“Hot chocolate, fuzzy sweaters, burnt marshmallows, Ray Bradbury, cinnamon candles, motorcycles. . . .” She felt her feet disconnect from the ground and gasped. Her eyes flew open and she glanced down.
Starkey looked down as well, and his dark eyes widened.
“Um,” she continued quickly, licking her lips, “honey crisp apples, snow globes, jack-o-lanterns, Labyrinth!”
He reached for her, managing to grasp the sleeve of her hooded jacket before she raised both of her legs and shoved them against his chest, kicking off from him to sail backward, end-over-end in a back flip that rid her of her jacket – and of the pirate.
“No!” Starkey bellowed, spinning to motion to the pirates who were still below. He held her gray sweater in one hand and waved it angrily as he shouted a warning that pixies were in the cavern.
The second boat landed and Cecco yanked John out by the elbow, handing him over to another pirate by the name of William Slank.
Wendy landed on an outcropping on the opposite side of the cave and looked up to see Billy Jukes pulling Michael out of the boat after him. “Michael!” she called, unable to help herself.
Michael turned to peer up at her. “Wendy, get out of here! Go and save yours—” His words of warning were cut off as Jukes slid one grimy hand over his mouth and yanked him around so that he was no longer facing his sister.
Several yards away, Hook knocked Peter’s sword to the side with his hook arm. Peter attempted to pull the sword away as he turned, but the hand-guard was ensnared on the end of the captain’s hook, forcing his arm to jerk taut as he refused to let the sword go.
Hook expertly took the opportunity to knock him in the head with the pommel of his own blade. The blow sent Peter immediately to his knees – which, in turn, ripped a scream of fear from Wendy’s throat.
Hook’s head snapped up, his blue gaze searching for hers. He found her and Wendy froze, caught in the snare of those piercing eyes. For the shortest of moments, she thought she saw something flicker in the depths of those icy orbs. It was slight, but poignantly familiar.
And then it was gone, and his expression was starkly unreadable.
Wendy desperately wanted to talk to them both then. More than she’d ever wanted anything in her life, she wanted to tell Hook that she understood his pain. She wanted to explain that she hadn’t broken her promise at all. She wanted to tell Peter that she forgave him – for everything. He’d been but a child when he’d taken Hook’s hand. She wanted them all to stop fighting, stop hurting each other.
But, of course, such magical moments of resolution didn’t really happen. They existed only in fairy tales. And so, Wendy was disappointed but not surprised when, after a few seconds, Hook’s gaze hardened and the corners of his lips curled into a cruel smile.
A shadow loomed above Wendy from behind. Thinking quickly, she ducked and spun, using her leg to trip the pirate who had crept up at her back.
Mullins, a middle-aged crewman with messy brown hair and amber colored eyes went down hard, landing on his back. The air left his lungs with a whooshing sound that trailed off into a low, pain-filled whine.
Wendy quickly bent and yanked the long sword from the pirate’s scabbard.
“Wendy, behind you!” John warned.
She spun in time to raise her sword and ward off a flying Cecco, who was holding a trapped fairy above him in one tight-fisted grip. In his other hand, he held a length of rope.
The pixie was turning blue from suffocation, but Cecco squeezed him tight, shaking the tiny creature hard, so that he was virtually covered in gold-green pixie dust.
Wendy’s grip around the hilt of the sword was slippery; the rain was beating her body and slickening her grasp. But she clutched it tighter in stubborn desperation and brought her sword arm back to swing it in an arc toward the oncoming pirate. Cecco dodged the blade as easily as if he’d known how to fly for as long as Peter had.
Wendy sliced clean air. Cecco released the fairy to send it toppling end over end off of the precipice below. And then the man smiled a hard, wicked smile. The handsome Cecco, thought Wendy. The pirate who carved his name in the murdered body of his warden. . . .
She swallowed hard, trying to get past the dry lump that was forming in her throat. She couldn’t fly away from him. He was bigger than her, and he’d already proven himself a good flyer. He would catch her and bind her and they would probably take her back to the Jolly Roger and make her walk the stupid plank.
Because she broke a promise to a pirate. And not just any pirate – the Captain. Such a thing was surely punishable by death.
Cecco dove for her again, forcing Wendy’s arm back up and around so that the point of her sword was once more aimed at his chest. She could no longer see the fight between Hook and Peter. She had no idea if Peter was okay.