A Tale That Never Was [Book 1 of Selvina's Tale series]

Chapter 11: A Captain's Tale

As what remained of Captain Hook's crew began cleaning the ship of the blood, body parts, and bodies the captain retired to his cabin. Sinbad took the wheel and sailed the damaged ship in a northwestern direction. Jack aided the crew in cleaning Jolly Roger. Hook gestured for Red, Cindy, Selvina and Bigbad to follow him into the cabin and they hurried inside.

Bigbad, acting as if he owned the expansive room, found a spot near the long row of windows in the back and lay down with a deep yawn. A large desk sat in front of the wolf and Captain Hook had his hands resting atop of it. He was looking at a map when the girls approached.

"Have a seat," he told them, his voice strained and full of pain.

"Captain," Selvina started, her own voice full of concern and worry, "shouldn't you be resting? You don't look well..."

"I have been through worse, Selvina," he replied gruffly. "Now, please, sit." To his left was a large bed along the wall and at its feet were several large chests. One of them was full of women's clothes Red and Selvina changed into, though the former preferred the plain clothes the men on the crew wore. Three luxurious chairs sat around the room and the girls gathered together and sat in a semicircle, facing the captain. He moved away from his desk and sat on the edge of his large bed, sighing with weariness.

There were long moments of awkward silence and the three girls exchanged curious and questioning glances.

Finally, Captain Hook said, "I wanted you three here so I can tell you why I chose to pursue Peter Pan instead of avoiding him."

"You're a pirate hunter," Red said. "We all know that. You were just doing your job."

Captain Hook removed his hat and shook his head. "No, it is more than that. It is more than the simple fact that he slaughtered those merchants, their crew, and sunk their ship. It is more than that he is a pirate and I am a pirate hunter. Peter Pan and I have history..."

Selvina remained quiet and her ears listened intently to what she hoped would be answers to questions that have been disturbing her for quite some time. In her world Peter Pan and Captain Hook's relationship was completely different and now that she knew Peter Pan was the pirate in this world, and not Hook, the questions in her mind had only multiplied.

"Her name was Julia," the captain said. "Her hair was as sleek and black as a raven's feather and in a certain light it shone violet. Her eyes gleamed and glimmered like two freshly minted bronze coins. She had a smile that could calm the fiercest of storms and her beauty humbled the sea into quiet awe. She was as delicate as a spring flower in a morning frost yet stronger than tempered steel. She was worth more to me than this ship and all its crew. She was everything to me..."

Selvina glanced at Red and Cindy, who were both silently listening, and could already guess where this story was heading.

Captain Hook resumed talking. "I met her on my eighteenth birthday. There was a celebration in Tortug honoring fallen soldiers and sailors that had fought for King Midas's father, Gordias, ten years to the day. I cared little for remembering the war as I was just a boy when it happened and no one I knew had fought in it. I was admiring a ship that had just docked into port. It was a sleek, newly-built frigate and I could still smell the fresh coat of varnish on it from where I stood on the dock. Julia saw me there with longing in my eyes and dreams in my mind. She said she knew the ship's captain and asked if I wanted an audience with him. At that time in my life I had no ship of my own and knowledge on acquiring one was something I deeply desired so I agreed." He looked up at the girls and sniffed with a smile on his face. "Her father was the captain of that ship. He had named it after Julia's excitable younger brother that had died from sickness at an early age."