Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Peter Pan, Captain Hook, or any of Mr. Barry's other wonderful characters. I write about them solely for my own amusement, and make no profit from it except that which I receive from knowing my writing has been enjoyed by others.

Chapter 3

Curiosity Killed the Cat

Sophia spent the next few days attempting to find out everything she could about the ship—its inhabitants, its workings, its secrets. She carried the blank book James had given her everywhere and was constantly jotting things down in it. Those pirates who befriended her found themselves telling her all sorts of things about themselves and their memories. She explored the ship top to bottom, even climbing a little ways into the rigging, much to the amusement of the crew members on the ground.

"Looks like a big butterfly caught in a spider web, she does!" one of them exclaimed.

"I'd like to see you try doing this in skirts!" Sophia shouted back.

When she wasn't poking her nose into some new nook or cranny of the ship, she was holed up in her room, which had become a combination of bedroom, library, and laboratory. The crew quickly learned to stay away from her door when strange flashes of light and odd smells began emanating from under her door. On one occasion, the Captain, distressed at the loud noises he'd been hearing, opened her door without knocking at let out a swarm of dragonflies. Their multicolored wings flashed metallically in the setting sun as they dispersed. Some of them flew around the ship, chasing one another and generally disturbing the crew. Hook simply brushed the single insect who had dared land on his person off and stepped inside. He wasn't the type of man to be disturbed by something so trivial as a cloud of insects that had appeared from nowhere. Sophia stood in the middle of the room absolutely covered in the little creatures, looking rather exasperated.

"Would you… care to explain the dragonflies?" he asked, trying not to laugh.

"Ooooh…. It's a long story, and a rather embarrassing one, so if you don't mind, I'd rather not talk about it." She was thoroughly annoyed. Both with him, for looking like he wanted to laugh at her, and with herself for allowing the whole mess to get out of hand in the first place. Hook said nothing, but the next morning a large butterfly net appeared on Sophia's desk with a note attached that said, "Use only in case of emergency." She had to smile.

Sophia continued taking meals with the Captain, and the two of them fell into the practice of sitting together quietly after they had eaten, each of them recording the happenings of the day. James sat at his desk, looking civilized and proper as any legitimate ship's captain could have wished. Sophia, on the other hand, quickly claimed the easy chair in the corner as her own, and took to kicking off her shoes and curling up her legs underneath her as she scribbled furiously. Hook got to where he could gauge her moods by the swiftness with which her pen scratched across the paper. Sometimes, he would detect a break in her writing, and look up from his own work to find her staring at him intently, her head cocked to one side. Upon being discovered, she always smiled a bit shyly, adjusted her glasses, and went back to recording her observations.

More than a few times, he wondered what she was observing about him. For some reason, being under Sophia's close scrutiny unsettled him. True, Hook was a man used to being the center of attention. His flamboyant dress and slightly eccentric manner, both carefully calculated to keep his crew in line and the Lost Boys off center, ensured that. However, having her attention trained on him was something different. She was a woman, for one thing, and the rarity of her gender alone might have been enough to set him off balance. More disturbing, however, was the unshakable feeling that Sophia saw things others missed. Not wanting to frighten her, he tried his best to be a perfect gentleman while around her, but she saw through the veneer to the dark and angry parts of him. He was sure of it.

Still, within a few days time, she was fast turning into the closest thing James had had to a friend since before he could remember. His trust in her was perhaps inevitable, for Sophia's clear hazel eyes that missed nothing had not a shred of deceit or treachery in them. And Hook had good reason to consider himself an authority on reading peoples' eyes.

One night after dinner, he found himself telling her about his ongoing feud with Peter Pan and the Lost Boys.

"You hunt… little boys?" she said incredulously. Her eyebrows were drawn up towards her hairline.

"I hunt the one who did this to me," James said. He held up his silver hook and let it flash in the candlelight for dramatic effect for a few seconds. He then proceeded to tell Sophia the story of Pan, the crocodile, and the reason for his lust for revenge.

"They are no normal little boys, then," Sophia said quietly.

"No. They're not. Nothing on this accursed island is normal, though… and I think I've even forgotten what 'normal' is," James said.

"Perhaps someday you'll remember," Sophia suggested. There was something hidden just underneath her voice, and in her eyes that he couldn't quite place. Determination coupled with concern.

-----

One idle morning, Sophia entered Hook's cabin without knocking. It was a custom she sometimes forgot when her mind was preoccupied. It had been summer since dawn, and the windows of the Captian's cabin were thrown open to catch even the smallest hint of a breeze.

"I'd like to go to shore," Sophia said, before she was even halfway inside. "I've seen just about every inch of the ship, and it occurred to me I hadn't been to the island since I…" The rest of her sentence evaporated when she saw the Captain. In an effort to escape the heat of the day, he had removed his coat. And his shirt. And any other garment that might have covered his upper body. He reclined on his bed wearing nothing but his trousers and the contraption that attached his hook to his arm.

"Is something wrong?" he asked when he saw her eyes go wide. Sophia's cheeks turned bright red, and she endeavored to stare at the floor, out the window, anywhere but at him.

"I… I'm sorry… I didn't realize you weren't dressed…" As embarrassed as she sounded, she couldn't stop her eyes from darting over his upper body and taking in what she saw.

Tattoos… very interesting. Tan, but he's a sailor, so that's to be expected. Nicely formed shoulders and… No! Don't think about that! She blushed one shade deeper, but couldn't keep the appreciative half-smile from her lips.

"This is an excellent demonstration of why civilized people came up with a practice called, 'knocking,'" he teased. Sophia, who was so direct and open in some areas, was almost prudish when it came to matters of decency. Clothing didn't have to be fine, but it had to be present. Her flustered discomfort made him smile, and he didn't miss the way she looked at him. Still, it was difficult enough to hold a conversation with Sophia without her being distracted, so he reached for his shirt and pulled it over his head.

"You were saying?" he prompted her once he was decently dressed.

"I would like to go exploring on the island," she said, pointedly not looking anywhere below his face.

"Getting tired of the company on board?" he teased her once again.

"Oh, not at all!" she said. "It just seems silly to me to confine my observations to the ship. I want to see what kind of place this Neverland actually is."

For a moment, he thought about going with her. Personally, he thought her insane for wanting to go tramping around on shore in the beastly hot weather. No, he decided, she could take care of herself.

"I'll have Smee row you over," he said.

Sophia smiled and clasped her hands in front of her, over her heart. It was a gesture he'd come to understand signaled happiness on her part.

"Thank you, James. It will… be nice to be alone for a while. I'm used to having lots of time to myself, lots of quiet, you know. It's been a bit odd having so many people around at all hours."

"Well, by all means, enjoy your trip to the island," James said. He went back to the book he had been reading, dexterously turning the page with the tip of his hook. "Oh, one thing before you go, Sophia," he said as she was about to leave, "stay away from the Lost Boys. Don't let that curiosity of yours make you go looking for them."

"I won't," she assured him.

-----

Sophia walked alone under the lush canopy of Neverland's forest, savoring the solitude. Though she had lived in London, a city teeming with people, the close confines of the Jolly Roger were a different story altogether. In London, she had been isolated. The faces she had passed on the street had held no significance for her, and she had lived her life at a distance from those around her. The ship was different. She knew a good portion of the crew by name, and they knew her. Mostly, they kept their distance, but some had begun to come to her as a teacher and a storyteller. Being in the middle of so many she knew, so many she was known by, was mentally exhausting at times. And then there was James. In him, she had found something she had never experienced before—friendship. It was very possible, she had calculated, that she had spent more time in serious conversation with him in the time since she had come to Neverland than she had with any other person she had ever met. It was odd to her, feeling so close to another.

She smiled to herself as she walked. Yes, she was definitely happy that she had found such a one as her handsome friend James.

Now wait just a minute, an inner practical voice said. What was that all about?

He is handsome, she thought. She had never really thought much about men except as ways to get to new books, or possible teachers of magick. However, she was not so unworldly that she didn't recognize the direction in which her feelings were headed.

Oh no you don't! The practical voice said. You have a good thing going here. Don't ruin it by turning into a dewy-eyed school girl.

I am NOT dewy-eyed! Sophia thought.

Besides, pirates always end up with kidnapped ladies, princesses escaping from loveless marriages, or fellow pirate-women. I've never heard of a story where the bookish ship witch nabs the captain. In fact, I've never heard a pirate story with a sorceress mixed up in it at all…

"I suppose you have a point," Sophia said aloud. She could be content with friendship. In truth, she was happier on the Jolly Roger than she ever had been, and if things would only continue as they were, she would have no reason to complain.

She brushed her fingers over the broad leaves of tropical plants, feeling their texture, noting their location and arrangement. She wrote down the things she noticed, and was glad for the chance to allow her mind to rest from thoughts the ship in the harbor and its captain.

The low hanging branches of a tree by the side of the path rustled and creaked as a small dirty boy alighted in them.

"Who are you?" he asked, his tone impertinent. He was confident, demanding, even, but Sophia had to smile at his bright eyes and direct curiosity. She remembered, briefly, the Lost Boys that James had warned her about. However, she reasoned to herself, she had not gone looking for the child sitting in front of her, and he seemed harmless enough. Besides, she had a feeling that it would be impossible for her to form a complete picture of the island without studying all of its various groups of people.

She smiled at the boy and took a step toward him, doing her best to convey a friendly, non-hostile demeanor. The child looked as wild as a fox, and she didn't want to startle him. Her glasses had fallen down to the tip of her nose, and she looked for all the world like a patient schoolmistress. Her appearance must have triggered some long-buried memory in the boy. He suddenly gripped the branch he was on, his knuckles turning white, and snarled at her.

"You're not one of us!" he cried.

Sophia stopped moving. She did her best to make even her breathing calm, steady. "No, I'm not," she said.

"You're not an Indian, either," he observed. He was less agitated now and beginning to look curious again.

"You're right again." Sophia's smile encouraged him to keep guessing.

"You look… like a teacher. I think I remember teachers…" he said.

"I… I suppose you could call me that," Sophia admitted. "I do like to help people learn things."

The boy suddenly sprung up to the next branch.

"We don't need any teachers here! No schools! They're grownup places! What would we need to learn for? We're always going to be boys, and have fun!"

His outburst had caught the attention of three more boys, two of whom looked exactly alike.

"What's wrong, Nibs?" one of them asked.

"Is it pirates?"

"Is it Hook?" the twins spoke almost in unison.

"It's her," Nibs pointed at Sophia. "She's… a teacher." The other Lost Boys' eyes narrowed at that word.

"I remember those!" one of them said.

"Me too, Tootles. Dusty school rooms. Tight neckties," the first twin whispered.

"Shoes…" the second twin spat out the word like a curse then shrieked and pointed at Sophia. "I know her! She's the one I saw on the pirate ship!"

Nibs jumped quickly to a conclusion. "Hook must be planning to catch us all and make us go to school!"

"Now, that's not true at all!" Sophia said huffily. Even the thought of trying to make these little urchins behave was gave her a headache.

The boys moved in the trees, fanning out until they had her surrounded. All of a sudden, they looked less innocent and playful, and more savage.

"We can't let that happen," Tootles whispered.

"Now boys, listen to me," Sophia began, even as she realized the futility of reasoning with them. "I mean you no harm…"

"Get her!" Nibs yelled, and with a wild yell, flew at her. Only a conveniently placed root that caught Sophia's foot and tripped her as she stepped backwards saved her from being hit by the small flying child. With the Lost Boys momentarily confused by her crafty strategy of falling, Sophia picked herself up off the ground and glared at them.

"That was very rude!" she shouted. Where she came from, people didn't go about trying to tackle one another. It just wasn't done.

"We don't have to mind our manners, Teacher-Lady!" Tootles shouted. Sophia was on the verge of losing her temper when she felt herself being pulled nearly off her feet and dragged back down the path in the direction she had come. When her feet finally found the ground again, she glanced up at the man who was holding on to her arm. He was one of the Jolly Roger's crew.

"I knew it!" she heard a boy shout behind her. "Did you see that? That was a pirate just saved her!"

"She's one of them!"

"After them!"

Sophia hiked up her skirt with her free hand and ran faster, matching the pirate's pace. The boys were making a lot of noise, and she could hear them getting closer. Without warning, the pirate holding her arm came to a dead stop, threw and arm around her waist, and pulled her down to the ground and into the protective cover of some tall grass. She didn't even breathe as she heard the Lost Boys fly over.

"Where'd they go?"

"We'd better go tell Peter!"

The pirate raised a hand to his lips when she opened her mouth to speak, and it was some time before he lowered it.

"They're gone now, Lady," he said. He stood and offered her his hand. His arms, left bare by the rough smock he wore, were tattooed with all manner of fantastical creatures.

"You're… Bill Jukes, aren't you?" Sophia asked. He grinned, and she saw that several of his teeth were plated with silver.

"You remembered my name," he said. He pulled her to her feet, and she brushed the grass and leaves from her skirt. "We'd best get going before they come back with more of their friends." He started back down the path at a brisk trot, leaving Sophia scurrying to catch up.

"I'd like to thank you for helping me back there. Were you following me the whole time?" she asked.

Jukes looked abashed. "The Captain told me to watch over you."

"Well, I'm certainly glad you were here," Sophia said. They reached the beach where the rowboat had been run ashore without any incident. After helping her into the boat, Bill Jukes grabbed the oars and pushed them away from the land and began to row back to the ship with long, sure strokes. Sophia relaxed as the Jolly Roger grew larger and larger in her field of vision. She had never been so relieved as the moment when the ropes were tossed down, and the boat hauled up onto the ship.

A few pirates stared at her as Bill helped her from the boat. Looking down at herself, she could understand why. Her dress was dirty and now needed mending, and she could feel that her hair had come loose from the pins keeping it in place. Sophia had meant to go to her room and clean herself up, but her plans were interrupted by James' arrival.

"What is this? What happened?" he demanded. The pirates who had come to gawk at the returning lady suddenly found other things to do. Hook strode over from his place at the helm and settled his gaze on Bill. "Well?"

Jukes scurried over to the Captain and talked to him in hushed tones. As the two men spoke together, Sophia sighed and began to walk towards her cabin.

"Sophia!" The sharp sound of her name coming from James stopped her. Slowly, she turned to face him. From the looks of him, he was angry.

"Oh, bother," Sophia muttered. This was simply not one of her better days.