Hook’s Revenge The Pirate Code

You are harder to get rid of than lice in my sister’s mustache. More verminous, too.

All right, all right, I will tell a bit more. But you must know that when I am finished with the tale, I will also be finished with you—by any means necessary.

Certainly there was a celebration once they all made it back to the Hook’s Revenge. I think everyone was a bit surprised to find that Gentleman Starkey had not taken the opportunity to simply make off with the ship, though no one was more surprised than Starkey himself. In gratitude, Jocelyn offered him captainship of the Calypso’s Nightmare under her command as admiral. He agreed, and signed on the now-unemployed crew of the late Captain Krueger under his leadership.

As for Starkey, that moment reversed in him a lifelong-held belief that all children were terrible. No, from that day on, he knew the truth. Though most were noisy, sticky, whiny little blighters, Jocelyn was…less so.

Truth be told, she had already offered the captainship to Roger but had been turned down. It seemed the boy preferred to stay close to her. And he didn’t mind being under the girl’s direct command, so long as she agreed to listen his ideas, at least a portion of the time.

Roger returned her father’s logbook and Jocelyn flipped to a new page. She titled it Admiral Hook’s Pirate Code. The entry was this: There is more than one way to be a real pirate.

She slipped the book back into her pocket and shouted, “As commanding officer, I demand one thing of you all tonight!” The men awaited her instructions. “Enjoy yourselves!”

Nubbins crafted an amazing meal from the galley stores—even without a crepe pan. The party enjoyed their feast to the sounds of Jim McCraig and his parrot singing a completely comprehensible duet. Jocelyn had never gotten over how easy it was to understand the man while he sang. She now marveled that the parrot had the same quality.

One-Armed Jack surprised everyone by withdrawing yet another prosthetic from under his shirt. No, not another piece of kitchen gear or sporting equipment, but a proper arm of leather and steel. “I just couldn’t help myself,” he said, “when I saw it in the cave. It spoke to me. Besides, that skeleton in the puzzle room wasn’t getting much use out of it.”

Jack waved it around as menacingly as he was able. (Not very.) Having had the original bitten off by the Neverland crocodile was impressive enough on its own, but to then be the bearer of a new claw hand, stolen off the remains of a pirate who had been killed by the great Captain Hook himself? It was almost too much. Truly, Jack was in danger of becoming a living legend, at least to himself.

Not everyone could have even a fraction of that luck. Jim McCraig’s fortunes took a turn for the worse when, during a break from their singing, his parrot plucked the sliver from Jim’s big toe, effectively removing his wooden leg. His complaints were long, loud, and, as to be expected, unintelligible.

Sir Charles spent the evening discussing matters of import, and port wine, with both Mr. Smee and Gentleman Starkey, thrilled to find that both men were, like himself, aficionados of the finer things in life.

In a night filled with surprise and amazement, perhaps the most dramatic moment came when Blind Bart stood and declared, “After all the aquatic exercise tonight, I have triumphed over my intense phobia of the water. Indeed, I feel I need no longer rely on my eye patches for protection.”

For the first time since any of them had known the man, he uncovered his eyes and blinked upon the world. At that very moment, however, poor Meriwether—who seemed to have contracted a cold from becoming too damp—broke forth with a mighty sneeze. A shower of fairy dust sprayed Bart in his tender, wondering eyes. To hear him scream, the pain must have been something like looking into the heart of a thousand blazing suns. He firmly clapped his patches back over both eyes and never could be prevailed on to remove them again.

Jocelyn took Meriwether to her cabin and fed him a thimbleful of Nubbins’s best cold-cure soup. He drank it up and made a nest in her hair. The girl sat quietly on the bed, her fingers playing over her locket, thinking of her mother. She missed her.

Jocelyn pulled the logbook from her pocket again and opened to the first page. She ran her fingers over the note Evie had scrawled just before leaving the Neverland. It had all happened so fast, Jocelyn felt that she hadn’t gotten to say a proper good-bye. But even if there had been more time, it would have been impossible.

The girl’s musings were interrupted by another sneeze from Meriwether, and a shower of fairy dust that coated the book. Jocelyn went to wipe it on her sleeve but pulled back, wide-eyed. Glowing words appeared, floating to the surface of the page.

Dear Jocelyn,

Oh, how I wish you were here to talk to in person. I’d love to tell you all about the things that are happening in my life, and hear about what is happening in yours. Who else can I speak to of all this? Instead, I’ll talk to this diary, which I know you will one day find. (I had it embossed with J. H., for Jocelyn Hook.)

I saw him tonight, Jocelyn: Captain Hook—James. He was talking to Gentleman Starkey in the gardens, but I pretended not to notice. Instead, I let drop the fact that my father has bought a new ship and intends to send me on a pleasure cruise. It is my hope that we will meet at last, for how could a pirate resist a new ship?

The girl turned the page, plucked Meri from her head, and shook him over the diary. More entries appeared, detailing the very exciting adventures of a young woman experiencing first love. Jocelyn read them all—only slightly disgusted at the mushy parts. She missed her mother all over again, but felt grateful for another chance to hear her voice.

Dear Jocelyn,

My adventures are drawing to a close. Yours are about to begin. I have no regrets.

Love, Mother

Jocelyn thought back on their adventure together. She had made mistakes, to be sure, but things had worked out as they were meant to. And who knew, perhaps she would see Evie again, somewhere, somewhen. The Neverland was filled with impossible things, after all. It was conceivable that other places were as well.

The girl snuggled down into her bed and drifted off to sleep, rocked by ocean waves in uncharted seas. Roger had suggested that once they returned Sir Charles to his home, they should set a course for someplace altogether new, in neither England nor the Neverland, and Jocelyn had agreed. They would let the wind decide.

The girl was excited for what the next day might bring—and the day after that. Her whole life was ahead of her, thrilling experiences waiting just over the horizon. She would meet them as they came. Growing up would be a grand adventure.