A Land of Never After: A Peter Pan Retelling by R. L. Davennor

Author:R. L. Davennor [Davennor, R. L.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781735131542
Google: seRizgEACAAJ
Amazon: B09DNTJYKJ
Publisher: Night Muse Press
Published: 2021-10-26T04:00:00+00:00

VIII. the night

I’d spent my whole life pining for a room of my own. This was not what I’d had in mind.

What could best be described as a closet reeked of rotting food, stale water, and moldy musk. There was no escaping any of it—not in a space this small—so I remained by the porthole, huddled in the hammock Elvira had hung for me. I clutched my music box tightly to my chest. Night had fallen hours ago, so the only illumination was the moon reflecting off the surface of the water. Watching the endless ripples as we sailed soothed my panic somewhat, but not enough; my heart hadn’t stopped racing since being shoved and locked into this tiny space.

Trapped.

Shuddering, I refused to pay my claustrophobia any more mind. My gaze flickered to the mainland as the ship hugged its shores, sailing north, and my thoughts wandered to Peter. He hadn’t come for me. Perhaps he was simply off making a plan, but my brain refused to linger on the logical, and fixated on the worst-case scenario. It was either a risk he wasn’t willing to take, or he assumed I was dead.

That, or he somehow sensed that I’d betrayed him.

You did no such thing. You’ll come up with a plan—one that saves him and gets him that map. Just concentrate. But I couldn’t. Between my exhaustion, desperation, and lack of resources, I’d thought of absolutely nothing that might spare Peter. I’d scoured that damn curse again and again for clues and had even begged for my mother’s help. She remained silent, leaving me to wonder if she was as disgusted by my actions as I was.

Scarlett may have been a pirate, but even pirates didn’t betray their friends.

I traced the silver plating adorning my music box. Was that what Peter and I were—friends? We’d started off as enemies, transitioned to cautious roommates, then to mentor and student, but I wasn’t sure how we defined our relationship now. Acquaintances? Allies? Partners? No… if anyone was Peter’s partner, it was Tink. And not only would she be devastated if anything were to happen to him, I hadn’t the slightest doubt she would hunt me to the ends of the earth once she discovered it was by my hand.

My fingers clenched. This madness we were trapped in had such bloody beginnings; surely the answer wasn’t more of the same. Why did anyone have to die?

The endless worries were beginning to suffocate me, so before long, I was forced to admit defeat. If Peter was going to come, he’d have shown up by now; what was more, staying awake would do nothing but render me even more useless come the morning. I needed all the strength I could get if I was to survive the band of pirates—survive my father. Settling down, I forced my eyes closed.

Sleep evaded me. Tossing and turning, I couldn’t escape the itchy knots of the hammock at my back, nor could I get comfortable. The gentle rocking of the ship became dizzying, and all my mind wanted to focus on was my father and his curse.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.