Red-Handed Jill (A Peter Pan Fanfiction)

Chapter 1~ Life On the Jolly Roger

Some time later....

I walked down the deck towards the captain's quarters, my leather boots clapping bluntly against the sun-baked floorboards of the deck. I hadn't worn a dress in years and I had grown accustomed to wearing boots and britches. I still needed to wear somewhat of a corset, but it was much looser than the ones that most girls used.

I knocked on the door twice and Mr. Smee opened the door.

"Oh ho ho! Good morning Miss Jill!" he greeted cheerfully in his nasaly voice.

"Good morning Mr. Smee!" I replied, "I heard that the captain wanted to see me."

"Right this way!" the short man waddled over to where the Captain was sitting at his desk. There was a map of Neverland sprawled across the fine mahogany and a half-empty bottle of brandy sitting on top of that.

The Captain himself sat there in a thin white shirt and a pair of brown britches. His curly hair was in a tangled mess, covering his shoulders and neck like a frizzy, black, lion's mane. If you looked closely above his left wrist you could see a pink scar in the shape of the letter 'P'. It was a mark that many of the crewmen wore. They said that it was the mark of a pirate and when they were caught, the crown forces branded them.

"Good morning Captain," I greeted respectfully, "You sent for me?"

"Yes I did," he replied, toying with his curly, black mustache, "I wanted to compliment you on your story last night. It was very good."

"The Little Mermaid," I recalled with a smile, "The men really seem to like that one."

"You have a magnificent talent for storytelling," he complimented, "But I worry about your wellbeing. My sources tell me that Peter Pan knows that you are part of the crew and he is going to try and get to you."

"What would he want with me?" I asked, "I mean, I am only a story teller."

"Peter Pan is a trickster and a thief," said the captain, "All that he wants is to get hold of my treasure. He could use you as leverage to get his grubby little hands on it. That is why I want for you to learn how to use a sword."

Despite my excitement over this fantastic news, in my thoughts I scoffed in spite of myself. I knew that he didn't really care about me, he was just tired of making sure that there was someone around to protect me all the time (not that it was needed anyway). There could be no weak links on the Jolly Roger. Even if the captain didn't really care about me I was still thrilled. I had always wanted to learn how to fight and it was about time that I was able to prove myself.

Peter Pan. It was was strange that a name could be so familiar to me and yet was completely foreign at the same time. I had never actually met Peter Pan, I had only heard stories about him from the rest of the crew. They told me that he was a cruel and terrible demon boy who led a vicious band of evil gremlin children he called the "Lost Boys".

"Yes Captain," I nodded, a smile spreading across my face.

"Now!" he exclaimed, "MISTER SMEE!!"

The short, portly man jumped in surprise and hobbled dutifully over to him. "Yes Capt'n?" 

"Get Miss Jill a sword and show her the basics. I will check in on her progress this afternoon."

"Ohh! Right away Capt'n!" He hobbled away and I followed him out.

I had been on the Jolly Roger for a long time now, I used to count the days and nights but I lost count at 672 and haven't kept up with it since.

Life was busy and I found out many things on my stay. The first thing was that the ship could fly. It could travel to earth and back with ease due to the power of fairy dust. I also learned that I only aged when I was on Earth, not when I was in Neverland. We went to earth a lot so I had grown four inches and I had become more of a young lady. I also found that the longer that I was in Neverland, the more I forgot about my parents, so I wrote down their story so that I would remember them always.