Off the Plank: A Neverland Story

Chapter 1

My name is Silver now. It has been since the day they found me on the beach and dragged me on board the Constantine to meet the captain. Two bulky men in stained clothing that reeked of a foul smell I would later come to know as "grog" held fast to each of my arms as they hoisted me along like a bucket and threw me to the floor of CaptainHailstone's quarters. Despite the rows of candles that burned on the Captain's desk, this windowless room seemed to be the darkest and coldest place on the ship.

I saw his boots first, the soles gray and crusted with dirt, the tops polished and black as pitch. He took a handful of my tangled curls between his thick fingers and yanked my face up off the gold and crimson rug. Not daring to look him in the face, I kept my eyes on the fading patterns in the rug, on the captain's shiny boots.

"And where did you unearth this undernourished lad, gentlemen?"

His voice was English. I had heard someone speak like him before, thoughI couldn't remember who or where. I couldn't remember much of anything then. The crewmen had found me wandering along the shore, scavenging for food and likely near death. When they tied me up to take me aboard, I'd made no effort to resist. Wherever they were taking me had to be better than starving to death.

"Stealin' our food, cap'n," the bigger one replied. "We was out huntin' by the lagoon. This one tried to nab our beast."

"It was a squirrel," I grumbled.

"Quiet, you!" the short one grunted as he smacked me on the head.

"He could use a meal," the captain said, and I could feel his eyes on me, all five feet of me, as he took in my noodle arms, bare sunken chest, and bony feet poking out from the torn legs of what were once pressed black dress trousers. I had no possessions, not even shoes.

"Lookup, lad," Hailstone said.

My eyes slowly wandered from the rug, to the walls covered in crumbling charts, to the gold buttons on the deep blue coat the captain wore, and finally into Hailstone's ridged face, framed by long brown and gray hair that hadn't been combed in days. But his cheeks and chin were shaven clean and even in the dim light of the quarters, his eyes shone a blazing cobalt blue.

"What can you do, boy?" he asked. "Steal, so it would seem, which is a start. Anything else?"

I don't know if I was scared or simply defiant, but I had no desire to respond. When he asked my name and where I was from, I was again speechless, this time because I had no answer to these questions. I didn't even know my own name.

"A little short of words today," he said. "No matter. We'll find some use for him. He may be a scrawny little pony now, but give him some sustenance and a few duties and he'll be a workhorse soon enough."

The captain finally released my hair and walked back to his desk, a flick of his hand directing the two goons to take me up again. With another rough heave, they sneered, "Hi ho, Silver! Away to the galley with ye!" and shoved me in the direction of my new, unsought-after life.I since have known myself by no other name, nor can I recall any previous name I may have had. Silver it is, and Silver it will remain.

~

I was ten years old when I first came aboard. My age, I remember.Everything else was a fog, but that might have been for the better.Without any memory of my previous life, I hadn't any idea whether the one I now led was a good one or a bad one. It just kept me alive.

It made no difference to the crew, either. Benny, the boatswain, and the short one who dragged me in, didn't care who I was or how I ended up a lost little boy on the beach. He only cared that when he ordered me to sweep the quarters, swab the decks, and help the cook, I did it.