"Alright well, cure or not, we still need to help Hook," Jake, always the leader, immediately straightened himself up after leaving his shoulders slumped for a minute and turned to his two mateys.
"Izzy, go get your medical kit and any other supplies you think we may need," Jake instructed.
"Aye-aye, Jake," Izzy saluted and ran into their hideout.
"Skully," Jake said, turning to the parrot. "You fly to the Jolly Roger and get Mr. Smee, Sharky and Bones. Let them know what's happened and bring them to the grove."
"Aye-aye," Skully flew of towards the Neversea, but then he immediately flew back to Jake. "Oh, I almost forgot! You'll need to bring some fresh water to the grove as well. Hook's fever is so high he's sweating boulders and Cubby's having a hard time cooling him down. It's also making him thirsty. Cubby's giving him kooky kokonut water, but he can only get ol' featherhat to drink so much because Hook says he doesn't like it."
"Ok, Skully. We'll get a couple of large containers and stop by a spring on the way over," Jake turned towards the hideout to fetch the containers as Skully flew off once again. As he got further away from the island, he could have sworn he heard Izzy tell Jake about needing to find fresh moss on the way too. But Skully shook his head and figured he must have heard wrong.
What did fresh moss have to do with Hook's illness?
On board the Jolly Roger, Captain Hook's small crew of scurvy swabs, Mr. Smee, Sharky, and Bones, were busy getting the ship in as pristine condition as possible. That included swabbing the decks, polishing the ships wheel and cannons, scrubbing down the dinghy, and cleaning and dusting below decks. Along with helping Sharky and Bones, Mr. Smee, in the captain's absence, oversaw the cleaning.
"Now you men, make sure you get that deck all nice and shiny," Smee both encouraged and instructed at the same time. "We want the cap'n to be able to see his reflection when he returns from his treasure hunt."
"Er, beggin' yer pardon, Mr. Smee," Sharky momentarily stopped his swabbing to turn to Hook's first mate. "but are we certain that the cap'n be findin' treasure this time, as opposin' to the other times he been lookin?"
"Well, even if he doesn't, he'll at least have one less thing to be mad about when he sees how ship-shape we've gotten this ship, exactly as he ordered before he left," Smee walked over to the bucket and noticed something missing beside it. "Oh dear, it looks like we're out of soap. I'll have to go below deck to get some more."
As soon as Smee disappeared, Sharky and Bones' chores got an unexpected interruption in the form of Skully flying in. Bones was the first to take notice.
"Look, it be the popinjays' bird matey, Skully!" Bones pointed out to Sharky. "Ahoy, Skully!"
"Ahoy, Bones! Ahoy, Sharky!" Skully flew down and landed on one of the Jolly Roger's railings. "Is Mr. Smee on board as well?"
"Oh aye, he's just below deck" Sharky pointed to the entrance of the aforementioned area. "You need me to go fetch him for ya?"
"No need. I'm comin' back up," Smee appeared back on deck with a fresh bar of soap on hand. He smiled as soon as he saw Skully.
"Well, hello Skully," Smee greeted. "To what do we owe the pleasure of this visit?"
"I wish this was just a visit Mr. Smee, but Jake asked me to come get you guys," Skully said. "Captain Hook's in the Kooky Kokonut grove and he's real sick. High fever and everything."
"The cap'n, sick? B-b-but how could this be?" Mr. Smee eyes went wide and looked at Skully in some confusion. "He was just fine this morning when he left to go treasure hunting."
"He may have been fine then," Skully said. "But that was before he got bit by the Neverland Flu Bug."
"THE NEVERLAND FLU BUG?!" Sharky and Bones cried out, dropping both their mops in shock.
"The N-n-neverland Flu Bug?! Oh my, oh dear," Smee was now close to full-blown panic mode, wringing his hands and pacing about the deck. He turned back to Skully. "Are you sure about this? 100% positive?"
"Well, to be honest, I can't really say for sure," Skully answered. "But he does have this red and purple bug bite on his hand."
Smee thought back to this morning. He did not recall seeing any such bite on the captain's hand and he was as sure as Peter Pan's shadow that the buccaneer would have brought it to Smee's attention.
"Well, bug or no bug, the cap'n's still sick, so we'll have to bring him back here," Smee turned to Sharky and Bones. "You men come up with something to carry the cap'n back in, then prepare to set sail for Neverland."
"Aye-aye, Mr. Smee!" Both pirates raced off to gather materials as Smee turned to start pacing the deck.
"Oh dear, I don't know what we're going to do, Skully," Mr. Smee despaired. We can bring the cap'n here and take care of him, but I'm afraid we face having to do that forever."
"Hmm. Hey, I have an idea!" Skully exclaimed. "Why don't I bring Mama Hook here to the Jolly Roger? She knows Neverland like Hook knows his hooks and she makes great teas. Maybe she might know something about the bug."
"Why, that's brilliant, Skully," Smee's face brightened, but then he looked unsure. "But, I couldn't ask you to..."
"Hey, I wouldn't have suggested it if I didn't want to do it," Skully said. "Just be sure to tell my mateys where I went, ok?"
"Oh aye, that we'll do," Mr. Smee promised. And with that, Skully flew off in the direction of Mama Hook's home as the Jolly Roger headed for Neverland.
Within a few moments, Sharky and Bones were able to cobble together a makeshift litter using two large broom handles, leftover sailcloth, and some rope. Once the Jolly Roger landed near the shore, all three pirates left the ship and headed for the Kooky Kokonut grove, Mr. Smee leading the way. Once he could see that they were getting closer to the entrance, he called out for Hook.
"Cap'n! Oh Cap'n Hook!"
"We're over here, Mr. Smee!" one of the pint-sized buccaneers that the Jolly Roger crew recognized as Jake called back. The pirates followed the trail to the grove's clearing, where they found Hook lying under one of the trees, with Jake and his crew administering to him almost like nursemaids. Jake had what appeared to be water in a container, with a straw in it that he brought to the captain's lips every few seconds or so. Izzy was dipping what, at first glance, appeared to be a green sponge in another container of water and dabbing it on Hook's face, but upon closer examination it turned out to be moss. Cubby was standing in front of the group, waving Hook's hat up and down in an effort of fanning him. Smee also noticed that the captain's red coat had been removed and his head was resting on it like a pillow.
"Ahoy, Mr. Smee! Ahoy Sharky and Bones!" Jake and his crew called out.
"Ahoy there, popinjays!" the Jolly Roger crew answered back.
"Um, where's Skully?" Jake queried. "He was supposed to come back here with you."
"Well, Jake," Mr. Smee answered. "After he found us and told us about the cap'n, he flew off to fetch Mama Hook and bring her back to the ship."
"Yay hey! That's a great idea!" Izzy exclaimed, albeit in a quiet way to respect the sick captain. "She might know more about what we're dealing with."
"Oh, dear, oh, dear, Cap'n Hook," Mr. Smee muttered as he walked over to Hook and felt his forehead. It was hot to the touch and slick from perspiration and water. He also glanced at the bite on the pirate's hand. Without having seen a Neverland Flu Bug bite before, he could not say for sure whether this was the real deal, but given the quickness and severity of the illness, he suspected that might be the case.
"While we were waiting for you, we were working on getting him cooled down and keeping him re-hydrated," Jake explained. "I've been giving him fresh water and Cubby has been fanning him.
"And I've been using this moss to help him cool down further," Izzy chimed in. "Moss feels cool to the touch and it absorbs water, so I figured it would make a perfect sponge."
Not for the first time did Mr. Smee find himself highly impressed with the popinjays' ingenuity, teamwork, and generosity.
"Well, I'm sure the cap'n appreciates all you did for him," Mr. Smee said. "But we need to get him back on board the ship. C'mon men. Careful now."
With Mr. Smee's hands under the captain's arms and Sharky and Bones each grabbing a leg, it took all three men to lift Hook out from under the kokonut tree and onto the litter. Sharky and Bones then each lifted one end of the litter and made a swift but careful beeline back to the Jolly Roger, Mr. Smee right behind them. Jake and Izzy were next, carrying Hook's coat and the medical bag, respectively. Cubby took up the rear, still holding onto the ill pirate's large hat.