Pan's Secret

by R. V. Bowman

  The large crocodile Pan called Old Crocky was heaving itself up on the bank of the river. The grasses parted around it as it slithered forward at a frightening speed. Right toward Pan and her father.

  “Papa!” she screamed.

  Everything was happening too fast. Her father’s snapped his head in her direction, and Pan, using the distraction, wrenched away from him, whipping out his own dirk.

  Now her father was trapped between Pan and the crocodile. Tiger Lily had Alice pulled up against her with the knife pointed at the little girl.

  “Looks like you’re in a pickle, Captain,” Pan said. He threw back his head and let out a cackle. Then he spotted Rommy.

  “Well, look who’s here, our little hero.” Pan’s lip curled in a sneer. “Always running to the rescue, aren’t you, Rommy? But I don’t think your sword fighting will get your dear old father out this predicament.”

  Rommy’s eyes darted from Alice to her father to the crocodile, which was still moving at an alarming rate. If she could distract Pan, maybe Papa could get to safety, but that still left Alice at the mercy of Tiger Lily.

  Rommy’s eyes met Alice’s. The little girl was pale behind the gag tied around her mouth, but there was a look of determination on her small face. Alice’s eyes cut to Pan, and she tipped her head back toward Tiger Lily who was currently ignoring her to glare at Rommy.

  Rommy gave a brief nod and rocketed toward Pan with a loud cry. At that moment, Alice slammed her head back against Tiger Lily’s chin and stomped on her foot. The little girl didn’t hesitate but pushed into the air out of Tiger Lily’s reach.

  Rommy knocked into Pan as the crocodile lunged toward her father. Hook leapt toward the tree and scrambled up into its branches. The beast’s jaws snapped shut, missing Hook’s left foot by mere inches. Tiger Lily, seeing the massive reptile so close, fled in the opposite direction, out of the creature’s reach.

  The force of Rommy’s midair tackle tumbled her and Pan through the air, and his dirk dropped to the ground. She gripped her dagger but hoped she wouldn’t have to use it. She was still tired and sore from the battle the previous evening. In a close fight, even with her dagger, she didn’t know if she had the strength to best him.

  Pan pushed away from her, his teeth bared in a snarl. “You might have saved your worthless father, but you can’t save them both.” Before she realized what he meant to do, Pan had spun in the air and swooped down on Alice. The little girl, hampered by her bonds, couldn’t fly very fast. Pan caught her with ease.

  Wrapping the girl in a bear hug, he turned to Rommy. “I don’t know why you keep saving him, anyway. He’s not worth it!”

  Didn’t we have this conversation already?” Rommy said. She pushed her chin up, but her dagger trembled. “If you think I’m going to let you take Alice, you are a slow learner.” She kept her eyes trained on Pan, looking for an opportunity.

  “Stay away from him,” said Hook. Rommy glanced at her father. He perched in the tree, his face white and tense. He couldn’t help her or Alice now. She turned her gaze back to Pan.

  “You’re the slow learner,” he said and jerked his head in Hook’s direction. “He doesn’t care about you. If he did, he wouldn’t be chasing me, now would he? He certainly wouldn’t have risked little Alice here.” Rommy flinched, and Pan smiled. “He probably promised he’d rescue Alice, didn’t he? How many promises has he broken since you got here?”

  Rommy gripped her dagger tighter and moved closer. Pan backed away, tightening his hold on Alice, who wiggled and squirmed. “Oh, I don’t think so,” he said. A smile curved across his face. “Don’t follow us—unless you want me to feed her to Old Crocky here.” He nodded toward the reptile who was lying on the bank of the river. The creature’s large head was swinging back and forth, looking for all the world like it was watching a performance.

  Before he turned and sped away, Alice’s eyes met Rommy’s. The fear in them squeezed her heart.

  Chapter 4:

  Papa Disappoints

  Rommy hovered in the air, feeling numb as she watched Pan and Alice become mere specks in the sky. She blinked rapidly to keep the tears that were welling in her eyes from falling.

  Her father was sitting on a tree branch, keeping a wary eye on the crocodile that was still lying on the bank. Although it was motionless, its yellow eyes tracked Hook’s every move. It would have been funny, seeing her father perched in a tree, if Alice were here. But she wasn’t.

  Pan’s words played over in her mind, and the fog of numbness burned away as anger flared. Rommy buzzed down to hover in front of her father.

  “How could you?” she asked in a choked voice. “I told you we should have stopped Tiger Lily before she even left the encampment, but no, you had to go after Pan. And now Alice is gone.” Her voice caught on the last word, and she clenched her jaw to keep from crying. “She’s gone, and we don’t even know where Pan took her!”

  Hook held out his hand to her. “Now, Andromeda...Rommy, you don’t understand. I had to try, and I was so close this time.” He glanced down at the crocodile, irritation crossing his face. “If it hadn’t been for that ridiculous beast, we’d all be on our way home together right now.”

  “But we’re not all on our way home, are we?” Rommy retorted. “You’re stuck up in a tree. Pan took Alice who knows where, and you could have died.” Rommy took a deep breath, trying to regain her composure. “I don’t know why you want Pan so badly, but he’s not worth all this! He’s not worth Alice!” Rommy dashed a hand across her face as tears leaked out despite her best efforts.

  Hook’s face contorted. “I’m sorry, Rommy, but you don’t understand.”

  “You’re right, Papa,” said Rommy, her lips thinning to a hard line. “I don’t understand. I really don’t.”

  Turning away from her father, she started to fly away.

  “Rommy, wait!” he said, but she kept going. “Andromeda Cavendish, you come back here right now. Don’t you fly away from me.”

  She whirled back to face him, unable to contain the hurt and anger churning inside. “Why? So you can make another promise you’ll only end up breaking? Pan was right about that, wasn’t he?” Rommy gave a bitter laugh.

  “You don’t understand, Rommy,” Hook said again.

  “Then why won’t you help me understand?” said Rommy, staring into her father’s eyes. Hook was the first to look away.

  He opened his mouth to speak, but Rommy was done. She spun away from him and, putting on a burst of speed, headed toward the ship, unsure where else to go. The tears she had been trying to keep back fell thick and fast down her cheeks, the wind blowing them back into her hair.

  Thoughts of Alice crowded out her disappointment in her father. The little girl wasn’t afraid of much. When Rommy met her, Alice had been facing down a gang of bullies three times her size, but Pan terrified her. And Rommy didn’t blame her. Pan looked like a boy about her own age, but when you looked into his eyes, he was ancient. Ancient and scary.

  Rommy felt her anger flare again. She didn’t know what had brought Papa to Neverland or what drove him to exact revenge on Pan, but she felt her dreams of their spending time together crash down around her. She had thought they could get to know each other. Deep down, what she really hoped was that they could leave Neverland, go back to England. Be a family.

  With a sinking heart, Rommy realized that her father’s desire for revenge overshadowed everything, even her and definitely Alice. And she wasn’t sure she could forgive him for that.

  Chapter 5:

  Now What?

  Before Rommy even touched down on the ship, Smee was hurrying over to her. His eyes were wide with worry, and he was wringing his hands.

  “My dear girl, whatever is wrong?” he asked. He grasped her arms and looked her over. “Are you hurt? Where’s the Captain? Don’t tell me something’s happened to him.”

  Rommy swiped at the tears that refused to stop. “No, I’m not hurt, and Papa’s fine. Well, he’s stuck
up a tree, but he’s otherwise fine.” Rommy stopped and gulped. “But...but...Pan took Alice.” Her voice broke, and the tears fell faster.

  Smee stared at her. He opened and closed his mouth several times before he spoke. “Up a tree? Pan?”

  By this time, several of the other pirates were gathered around Rommy and Smee; they peppered her with questions.

  “What’s happened, lass?” asked Big Red, a giant of a man with a flaming beard that fell to his waist. “Are ye hurt?”

  “A tree, ye say? Wot’s he doin’ up there?” Stubbs asked. His good eye squinted in confusion.

  “Were the Indians in league with Pan? Who’s Alice? Don’t tell me the Captain has another daughter!” Tommy, the cabin boy, smacked his forehead at the idea.

  Rommy put her hands out, trying to ward off the questions flying at her so fast they made her head spin.

  An arm came around her shoulders and a somewhat rumpled handkerchief appeared in front of her face. “Patience, lads,” a smooth voice said. “The poor girl can’t answer you all at once. She’s obviously had an upset. Let’s give her a moment to compose herself, and then I’m sure the young lady will share what happened with all of us.”

  “Aw, why don’t ya speak plain, Gentleman Jack?” called Stubbs.

  “Stop smothering the girl, so she can answer your questions,” the man called Gentleman Jack said. “Is that plain enough for you, Stubbs?”

  Rommy mopped at her eyes with the handkerchief.

  “Thank you, sir,” she said, trying to hand back his handkerchief. He folded her hand over it and squeezed.

  “Don’t you worry about it,” he said with a wink. He had a head full of wavy dark hair and twinkling golden-brown eyes. Unlike most of the men, his clothes looked dashing rather than dirty.

  Speaking of the men, they were all staring at her, waiting for her to speak. Rommy's cheeks burned. Last night they were cheering her win over Pan. Now, she was blotchy and tear-stained. She cleared her throat and tried to gather her thoughts. These were her father’s men. Despite her anger at him, she knew she needed to choose her words carefully. Besides, she doubted these men would care much about Alice, anyway.

  “My father, um, Captain Hook, and I traveled to get my friend Alice,” said Rommy.

  “What’s that? I can’t hears ya! Speak up, gal,” said Stubbs, thumping his peg leg on the deck for emphasis.

  Rommy started again, louder this time. “Papa and I meant to collect Alice from Chief Hawk Eye. She came with me to Neverland, and,” Rommy looked over at Tommy, “no, she isn’t my sister. How we met isn’t really important. What is important is that when we were close to the encampment, we saw Tiger Lily sneaking away with Alice. Papa, um, the Captain, decided to follow Tiger Lily rather than stop her because he believed she would lead him to Pan.” Rommy paused and breathed deeply as the crew muttered to each other. She could feel her anger stirring again, but it wouldn’t do to show it before the crew.

  “We followed her to the big willow, and Papa was right. Tiger Lily was taking Alice to Pan. Papa tried to ambush Pan, but, unfortunately, the crocodile chose that moment to attack. It was quite close, but Papa leapt onto the tree before the crocodile could hurt him. Pan took that opportunity to take Alice away with him.”

  “What’re ya doin' back here iffen the Cap'n is stuck up a tree?” asked a gruff voice. It was the bald man she remembered from her first day aboard the ship. He hadn’t looked very friendly before, and that hadn’t changed. “Seems ta me, you shoulda been helpin', not flittin' back here caterwaulin' like a babe in arms.” The man stepped closer to Rommy, a glower on his face.

  “Now then, Corelli,” said Gentleman Jack, slapping the man on his bare shoulder. “Let’s give the young lady some slack, shall we? She’s just lost her little friend, and I’m sure she’s upset. I don’t think her experiences with Pan, or Neverland, for that matter, have been very pleasant up until now.”

  The man named Corelli snorted. “Pleasant ain’t really the point, now is it? This ain’t some school girl outing,” he said. “I’d like to know what the Cap'n is thinkin’, bringing a girlie onto the ship anyways. Iffen she twas my girl, I’da thrashed her but good and shipped 'er back where she come from. Seems he's gettin' a mite soft, is the Cap'n.”

  Murmuring swept through the men, and the air suddenly felt charged.

  Gentleman Jack let out a bark of laughter. “Well, we can all be glad you’ve got such an ugly mug, and there’s no danger of you having a daughter, Corelli,” he said and flashed a grin.

  Laughter rippled through the group of men, and the dark mood broke.

  Gentleman Jack put his hand on her shoulder again. “Now, she’s answered all your questions, men. Smee, why don’t you take her to the Captain’s quarters for a rest. I’ll take a few of the men and head down to drive off that beast. It does have an unseemly interest in the Captain ever since it took off his hand.”

  Smee bustled up to her, taking her elbow. “Gentleman Jack’s right, he is. Let’s get you tucked up into the Captain’s quarters, my dear. You’ve had a hard time of it, from all appearances. Poor lamb.” Smee patted her hand as he led her from the deck back toward her father’s cabin. Rommy followed him without protest. The men were still looking at her, and Corelli’s calculated stare made a shiver run up her back.

  Once inside the cabin, Smee gently pushed her into a chair before the small, pot-bellied stove. He knelt and stoked the embers of the fire so they came back to life. Then he put on the teakettle.

  He smiled at her. “A spot of tea is what you need to put color back into those cheeks,” he said.

  Rommy let him fuss over her. It didn’t take long before she had a blanket tucked around her legs and she held a steaming cup of tea in her hands.

  “There, now,” Smee said. He looked around with an air of satisfaction. “You just rest yerself. You’re plumb wore out. I don’t know why you and the Captain had to leave so early after all the fuss last night.” He tsked disapprovingly as he walked toward the door, shaking his head. “I don’t know what either of you were thinking,” he said as he sailed out the door.

  Rommy stared at the tea in her hand. She was still furious with her father and worried about Alice. But beneath all that was a heavy sadness. She had come so far, but had anything really changed?

  She had screwed up her courage to sneak out of her boarding school after her father failed to show up for her birthday. Her mind retraced her steps from Chattingham’s to getting lost in the London slums and meeting Alice. Then there was Finn. He had told her about Neverland and that her father was a pirate. She hadn’t wanted to believe him, not her Papa! But Finn was right—about all of it. Even her father.

  Pan’s words came back to haunt her. Papa had lied to her about who he was. He had hidden his life in Neverland, and he had been so caught up in trying to use the Lost Boys to smoke out Pan, he had forgotten all about her.

  Rommy shook her head. Once again, her father’s need for revenge had been more important than she was. To be fair, when Pan had tied her up on the rock in Mermaid Lagoon, her father had let the Lost Boys go. He had been ready to come find her, not knowing she had escaped with a little help from a mermaid. She knew he loved her, but his desire for revenge was always there, and even after losing Alice, he wouldn’t tell her why.

  It was true. She had found her papa, but she still had no real answers. Why had Papa come to this island? Why was revenge so important that he had spent years chasing after Pan? Rommy set her teacup down and crossed her arms, resting her chin on them. When her father came back, she hoped he would answer her questions. He had to. Because if he didn’t, Rommy wasn’t sure she wanted to stay.

  Chapter 6:

  Papa’s Confession

  “Andromeda!”

  Rommy jerked her head off the table and blinked at her father, who stood in the doorway, scowling. Her head felt stuffed with cotton, and her eyes were gritty from crying.

  Hook took one glance at her red, swollen e
yes, and the stern expression on his face softened. He strode across the room. Pulling a chair around, he straddled it so his arms were resting on the back. He gave her a long look.

  “What were you thinking, just flying off like that?” he said. “This is not some dreamland. There are dangerous things here. I know you were upset about Alice, but you really can’t just take off whenever you get angry with me.”

  Rommy pushed herself up and straightened her shoulders. “I’m perfectly aware of the dangers of this island, Papa. I’m not a little girl.”

  “Well, you are my little girl, and I don’t want anything to happen to you.”

  “What about other little girls? Like Alice.” Rommy’s chin jutted out. Her anger sparked to life again.

  Hook sat back and raked his hook through his hair. “You don’t understand, Andromeda... Rommy. Do you know how many times I’ve almost had him? I’ve been so close, but he always manages to slither away. If there was any chance I could get Pan, I had to take it.”

  “Oh, I know how much you want to get Pan, but what I don’t understand is why, Papa?” said Rommy leaning forward. “Why are you even here? You said Pan took something from you. What was it? Why is getting revenge more important than Alice?” She looked down at her hands. “More important than me?”

  Hook jerked his head back, shock on his face. “Is that what you assume? That you aren’t important to me?” He reached over and covered one of her hands with his. “Look at me, Rommy.” Reluctantly, Rommy lifted her head and met his eyes. He squeezed her hand. “You are the most important person in the world to me, Rommy. You must trust me when I say that.”

  “It’s hard to accept that, Papa, when I’ve spent most of my life only seeing you twice a year.” Rommy looked away from her father and down at his hand gripping hers. “I wish...I wish you would come back to London and that we could be a regular family. I don’t want you to stay here anymore. Let’s rescue Alice and go home.” As she said the word home, Rommy realized she didn’t really have one, not with her father at any rate. She felt the prickle of tears and blinked rapidly, but one tear escaped and splashed onto her father’s hand.