The avalanche hit the Jolly Roger with the force of a hundred waves, tossing it down the steep slope and over a short cliff. Time slowed as the great ship fell from the sky. When the impact didn’t come, Jocelyn wondered if the Jolly Roger had somehow gained the gift of flight.

In case you were wondering, it hadn’t. This was nothing more than a very long fall. Eventually, the ship smacked into the snow at the foot of the bluff, but it did not rest there. It tumbled over and over, like a pair of wrestling badgers, before finally coming to a rest.

Even after the Jolly Roger stopped moving, Jocelyn couldn’t bring herself to let go of the timber post, though now she held it with her arms and legs, hanging on like a sloth in a ginkgo tree. She opened her eyes and looked around. The gun deck, or at least what was left of it, was turned on its side—the floor was now a wall—and mostly filled with snow. If she wanted to find the stairs and hatch to the upper deck, she’d have to dig.

Whether it was the avalanche itself or the impact from the fall, Jocelyn couldn’t tell, but something had punched a great, ragged hole in the ship’s hull, which was now situated more above the girl than in front of her. Dirty Bob and Captain Krueger were nowhere to be seen. It appeared as though they had both been swept through the breach as the ship tumbled about. She did not expect to see either man again.

Jocelyn forced her arms and legs to let go of the post and dropped into the snow. With great difficulty, she climbed the steep slope and out of the wreckage.

Debris marred the pristine whiteness of the ground. Casks, boxes, and barrels, bits of rope and chain, and splintered pieces of the ship itself lay scattered about. The Jolly Roger’s entire rudder had been torn aside and was now stuck upright in a drift, like a grave marker.

“Roger! Evie!” Jocelyn called out. But there was no answer.

She quickly made her way toward the upper deck. A bit of bright yellow fabric lay atop the powder—Evie’s dress. Jocelyn began to scoop away the ice and snow. She uncovered an arm, then a shoulder, and finally Evie’s face. The older girl took a deep shuddering breath and opened her eyes.

“Roger—” she said. “I couldn’t hold on.”

Jocelyn quickly finished digging her out. “Are you hurt?” she asked as she hauled Evie to her feet.

“I don’t think so.” Before she had even finished speaking, Jocelyn was pulling her along.

Together they hurried to the other side of the ship. The center mast had snapped when the ship rolled. Its splintered nub stuck out like a thumb from the decking. To this bit, Roger was still tied, suspended only a few feet above a snowbank. He hung limply in the ropes. Jocelyn couldn’t tell if he…She ran to him, refusing to think of it.

His gag had worked itself loose, but his mouth was slack, unsmiling. Forgetting, she reached for her sword, but her sheath was empty. All she had was the spyglass, mercifully unbroken, in the pouch at her waist. But in this situation it would be useless. “Evie, find me something to cut the ropes with,” she commanded.

“Look in his pockets,” the other girl suggested. “Doesn’t he have a knife?”

Jocelyn frantically began the arduous search, with Evie joining in to help. Given that the boy had a hundred pockets, it was like trying to find a particular grain of sand upon the beach. They unearthed two purple stones, a bit of string, a tin soldier, one of the parrot’s green feathers, a live frog and a dead mouse, a handful of dried leaves, and the I’m sorry note Jocelyn had written to him the night she left school.

Tears stung the girl’s eyes, and she wished she could tell him she was sorry for the quarrel they had just had. After searching three more pockets, and cursing Smee for creating so many, Jocelyn finally found the knife. She sawed through the ropes that held Roger captive, and she and Evie carefully lowered him to the snow.

Evie hovered anxiously nearby while Jocelyn laid her head on Roger’s chest. It rose and fell beneath her. She heard the thump-thump of his heart. He was alive, but other than figuring that out, Jocelyn had no idea what to do for him. So the girl did the first thing that came to her mind. She punched him on the arm.

Roger’s eyes fluttered, then opened. He gaze focused on Jocelyn’s face. “So, we’re shipwrecked, then,” he said. “Like Magellan.”

Jocelyn started to giggle. Her giggles turned to laughs and her laughs turned to guffaws. Roger and Evie both joined her, their relief at surviving pouring out in hysterical laughter. Evie stopped to catch her breath and asked, “What’s so funny about Magellan?” which struck Jocelyn and Roger as so hilarious it took them quite some time to recover.

Eventually, Jocelyn grabbed her aching side, wiped the laugh tears from her eyes, and surveyed the wreckage. “It looks like we may have seen the last of Krueger, though I’m sorry to see the map go with him.” Jocelyn paled. “And Meriwether! Were you able to get him?”

Evie smiled. “You were right. Finishing-school embroidery does make for nimble fingers—perfect for fine stitches and pickpocketing.” She pulled a silver flask from her dress pocket, uncorked it, and tipped it into Jocelyn’s outstretched palm. The bottle must not have been completely empty when Meriwether was placed in it, for he tumbled into the girl’s hand, stood and gave a wobbly bow, then fell over and into a drunken sleep. Jocelyn felt her heart might burst with relief. She kissed the little fairy over and over, grateful to have him with her once more.

Pity for him Meriwether was not conscious and able to enjoy it. Those kisses would have been his fondest dreams come true, but such is life.

After tucking him snugly into her pocket, Jocelyn turned her affection on Evie, gathering her into a tight hug.

“You did even better than I had hoped,” she said. “Thank you.”

“Don’t thank me just yet.” Evie giggled and squirmed away. “Wait until you see what else I took.” She held up a small leather purse and jingled it. “Gold. Here you go, Captain.” She tossed it to Jocelyn. “And speaking of gold…I also got this.” She placed the treasure map in Jocelyn’s hands. “Now let’s go break that code.”

Jocelyn made a choice, then and there. She would send her crew, under Roger’s command, after the gold, but she would stay behind—with Evie. If her mother, her friend, still wished to never leave the Neverland, Jocelyn would remain always with her, reminding her of where she came from so Evie would not become untethered. Perhaps they would grow old instead of growing up, but they would do it together.

Jocelyn smiled, offering Evie one hand and Roger the other. “Yes indeed. We have a painting to find.”