Chapter 25 – Aboard The Jolly Roger

After the little party clambered aboard, their troop vanished inside to get warm, including the pixie and the fairy. Wendy gazed about the captain's cabin while she slipped out of the boots, cape, furl-doublet and finally the doublet Giliath had given her. The belt with the dagger she laid on the large table, and Michael and the Twins thirstily drank the fresh water Billy Jukes brought them.

Cecco accompanied the children to Hook's cabin, repeating his warning (for the third time) to "be careful wit' t' cap'n's belongin's" and "t' bring' not'ing to disorder." Then he rumbled "G'night. Duty starts tomorrow a' six bells." Wendy, loving everything that had to do with ships and the sea, knew that meant 7 o'clock, as time was measured on the ship, starting at midnight for four hour shifts, bells rung at the half hour. And so she surprised the giant pirate when she told him that breakfast would be ready at eight bells, one hour later at 8 o'clock.

Cecco was surprised – a landlubber, a female knew that? Was it possible his captain hadn't lost his mind? That this little lassie really was worth the man's time?

After the buccaneer exited, Nihal and Billy Jukes came. The pirate brought them fresh water and bread, cheese, and fruits. He had grumbled something about "Yer duty starts t'morra! Ye need yer rest!" and had left. The Elf laid Bumblyn, soundly asleep, on a padded armchair, asked the children if they needed anything, then left with a small bow to Wendy and a nod toward the exhausted boys. He told them they would be safer here than anywhere else, and that he and Emorlhi would keep watch.

Finally alone, the candle-lit peace of the quiet cabin sank in, and wearily, Wendy put the snow-caked clothes near the decorated stove, a new fire busily crackling within. With wide eyes, she took in the familiar surroundings. This time, she had the leisure to examine the warm and wondrous details.

Hook's cabin hadn't changed a smidge – everything was just as she remembered. Beyond the short entrance, the captain's cabin took up the aft of that deck. Mulled windows, both clear and blue, filled the aft-wall; the dark beams overhead and where the bulkheads met the deck above revealed beautiful carvings, partly plated with gold. Overhead was a large wooden grating, now sealed from above. But when the weather grew warm, fresh air could circulate in the cabin without opening windows – a dangerous situation on a pirate-ship.

The castle (the large raised portion aft) was one of the weak areas of a ship during an attack, and pirates often used this to gain victory over a ship. While attacking the bow and sides, some of them would climb aboard at the aft and attack the other crew in from behind. Hook had gained many victories in this way, and knowing of the dangers of Neverland (mainly the Indians, and boys), he had made sure that his own quarters were not at risk, and, at the same, he could enjoy time fresh air – something necessary for body and soul.

Wendy didn't know this about Hook, but recognized that the grating would provide fresh air and a modicum of safety. Turning her attention from the ceiling, she saw floor was covered with thick Oriental carpets. There was the beautifully crafted harpsichord, which Hook was playing when she spoke with him for the very first time. A wooden globe, a large table with four ladder-back chairs (one on which Bumblyn snored), a desk with a padded leather chair, a deep luxuriously upholstered divan, a bed (its headboard shaped like an open shell and painted gold), the small glass cabinet with Hook's different chemicals and medicines, a wardrobe and several other pieces furnished the cabin in a suitably regal manner.

Portside, she saw shelves with many books – the library he'd invited her to enjoy. She hadn't noticed it during her former visit, nor the stove to starboard. From here, warmth was already beginning to radiate, and the girl sighed with relief. After the long winter walk, it was heaven to come in out of the cold, and find something so comfortable and well-appointed.

"Wendy?" Michael asked, rubbing his eyes with one hand. "Where does that go?" He pointed at a door behind her, beside the door they had just come through.

The girl shook her head. "I don't know, Michael."

"But we thought, you—"

"—were here before?" the Twins added.

The girl gave them a firm look. "Yes. As a 'guest' or captive, my attention was elsewhere. I did not have a chance to go exploring! When you're facing the Scourge of the Seven Seas, known only by reputation, you pay attention not to the furniture, but to him."

"Sure – especially to his 'eyes blue as forget-me-nots'," Michael teased, then yawned hugely.

Wendy felt heat rising to her cheeks, and she stuck her tongue out at her little brother. "All right, to bed!" the girl ordered, suddenly all mother again. "You two take the ottoman. It's large enough for two small boys!" The Twins nodded, yawning and tottering on thawing feet to their bed, catching the blanket and pillow Wendy tossed to them.

Michael watched her with wary eyes as she turned down the Captain's four-poster bed. "You want to sleep here?" he asked.

"Of course. Why not? It is, after all, a bed."

"But it's … it's his bed!" he grimaced.

"Don't be silly, Michael. It's the first real bed we've had in days – and Captain Hook invited us to use the cabin freely. So I see no reason why I – and you – shouldn't sleep in his bed."

Behind her the Twins giggled, "If Mother could see us now!" Wendy laughed as well. Yes, it seemed as if they would go to bed without washing – again – and as soon as this adventure was over she would make sure that all the boys took a hot bath – Peter as well!

Bath …

Didn't Hook mention a tub, and that she could use it as well?

Her head turned to the small door past the desk, and she realized she had not yet seen anything like a wash basin or tub. And considering the Captain's usually fastidious appearance … Hmm … James Hook would never perform his morning toilette with the crew! And then she remembered … hadn't he said something about a water-closet? "Wait before you slip into bed!" she told the boys, lifting the latch, and carefully opening the mysterious door.

It was dark, of course. "Michael? Bring a candle, please!" Her brother obeyed and the twins forgot about bed for a chance to explore the ship they'd harassed so often. The girl lifted the candle and peered from the threshold. A gasp escaped her.

Well, one thing could be said about James Hook: the man showed a lot of good taste, even for a man at sea. The room was small, fitting nicely between the bridge and the cabin. It held everything needed, as was appropriate for a man's "ready room" as the captain called it (dictated by tradition.) There was a tub (white porcelain, decorated with gold), a wash-stand with bone china pitcher and wash bowl kept in its place on the rolling sea by an elegant railing, a gold-plated towel rack, and a personal latrine built into the outer hull beneath a small porthole. Another protected shelf held other utensils, such as a straight razor, sharpening strop, shaving-brush, a flask with scented toilette water (no doubt about it), soap, and other grooming tools.

Michael's large eyes grew larger. "Beggar me" he exclaimed – an expression he'd picked up from a workman in the street.

"It looks like –"

"—Sir Edward's other room!" the Twins contributed.

(Sir Edward Quiller Couch was George Darling's immediate superior at the bank. All the boys had accompanied their father to his new office on one of the bank holidays, and as Father regaled the other boys over the glories of a perfectly balanced account, the Twins had gone "exploring." Curly missed them soon after, and both were discovered before too much damage was done … but that's another story.)

Wendy shot the boys a sharp look, but Michael whistled. "He must be the King of pirates!"

Wendy giggled. "Good heavens, don't say that around the Captain, or none of his hats will fit anymore!" They all laughed together, and the boys turned to go back to the main cabin.

It was then they heard Wendy pointedly clearing her throat. "Lads, first you wash up!" Objections were immediate, loud, and numerous, but Wendy wouldn't budge. "Just look at you -- you're filthier than the pirate crew of this ship! And I don't want to have to wash his sheets to conceal from Hook that you crawled onto his furniture as dirty as farm boys after harvest!"

Grumbling loudly, the boys did as they were told, remembering Hook's warning. The only one who seemed deaf to her orders was Bumblyn, who slept like a bear in winter. Rolled in a little ball, his tail wrapped around securely around his waist, he slept like a dead man, snoring indescribably. Wendy found a blanket in a chest and spread it over him, tucking it around her 'shadow.' He yawned, mumbled something and rubbed his face on the soft material. She picked his hat off the floor and laid it on the table. "Sleep well, little friend!" she whispered; then she returned to supervise the boys' baths.

Later, Wendy snuffed the candles and slipped between the blankets, sighing with pleasure at the satin surrounding her, warmed by wool and feathers. She wore only the shirt Hook had given her. She closed her eyes, hearing Michael already sleeping soundly beside her – and shifted again to find a comfortable position. She heard the strange noises of the ship: the creaking of the wooden planks, the wind in the rigging, the crunch of the ice, and the footsteps of the guards overhead. Wind soughed past the mulled windows, but for the first time since Neverland had been beset by winter, it sounded almost normal, not dangerous. Yawning widely, Wendy buried her face in the pillow beneath her face.

She could smell the man in the satin, familiar by now, and somehow, even if she were too young and too tired to wonder why, it comforted her.

She might have thought about how he no longer represented danger to her. She might have remembered his more compassionate side. She knew he'd been forced into alliance, but she no longer looked upon him with trepidation, fearing what he might demand from her in payment for her offences – real and imagined – against him. She might have remembered that Peter seemed to trust him with the fate of Neverland. If she'd had even a few more minutes, she would have said a heartfelt prayer for the boys, elves, pirates. Then her mind would have lingered over a face surrounded by blonde curls with pixie dust in his grin, or maybe a tall blue-eyed Lothario. She might have thought of all these things, but three or four heartbeats after her last sigh, she fell sound asleep, and dreamed she walked in the Neverland summer, looking for something she hadn't quite found yet … just … just out of reach.

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Wendy took a step back and beheld the heap of onions and potatoes she had already peeled and the other heap that still had to be done. At the other side of the worktable sat Billy Jukes, carving the meat and whistling a song she didn't know. Between them crouched Bumblyn, slicing tomatoes. It was late afternoon, and she was already tired.

That morning, Bumblyn woke her up when, cackling with merriment, he started hopping over her from side to side, very pleased with his new game, rhyming her name with absurd creatures. After she washed – and forced the boys to do the same – she slipped into her (now dry) clothes, ordered the boys to the galley with her, and together they made a breakfast for all. Their trip to the galley was the most dangerous part of their shipboard experience so far – not because of the pirates, who ignored them – but because of the ice on the steep stair to the deck, then the deck itself, and finally the companionway. A grumpy Albino and Jukes (with his eyelids at half-mast) showed them where everything was and left again.

Wendy never imagined that Cookson would keep a clean kitchen, but the galley was spotless. The large kettles, tools, knives, and dishes gleamed and the wooden block table was scrubbed. Countless scores on its worn surface told of years of use.

After she and the boys had labored for nearly an hour (Bumblyn displaying a basic competence, even if he nearly broke a few things), Jukes returned and gave them a helping hand, before the crew filed in for their food. Wendy and the boys remained in the galley. Even with the Elves, they didn't feel safe joining the pirates in their common-room.

Then Wendy did the washing up – egad, even twenty buccaneers couldn't make such an awful mess, could they? – prepared a bit of lunch for herself (with Jukes' help), and used the little time left to read one of Hook's books.

He really had an impressive library and books on all sorts of topics: science, engineering, the design and construction of ships, biology and geography. There were also the classics of Shakespeare, Dumas, Defoe, Milton and many other authors unknown to her. He had poetry and songbooks, and the girl felt like she stood looking at a piece of heaven. She even tried a book in French (she wasn't proficient in French, but she caught the gist of it) and had finally decided to read a book by Dumas, in English, even if it was written in an old style.

She read aloud to the boys, until Bumblyn knocked on the door before falling into the room, jumping up to remind her that it was time to prepare dinner. So the afternoon passed quite pleasantly, despite the weather and her gnawing fear for Peter and the others, for even such a good book as "The Three Musketeers" couldn't distract her from the danger they all faced.

At one point, as the boys dozed, the girl was tempted to attempt a drawing. And if she hadn't been that diverted by Hook's navigation charts that lay on his desk, she would have started one.

But now, Wendy was peeling vegetables. She rolled her shoulders and rubbed her neck, which had begun to ache in earnest, complaining about the unfamiliar activity Bumblyn looked up. "Might I rub your back for you, lady? Perhaps and perchance this unlucky person might coax the krickity-sticks from your neck?"

Wendy looked up at him, surprised by his offer, almost responding with an enthusiastic "yes!" before she saw the little one's hands covered with tomato guts. "Uh … no, thank you, Bumblyn!"

Billy Jukes snorted, trying to hide his laugh, and the girl glanced at him. Hook had been right. The tattooed gunman really had a sunny disposition. Rough as he was, he had begun to tell jokes, and even shared adventures he'd experienced, both in Neverland and back home. She was trying to read his expressions through the tattoos, and she quickly learned that he was joking when his blue-grey eyes twinkled and the spider-webs tattooed on his cheeks, nose and chin twisted. "Could give 'er a rum," he grinned at Bumblyn, who sat between them at the table and handled his small knife rather carelessly as he hacked the tomatoes in little pieces.

He used his own unique method. He laid the tomato in front of him, raised his knife over his head like the king's executioner, bringing it down forcefully. There was much splashing of juice, and one or two just rolled away. Bumblyn looked at Wendy. "Great flabberin honk! No rum for the fair young maid, mate!" he said firmly and the next tomato split perfectly.

" 'Oo taught ya 'ow t' do it t'at way?"

Skylight stood at the door, dressed in every stitch he owned, staring at the mess. Short Tom – the one-eyed, peg-legged, nearly bald parrot – clung to his shoulder. Wendy recognized the miserable creature as the one who followed her to Peter's old hideout on her last visit to Neverland.

The Hobgoblin frowned. "Who are you to ask, ya great lout? Who might it be who lives in a kitchen? You big'un or me?"

The older pirate laughed. "I sure would like t' see Cookie's face now!"

"Bilge-rats and sea-demons!" Short Tom croaked. "Cookie blow a storm!"

Wendy giggled, forgiving the bird for what he did to her, hearing the man's despised nickname. She looked around. "Where are the boys?"

Skylight jerked his thumb upward. "Wit' t'e Elves!" He shook his head. "Don't t'ose magicians NEVER sleep?" He took a seat and snatched up a tomato, jamming it entirely into his mouth and devouring. Juice escaped over his beard and Wendy lifted a brow.

"Napkin?" she asked.

Skylight stared at her. "Wha'?"

Jukes pointed with his knife toward the sideboard. "Use a towel an' wipe yer mouth. We're dealing wit' a young lady."

The older pirate blinked at his comrade and then the girl. "Ain't never used one afore!"

"Ragbag!" the parrot squawked and Skylight rolled his eyes.

"Shut up, ye blasted bird! God knows why t'e cap'n don't take off yer ugly head!"

Wendy lifted her other brow, and, with very little imagination, could identify everything he'd eaten that day. "Mr. Skylight? Did it take much time to grow that beard?"

The buccaneer nodded and proudly stroked it. "Aye!" he grinned.

"Well, I've heard that if a beard isn't cared for, it becomes so knotted that you won't be able to talk anymore, and you'd have to cut it off. I do so love to see a man well-groomed." She gave him a sweet smile. "Are you looking forward to the day you can shave it off?"

The older man jumped up – Short Tom bounded upward with a protesting croak – grabbed a towel, dunking it into a bowl of water and rubbed his lower face until all remains of breakfast, lunch and the tomato were gone. Then he rubbed it dry and combed it carefully with his fingers. "Well?" he asked, showing the girl his chin.

Wendy hid a giggle – how easy it was to bring the pirate to the direction she liked! – and nodded. "Much nicer, Mr. Skylight. Quite handsome."

With a broad grin the older pirate called for the parrot and left the galley. Billy Jukes whistled softly. "Shiver me timbers, lass, well done! Ye handled that tar like the Cap'n at the wheel!"

The girl looked at him in wide-eyed innocence. "What ever you mean, Mr. Jukes?"

The younger gunman shook his head. "Na, miss, y' take m' meanin'. And call me Billy!"

Wendy pinked sweetly, feeling a bit awkward. Yes, Billy Jukes was younger than his comrades and Hook, but he was, after all, a grownup. She nodded. "Thank you, Mr. Ju … Billy."

The pirate shook his paring knife at her. "Only t'ree more times, lassie! T'en you'll buy me a rum." He grinned and the spider-web on his cheek bobbed upward.

She saluted with hers, "Aye aye, Sir!" They worked in silence for a few moments while she considered her next words, asking something she'd been curious about from the first. "Mmm … Billy?"

"Aye, lass?"

"May I ask you a question? A personal one?"

He shrugged. "Why not?"

Wendy kept working, her eyes down. "Why all the tattoos?"

The sailor looked down at her and laid aside his carving knife. "Well, t'at ain't explained none too quick. Y' see the anchor?" He rolled up the sleeve on his left arm.

The girl had to look closely to see the anchor in the middle of the waves, mermaids and Neptune, the God of the Seas. "Oh, there!" she nodded.

"Well, t'at was me first! I got it t'e evenin' afore I hired at t'e Sea Pride – a good ship, but a bad cap'n. Nut'in' like Hook!" He sighed. "T'e next one, t'is lass 'ere" – he pointed at the mermaid above the anchor – "I got when I hired on t'e next ship!" His gaze grew distant with the memory. "I was only a lad – barely older t'an Pan." He shook his head and went back to the meat and moved on to a story about every tattoo on his arms and face. Then he told the girl how he came to acquire the other ones: lost bets, proof of courage, comradeship (it was a tradition to share the same tattoo with another mate), for fun, or to commemorate every sea-journey he'd made before this one.

Wendy shook her head, but was – somehow – excited as well. If she had counted correctly, then Billy Jukes couldn't be older than twenty-four, and it sounded as if he'd seen half the world.

Bumblyn, who had stopped executing tomatoes to listen to the stories, stared at the pirate. Humans had the strangest customs – no doubt about it!

As Jukes finished his stories, the door cracked open, and all looked up, but no one was there. "T'e wind," Jukes shrugged, shoving the door closed, and continued his butchering.

Wendy listened to the outside noises and glanced to the porthole. It was almost as dark as it had been during the night. Daylight barely showed at all yesterday, and vanished completely this day. The girl shivered. "It's sinister," she murmured and Jukes glanced up.

"What?"

Wendy nodded toward the porthole. "Every day the light has come later and vanished earlier. And now it hasn't come at all."

Billy Jukes looked outside, too, and took a deep breath. "Aye! T'is the work of t'at wizard. I hope t'e cap'n an' Pan kick his sorry ass! We'll have a chance to 'elp."

The girl lowered her head. "'Neverland will freeze in ice and snow before the fire of dying hope turn it to ash. The sun will hide behind clouds, and darkness will blur the frontier of night and day.' " She sighed. "The prophecy has come to pass. There is no difference between day and night, and the whole island is nearly smothered in snow."

Jukes rose and walked to one of the cupboards, clanged there with something and returned with three glasses – one full and two with only a finger of dark liquid. " 'Ere, lass," he said and offered her one of the glasses. The other one he sat in front of the suspicious Bumblyn.

"What's that?" Wendy asked warily, having a very good idea what it was.

Rum.

"Just a sip fer ya," Jukes said, nodding encouragingly. "It willna hurt ya, an' it might calm yer willies."

Wendy eyed the glass, hearing herself in her memories scolding Smee with the words, "I'm a little girl!" when he had offered her Muscatel or rum. Well, that hadn't changed much. She was still a child, but their situation was quite different, to say the least … practically enslaved on her favorite fantasy's pirate ship with Lost Boys, Elves, cut off by a deadly winter, beset by enemies of every description and an evil wizard bent on their destruction …

Oh well… would it be so bad to have rum for her first taste of alcohol? She glanced at Billy, then at a curious Hobgoblin, whose ears waggled back and forth, and lifted the glass to a toast. "May the Jolly Roger always have a cubit beneath her keel!"

The young gunman grinned broadly, touching his glass to hers: "T' all t'e nice lassies and t'e li'l beauty t'at tamed'r cap'n!"

Wendy's jaw dropped, and she blushed several shades of red, but before she could correct his remark – she had not tamed James Hook – sweet Lord, he of all people! – Jukes emptied his glass. Two things went through her mind with the speed and clarity of a lightning bolt:

First was Aunt Millicent, horror on her features, left hand clapped to her heaving bosom, and right hand fanning herself frantically with her lace hankie. But that one was replaced by the second.

Earlier that year, before the summer came full tilt, Father had taken them all on holiday to the beach at Brighton. Mother had made a wonderful luncheon, which the boys devoured in a trice, and then headed toward the water. Wendy hung back, keeping an eye on her parents. She watched her father and mother easily exchanging that hidden kiss, and the look in her mother's eyes as she laughed and chatted with her father, who looked remarkably handsome, out of his stiff suit and relaxed on the beach.

It was then mother looked toward the sea, and called to John, who was standing in the shallow surf, only ankle deep in the cold water, creeping forward. Michael and the Lost Boys (very familiar with this activity) had charged in, diving into the first wave that came along, and were already whooping and playing like dolphins offshore. "Just leap in, John! It's better if you take the unpleasant part all at once!" Wendy then stood, laughing, and grabbed John to join the others in play.

She saw Billy put down his glass, and knew she had to act. In the next second, she decided to take the leap, tossing back the liquid as he had done –

- and started to cough violently. It burned like fire all the way to her stomach, and she felt like she couldn't breathe. The young pirate had to laugh, and stood to slap her on her back. "Easy, lass! T'e first is t'e worstest!"

Bumblyn, who had emptied his glass without any problem, jumped up and ran to her, falling over the carefully stacked potatoes and onions. "No-o-o-o!" he screeched. Instantly they developed a life of their own, rolling merrily off the table and thundering onto the floor. The door was flung open and Albino, Bollard and Quang Lee launched into the galley, alarmed by the strange noises. They didn't get far, potatoes and onions like marbles under their feet. Cursing, the three pirates tumbled over each other.

"Put yer boot away!"

"What's t'at? Yer fist?"

and

"Shut up, ye bilge-rat!"

Still coughing, backed up to the pantry wall, Wendy watched three fallen men, then the laughing Billy Jukes and a frustrated Hobgoblin, who rubbed his little bottom, picking tomato-flesh out of the hair on his tail; grumbling one of his endlessly long curses in his language.

Emorlhi appeared in the doorway, eyed the chaos in the little room and began to laugh – a beautiful sound, shining and warm as the sun. "Well, what is it humans say? Too many cooks, et cetera …" he joked, his dark eyes sparkling with fun as he leaned on the doorjamb. A moment later, the fallen pirates started to chuckle with the Elf and Jukes, because laughing is always better than scolding.

A disembodied voice softly laughed along with them, heard only by the Hobgoblin. Bumblyn's piping laughter stopped as his sharp eyes looked around for the source of that other voice. Then a grin crossed his face, while he waved at someone invisible to the others. Well, this stay aboard promised to get more interesting ...

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After dinner Wendy was again faced with a heap of dishes – and felt like crying. Her shoulders, neck and arms all sincerely ached now, the air in the galley was stuffy, and she didn't dare open the porthole for fear of letting in the cold wind, or something else even more unwelcome. She was close to saying some very bad things about Hook for putting her in such a miserable situation, when she heard strange noises.

There were hiccups, hoarse laughter from unfamiliar voices, slurring words in a strange language. This all came from the … pantry?

Straightening her sore shoulders, she crept closer, right hand resting on her dagger. Carefully she peeked around the corner – and froze. There, on one of the smaller wine-barrels, sat Bumblyn with a glass in his tiny hands. His flushed cheeks, glassy eyes and pronounced sway revealing he was far from sober. Beside him sat an unfortunate-looking pixie; his light green skin darker around his nose, staring into his own glass. His shoulders were bowed and he sniffled, while his pointed leaf-hat clung to the back of his head, exposing the fiery-red fluff he grew there.

On a second barrel sat a small figure, between one and two feet tall, dressed much like the pirates. He wore an old red woolen watchcap and torn clothes, a grey beard, sun-leathered skin, showing many wrinkles around his twinkling green-blue eyes. In addition, he smoked a little pipe held in one hand, and raised a glass in the other. The pleasant scent of pipe tobacco filled the air. He and Bumblyn were laughing together and talking to the unhappy pixie in their strange quick language.

A cross look flickered over her face. Hadn't the Hobgoblin said he would repay his debt and help her? So after the men and boys ate, here he sat with another bogey and the pixie (who seemed to have gone invisible for the last few hours), getting drunk. She cleared her throat from the doorway, and instantly the three stopped and whirled around to her. "Apologies for interrupting your chat, but perhaps Master Bumblyn can find it in his little heart to provide a helping hand, as he promised?"

Bumblyn grinned broadly. "Wendy? Tshish ish…" he started to slur, pointing at the other small guy, who had risen and lifted now his hat.

"Señorita, I am Esteban, the K – Kla – Klabauter (hic) -- the guardian sprite of this ship! Welcome aboard!"

Of course Wendy had heard about the ships' own warning ghosts, a kind of nyxx that appeared when the ship was in danger, but she had never thought that she would meet one of them. She curtsied, laying aside her annoyance. "Pleased to meet you."

He chuckled and looked her up and down. The girl really was a sight to behold in the Elfish clothes and hair styled as it was. Females aboard a ship were generally considered 'bad luck', but he knew it better. The girl was a blessing for the Jolly Roger, responsible for the softening of the Captain's adamantine heart. Yes, of course the nyxx had felt this in the commander's heart and mind, and he knew that the girl would bring more changes, changes for the better.

He examined the girl's very human treasures – dove-blue eyes, tender face, full lips, golden-brown hair – and smiled. Here was a girl who could turn a seaman's head – even Hook's! 'Aye, no wonder that the walls are collapsing and that bitter heart of his is starting to beat again.' "I knew this the moment I saw you the first time. When he treated you with arrogance, betraying his injured pride, sending you overboard, I thought he was making the biggest mistake of his life. Lucky for him, Peter showed up and all came out in the end." He spoke with a hard, strange accent and rolled the 'r' heavily in his throat.

"'Injured pride'?" Wendy repeated, "What do you mean?"

Esteban grinned. "Caramba, he hasn't heard someone say 'no' to him for a very long time. And when you told him you'd rather die than stay, this hurt him." He saw her surprised expression and chuckled. "Si, behind that hard shell beats a valuable heart in a passionate chest. He is far more noble compared to other pirate-captains. But even he can be fooled, as smart as he is." He shook his head, laughing suddenly, a huffing, snorgling sound. "A 'thimble'… Really, Señorita, that you managed to trick him with that weak disguise shows how much arrogance can blind!"

Wendy crossed her arms, frowning, realizing that the nyxx had seen everything during her captivity aboard. "You were there the whole time?

The ship's sprite nodded and took a sip from his glass. "Don't think badly of me for not interfering. It's not allowed to my kind."

Wendy nodded, understanding. She knew that sprites had their limits, and that seemed to be one of them. "A question, then." The nyxx nodded and puffed further at his pipe. "Your name, Sir, sounds Spanish to me as well as your accent, or I am mistaken?"

He grinned and grumbled: "No, Señorita. This is a Spanish galleon. I was first assigned to her in Valencia, where I gave her carpenter a hand, and accompanied her on her maiden voyage into the Mediterranean and past Gibraltar. But she didn't make it to her first port of call. This blue-eyed Englishman, who is now called James Hook, captured her on her maiden voyage and retained her. Not a bad change, if you ask me -- far better captain than the idiot who first commanded her – that rogue who only had time to preen himself in front of a mirror! Prefiero the ship's new name. 'Jolly Roger' sounds better than 'Gloria-de-Mar' – si?"

Fascinated Wendy listened to Esteban's story. "So you stayed aboard?"

"Por supuesto!" he said, nodding vigorously. "When one of us is assigned as Klabautermann of a ship, this contract is for the life of the ship. We only leave when it is doomed to sink. And 'tis our duty to bring potential dangers to the commander's attention. Normally the captain of a ship listens when we try to warn him. But our 'blue-eyes' is sometimes blind and deaf in his hatred and lust for victory. Even if he could have seen me during the incident with you and the boy, he wouldn't have listened – even if I banged this hammer at his thick skull!" he pointed on a small hammer that was fastened at his belt.

The girl couldn't help herself – she snorted in amusement.

The Klabautermann lifted one thick brow. "Qué?"

Wendy started to laugh. "I was just picturing Hook's shocked expression after receiving a blow on his head when he couldn't see the attacker!"

Esteban laughed as well. "Would not be the first time!" he admitted. "He takes it for headache, born of stress or anger."

Wendy gasped for air, still laughing. "Good to know! You've given me ammunition to tease him with! He, the captain with eyes in the back of his head, doesn't even see his own Klabautermann! And he is so proud of seeing and hearing everything," the girl laughed. "Oh, just wait, James Hook! I have you! If you would have known what I learned here in the galley, you would never have sent me here – you … you pirate!"

Esteban grinned, discerning her intent. She wasn't really angry with the pirate-captain, but she could – and already had – shown Hook his limits; something the nyxx appreciated. Even a strong, intelligent and independent man like the captain of this ship needed wise counsel at times.

Bumblyn stared blearily at her. "Not good to teash him! He'd grow ang -- angry," he chirped and hiccupped anew.

The girl smirked. "His problem." Then she grew serious again as her glance moved to the sniffling pixie, pity woke in her. To see such a small creature like a pixie weeping was something that would touch anyone's heart. "Kailen, what's the matter?" she asked and knelt down next to him.

The pixie peeped something and started to drink from his nearly empty container. A big tear welled up in a large eye and rolled over his tiny, green cheek. Esteban puffed at his pipe and sent several smoke-rings into the air, then grumbled, "The same any time a sailor is ready to cry his eyes out: el chicas!"

Wendy frowned. "Beg pardon?"

The ship's warning sprite made a face. "Girls. He is love-sick!"

"Love-sick?" the girl gasped, immediately knowing the reason. "Aurora?" she asked softly.

Kailen nodded and hiccupped as well. "Showed 'im th' cold shoulder," Bumblyn murmured, bent down and whacked the pixie on the back, full of compassion.

Esteban sighed then growled, "Forget 'er! She's a fairy! What do you expect from her kind?"

The pixie stood shakily to his feet, his tiny green face a miniature study in noble outrage. "The most beautiful creature in the whole world she is!" he announced, before his face dissolved into a dreamy expression. "Her wings like a full moon on a warm summer-night they glow. Her skin a new-born pearl." His hands raised toward the rafters. "Her eyes like secret lakes in the forest and smells she does like a rosebud at sunrise!"

Bumblyn stared, one eye closed as if attempting to focus. "Esteban? Have you tha' witchin' hammer wi' you now?" he asked soberly. "Pixies and poetry! Janegar's jumpups, Kailen, take hold of yer green li'l self!"

"How be you so-o-o heartless?" the pixie chirruped, lowering itself again to the barrel.

"Well, I no more than your Aurora with her cold shoulders!" the Hobgoblin mocked.

A second later, he found an enraged pixie in his face, both glasses tumbling to the floor. "Speak like that of my Aurora you will NOT!" Kailen shouted, sounding quite comical because of his high voice.

Wendy glanced down on the mess on the floor, then Bumblyn and the angry, love-sick pixie and finally at the Klabautermann, who shook his head. "Chico mozalbetes – those beginners!" he groused, but the warm shimmer in his blue-green eyes betrayed his compassion.

Sighing, the girl touched the pixie's shoulder with a fingertip. "Kailen? You should go to bed and take a nap. And you'll see, everything will look better tomorrow."

The ship's sprite jumped to the other barrel and bent to wrap one arm around the pixie. "Ah, vayamos, my love-sickened amigo! Forget the lass and explore with me the height of the ship's sails, the darkness of the bilge, and secrets within the hull. I swear, any male will forget a girl when he sees the beauty of a well-made ship, and…" Suddenly he grew silent. He lifted his head and listened carefully for something only he was able to hear.

"What is it?" the girl whispered, and the ship's warning ghost sliced the air with his gesture for silence.

Bumblyn and Kailen listened as well, but heard nothing. "What do you hear?" the larger one murmured, but the Esteban didn't answer at first.

Finally he replied softly, "She talks with me."

"Who?" the other three asked as one.

"The Jolly Roger! She sees something coming. Something deadly. Not today, but soon!" With a speed you never would have expected, Esteban jumped down from the barrel and to the door. "Stay here! I'll return shortly!"

No one, not even Wendy, dared to disobey. It would have been a foolish thing to do, to disobey a Klabautermann's order and warning – and, as you already know, even Hook listened to this special crewmember (when he saw him). Moments later he reappeared, out of breath. "I am not sure when, but they will come! Could be tomorrow, if we are quiet enough." He took a deep breath. "It ain't safe here anymore. Come with me!" he ordered, and waved impatiently at the girl.

Alarmed, Wendy rose. "What is it?"

"Harpies! They have discovered that more are aboard than before. They don't know from where they came, and that makes them nervous." He glanced at the girl. "The unicorn has tricked them, but the noise increased since you came aboard. They are no longer fooled. I'm sure that they will inform the dark wizard, and will come back." His gaze swept the galley. "Forget your duties here, come with me! It'll be safer n the captain's quarters. And Hook would lose more than one ally, if something happened to you, Señorita!" the nyxx told her, and flung the door open. "Come on! I'll show you another way to Hook's cabin! There is a safer passage than walking on deck!"

White-faced, Wendy exchanged a look with Bumblyn, heart beating in readiness to flee. "The boys!" she whispered, afraid, and ran out of the galley; the Hobgoblin and the pixie following. "No, Wendy!" the nyxx called her back, using her given name. "The Elf already took the boys back to your quarters, feeling the growing danger! Fine ears, those Elves!" He pointed to the passage on the other side of the companionway "Come! This way!"

As they moved through the passage, they met three buccaneers who stopped in their tracks when they saw the ship's sprite. It was priceless to see the grim, brutal pirates grow pale at the sight of the nyxx, who frowned at them. "What are you waiting for, brutes? Stay calm and watchful!" If Hook would have given this order, they couldn't have obeyed any more quickly. Unsheathing weapons, they nodded and climbed the companionway.

A golden-pink shimmer emerged in the dark passage and Aurora flew to them, concern written on her beautiful face. Esteban stared. "And here be the cause of your misery, Kailen!" he mocked, but the pixie didn't answer. He looked at the rose-fairy; his expression unreadable.

"The harpies have discerned our presence on the Jolly Roger," Wendy told the fairy. "Come with us!"

Aurora nodded and flew beside Wendy, twitching a gaze in the direction of Kailen, who pressed his lips together. No, this time he wouldn't fall for her games! The Klabautermann nodded down the passage. "That way, mi amigos!" He hastened along, the girl and her magical friends on his heels. He passed several doors – obviously leading to the crews' quarters – and tried to open a special port, which was locked. Cursing like a pirate Esteban pointed at Wendy's dagger. "Time to break in!"

The girl blinked at him. "What?"

The sprite gave a frustrated sigh. "Give the dagger to me!" Obeying, girl then lifted him to the lock, grunting with the effort. Never she had thought that such a little guy could be that heavy. Esteban stuck the thin dagger into the lock, and it shortly popped open. "Follow me!"

Wendy set him down and he vanished into the darkness, only his glowing pipe showing where he was. "Lantern beside the door, at the right!" he called and the girl reached for it. Seconds later they had it lit. They were in a small room, full of chests and unused furniture.

"What…?" the girl began.

"Hook's booty he ain't usin'," Esteban explained, moved over to the wall left of him and shoved at it. To the girl's amazement, it gave away and opened into a small passage, where the lantern revealed a small steep staircase. The Klabautermann pointed at it. "Up with you four! At the top is a door you just open by pushing it. You'll be in Hook's cabin. Close the secret door behind you – and don't talk about it. If he learns you know of his secret, you'll catch hell from him. Comprendido?" He waved impatiently again. "And now, hurry! I have to watch those fool pirates up there!"

Wendy caught his eye before he turned to leave. "Didn't you say that your kind never interferes, Señor Esteban?"

The sprite grinned. "Depends on the circumstances, Preciosa. My concern is always the ship! And if I don't keep the watch on the idiots, then they'll put the Jolly Roger in danger!"

The girl shook her head, "It really isn't hard to guess which Captain you're serving!"

The Klabautermann looked at her thoughtfully. "I serve no human – only the ship! But you're right. We nyxxes have that in common with the commanders of our ships. After all, we eat at their tables." He saw her eyes widening, and chuckled: "Of course without their knowing it!"

Wendy looked at Bumblyn and then at Esteban. "Well, there's not much difference between your kind and the Hobgoblins!"

The sprite laughed that strange sound again. "Si, just our looks! They are land creatures, we are at sea – but every community needs us!" He pointed upwards. "And now, move on! And bolt the door and the windows, and make no light or noise! We don't need those hags here!" With that he shot out of the door back toward the companionway.

Taking a deep breath, Wendy lifted her lantern. "All right, you three, come with me!" She climbed up the dark, steep stair, praying that they would have a peaceful night.

TBC…

Hi, everyone,

at first, like always, a biiiiiig thank-you for all the nice reviews. I really do love to read them and I am happy that my story thrills you all so much. Well, our dear Wendy had a not too bad start aboard the ship, despising her duties. But the time of rest will soon be over. For all who have waited for more information about our dear captain: please be patient. I didn't want to give away too much, because there will come more scenes you can learn something about him and his history - especially in the planned sequel.

Yes, correctly, I am planning a sequel. But about that I will inform you later.

In the next chapter our hereos are finally reaching S'Hadh's domain and there will be the tension that almost builds up before a great battle. Oh, and Kailen and Aurora will have a possibility to act together. So, be curious - the big thing is starting soon.

Love you all,

Lywhn