HOOK by Thompson K.R

Author:Thompson, K.R.
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fantasy, Neverland, pirates, mermaids, adventure, Peter Pan, fairytale, Mythology, Sea Stories, KR Thompson
Published: 2015-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

THIRTEEN

Mermaids and Neverlings

BOGGS PATTED the top of his stomach as if he feared he was starting to lose some of his wide girth. “We be runnin’ low on food,” he informed Archie.

“The men be getting antsy to set foot on dry land, port or no,” Beckett chipped in as he ducked into the room, shutting the door to the map room behind him.

“My people want to know what you plan to do with us,” Tiger Lily’s voice was just as determined as the other two as she crossed her arms over her chest and glowered at him.

Archie fought the urge to beat his head against the table in frustration. Apparently, the three of them had decided an ambush was in order. There was no way that all of them had arrived in his quarters at the same time by coincidence. The only one who hadn’t made his demands known was the old man who sat in the corner, whittling on a piece of wood.

“And what of you?” Archie asked Smee, who stopped carving and peered over his spectacles. “What is it that you want?”

“Same as them,” he replied, shrugging as he went back to scattering wood chips and shavings on the floor.

A quiet sigh escaped Archie. He’d expected them to come earlier, truth be told. It had taken days to sail around the island, and no port had been found. That they had waited until the Jolig Roger came back full circle to the mermaid’s inlet was a bit of a surprise to him, and he hadn’t anticipated that they would all come at him at once. His gaze rested on Tiger Lily, whose bottom lip jutted out. Had he been a betting man, he would have placed odds that the woman had put the other three up to this ambush.

“We will disembark and search for a means to restore our rations.” He gave a pointed look to both Beckett and Boggs. “Best you tell the lads to make preparations. In the morning, we row ashore.”

The boatswain and the cook left in happier spirits, followed by Smee, who stood up, flipping the rest of his shavings to the floor. He whistled an upbeat tune as he went out the door.

The only one of the four intruders who hadn’t left, still stood in the same place as before, refusing to budge until he told her what she wanted to know.

“Lily,” he said softly. He stood to come closer. “I cannot tell you what you wish to hear. If we find anyone on the island tomorrow, the code will be followed.”

“And if we find no one?” A glimmer of a wish sparkled in her eyes.

Archie understood, for if the island was truly uninhabited, the Indian tribe could not be sold as the crew’s plunder. Still, he didn’t want to give her false hope. “If we find no one, we stock the ship as best we can, leave the island, and search for a port elsewhere.”

She nodded, not meeting his gaze. “I thought you would say that.

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