Captain James Hook and the Siege of Neverland by Jeremiah Kleckner, Jeremy Marshall Page A

view.   Behind the mountain, dark clouds schemed.  
    As we stepped out onto the field, we saw Bertilak standing just outside of the door to the outer wall.   His axe was strapped across his back and his bright tunic of green and gold shone in the overcast sunlight.   All three hounds sprawled across the grass at his feet.   He and Starkey were laughing over one of the books in the gentleman’s hands.  
    Next to them was Gabriel, sitting atop several boxes laid side by side.   Her blue dress clung to her wrists and waist tightly, but danced on the corners of the boxes as the wind blew through it.   Her face cracked into a narrow smile as she saw me.   She caught herself and looked away.  
    “Where is Gustavo?” I asked.  
    “Resting,” Bertilak said.   “Inside.”
    I held the herbs out for him to see.   “These were not easy to get, but you knew that.”
    A distant thunder rumbled.  
    “Indeed,” said the knight.   “You and your men are courageous beyond measure.”   Bertilak scratched his beard as he examined the herbs.   He looked to Gabriel and she quickly grabbed them from my hand and took them inside.
    “How soon can he be healed and on his feet?” I asked, wiping the first drops of rain off of my forehead.  
    “He can be healed in moments,” said the knight.   “It will be some time before he is well enough to walk.”  
    A stiff wind ripped through the trees and assaulted us, carrying with it the promise of more to come.  
    “The storm is upon us, Captain,” said the knight.   “You will never make it back to your ship in time.”
    “I have weathered storms before.”
    “Not a Neverland storm, my dear Captain,” Bertilak said.   “Come and let my walls protect you.”  
    Black clouds rolled over the top of the mountain like a sheet of artificial night.   I looked into the still groggy and sunken eyes of the men at my side.  
    “Until the storm passes,” I said.  
    Bertilak smiled and waved an arm for us to follow him inside.   Over the rolling thunder and the crank of Bertilak’s gate lowering from the barbican, I heard Smee’s snide growl.   I chose to ignore it, but my heart sank as the gate crashed down against the stone, sealing us inside.  

Chapter Nine

    The storm was on us before we were through the courtyard.   We ran inside the keep as heavy rain pounded the stone walls.   A fire burned in the main hall and the men made beds of the sheets and cushions within reach.   I watched Gabriel heal Gustavo in much the same way as she did the boy.   Only then did I join my crew by the fire.  
    Bertilak drank and laughed with us on into the night.   He showed Starkey and me his library of seven books, each of which he knew cover to cover.   We talked about literature and history.   We talked about what passed for art in the modern world.   We talked about war, famine, feasts, and how to make rum.   We talked about anything except Peter Pan.  
    After several hours, Bertilak excused himself to bed.   One by one, the men’s eyes became heavy and they drifted away into sleep by the fireplace.  
    Every man save for me.  
    It wasn’t nervousness that kept me awake.   Bertilak’s actions all seemed like tests.   Accepting the barrels of food was a test of faith.   Retrieving the herbs from the plant was a test of might and courage.   If my suspicions were right, there was another test waiting for me.   In spite of this, I didn’t believe that the knight’s motives for me were of ill intent.  
    My unrest was also not due to a lack of comfort.   The floor of the hall was wide enough for each man to have his own corner if he wanted it.   I lied in a warm and dry nook by the fire, wrapped in the fur of an animal I didn’t recognize.  
    It would have been ideal, if only I could have stopped from getting sick.   I tossed from side to side, trying to steady the room around me.   I closed my eyes and the room spun.   I opened them again and the