Chapter 3

Dark and Sinister Man

At the sound of Hook's voice ordering Smee to 'Send her in', Wendy shivered. Whenever she had come face to face with the blackavized countenance of the captain before, Peter had been with her. Alone and defenceless, she was terrified- although she did a sterling job of not showing it. Her head held high, Wendy entered the room with dignity. The sight of him made her blood rush as though caught in a storm. He was exactly as she had remembered. Tall and debonair and exquisitely dressed, his long black mane of hair was shining like jet and a triumphant twitch of a smile played across his face. His eyes (which had always had a strange power over Wendy she could never explain as a child) were the same icy forget-me-not blue, and they were looking at her with an expression of interest as he stood up to greet her in a genteel fashion.

'Well well my beauty, tis a pleasure to see you so haughty and collected. One might have thought you would have shied at the sight of me.'

Wendy said nothing, so Hook continued.

'I must say, you have changed a great deal since last we met. You have grown up.'

Wendy bowed her head, and muttered something about not being able to help it.

'Alas, my dear, none of us can,' Hook sighed theatrically. 'But that is the way of it. Now,' he motioned for her to sit down 'I suppose you're wondering why the devil I wanted to speak with you. The truth is, I summoned you to my quarters in order to allay any anxieties you may have about being here. I do not wish to hurt you.'

'Why did you bring me here then?' asked Wendy.

'I feared you would quiz me thus' said the captain with a faux-tragic air. 'And, harsh as it may sound, I shall not tell thee. Plotters are not generally in the habit of sharing their best laid plans with their enemies- you are my enemy, I suppose?'

Wendy was bemused by such a question but nodded vigourously.

'Well then you will, I hope, understand my reticence to give you my reasons for thy presence on board the Jolly Roger. I would be more than happy, however, to answer any other questions you may have.'

'What are you going to do with me?'

'Whatever you desire- except return you home, of course. You must think of yourself not as some wretched prisoner, but as an esteemed guest.'

'Retained by force?'

'How very cynical of you, my beauty,' Hook raised an eyebrow, examining Wendy for a while before sitting down himself. 'I was hoping you might overlook such vulgar necessities. Coffee?'

Wendy politely declined; she never had cared for coffee. To her, it tastes of burnt. She spent a few moments watching the pirate captain, wrestling with a thousand questions she wanted to ask him. Eventually her curiosity wrestled down her pride, perhaps a sign she was not yet completely grown up.

'I thought you were dead- how did you survive the crocodile?'

Captain Hook took a sip from his cup and gazed into it.

'That, my dear, is quite a story. As I'm sure you'll remember, Pan'(he spat the name) 'saw to it that I was cast into the jaws of the beast, and swallowed. I hear that it was a widespread rumour I had been killed: "Thus" it was written by one, "perished James Hook". And, I suppose, he was virtually correct, for when I eventually regained control of the ship I found most of my possessions had already been given to my inheritor or sold; and even some of my clothes had been unceremoniously ripped up and made into a sort of horrid child's costume!'

Wendy blushed and wondered whether the captain knew of her own hand in that particular affront.

'At any rate, after having been swallowed up by that scaly brute, I remembered me- and this wondrous hook of mine- and I slashed at the monster from inside, slitting its accursed throat. After carving my way out, I swam to shore and waited for a week or so on land until Pan returned with the Jolly Roger. I can only guess that the shallow-witted youth tired of piracy quickly; it was not long before he had rounded up a new collection of whelps and was living on the island. I stole back to my ship to find that Pan had been circulating the rumour he had killed me, vainest of boys! My cabin was a disgraceful mess.'

'What did you do then?'

'Then, my beauty, I gathered together the two surviving members of my old crew- Gentleman Starkey and, of course, Smee; and we sailed off to my old haunts around the Spanish Main to find new dogs. But I had not forgotten Pan, nor my grievances against him. Twas but a few months before we came back here, and I have been fighting him ever since.'

'But he'd forgotten you' said Wendy, puzzled. 'The first time I came back to Neverland I mentioned you and he couldn't remember who you were. He said "I always forget them after I've killed them."'

Hook looked bitterly out of the window. 'The arrogance of the boy never ceases. He had, indeed, forgotten me when first we crossed swords again. That was many moons ago now. I think that afterward, however, he still believed, or pretended at least-'

'-It is all the same to him' interjected Wendy

'Quite. He still believed that he had killed Captain Hook, and refuses to call me by that name, for I am dead to him.'

'What does he call you now?'

'"Man". "Dark and Sinister Man" sometimes. "Old Man" other times.' Hook sighed. 'I suppose he is not wrong in that sense.' And he sighed again, his eyes fixed on the grains of his coffee cup. Wendy felt increasingly uncomfortable with this melancholy, so she asked:

'How did you find me?' At her question, Hook seemed to snap back into life.

'My dear girl, such subject matter may appal you rather.'

'Go on.'

'Very well. As I recall correctly, Pan took you back to Neverland after your first visit?'

'Twice.'

'Twice, was it? Anyway, the irritating little wisp of a fairy that used to follow him about in your time died soon after I was swallowed by the croc, and Pan got himself a new one from somewhere.'

'I remember; there was a new fairy the second time.'

'Indeed, she came to your very house. Well, you see, when it first occurred to me to bring you here, I knew I'd have to find out where you live. Fairies are dull, stupid creatures but they have a first rate sense of direction, and I…extracted from this one the whereabouts of your home.'

'She guided you there?' Wendy was incredulous.

'She did.'

'But why would she do that? Peter would hate her for such a thing.'

'Ah. She wasn't exactly what one might call forthcoming. I had to resort to certain threats to make her agree to guide me to you.'

'What kind of threats?' whispered Wendy, nervously.

'I told her I would gainsay the existence of fairies systematically and relentlessly until she told me.'

Wendy was horrified- 'but that's simply monstrous!'

'Needs must, my beauty. She agreed to guide me to your home, and did a good job of it.'

'And…' Wendy's voice trembled slightly 'Where is she now?'

'Now?' a glimmer of amusement lighted on the pirate's lips as he answered. 'Why, she's dead, now.'

'You killed her?'

'I did nothing of the sort. But after your removal last night I was in a philosophical mood. In my musings I may have touched upon the subject of fairies, and I may have voiced the conclusion of such contemplations in a denial of their corporeal actuality.' Hook looked as proud of his sophistry as Wendy was disgusted by it. A silence ensued, in which Hook seemed to gauge her thoughts.

'You are shocked, Miss Darling. Doubtless you would fain have leave of me. Well then, you may go.'

The suddenness of this command surprised Wendy, but she rose to leave. As she did so, she noticed the eyes of the captain were fixed on her once more.