My Darling Girl *Disney fanfic*

32. Hangman's Tree

Hook and his crew hid the narrow boats beneath twigs, leaves and bracken – camouflaging them into the habitat. Scuttle smacked his arm suddenly, squashing a fly that had landed there. He cursed, muttering crossly about 'being bitten to death'. Hook lowered his hat so that the wide brim shaded his eyes. They had a steep slope to climb and the sun would be on their backs.

"Let's go men." 

Flit whistled as they marched and the birds seemed to answer him. A humming bird fluttered just above his tanned shoulder and Flit smiled at the little guy. Hook's calves were burning and sweat streaked down his neck. He'd tied his hair back into a bun to keep it off his sweltering skin. He was in the lead and he stopped suddenly, his shoulders rising with excitement.

"We've made it men, we're here." It was just as Tinkerbell had drawn... Hangman's tree. 

The tree stood alone, completely misshapen compared with the palm trees that kept a respectful distance from it. Hangman's tree was twisted, it's trunk wider then three men – its branches had been savagely sawed down to stubs – it's days of holding swinging corpses over. But, as if in memory of the deaths it had seen, not a single green shoot sprouted from it. It was dull and lifeless.

Hook knelt and rested his hands against the soil. Reverberations reached him from below. He exhaled the breath he'd been holding. Finally, they'd found the imp. "This is an entrance to Pan's hideout."

The men approached nervously.

"Be on the look out for trip wires." Scuttle warned.

The entrance was protected by what looked like a simple notch in the tree bark. Scuttle reached in and felt for the device's hidden ridges. He turned the secret dial – two turns to the right, six to the left, one to the right, one to the left and then a final turn to the right. There was click and then a hatch door opened.

"It's a not a large opening." Flit pointed out. He shuddered looking down into the gloom.

"The main entrance to the hideout is via the sea – much better for transporting goods and cargo but it's guarded." Which was why they weren't attempting it. "This was the original entrance, when they were a much smaller operation."

"It's the perfect size for a child." Which was all that it had needed to be.

The men pulled incense sticks out of their satchels.

"Hang them on the branch stubs and start burning them." Hook directed. "If we're not back in an hour, assume something has gone awry and return to the ship. I trust you to get Lily and the Second Star out of here."

"Yes, Captain."

Only Scuttle and Hook would be making the descent into the hide out. The others watched the two men wriggle their way down the hole – expressions grim.

Hook landed first. He used a lighter to see by and squinted in the gloom.

"It's black as pitch." Scuttle complained.

"That's good, that means there not using this section of the hideout, we're less likely to get caught."

Hook pulled out the map that Tinkerbell had drawn. "There should a tunnel that way."