Chapter 5 #2
“You do not,” he uttered sharply, though it was not out of anger, but rather a readied defense.
“The fairy tales the humans whisper around a campfire matter little in regards to what it truly is.” Peter’s gaze grew wistful and gentle as they came closer to the island.
“Neverland is a safe haven. To call it an amazing place would be an understatement. The creatures are free here. They are free to have whatever fun they desire.”
Maggie watched him and grew enthralled at his speaking voice. Instantly, she knew why they might regard him as a King.
“There was never much for us to worry about,” Peter continued. “Besides the dangerous magical creatures that call the island home.” He shrugged absentmindedly. “But they were hardly ever anything to worry over. Not really.”
She bit back her scoff. He passed over ‘dangerous creatures’ rather quickly.
“We didn’t even need to cook.”
Maggie eyed him. Something about that statement caught her attention.
“There is something on Neverland,” Peter explained, his voice tight, “something far beyond what you can imagine. It is known as The Everything Plant.”
“The Everything Plant?”
“The berries it grows can taste like anything you want it to be,” Peter said.
“Everyone got fed without every having to cook, or even having to eat something they didn’t want.
And the thing never stopped making berries.
We’d harvest at mealtime, and it was as simple as that.
But…but recently, there’s been no harvest.”
Maggie’s brow furrowed. “Nothing at all?”
“We’ve resorted to learning how to cook,” Peter muttered, acting as if the process of cooking was a dreadful experience. He gulped and shuddered. “Anyways, I’ll say it hasn’t been good. Every creature I come across is starving.”
“Honestly?” Maggie began, feeling as though she had been spun in circles a numerous amount of times, “I haven’t the foggiest idea of what this has got to do with me.”
Peter looked down at her with a grin, the clouded nature that hovered over him before no longer residing there. “Can’t you see it yet?” He laughed brightly. “As the King of Neverland, I obviously had to go out in search of the finest cook from the human lands, so my people could eat well.”
What?
Maggie blinked. “Obviously.”
“Mind you,” Peter began offhandedly, “I went to countless places before the inn you worked at. All of them were terrible, and it was all feeling rather hopeless, until I tried your stew.” He paused to sigh, as if he just had a bowl himself.
“You are an amazing chef, and my people only deserve amazing.” His smile stretched wider. “You were picked for all of Neverland.”
If there was one thing Maggie knew for certain, it was that Peter Pan truly believed he had done something entirely wondrous.
Maybe it was foolish, but she thought herself to be a good reader of people, and the longer she watched the King of Neverland, the easier it was to simply see a just man.
He sought a solution and found what he considered to be the bandage.
Maggie almost didn’t want to let him down, to press logic into the warped sense he had, but pressed on.
“Peter,” she began in a gentle voice. “You can’t kidnap someone that you want to work for you. I-It doesn’t sound right to you, does it?”
His brow scrunched up again. “I don’t think you understand.”
“I –”
“Neverland needs you,” he blurted.
Maggie’s breath hitched in the back of her throat. “I-I-”
“The entire island needs you,” Peter repeated, his voice growing thick with something she couldn’t recognize.
“Your life will be better when you’re with me.
” His eyes flickered, glancing away before finding her again, a sort of sheepishness beginning to creep onto his untouchable confidence. “I-I mean, when you’re in Neverland.”
Ignoring how loud her heart stuttered at his words, Maggie shook her head. “Your island may need help,” she said, “but you can’t expect to simply take whatever you want and call it a solution.”
Peter’s gaze stayed straight forward, his brow never once relaxing. “This will make everyone happier,” he stubbornly said.
Her fist tightened around Peter’s shirt. “What if I told you that I don’t want to be your cook?”
Shocked by her raised voice, Peter’s flight pattern stumbled, but he quickly regained himself, eyeing her with a perplexed expression. After a few moments of silence as he weaved around a series of jagged rocks that surrounded the island, Peter swallowed and only glanced in Maggie’s direction.
“I hadn’t considered that possibility,” he muttered.
The wheels seemed to be churning behind Peter’s eyes, so Maggie remained quiet, sensing that he had something else to say.
She simply watched him, unable to pull her hand away from his shirt.
When he looked upon her again, he was only determined, though there was a twinge of uncertainty in his expression.
“But there is something you do not consider, Maggie Hart,” Peter said, his voice oddly wound up. “I have no choice, but to bring you to Neverland and see to it that my people no longer go hungry.”
Maggie’s mouth popped open.
“I will see to it that you will be pleased with this.”
And then snapped shut.
Peter’s determined look stunned her far more than the words he spoke. “I swear to it,” he said in a quieter voice, the familiar smirk beginning to curl around his lip once more. “And Peter Pan never breaks his promises.”
Maggie felt like she was spinning and there were no signs of stopping.
She swayed in his arms but did not fear falling – an even odder thought to consider.
Warning bells struck in the back of her mind like a twisted song.
The man kidnapped her, no matter what he might say.
She was taken without question, and would not be returned, even if it was what she wished.
And yet, Maggie was swayed to believe that there wasn’t much wrong with her captor.
He was oddly gentle, and hadn’t threatened to drop her yet.
And Maggie would be foolish to say that his handsome face didn’t smoothen the deal.
She shook her head and felt dizzy even more. The road ahead was frighteningly foggy, and Maggie had no idea where she was headed. There was only Peter Pan, and the approaching plunder of Neverland.