shouts came so fast that Maggie hardly had the chance to even know who was speaking.

“I did the most work this week, I deserve the largest piece.”

“And who are you exactly? Not the King of Neverland, last I checked!”

“Tallest gets the biggest!”

“Since when was that a rule?”

“Since now, shorty!”

Their arguments rose and reached the ceiling as Maggie simply dished out the plates across the long table. The boys ran forward with no regard for each other, seeking out whichever slice they wanted the most. Eventually, silence overtook the kitchen, as they happily downed their sweet delights.

Dash was the first to finish, wiping the stray crumbs off his chin. “Say, Peter,” he called out from down the table, “I think Maggie’s picked up on swordplay pretty well. Do you think she’s ready to meet with the pirates?”

A scoff came from Twitch. “I’m sure they’ll be surprised.”

Maggie’s eyes raised. From across the table, Peter remained quiet as the Lost Boys made fun of the pirates all around him. He kept his steely gaze focused on the plate in front of him, his mouth in a hard line.

“Not sure,” he finally said. “Everyone could always use more practice.”

Scamp grinned. “You’re just being overprotective.”

“Maybe she’s ready,” Peter added. His eyes only glanced in her direction before he took another big bite of his pie. By the time he was done chewing, there seemed to be an entirely different topic on his mind. “Has Hazel dropped by the treehouse?”

Dash shook his head. “Not yet, but I’m sure it’ll be soon.”

“I’ll say,” Twitch muttered, “I can’t remember the last time Hazel left her cottage. Now, all of sudden, we see her on a daily basis. Anyone else find that odd?”

Dusty stood from the table, his plate wiped clean. He turned his attention towards Sunny, who was patiently waiting for pets directly behind him. “Not really,” he replied. “It’s not like Hazel’s coming to see us.”

One by one, all the eyes at the table turned to Maggie. She squirmed beneath their persistent stares, a heated blush already seeping across her face. “I don’t really mind,” she answered truthfully. Their eyes didn’t leave her. “I happen to like Hazel, you know.”

Peter opened his mouth to speak when there was a knock at the treehouse door.

He closed his mouth as he looked around the room, one brow raised.

Maggie finished her own slice of pie, a newfound grumbling in her stomach saying that she wasn’t hungry at all.

She just hoped that there wasn’t any trouble knocking on their front door.