Chapter 3
As soon as the Jolly Roger was in sight, the pirates were surprised to see a hot air dinghy floating next to the ship. To their knowledge, there was only one person they knew of who traveled in such a way. As they neared the gangplank, two women appeared at the top, accompanied by Skully. The women loudly gasped when they saw the party, particularly the unconscious figure lying on the litter.
"James!" They both cried as they raced down the gangplank towards the pirates. While the one in the red dress rushed over to the litter, the other one stayed a little ways behind to talk with Jake and his crew.
"Nanny Nell!" the kids exclaimed as he headed towards her.
"Hello, dear children," Nanny Nell smiled sadly.
"How did you know to come here?" Cubby asked.
"Well, actually," Nanny Nell explained. "I was at Mama Hook's place having tea with her when your parrot friend flew over and said James was stricken. Now, what's this I hear about the Neverland Flu Bug?"
"Um, to be honest, Nanny Nell," Izzy answered. "We're not exactly sure if this is a Neverland Flu bug bite. But then, we don't know what one would actually look like."
"Hmm, now let me think," Nanny Nell pondered. "Does the bite have any markings?"
"Hey yeah, now that you mention it," Cubby spoke up. "The bite on his hand has red and purple markings."
"Red and purple markings?" Nanny Nell's head shot up. "And they're sort of in a swirling pattern?"
"Yeah, exactly," Jake nodded his head. "What does that mean, Nanny Nell?"
"Well, me little buccaneers," Nanny Nell shook her head. "It means I'm going to have to put your doubts to rest. James was indeed bitten by a Neverland Flu Bug."
Izzy gave a sharp gasp and put her hands to her face, shaking her head. "Oh no, this is terrible!"
"Oh, my poor little James!" Mama Hook took her son's hand in hers and with the other, gently brushed wisps of sweat-dampened hair away from his forehead. "Oh this is all my fault!"
Everyone there turned their heads and looked at Mama Hook on hearing her words.
"Um, excuse me Mama Hook," Jake spoke up as he stepped closer to her. "Captain Hook was bitten by the Neverland Flu Bug. How does that make it your fault?"
Mama Hook sighed and, while still holding Hook's hand, launched into her explanation. "I wanted to protect James from that nasty bug, so I hunted down every one, or so I thought. Evidently, I missed one. And one is all it takes to strike you down."
"Aw, Mama Hook," Mr Smee walked up to her and put a hand on her shoulder. "You can't blame yourself for the Cap'n's being sick."
"Mr. Smee's right, Mama Hook," Jake assured the distraught woman. "You couldn't have known there's still one flu bug out there."
"Alright now everyone," Nanny Nell walked up to the group. "We can't be standing around here all day. Let's get James on board the Jolly Roger and into his bunk, then we can discuss what we can do next."
Within an hour, Captain Hook was back on board the Jolly Roger, dressed in his pjs and resting comfortably in his cabin on his bunk. While Mama Hook was busy preparing tea. Nanny Nell was going through her own book for the recipe for oyster, clam and seaweed stew, which, according to her, was what she always made for Hook whenever he was sick. All Jake, his crew, and Sharky and Bones could do was stand around, feeling helpless.
Well, this just won't do, Nanny Nell thought as she sneaked a glance at the group of pirates standing by the doorway looking in, unsure of what to say or do. Fortunately, she knew the very task she could entrust to them that would not only occupy their time and minds, but also help James as well. Picking up her book, she walked towards them with a small smile and a thoughtful look.
"You know dears, it would not do James or yourselves any good to be huddling around like a bunch of lost sheep.," she said.
"I know, Nanny Nell," James sighed. "But what can we do?"
"I have just the thing right here," Nanny Nell turned the pages to a certain recipe in her book. "You can help by gathering the ingredients for a tea to cure James' affliction."
The pirates, including Mr Smee, all looked at Nanny Nell with eyes wide and mouths dropped in disbelief.
"B-b-but..." Cubby stuttered. "But I thought there was no cure for a Neverland Flu Bug bite!"
"Oh, there is a cure," Mama Hook answered as she came walking up to join in on the conversation. "The ingredients are just extremely difficult to obtain. It can also be very dangerous at times. I... we... we couldn't ask you to do this. "
"Well, dangerous and difficult, we won't know unless we try," Jake proclaimed. "If there's a chance that Hook can be cured, there's no reason not to take it."
Cubby, Izzy, and Skully looked at each other, looking uncertain at first, then smiled with determination and turned back to Nanny Nell.
"Ok, Nanny Nell, what all do we need to get?" Izzy asked.
"Now there's what I wanted to hear!" Nanny Nell turned the book around so that the buccaneers could see the pages. They showed several illustrations of each needed ingredient, linked together by a dotted line, all the way to the picture of a steaming cup of tea. "Now, of these, only one ingredient is easy to obtain. The rest are challenging, to say the least. And they can be found in areas all over Neverland. First, you will need to gather some Kooky Kokonuts..."
Everyone's attention was turned to Hook when he gave a slight groan and shuddered in his sleep. Evidently he had understood, even in his dreams, that he would have to drink Kooky Kokonut water again. Nanny Nell shook her head. Poor James. She remembered how much he disliked Kooky Kokonuts as a young lad. It seemed that part about him had never changed.
"Hey! We were just at the Kooky Kokonut grove!" Skully spoke up. "That's where Hook wandered into after he got bit."
"Ya mean, we hafta go back ta the grove ta get some kokonuts?" Sharky asked.
"We won't need to!" Cubby answered as he set down a bag that, up until then, no one had noticed he was carrying. "Skully and I were collecting kokonuts at the grove before we found Hook. I was going to use them to make a cake, but this is much more important."
"Splendid! Thank you, dear boy," Nanny Nell patted Cubby on the head before she pointed to the next ingredient listed in the book. "Next, you will need to collect Crystal Ice tea leaves. They can only be found at Ch-ch-chilly Canyon."
"Great! Our friend Percy the Penguin lives there," Jake said. "He might be able to help us find them."
"The next ingredient to find is nectar from the Drip Drop Milkweeds," Nanny Nell continued. "You can find them in Deep Dark Valley."
"D-d-deep D-d-dark Valley?!" Sharky and Bones stuttered, shaking in fear uncontrollably.
"Finally, you will need to collect honey from the giant honeybees in Big Bug Valley," Nanny Nell finished.
"B-b-b-big Bug Valley?!" This time, it was Cubby's turn to quake in obvious fear.
"That's right," Nanny Nell answered. She closed the book. "Once you collect the ingredients, you can bring them back here and Mama Hook and I will make the tea for James."
"Okay, mateys, let's head to our hideout first to get some supplies, then we can start getting the ingredients for the tea to help Hook," Jake told his crew. "Let's also keep a lookout for gold doubloons. Whenever we solve pirate problems, they'll appear. Then we'll collect them and put them in our Team Treasure Chest."
"Is everybody ready?" Skully asked his trademark question.
"I got my sword!" Jake answered.
"Got my map!" Cubby declared, holding up the rolled-up parchment.
"And I got my pixie dust." Izzy held up the little bag hanging around her neck.
"You've also got this," Nanny Nell walked over to the crew with a piece of paper, on which she had written the needed ingredients for the tea and where to find them. She then turned to Sharky and Bones. "And I believe it would be best if you two also accompanied them on their journey."
"Us, madam?" Bones looked at her in surprise.
"Of course," Nanny Nell answered. "You would help James better by going with these young mateys rather than standing around not doing anything."
"She's right, guys," Izzy said. "Besides, the more help we had, the faster we can get this done and cure this bug bite."
Sharky and Bones looked at each other and then back at the popinjays. They then developed the same determined looks and both declared, "We're in."
"Great! Then Yo Ho, Let's Go!" Jake exclaimed. And with that declaration, the pirates started marching off the Jolly Roger and down the gangplank towards the beach, off to where they left Bucky docked.
As Mr. Smee proceeded to wipe his captain's sweat-dampened forehead with a wet cloth, he could hear the popinjays and Sharky and Bones start to sing "Yo-ho Mateys Away...!" Before he knew it, he found himself humming the tune under his breath.
"Goodbye, dears!" Nanny Nell was outside, standing by the rails, waving at the pirates.
"Good luck with your quest!" Mama Hook joined Nanny Nell on deck.
In his mind, as he was tending his sick captain, Smee also wished the popinjays and Sharky and Bones good luck. He had a feeling they would need it before this whole trial was over.
Author's Note: I hope you are enjoying this story so far. I understand from my last chapter that there has been some confusion as to certain points in this story. The first is why Hook was off by himself searching for treasure when he was bitten. I know most of the times he always has his crew with him on the show. However, I have seen a couple of episodes where he was by himself treasure hunting. For this story, I felt that Hook being by himself when he got bitten and sick would have more of a dramatic impact than if he were with his crew. The second point is the spelling of kokonut. I do know that the correct spelling is "coconut," however, as stated in the beginning of Chapter One, Neverland kooky kokonuts are different from regular coconuts, starting with the spelling. The Kooky Kokonut Grove, as you may have guessed, is a place in Neverland that I made up for this story. I hope this helps answer your questions. If you have any more, let me know and I will be glad to answer them.