Chapter Seven

The next few days continued in what could have been bliss, but was unfortunately for Kate a constant torment. She lay in wait, her senses sharp and heightened by her extreme desire to proclaim her affections. But somehow the moment never came. She would be ready to tell him, ready to bare her soul, but then he would be distracted and the moment would be lost.

No one spoke of Bones' treasure again. She wasn't sure if Peter had actually returned it, but she supposed he had for she never saw it again. That was one less thing to worry about, especially since Peter had consumed her mind, ever fiber of very being since that fateful day on Bones' ship.

One afternoon they were all out playing hide and seek in the forest. Kate was all by herself, hiding behind a rather large bush, her ears pricked, waiting to hear even the smallest indication that someone was nearby. She could, however, hear nothing but cheerful bird song, merrily proclaiming the beauty of the day.

"Got you," someone said behind her, their voice filled with delight. Kate giggled and turned to face Peter. He was hovering in the air over her head, a small smile playing on his lips, retaining laughter.

"That's not fair. You were flying and I couldn't hear you coming," she protested, pulling on his foot and jerking him to the ground. He laughed and pushed her slightly.

"All's fair in my games," he said, laughing. She frowned slightly, then laughed. She wanted so much to say it right now, but something was holding her back yet again. For some reason, now that the moment had come, she couldn't speak the words… Instead she kicked his leg out from under him and he fell to the ground, laughing but looking extremely confused.

"That's not fair!"

"You said everything is fair in your games," she pointed out sweetly, batting her eyelashes. He laughed.

"You'll pay for this, Katie!" he said. She giggled.

"Only if you can catch me!" she yelled back, beginning to run away as fast as her legs could carry her. There was once a point when even the smallest effort caused her to sweat profusely and for her breathing to become ragged, but she ran now quickly and with the greatest of ease. Where once she had loathed sports, she now loved to play with the Lost Boys, the more exercise and violence involved the better.

She ran without seeing, without watching precisely where she was going. She wound her way around the trees and through the brush, stepping over exposed roots and the small holes in the ground dug by tiny burrowing animals.

All at once something grabbed her from behind. She squealed a little, slightly startled, but she assumed it was Peter and thought nothing of it. But when Bones' face leered at her, and she felt the pirates tying her wrists and ankles so that she couldn't escape, she felt her heart flutter as she began to panic. They tied a handkerchief around her mouth so that she couldn't scream and then they slung her over their backs like a sack of potatoes. If she hadn't been more afraid, she would have been indignant over this mistreatment. She was, after all, a lady.

They took her to their ship and locked her in Bones' study. They didn't even bother to undo her bonds, but dumped her rather unceremoniously on the ground and left her there.

How long would it take for Peter to notice her disappearance? How long until he came after her? Would he come after her? Surely he would- for even if he didn't do it out of affection for her, he would do it simply for the adventure. But oh, how she longed for it to be the former!

She was locked in there for what felt like ages. Finally one of Bones' henchmen came in and undid her bonds, then handed her a dish filled with chicken and what looked like porridge. She picked at it, staring at it with a revolted look on her face, but then forced herself to imagine it was a delectable meal fit for a king. It slid down her throat quite easily after that, and she really could taste the gravy, potatoes and caviar.

Nothing happened for a while after that. When she got bored she began wandering around the room, poking things and exploring. To her surprise, many of the books in Bones' library were of a literary nature, books she herself had read and loved. The familiar nature of the titles was strangely comforting to her, for now she felt a rather intimate bond with the captain of the ship, felt she could understand him a little better. These were all books she had read in an attempt to give her life meaning, a failed attempt to comprehend the confusing and muddled nature of life.

She at first hesitated to go through his wardrobe, but when she passed what seemed like an eternity without doing anything and without anyone bursting into the room, she convinced herself to open the whittled-wood door. Inside were dark shirts and pants, all of them clean and pressed, organized by nature of the article of clothing and by color. She marveled at how organized a single pirate was, for from her experience men were not the cleanest of creatures. His socks were clean and lay neatly folded in a drawer. She ran her fingers over them, feeling the softness of the cotton. They seemed to be new, for they were too soft to have been washed very many times. Kate smiled. She had always loved the smell and the feel of new fabric. Obviously Bones did too.

"What are you doing?"

She started at the sound of his voice, and she hastily closed the cabinet door, staring guiltily into the eyes of the pirate. He didn't seem too angry with her, but rather curious and slightly confused.

"I'm sorry," she muttered, the silence weighing heavily upon her. She hoped that an apology would ease the load bearing down upon her, but it did nothing of the kind. In fact it made it worse.

"Why don't you have a seat?" he asked, indicating the large wood chair he had been sitting in the first time she had been in there. She stared at it for a moment, and then sensing that she was in no position to refuse, she obeyed. "Did you find anything interesting?"

"You have very good taste in literature," she commented, indicating with a jerk of her head the rows and rows of books that lined the walls. He smiled slightly, the ends of his mouth curling slightly upwards in a twisted sort of smile. "I've read a lot of those myself."

"Did you like them?"

"Loved them."

A silence fell upon them once more and Bones sighed, staring out the grimy window. Darkness had fallen across the island, and Kate was beginning to think Peter would never come. Her heart had risen into her throat and she could hardly breathe, it was choking her so badly. Tears threatened to erupt at any moment, but she refused to give Bones the satisfaction of seeing her cry on his account.

"Do you know why you're here?" he asked suddenly. She stared up into his eyes. She had an idea, yes, but she'd had nothing to do with it. She said nothing, though, and Bones sensed that it was once again his turn to speak. "Something very precious was taken from me, something very valuable. I demand its return."

"I thought Peter gave it back," she whispered, a desperate and confused gaze filling her eyes. Bones' expression at once softened, and he knelt down so that he was looking her directly in the eyes. He gently ran his fingers through her hair, a comforting gesture that Kate, oddly, did not shy away from.

"You convinced him to return it?"

"We came to a mutual agreement," she whispered, and it felt as though they shared some intimate bond, some small connection. Feeling rather guilty, though, she lowered her eyes and stared at the Oriental rug. "He said he would."

"Treasure often destroys many of the things men hold dear, including promises," Bones whispered soothingly, putting a hand under her chin and lifting it so that she was once again looking into his eyes. "You know the true value of the ring, don't you?"

She nodded slowly. "Who did you intend to give it to?"

"I won't give you her name, but she was a great lady of London. She stole my heart one day and never returned it. I saw her when I was going to work one morning. She had her parasol resting on her shoulder, and her face was shrouded in shadow. She had the brightest eyes I've ever seen, and the reddest lips imaginable. They curved up in a small smile, and her eyes were so warm that you felt immediately that you knew her. She was so beautiful… She must be the most beautiful woman alive."

"But whatever happened? Where is she now?" she asked, leaning in, captivated by the story. The woman sounded strangely familiar, and she felt a strong urge to know more about her, felt a need to recognize her.

"Her parents convinced her I was too low-born for her. I thought she still loved me, but one night when I tried to climb in through her window and get her to sneak away with me, she rejected me so flatly that I knew she didn't love me any more. The pain of the heart is the greatest pain you will ever feel in life. There is nothing like it, and there is no cure for it. It fades away eventually until you can barely feel it, but it's always there, lurking, springing into life at the most unexpected moments, eating you alive. That's when I came to Neverland- I felt there was nothing left for me in London. There really wasn't, actually. Everywhere I went I saw her, and the worst was when I saw her one day walking the streets, another man's arm around her waist, and her smiling and pushing a perambulator with a tiny baby in it."

Kate let out a little gasp of pain and she slowly reached out and patted his hand. He had been staring at the floor and he now looked up at her, his eyes filled with the greatest pain Kate had ever seen before. The small smile which before had constantly played on his lips was gone, replaced by muscles slowly tugging the mouth into a frown.

"What was her name?" Kate urged in a whisper, leaning closer so that their foreheads were touching.

"Jane Darling," he whispered. "The most beautiful name ever uttered by man."