Author Note: Hey everyone! I was just out of town for a week… sorry for the lack of updates in that time! I know a lot of you felt that Chapter 9 was too much of filler and not enough action, but I'm really happy with the way it turned out because it really helped me to better develop my pirates. Writing Chapter 9 made those characters come alive a lot more for me, and now I'm pleased to say they will have a bigger part in the story. Yay!
I apologize for Aimee's cursing. I want to just keep her in character, but she'll definitely be cutting down soon.
One last thing—once I finish one of the stories I'm currently working on (probably The Crumbling Castle), I plan to start writing a new story. This one will be in the Harry Potter category. If you're interested in reading it, take two seconds to do the poll on my profile page! Thanks so much.
Without further ado, I hope everyone enjoys Chapter 10! (Yes, I know it's filler. Deal with it!)
Chapter Ten
"You've used up all the fairy dust?" I exclaim, shocked to be learning that my choice to stay in Neverland was never a choice in the first place. "What kind of idiot are you?"
James gets this hopeless little innocent look on his face, one that I might actually find sort of cute if I weren't so pissed off.
Did I just say cute? I think the salty sea air has already gotten to my head.
"Not to worry!" James reassures me, probably afraid I'll burst into tears or something. How naïve of him… I never cry. I probably don't even have tear ducts. "It was just one jar. I can always get another."
Relieved, I take a deep breath. Then I smack James in the arm.
"Way to scare the shit out of me!" I yell at him, kind of pissed that he'd try to freak me out like that. Just because I've decided to stick around doesn't mean I want to be completely stranded here. What happens when I'm ready to go home?
"Such language for a lady," James mutters to himself, rubbing his arm where I've hit him.
Lucky shoots me an approving grin.
"Don't worry about him, Miss Aimee Nevaeh Morgan," he tells me, drawing out my full name. "We all know that James here was just hoping that, by offering no possible escape, he'd be able to keep a pretty lass like yourself forever."
The other pirates chuckle, nudging James and whistling at him as his face turns red. I'd almost feel bad for him, getting all embarrassed like that, except for the fact that he – oh, I don't know – kidnapped me.
"Would you all excuse me for a moment?" James asks suddenly, standing up from the table at once and hurrying out of the room. The rest of us exchange looks.
"Suppose I'd better go, too," Sam says, getting up as well. "I need to check the maps for tomorrow's journey."
Poseidon speaks up, too. "I ought to go for a swim," he tells us. "Promised Thalassa I'd go see her before we set sail." He shoots me a dirty look. "Thalassa's that 'evil mermaid' I've been seeing," he explains bitterly, shaking his head. I gotta admit, I admire the sarcasm, but I'm sensing a bit of an attitude here.
I shrug. "Hey, dude, I'm not the one who chose her for you," I shoot back.
Twitch reaches out to give me a high-five, laughing as Poseidon leaves in a huff.
"So," Lucky says, turning to me. "May I give you the grand tour of our ship?"
"Yeah," I tell him, trying not to seem too giddy right now, even though I swear I'm about to pee my pants in excitement. (Come on, a real pirate ship?)
Lucky leads me out of the kitchen and back out on deck. "This," he tells me, pausing for emphasis, "is the Jolly Roger."
"Really?" Sometimes I can't help being a total smart-ass; I think it's in my blood. I smile softly. "Sorry. Continue."
Lucky and I walk around the set of rooms near the kitchen, and he points out each one.
"This is Smee's cabin," he explains, referring to the first room we see. "He's been with the Hooks so long that James eventually gave him a room of his own." He looks at me. "We can't go in, of course – a man's room is a man's room – but, as I'm sure you can guess, there are a lot of recipe books in there."
"Recipe books?" Something about that doesn't sound right to me. "But I'm pretty sure I heard somewhere that Smee can't read."
Lucky laughs lightly at this. "You're right," he tells me. "He can't. That's why the books use pictures. Anyway… moving on."
He points to the next door. "This is a gallery of our travels," he says. "Things we've picked up on all the islands. Care to see it?"
I do. Lucky pulls a key out of his pocket, and turns it through the lock. We enter the room, and I can't believe my eyes.
Shelves upon shelves of treasure chests, small statues, jewels. There's a bouquet of golden roses, a miniature jade ship, a set of pottery.
I spot a tiny dragon on the shelf that's right beside me. "When did you guys get this one?" I ask.
"Oh, that?" Lucky grins. "That's from the Dragon Coast. One of my favorites. It breathes fire, you know." He pulls a pipe out of his coat pocket and holds it out to the dragon. "Light," he commands it, and it actually does exhale a small flame, enough to light the pipe. He brings the pipe to his mouth, takes a thoughtful puff, and then looks at me. "What did I tell you?"
I laugh. "That is probably the coolest thing I've ever seen," I admit, though as I look around the room, I know that there are tons of other awesome relics that I have yet to see.
"That it is," Lucky agrees. "Anyway, you could spend days in this room, just uncovering all of the treasures we've brought back. Let's move on."
"Okay," I consent, despite the fact that I really want to look around some more. "What's next?"
We leave the room, which Lucky again locks behind him, and head back out on deck.
"The next room was once for our guests," he tells me. "Most famously, this is where Jenna Parker stayed when she was on the ship."
"That's where I slept last night," I realize aloud.
Lucky wrinkles his eyebrows at me. "Really?" He crosses his arms in thought. "James never lets anyone in there now. I doubt if I've even been inside."
I shrug. "Maybe it's because he thought I was Jenna," I reason. "Maybe that's why he brought me there."
"It must be," Lucky agrees. He takes a deep breath before continuing. "Well, the next room belongs to James."
James. Suddenly I remember his weird exit from breakfast that took place not too long ago. What was his problem, anyway?
"Is he in there?" I ask Lucky, genuinely wondering what happened.
Lucky nods. "He always is, at least for a while," he tells me quietly. "Whenever we're not on a trip, he takes some time to himself after breakfast."
"But why—"
"Next," Lucky interrupts me, apparently moving on. "It's time to go below deck."
We cross the ship, passing cannons and all sorts of ropes and sails and crap that I can't name for the life of me. Finally, we reach a square hole in the floor, opened up to reveal a ladder leading underneath the ship.
"Follow me."
We climb down the ladder, but I'm a lot slower and more reluctant. I always hate climbing down ladders and things… that's when my small fear of heights starts to kick in. Luckily I can tolerate it.
I finally step down onto the wooden ship floor, and Lucky smiles. "To the left are supplies for our voyages," he tells me, motioning in that general direction. "And to the right, the pirates' quarters." He grins.
I turn beside me to see two sets of bunk beds, along with a third lone bed. On their beds, Queequeg and Twitch are playing some kind of card game, and Sam is studying a map. It's pretty bare down here – nothing like the room I woke up in – and dark, too. There are a bunch of knapsacks on the side of the room – I guess each belongs to a pirate and probably holds anything personal they would own.
"Nice little setup you've got here," I say finally, leaning against the wall. "Real cozy."
Lucky nods. "It's nothing special," he admits. "But it's what we've got… and it's all right." He takes a seat on the single bed.
"Can I ask you something?"
He looks at me and shrugs. "I don't know," he replies, "can you?"
The question has been eating at me, so I just have to come out with it.
"Why does James spend all that time by himself?" I ask.
The quiet chatter of the other pirates comes to a halt as they look at me uneasily. Even Lucky looks like he's been caught off-guard.
"He's… well, he's got a broken heart," Lucky explains slowly. "A lot's happened since his Jenna left, but he still can't shake the memories of her."
Man, he must be obsessed. In spite of everything, I actually can feel my sympathy for him beginning to grow, and I just met him this morning.
"So he just thinks about her all the time?"
"Sometimes he reads her book," Sam answers me, pushing his glasses up off the bridge of his nose.
"And s-s-sometimes he sl-sleeps and tr-tries to dr-dream of her," Twitch adds.
"Binoculars," Queequeg chimes in.
"Oh, he doesn't use the binoculars too often," Lucky clarifies. "But you're right, Aimee. Sometimes he just sits and thinks about her."
I cross my arms. "Isn't that a little… obsessive?"
The other pirates exchange looks.
"Am I wrong?" I ask. "I mean, you all know him better than I do. I just think it's kind of not worth it to spend all your energy on someone who isn't coming back."
"We've tried telling him that," Sam explains. "Many times."
"H-he w-won't listen though," Twitch says. "He l-loved her."
"That he did." Lucky lies back on his bed, seemingly deep in thought. "I s'pose time will heal all wounds."
His words make me think of my family. Mom left years ago because we weren't enough for her, and she broke Dad's heart most of all. And even after he got remarried and had another kid, he's still not the same person. I don't know how many years it takes most people to get over something like that, but he's had a lot of time, and instead of being healed, he seems to have just turned numb.
"I hope so," I say quietly, falling into a deeper reflection.
Acknowledgments: Thanks to all of Chapter 9's reviewers… NobleBrokenBeauty, imagine everything, Yuki Asao, Purple Shamrock 17, EvanescentDream93, Cheshire Dreaming, EragonPeep, Miss DnG, jewelofthedawn, CurryCurran, SuperWafer, cam-is-hot, and LadyPooch. Hope you enjoy Chapter 10!