A Neverland Tale - HOOKED (eng)

Chapter 5.2 - Capt. J. Hook

At Hook's direction, his men dipped the oars slowly into the water, as gently as possible and in smooth motions to avoid any unnecessarily loud noises. It was getting late, night had taken hold of Neverland and spread its train of darkness and stars over the island. Moonlight sometimes peeked out from behind the grayish banks of clouds and stroked the white sands of Cannibal Cove, so that the sand now shimmered a ghostly white rather than reddish. It looked as if someone had painted liquid mother-of-pearl on the edge of the shore, but as soon as the moon was obscured again, every shadow took on the same gray or black hue. With the fog, everything blurred into an opaque mixture, impossible to make out what was within a few feet of the boat.

James kept his eyes open, scanning their surroundings for the usual conspicuous features. The sheen of wet hair, scaly bodies showing in the mist, a pair of glowing eyes perhaps? Or yet the abruptly sweet chirp of an irresistible voice? Ah - out here everything could be deadly, every wrong move drew attention to them and it was enough the weight of the dinghies in the water that every animal within several hundred meters sensed their presence.

Hook did not sit down in the boat like the other men, but propped his foot on the front peak. From there he had a reasonably good view of the surroundings and could at least partially recognize an attack early. Every now and then he thought he heard the soft laughter of a child somewhere in the distance, searching the direction for small flying or perhaps even swimming figures. Who knew if the newcomers were stupid enough to swim to the ship at this hour (or at all)? But whenever he turned his gaze in the appropriate direction, the sound was gone again. Here and there the fog thinned, eaten away by moonlight like an evil spirit - cleansed by the brilliant white. Where mermaids like angels of death lolled their fins on thin cliffs, spiked with shining scales like liquid silver and covered with tiny shades of blue and silvery green. They were beautiful. Many men always tried to recall the unnatural scaled tail of these creatures, to distract themselves with all their might from the stunning faces. Even though James encouraged them, kept reminding them that mermaids were not women - but still fish, a creature of the wet graves of so many sailors - he could not deny them a certain fascination. The mermaids were smart, fierce, and of such incredible beauty that probably no man who looked into their big eyes would not fall for them.

And the captain had his respect for them - not least because they showed solidarity with him and the ship. An unspoken agreement that no one knew how it had come about. Perhaps both sides had simply noticed at some point that they were useful to each other without intending it. Because with every man who drowned in the dark dungeons of Skull Rock, a huge rock formation that actually resembled a human skull, served as food for the crocodiles. Thus, these beasts kept away from the dazzling gardens of mermaids that were said to exist many miles beneath the surface of the water. James had never glimpsed them, as probably no one on the island had, but sometimes on particularly calm, sunny days, a colorful sparkle would waft around the bloody reef off the mermaid lagoon. Almost as if the sun could reach into the water with its long fingers and bring up the shimmer of the thousands and thousands of multicolored corals. No fisherman dared to enter these waters anymore; at most, Red Dagger ships carrying goods from the maritime city to Blackbeard's mines sailed past the entrance to the lagoon. But even they were always careful to stay out of reach of these shining reefs (which did not bear their name for anything).

Yes, it was useful to be in a somewhat neutral relationship with the mermaids, because above all they were still hungry, bloodthirsty beasts. If they showed their gratitude for the protection of their gardens, there were still enough sailors who fell for their enchanting countenance. Then even Captain Hook could not save them. A pretty pair of eyes, alluring glances through the mist, the promise of every carnal sin in existence... all desires could come true. It was that bewitching look that drove them mad, even weeks after meeting a mermaid, the hapless lovers rushed off the boat. All for a kiss, a touch... the illusion that surrounded these women like an impenetrable veil. Ha - sometimes you were eaten before you even reached the surface of the water because a crocodile did not miss the flying body above him. And with very bad luck the beasts snapped out of the water, whoever could bite first would eventually eat the most.