Peter took a running leap and called over his shoulder, “Your knife is sharp, Chip, be careful with it.”
Jewel halted in mid-air, and her grin fell away. Eyes wide, she chimed in alarm, Careful? She shook herself and beat her wings to catch up to Peter, contemplating an idea identical to his own at that very moment.
Maybe, they each thought as they skimmed over the islands of London and dipped in and out of cloud currents with their hearts swelling. Maybe the Wendy isn’t so very gone, after all!
Chip shouted into the wind. It ransacked his golden hair, but left Peter’s untouched. “Will you tell me a story, Father?”
“If you promise to call me Peter, and take your medicine.”
“I will!”
“Which one do you want to hear, Chip? I know them all!”
Chip had his answer ready. “A pirate story!”
Peter’s green eyes ignited. “I’ll tell you all about my favorite pirate. On some adventure in the Neverland, you may even catch a glimpse of her… The Pirate Queen, Red-Handed Jill!
* * *
“Be brave, my hearty, for you never know when you’ll meet her. You must be prepared, if anything can prepare you for that kind of shock…”
Chapter 31
Never, Again
In the bed on the ship in the sea in the night, the never-ending lovers are entwined, swaying together, and the rhythm of their intricate dancing slows. Ebbing and flowing, the sea’s own time takes them over again. They fall back to lie at rest, Hook and Jill, while the moonlight swirls in wavering pools on the ceiling. Their earrings gleam, their eyes are lustrous, like the dusting of stars shining overhead in secret recesses of wooden beams. The ship purls as she flies through the darkness, her hungry wings swelling with every breeze she seizes.
Rent apart and recreated, Red-Handed Jill seizes her breath, too, and whispers silently, like the sea.
“I know what you’re thinking.”
Complete, replete, he waits.
“You’re thinking about Time.”
Hook smiles, all the way this time. “I am thinking about Forever.” He gathers his treasure in his one-handed grip. “And I am not alone.”
They roll together again, on the ship in the night, sailing past the ever-after end of once-upon-a-time, loving and living with all the passion only pirates can know.
Acknowledgements
With an ocean of gratitude, I salute ship’s company…
Jolene Barjasteh, Catherine Leah Condon-Guillemette, Stacy DeCoster, Victoria Everitt, Linda Ford, Greg Gressle, John de Guzman, Erik Hollander, Maureen Holtz, Scott Jones, Barbara Kaufmann, Kim, Mary Lawrence, Christopher Mabrey, Sarah Meehan, Krista Menzel, David Mertz, Deena Sherman, Ginny Thompson, Beth Vlad.
My highest compliment to the genius who engenders genius…
Sir James Barrie
About the Author
Combining a career in media with her literary and dramatic grounding, Andrea Jones reaps the result in writing.
As a producer-director, writer, and manager in television, she has worked for CBS, PBS, and corporate studios. She also performed as on-camera and voice-over talent.
She holds a B.A. from the University of Illinois in Oral Interpretation of Literature, with a minor in Literature. A continual student of the arts, history, and humanity, Jones finds her work informed by such sages as Carl Jung, Robert Graves, P.G. Wodehouse, and, of course, Sir James Barrie.
Jones is an enthusiastic patron of her public library. She dedicated several years to promoting a non-profit children’s organization, and is active on stage in local theatre. Having outgrown the “hideout under the ground,” she lives near Chicago.
Hook & Jill is her first published work, and the first book in the Hook & Jill Saga, a series of “grown-up” Neverland novels. Book Two is Other Oceans. Set a lookout for Book Three, Other Islands.
Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Acknowledgements
About the Author