Captain's Quarters (Sequel to The Piper Boy)

Chapter 5

The knife gave Amily strength, but not much. She awoke the next morning ready to greet anything the day offered her but when she actually set foot on deck in the cold, salty air her knees began to shake. Pan could come any day now, his message did leave any hints or specifics. It was torture. 

But the first thing Amily aimed to do that day was thank Jed. What he had done meant the world to her. She spotted the old man in his usual spot but this time he wasn't whittling. Back bent and arthritic hands busy, he scrubbed the deck as ferociously as his broken body would let him.

"Jed!" called Amily.

"'Ay! G'morning Miss Amily. Sleep well?" croaked the pirate, not looking up from his work.

"Come on now, don't pretend like you didn't have anything to do with this" She grinned and pulled her knife from her belt to show it to Jed.

This time Jed looked up and smiled, a nearly-toothless grin.

"Like it, do ya?" Amily could see the glint in his eyes. Jed knew how much this would mean to her.

"Like it? I love it! Jed... it's... so special. I can't believe you did this for me!" Taking no consideration for Jed's beaten back, Amily hugged him then and there, while he was still crouched over his sudsy work.

"I'm happy that ya like it, lass. Keep it safe a'right?"

"I will, I promise" Amily got off of the old man then and lent on the wall of the deck to admire her knife once more.

Jed stopped working to hobble over and stand next to her and pull out a whittling knife. Absentmindedly he whittled but oddly enough, he didn't start one of his famous tales. They both just stood there in silence, listening to the tide lap at the Jolly Roger like a new-born to it's mother.

"You know what kind of bird it is?" said Jed suddenly.

Amily was so lost in admiration she almost didn't reply. Dazedly she said, "No, no I don't"

"It's an albatross"

Amily looked up this time. Why that specific bird? Her face was puzzled and Jed laughed.

"Me mam used to tell me this story about a sailor captain who took two birds on 'is ship, a raven and an albatross. So, he got lost in a storm he did so he let both birds free in the hope that they'd lead him to land. The raven instantly flew away because it had seen land not far in the distance. But the albatross didn't fly off right away" Amily should've known a story would've been behind Jed's decision, so she listened intently as he continued.

"After perching on the crow's nest for awhile, looking this way and that, he went in the opposite direction of the raven. The captain didn't know which bird to follow. But then he made his decision" Jed was looking across the water at Neverland, expressionless.

"The captain followed the albatross and it led him home. Straight there. No storms or other ships. It was like magic. You know why?"

Amily shook her head.

"The albatross always knows it's home. It travels the world for so long, flying such long distances, and yet it always knows how to find it's way home" Jed spied the still confused look on the young girl's face and went on.

"Some day I hope that that bird right there on yar knife will lead you home. We love that you're here, Amily, but you don't belong on this ship or in Neverland. A girl like you deserves a home. A real home. And, like the albatross, you'll be able to find it again. You trust old Jed on that" Jed winked and Amily could've cried. But like the pirate he was, Jed straightened up, this was no time for crying. There was work to be done.

"Come on now. Quit yar yapping and get to work. Always work to be done" Jed muttered the last bit as he knelt back done to continue scrubbing. 

But today Amily's jobs would have to wait. Something Amily dreaded from her wildest nightmares was about to happen and she was totally unaware of it. During Jed's story Amily felt safe and happy without condition. She had no idea that that illusion would be shattered in the next few minutes.

***

"Amily, Cap'n wants you at the helm, now" said Luke, a one-eyed peg-legged ruffian who had seen too many battles, from the doorway.

"What could that be about?" said Byron beside her. They were in the middle of washing dishes and preparing lunch for everyone. Mid-splash of dishwater Luke had come to deliver the words Amily didn't know until then that she didn't want to hear.

Her face paled. Please, please don't let it be him she thought to herself.

"Oh God" she whispered. Byron's face was crinkled in concern but Amily, regaining her composure, straightened and gave him a small smile before marching up to the helm to speak with Hook.

His face was as attractive and charming as it always was, but it contained no joy. None. Captain Hook greeted Amily with a shake of his head. He wasn't sad or concerned, he was angry. Hook handed her his telescope. It seemed that the device was constantly the bringer of bad news.

Amily's stomach sunk at- not what- but who she saw through the telescope.

Bobbing in the waves of the shore, clearly already on their way here, was a small boat crafted out of wood and vines. In it sat Peter Pan and his right hand man Felix. Above both their heads Felix held a white flag. 

But peace was the last thing they were coming to create.