“All right.” She looks at me over the rim of her cup as she takes a drink. “Just make sure the tree won’t fight back first.”
“I’ll go after a pacifist sort of tree. Make it easy on myself. See you in a bit.” I polish off my coffee and put the cup in the sink, then head out the door.
When I look back, Nessie is watching me.
Ugh. She knows. I don’t knowhowshe knows, but she knows. It only makes me move faster, skirting the cottages where a few pirates are grumbling about being hungover.
I’m almost to the edge of the woods when I stop dead. “Kevin?”
“Shit.” He turns as if he’s going to dart into the trees.
“Don’t you dare!” I stomp over to him. “Turn around!”
He does as he’s told, his familiar face like a slap in mine. “What the hell are you doing here?” I hold up a hand. “No, don’t tell me. Hook sent you to spy on me?”
He nods.
“But you showed up …” I think back. “You showed up as the pool boy next door when I was still a kid. Like fourteen?”
“Something like that.” He at least has the decency to have an American accent.
“Who are you really?” I ask with an almost bored tone.
“Ed Teynte. Boatswain. Happy to finally get to meet you. It was odd just watching from a distance and not being allowed to speak to you.”
“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me!” I want to shake him, to smack him, to demand answers.
“Whoa. I just did what the captain ordered. Watched out for you. Made sure you were all right.”
“How many more were there?” I put my hand on the hilt of my cutlass. “Tell me!”
He holds his hands out, palms toward me. “Me, Mullins, and Alf Mason as far as I know.”
“Just you three?”
“As far as I know, miss.” He backs up a step.
I spin back toward the house, fully intending to cuss Hook out to the best of my non-sailor ability, but I remember he’s down at the beach supervising the crew. I should’ve jumped on him last night about this, but then again, I was somewhat preoccupied.
“Can I go? I’m supposed to be carrying the new sail with?—”
“Go.” I swipe my hand through the air.
“Thank you, miss.” He hurries away, then breaks into a run once he’s past the cottages.
Damn. That little tête-à-tête just cut into my time for finding Geo. Not to mention I have no doubt Teynte is running as fast as he can to rat me out to Hook.
I’ve no time to waste, so I take off through the woods, heading in the direction Tinker Bell had pointed. The moon is still low, sohopefully the beasts in the trees will leave me alone. And if they don’t, I’m armed for once. Maybe I can actually defend myself.
I crawl over fallen trees and jump over streams, the forest becoming denser the farther I get from Hook’s Hideaway. No wonder the Lost Boys don’t come here—the trees are becoming thick, almost like toothpicks in rows. If it keeps up like this, I’m going to run into a wall.
Still, I keep going, picking my way past trunks and scrambling over boulders. I can still hear the crash of the sea somewhere away to my left, so I can’t be too far from the cliff that runs along the shore.
I feel the ground rising, and I’m already sweating from the exertion. I know I’m not much for cardio, but this is ridiculous. It has to be from what Peter did to me. A full-on couch potato wouldn’t be struggling as much as I am right now.
When I finally crest a small rise that’s thick with huge trees, I spot a light up the slope and to my right. My heart leaps. I take a deep breath and pull out my cutlass. I have to be ready. Geo isn’t going to just hand over the fairy dust. In my mind, the scenario plays out where he’s asleep and I slip it out of his pocket, or maybe he’s off taking a piss, and I steal it from his bedroll, or I smooth talk it out of him, or, worst case, I duel him until he gives it up.
I try to quiet my steps, though it’s difficult given the amount of twigs from all the trees. The ground is almost bare of vegetation, but there’s still plenty of noisy stuff to step on.
