Chapter
3: Mystery and Escapades in Mermaids’ Lagoon- Pars One
“I
have heard the mermaids singing each to each; I do not think they will
sing to me...”
-T.S.
Eliot
Close your eyes tightly and focus on the crisp, pale colors before you.
Now
squeeze your eyes tighter and watch those colors take on form and
become
very intense. Now squeeze once more and the colors will be set ablaze.
Watch carefully for the instant before they go on fire, you will see
Mermaids’ Lagoon. This is where Peter took Angelica the next afternoon
and
it was where all of the events of the day occurred.
Angelica was very glad to be aboveground for once since her entire time
in
Neverland thus far had been spent in the Home Underground while the
others,
her sibling included, where off having grand adventures. Being a modern
woman, Angelica needed more to her life than simply home and children
and
so a venture to the Lagoon was just what she desired.
There was one small thing that was troubling Angelica greatly and it
was
the fact that Mackenzie had been to the Lagoon before her. As the
oldest,
Angelica felt it was an inherent right to experience such a privilege
before her younger relations. Not only did she not see the mermaids
first,
she was also never invite to join the Lost Boys and Mackenzie on their
excursion. This perceived injustice, coupled with cabin fever, put the
little girl in a foul mood. She had little tolerance for the Boys and
Mackenzie and the racket they caused and she was even short-tempered
with
Peter.
Angelica was sitting by the fireplace trying very hard to be motherly
by
mending her children’s socks, but she was encountering great obstacles
as
she could not sew very well without aid from a machine and was
thoroughly
frustrated when Peter dropped in with news of the planned trip to
Mermaids’
Lagoon.
Following his announcement, he turned to Angelica and asked blithely,
“Isn’t the darning done yet? You’ve been at since yesterday morning.”
This was simply more than the little girl could bare and she threw down
her
mending and glared furiously at him.
“What am I? A maid? I can’t be perfect at everything!” she cried in
despair.
Peter gave her a funny look and cocked his head to the side as he
always
did when he was unclear on something.
“What’s wrong with you, Mother?” he asked in innocence.
“Oh, shut up!” she shrieked when he called her “mother”. Angelica flung
herself down in front of the fireplace and sobbed heavily.
Peter put a hand behind his head and dug his fingers into his scalp.
Girls
were such strange creatures to him and he never quite knew what the
things
they said really meant or why they got so upset.
“Does this mean you won’t be going to the Lagoon with us?”
Angelica looked up at Peter through tear-filled eyes to find him
smiling at
her so charmingly that she could hardly remain angry with him.
“Mermaids’ Lagoon, you mean?”
“Aye.” Peter wiggled his nose at her in an endearing fashion causing
her to
giggle.
“I suppose,” she said rather primly, putting her motherly airs back on.
“Are the rest of the children to go as well?”
“They are.”
“Well, in that case,” she continued, jumping up from the floor and
hastily
putting away the mending. “They first must eat, and pack a change of
clothes should they go swimming, and...”
Peter did not hear the rest of Angelica’s words, as she was already
gone
from him and preparing for the adventure ahead.
Pudge immediately took Peter to the spot where the Lost Boys and
Mackenzie
discovered the unusual symbol.
“What do you think it means, Peter?” asked Lanky with an apprehensive
look
on his thin visage.
“Bad mark!” proclaimed Half-Pint.
“It means,” Peter’s eyes danced with exhilaration as a smile swelled
over
his features, “an awfully big adventure lies ahead, Boys!”
The Lost Boys and Mackenzie cheered their gladness and dove into the
glittering waters of the Lagoon.
Peter, however, remained where he was, staring at the black mark. The
urgency he felt earlier returned with a greater intensity. A thought
flitted across his mind and left him with a disturbing memory. Every
pirate
dreaded the reception of the iniquitous black spot on a piece of
parchment
for it spelled the end of their life. This sadistic blemish had the
distinct feel of that feared pirate marking. Peter put his finger to
his
nose (which signified that he was thinking). Though he knew not the
mark’s
origin, he felt quite certain that no pirate had left it.
The mermaids of the Lagoon dispersed from sight the moment the children
entered. This sorely saddened Angelica as she had always dreamed of, as
little girls do, seeing a real, live mermaid. She felt certain that she
and
they should get on famously if only the opportunity would present
itself.
But the mermaids did not want a thing to do with her. The truth must be
told that they were very jealous creatures and were never more envious
than
when Peter brought a new mother to Neverland’s shores. You see, Peter
was
the only one with whom the mermaids would associate and they felt a
certain
maternal claim to him. After all, they felt positive that he should
make a
delightful merboy for he was the best and fastest swimmer and diver in
all
of Neverland and besides they knew him first and best. And so it was
for
this reason that they always splashed the new mothers and were
generally
rude to them. They were not fond of the Boys either, but it was the
two-
legged land females that they detested most.
Peter felt the need to converse with the elusive creatures for if
anyone
should know the source of the mark it would be they.
Angelica was asked to accompany him and she was very pleased about it.
They
swam out to Marooner’s Rock where the mermaids loved to laze around on
sunny days. Angelica was surprised to find that Peter was such a robust
swimmer and she had difficulty keeping up with him. When they reached
the
massive boulder that rose out of the Lagoon they found it deserted of
all
the mermaids. Peter stood on the center of Marooner’s Rock and produced
a
pale pink conch shell from behind his back (Angelica wondered where it
had
come from for she had not seen him bring it with them). He put the
tapered
end to his lips and, after inhaling a great breath, he blew on the
shell
with all his might. The loud blare that emanated from the instrument
reminded Angelica of a foghorn. Peter paused several beats before
blowing
again. He did this three times in all, resting after each blast.
At length, the mermaids surfaced in answer to Peter’s summons. Five of
them
broke through the waves and ten hands grasped Marooner’s Rock as they
simultaneously pulled themselves above the surface to greet him.
Let us take a moment to appreciate the extraordinary beauty of these
mythical creatures. Of course, if you have never seen a mermaid before,
it
would be difficult to do so. Therefore allow me to offer a description
of
them. The mermaids that inhabited the Lagoon were of a different breed
that
those found in the ocean. Their skin would shimmer exquisitely in the
midday sun as it was the color of a pearl with silver undertone (it
should
be noted that there was one mermaid whose skin was like that of a
Tahitian
black pearl, but she was rarely ever seen by mortal eyes). The color of
the
eyes of the sea-maidens appeared in all the moods of sea from a pale
foam
green to a blue so deep there was no name for it. Their hair was longer
than the length of their elegant bodies and it might remind one of the
sea
kelp that waves to and fro in the seabeds. Their tails were grand
things to
see for they were very long with prismatic scales that projected
cascades
of rainbows whenever light should touch them.
One the mermaids drew herself up onto the rock to sit near where Peter
knelt. The mermaid regarded the Boy with haunting eyes as a smile broke
on
her pale coral lips- a secretive smile, one just for Peter. She
stretched
out a long arm to him by way of greeting. Peter was on his feet faster
than
lightning and took her fingers with their opal nails in his tanned
hand. He
bowed to her most graciously and every so lightly kissed her
fingertips.
The siren expressed her pleasure by bringing a lock of her ebony
tresses up
from the water and veiling her face so that only her eyes were visible.
However, it was then that she caught sight of Angelica gawking at her.
The
mermaid’s pretty face turned angry and she gnashed her teeth and
flicked
her tail, spraying water up as she tried to drench Angelica.
Angelica did not know how such a beautiful creature could be so
spiteful
and she bit her bottom lip to hold back the tears. Peter, however, was
unperturbed by this.
“What fate brings you to summon us from the deep, Peter?” queried the
raven-
haired maiden next to him. Her voice sounded like the gentle babble of
a
brook.
Peter slid down the slick boulder and slipped around it until he found
the
area where the peculiar mark lay.
“Have you seen this?” he asked, pointing to the spot.
“Yes,” was the fluid reply. “It was left three sunrises ago.”
Peter’s hand gripped the dagger at his side.
“By whom?”
Her great eyes gazed at him steadily and her lips dipped below the
surface.
“We do not know.”
Peter frowned, his young face pinched together in dubiousness. The
mermaids
knew all that took place in the Lagoon, how could they not know? And
this
was Peter’s grave concern.
“Was it Hook?” It was more of a statement than a question; Peter
greatly
desired an affirmative rejoinder for he ached to wage war with his
nemesis
once more. We are going to tell on Peter here- the Boy was secretively
overjoyed knowing that Hook lived for he felt the Crocodile unjustly
received the privilege of doing in the malevolent criminal, a privilege
that belonged to him.This time, Peter had sworn, it would be he who
killed
the pirate king and he alone.
“It was not he,” the mermaid answered, much to Peter’s disillusionment.
“Hook has not tread in the Lagoon for many moons.”
“Though we know not who,” chimed in the raven-haired mermaid’s copper
trussed sister, “we know that some ill-omen passed through three
sunrises
ago.”
Now if you or I received this news, we would be horribly upset and our
faces would display a breadth of negative emotion. But Peter’s frown
did
not deepen. In fact, the opposite occurred as a curious smile extended
over
his face and his eyes radiated with an unusual glow.
Angelica shuddered faintly for she did not care for the look in Peter’s
eye.
The redheaded mermaid turned her immense lavender eyes to Angelica and
smiled sweetly. Angelica returned the smile with one of her own. So
entranced by the siren was she that she did not see the pale arm with
the
slender fingers and opal nails reaching out for her. But Peter did. He
hissed and smacked the hand away. The mermaids slipped back into the
depths, the water behind them boiled in the heat of their jealousy.
Not far from Mermaids’ Lagoon somewhere in the heart of the
Never-Forest it
lay. At first glance, it would seem to be a very sizeable rock
formation
that had been misplaced in the forest. Upon closer inspection it could
be
seen that the rock had reptilian scales that burned a rich emerald
green.
The rock was not a rock at all, naturally, but the Crocodile, recovered
from its stomachache and greatly disgruntled that its dinner had
escaped.
In fact, it was searching at that very moment for its lost prey. It was
quite certain that the hunt would close shortly for it had one distinct
advantage that it had not had previously- the clock that had always
alerted
Hook of its arrival had been forever silenced.
Aria was late in joining Peter and the rest of them for she had had a
pow-
wow with Tiger Lily that morning that had gone later than anticipated.
Though perfectly capable of flying to Mermaids Lagoon, Aria chose to
walk
the distance for she rather enjoyed the solitude that certain parts of
the
Island offered.
Because she oft preferred to go off alone and be away from the others
let
us not presume that Aria, in any way, thought herself superior to the
rest
of them or let her princess status go to her head. It was much that
opposite really, as she often felt inferior to them since she was so
much
older than they- ever so much more than twelve. It was a secret she
held,
one that she should very much like to be free. The truth was that she
was
sixteen on the brink of seventeen and teetering on that dangerous
ground
between childhood and adulthood.
With a sigh of anguish, Aria pushed the unpleasant thoughts into a
small
box and placed that box in an obscure region of her mind somewhere
behind
healthy eating and diplomatic etiquette.
Aria may have thought that she was completely alone in her ruminations
as
she journeyed towards Peter, but this was not so. Hidden in the shadows
was
a pair of piercing blue eyes, watching her every breath.
It was James Hook in those shadows and a delighted smirk kissed his
lips
when he discovered her. Days ago, he had sent several of his dogs to
scout
for her, but the bumbling idiots could not so much as locate the girl
much
less recover any information about her. Hook found that if he wished
for
something of this manner to be accomplished properly, he must do it
himself. For as it turned out, it was not that challenging to find her.
Tsk, tsk, Hook thought with a baleful twinkle in his eyes. One mustn’t
wander alone through Neverland, little girl.
Stealthily, he trailed her and took the opportunity to observe her
further
in effort to gain some insight into her character. He had seen the
earlier
pained expression on her face and he found it a great pity that such
torture should mar the features of such a lovely creature. Perhaps it
seems
odd that this barbaric buccaneer should have such a compassion, but
remember, Hook was not fully evil. There was, buried unfathomable deep
within his person, a better self that appreciated beauty in all its
forms.
Just never forget that Hook was still Hook, the greatest villain of all
time and he was so titled for a reason.
The princess paused briefly, then continued on at a faster pace, as
though
she had inkling of what malevolence lurked in the mist.
Then a thought passed through Hook’s mind, one that brought a dark
smile to
his visage. The girl was a cherished friend of Pan and it stood to
reason
that she would be on her way to meet him. Hook picked up his gait to
match
hers, careful to remain a step behind. And Aria, in innocence, led him
to
the Lagoon where Peter waited.
