7.
The Spell of the Endless Days
The next few days seemed to blur together for Wendy.
She did replace Smee as the Captains new "man". ( She could not be considered the new bo'sun, because Smee had not yet relinquished his hold on that title.) She was at first, rather apprehensive about taking the new job, but found her fears to be premature, at least.
The Captain was entirely too groggy the first morning, (from having spent the best part of the night drinking away the thought of her). . .to give her much trouble.
He was disagreeable, and wanted to be left alone, and she found that to be a much more acceptable form of behavior than his pernicious seductions.
In fact, there were only two things he needed from her.
One was that she be constantly at his beck and call, to run errands or hand him something he was too stubborn to get for himself.
The second need, was her assistance in buckling on the harness that held the hook. . .
In all of her imaginings, Wendy had never thought much on how a hook would be attached to a man's arm. In fact, there was a silly part of her that had just assumed that the hook was really a part of the arm itself. Why not? It didn't seem anymore ridiculous than flying.
The harness immediately entranced her.
In fact, it was her fascination with the monstrous contraption that helped her overcome her initial embarrassment at having seen, for the first time, a man without a shirt.
She see seen them in drawings, and paintings, but never had she seen a real man, half naked. Especially like she had seen him for the first time. . .lying backwards on his bed, in just his trousers and boots, two empty rum bottles at his feet, and a pistol across his belly.
She had stared.
Even though she knew she should not, she could not help it.
But it was seeing the naked stump of his arm, smooth and somehow perfect looking, that drew her gaze. Wendy was neither shocked, nor repulsed. If one could put it delicately, it somewhat excited her. . .even if she did not realize that it did. She found herself wanting to touch that more vulnerable part of him. . .would it feel as soft and silken as it looked?
She had to tear her gaze away, when he finally sat up, groaning and cursing with fervor, as he did. He fixed her with a bloodshot gaze and sneered.
" Bring me that bottle from over there. . ." he commanded, rubbing his eyes.
She made a face of disapproval as he took it from her and began to drink heartily from it.
" Don't give me that look, I don't need a mother." he grumbled.
" Wouldn't you like some breakfast?" she asked.
" Not until dinner." he drank again, before standing, a little unsteadily.
He splashed a little cold water from the wash basin over his face, cursed again, and turned to her. He nodded toward the chair where the harness hung.
" Bring that." he said, dully.
It was heavy, and rather stiff, and it had the rich smell of leather. So that was why she had thought of leather when she was close to him! She looked at it with some bewilderment, not sure what to do.
He showed her how to hold it up, so that he could slip into it. He had to lean down though, as she was much shorter than he. Fascinated she watched how it fitted to him, and was adjusted properly. . .and then, how the hook fitted into the lock.
She shivered a little as it clicked into place, realizing that she was witnessing something beyond where her own imagination had ever been.
Without the hook, he seemed. . .almost human. Weary, careless. That vanished as soon as the hook was in place.
Wendy could see the transformation taking place. With the hook in place, he became Captain James Hook, the most feared pirate ever. . .cold blooded and ruthless.
It was a swift transformation, but not swift enough, for Wendy had seen, in those few minutes, what others could not, or would never see. Perhaps it was because she was a woman, instead of a man.
Whatever the case, she had seen and recognized Hook's deepest, darkest secret. . .
And that was that. . .without his weapons. . .Hook was just a man.
Just a man.
Flesh and blood, not the monster that he would have every one believe. Or, maybe he too believed it, once he snapped that wicked blade into place.
Of that, Wendy could not be sure. She only knew, as she watched him he became more arrogant, either because the hook was in place, or because he was waking up.After that, he finished dressing, for the most part without her assistance.
Then he spent the entire morning, sending her for things, and setting chores for her to do.
She made the bed, and polished the harpsichord, and did even more mending.
Then she polished all of the ghastly hooks, claws, and blades that he kept. ( She didn't want to even think about what some of them were for.) She cleaned the lenses of his telescopes, and spyglasses, polished boots, lit his cigars, and wrote down the days events in his captain's log, as he dictated.
She was so tired by dinner, that she didn't eat much. . .even though Smee was a much better cook than the last. The Captain had insisted she dine with him, and dining was all that happened. His mood was dark, and he did not once give her so much as an inappropriate leer.
She was both relieved. . .and confused.
She would have questioned him. . .but she figured that in his mood, it would probably not be safe. So she retired after dinner, and he did nothing to stop her, choosing instead to drown himself in a bottle of rum.
That was the first day. And the second and third day were quite similar. She did the same tasks over and over, whether it was needed or not, until she began to wonder if this wasn't part of some odd dream she was trapped in. Everyone seemed quiet, and sleepy, as if under some sort of spell.
After the third day, she couldn't remember what day it was, for sure, or how long she had been in Neverland. . .memories of her life in London began to fade. She woke to the sound of the ocean, and the sway of the ship, and felt as though she had always belonged there, even if she had not always been there.
Finally after a week or so, she was helping the captain buckle on the harness, and she seemed to wake a little from the strange quiet daze they were all under.
" How far is it to the other side of the island ?" she asked. Her voice seemed very loud in the room, as no one had yet spoken, and no noise came from outside.
Hook, startled by her sudden vocalization, turned to look down at her. He had an odd expression that Wendy could not read.
" It is as far away as it likes to be. It is sometimes difficult to find it." he finally said, in a thoughtful voice.
" Find it? You mean you do not know where it is?" she was trying to stifle a smile of disbelief that a famous pirate would not be able to navigate around his own island.
" Of course I know where it is!" he said indignantly. " But it moves from place to place. The only way to catch it is to concentrate on it very hard. If you forget to think about it, you become lost in the Endless Days."
Wendy was intrigued. This was most certainly not from her stories. " The Endless Days?" she asked, her eyes sparkling with excitement.
" Yes, the Endless Days. You travel for days upon end, going nowhere, doing the same tasks, and becoming more lost in your mind, until either someone reminds you to remember...or you die and the ship is taken over by your ghost...doomed to sail forever around the same circle of the sea, for eternity." his voice had taken over the tone of someone who is telling a great ghost story. His gaze was intent.
" Are we lost in the Endless Days? " she whispered.
" No. Not anymore. We should be nearing the other side soon." he finished, and motioned towards the box on the desk.
She brought it to him and opened it so that he could choose a hook from the velvet tray inside.
" Well polished, I see. Well, for a girl you make a splendid man-servant." he said. " And,I see that for a manservant. . .you are at least turning into a woman."
Wendy looked down at herself. She had begun to grow quite a bit rounder, due to the inactivity, and Smee's cooking.
She wondered if that was something akin to a compliment, but found that she wasn't entirely sure she wanted to know.
" Why did we get lost?" she asked, hoping to avert his attention.
" Someone forgot to concentrate." he said coolly.
" You? " she laughed. . .and instantly regretted it. His face darkened.
" Yes! Me." he growled. " I was distracted." he glared accusingly at her.
" Well, it was no fault of mine!" she exclaimed.
" Wasn't it? You and your damned honor. Your promises. You and your damned. . .never mind!" he pulled his hat forcefully down over his curled hair, and began storming towards the door.
" Where are you going?' she asked, hurrying to catch up.
He turned to glare down at her.
" I have an island to catch. " he walked away some distance, before turning back to her. " And you have daily chores to attend to. Am I right?" he smiled arrogantly.
She felt the childish desire to pull faces at his back. . .but resisted.
She chose instead to grumble aloud as she went about polishing and tidying.
She noticed with some shock, that even though she had been sure she dusted well every day, that there was a coating of dust on everything. Also, there was the pile of mending, un-touched. . .
She shivered.
They had been caught in the Endless Days!
How close had they been to perishing? She wondered.
Wendy remembered the strange look the Captain had gotten when woken from his trance.
Had that been fear ? Fear that they had almost perished under the spell of the sea? Or was it wonderment that he had been caught in the spell at all?
She did not think he had ever had it happen before, which would explain his anger. Why had he looked at her so peculiarly? She wondered if he punished people.
She was still toying with that miserable thought when he called her up to join him at the rail.
He frowned at her appearance instantly. She was dusty, and her hair had fallen from it's tie. She looked like a woman in man's clothing now, and he found her to be even more distracting because of it. She might even have been attractive. . .if she were not looking like someone approaching the gallows. Her blue eyes were large and owlish in her smudged face, and she was biting her lip. He had to look away from her then. . .thinking of how much fun it would be for him to bite her lip for her was a distraction. It might not yet be safe enough for distraction.
" There. . .see the lights?" he pointed to the island.
In the fast approaching gloom of evening, she could just see tiny pin pricks of light in the trees. So small they might have been fairies.
" What are they?" she asked, not noticing that she leaned very close to him to see where he was pointing.
" The Town.." he said, inhaling the fragrance from her hair while she was distracted.
" A town? Really?" she seemed amazed at this information.
" Of course. " he said.
" What is there?" she asked, excited.
" Everything."
" Everything?" she looked skeptical.
" Everything that it needs to have." he said.
" Will we go to it?" she asked.
" In such a hurry to get away, my beauty?" he asked, now toying with a tendril of the loose hair. Still she did not notice, instead she squinted, trying to see better.
" No! It's just that I have never seen a town where pirates would go! I imagine there are lot's of other pirates there?" she had stepped up onto the rail now, and was the same height as him.
" I suppose so. . ." he answered, in a non-committal voice.
" And all sorts of others? Are there robbers and highwaymen?"
" How fickle you are. You are captured by pirates, yet you want robbers and highwaymen." he mused.
" They wouldn't be as interesting as pirates. . ." she said, still looking away from him. " I wouldn't want to be a highwayman."
" Well, if I don't have to fear you escaping with a dashing highwayman. . .I suppose there is no reason not to show you the Town."
" Really?'' she turned around, and gave a little gasp. She was face to face with him,and her new height put her at exactly eye level with him.
" Really." he said, smiling just a little.
" That would be marvelous.'' she said. " Seeing the town, that is. " she added hastily, just to be certain he understood.
He smiled most wickedly, and leaned towards her. She attempted to pull away and almost toppled over the railing.
" Careful girl. " he said, catching her. " There is a crocodile down there somewhere."
" I know. You tried to feed me to him once." she said.
" Did I?" he raised a brow.
" Yes! You made me walk the plank! " she said, frowning.
" Oh yes. Well. . .that was an accident."
" An accident?" she laughed. " Really! An accident that it happened, or that I didn't get eaten?" she asked.
Deftly, he altered the subject.
" On the subject of eating. . .isn't it time that we dine?" he asked.
" Is it advisable for you to have any distractions?" she asked, raising her brow in a perfect imitation of him.
" Quite safe now that we have spotted the lights. That is the way it is with things you have forgotten. You are always closer to them than you think." he held out a hand to her. " Come, let us eat and rest tonight. . .tomorrow we go into town."
Wendy smiled and held out her hand. He seized it firmly and held her in place a moment.
" But. . .you have to promise me that you will not try to escape from me. " he demanded.There was a desperate and haunted look in his eyes as he watched her.
Without even having to think about it, she felt the words trip from her tongue with no help from herself, as if they were meant to be spoken.
" I promise."
And something about the way they stood, eye to eye, him looking at her in relief, or maybe it was the moonlight behind them, and the sound of the sea at their
feet. . .some romantic fancy or other seized Wendy's reason, and without thinking about why she was doing it, she leaned over and kissed him. . .not on the cheek this time.
A real kiss, right on his curved and arrogant mouth.
She might have meant for it to be only a brief kiss, but when he put his hands on her waist, she forgot to pull away.
As they stood locked thus, the other men nudged each other, a few sniffed uncharacteristically, and they all began to draw back, silently, leaving Hook and Wendy alone on the deck.
When they did finally break the embrace, Wendy was thankful for the darkness. She did not want anyone, least of all him, to see that she was blushing, and
smiling. . .yet tears were in her eyes.
She didn't understand it herself, and pulled away, stepping down onto the deck. As soon as she could speak, she freed her hand from his.
" I. . .I don't know why I did that." she whispered, turning away, and walking; her dinner forgotten, towards her cabin, leaving him standing, pale, with one hand clenched to his chest.
She was well beyond when earshot before he whispered;
" No,. . .but I do."