Page 13 of Escaping Pirates (Legends of Neverland #4)

“ W hat do you think Harlan is doing right now?” Sugar mused the next day.

“Probably thinking of me,” Blossom sighed contentedly. “We had such a riveting, intellectual conversation last night. What do you think, Elena?”

“I’m sure all his thoughts are about one or both of you. It’s a shame he can’t record them for you to read over and over. I hope he doesn’t forget anything he meant to say.”

Blossom sat up straighter. “Once he gets here tonight, I could ask him to write me a letter!”

“An excellent idea,” I told her, my tone warm and flattering as I arranged her tea set.

“Of course, if it was me, I wouldn’t want to waste time with watching him write.

I would want him to have the letter already done so he could talk to me while we were together.

Your patience is commendable. That’s probably one of the reasons he likes you so much. ”

“What about me?” Sugar asked. “I want a letter, too! I’ve never had one before.”

“I’m sure he could give both of you one. Last night, he was muttering in his sleep. Something about sweetness or flowers…”

“Sugar and Blossom! He was dreaming of us!” Sugar sighed. “Blossom, let’s send him paper and ink, and he can bring us letters tonight.”

“Yes, let’s do it!” The girls busied themselves with looking for the necessary supplies, and I helped them, hiding my glee as I did so. This was much easier than I’d expected.

As I took the tray loaded with ink, quills, and parchment across the deck toward the brig, Harsh saw me and called me to a halt.

“Where do you think you’re going with all that?” he growled.

“Your daughters asked me to deliver this to Harlan,” I answered, submissively dropping my gaze. “I’m merely following orders.”

“Manipulating my girls, are you?” Harsh’s large hand came to snatch up the papers. “There are a lot of sheets here. What on earth would they want to give him all this for?”

“For love letters, I believe.”

Harsh snickered. “Like the love letter you composed before? Do you take me for a fool?”

“No, sir. These would be letters that your daughters would keep for themselves. It was their idea, not mine.”

“Only two sheets,” he ordered with a suspicious glare, thumbing through to extract the proper number. “One for each girl. And tomorrow, I expect to see two full sheets returned to my girls, no exceptions, but they can give him the paper this evening, not right now. Take it back.”

“I understand. ”

“You will also need to chaperone my girls and Harlan tonight.”

“What…me?” I asked, shocked. “I thought you…”

“My daughters would prefer more privacy. You will report directly to me of everything that happens, and if that boy tries anything with either of my girls, you are to alert me immediately so I can handle it.”

Was this another of his mind games? Or was it a genuine concern for his daughters? Either way, I wasn’t going to let an opportunity like this pass me by, even if there was no such thing as good luck when it came to Captain Harsh.

“Of course. I’ll help however you need me to,” I answered, keeping my head inclined and staring at the wooden planks beneath his boots.

“Good. Now hurry up and get back to help my girls.”

Sugar and Blossom ordered me to stay in the corner when Harlan arrived that evening and to remain silent for the entire time he was to see them.

I had expected to feel second-hand embarrassment for Harlan and cringe on his behalf, but instead, I found myself staring hard at the book in my lap, not taking in a word of it, in order to hold back my laughter.

While the two sisters had never made any effort to impress me, they were doing everything in their power to dazzle Harlan.

Sugar insisted on dancing with Harlan, which she did without music and rested her head on his chest so that it appeared as though she was checking for a heartbeat with her arms flung around him.

More than once, she stepped on his feet.

Harlan didn’t wince, but his jaw tightened and he moved stiffly.

It was impossible to determine if the rigidity of his posture was inexperience in dancing or disgust at being partnered with Sugar .

Blossom waited on the other side of the room until the sand timer ran out to indicate Sugar’s time being finished.

“My turn,” Blossom said, and she hurried forward with the papers. “And these are for you to write letters on to give to us tomorrow. One for me and one for Sugar.”

“It would be an honor,” he told her with a half-bow. “Do you mind if I have her hold onto them?” he nodded in my direction. “Then I won’t have anything to distract me from your riveting companionship.”

Blossom and Sugar both giggled and covered their mouths, exchanging gleeful expressions as Harlan came over to hand me the papers.

“Smoooooth, lover boy,” I whispered, taking them with an obedient nod. He shot me a conspiratorial wink and returned to the sisters.

Blossom had composed herself again by the time Harlan returned.

“I must confess, I’m quite indigent on your behalf,” Blossom said, lifting her nose.

“You must mean indignant,” Harlan said. “And why are you indignant on my behalf?”

“Because Daddy put you in the brig! You deserve so much more.”

“Anytime you want to upgrade my quarters, I would be happy to accept,” he told her. “Now, did you want to dance as well, or do you have something else in mind?”

“I propose a game of riddles,” she said, smoothing the wrinkles out of her skirt and sitting primly on the sofa. “Do you enjoy them?”

“It depends on who tells them.”

“I’ll give you some, then you give me some.” Blossom pulled out a lace-edged fan like she was holding court. “I simply adore riddles,” she declared, glancing down at Harlan with what she clearly thought was a winsome smile. “They show how clever a person is. Wouldn’t you agree?”

He raised an eyebrow. “I suppose they do have that effect.”

“Splendid! Then let’s begin. Here’s one I made up just this morning.” She cleared her throat dramatically. “What’s sharp, shiny, and perfect for eating soup on stormy seas?”

Harlan blinked. “Eating soup…with something sharp?”

“A hook!” Blossom announced triumphantly before he could offer an actual guess.

“What?”

“A pirate’s hook,” Blossom clarified. “Because it is shiny and sharp at sea.”

“How would that help anyone eat soup?”

Blossom paused. “It’s metaphorical.”

Harlan tilted his head, and I pressed my lips together to hold back my laughter.

“Uh-huh,” he said. “Very clever, indeed.”

“Here’s another!” she said, emboldened. “What has tentacles, sparkles, and wears jewelry made from sea glass?”

Harlan stared at her. “I’m not sure you understand?—”

“A kraken at a ball!” she crowed.

Harlan slowly scratched the back of his head, eyebrows drawn into one long furrow.

“I’m not sure that qualifies as a riddle,” he said.

“It does! It’s very funny. Well, maybe you had to be there for it. It’s…it’s a metaphor as well.”

“I see. Clearly my intelligence pales in comparison to yours.”

Blossom blushed, just as I had done when Harlan had complimented me the evening before. Was I like Blossom? I fought down the urge to gag.

“You give me one now,” Blossom ordered .

Harlan considered her, then smiled faintly. “Okay.The more of me you take, the more you leave behind. What am I?”

Blossom blinked. “A…treasure map?”

“No.”

“Time!”

“No.”

Blossom frowned. “I don’t know.”

“Sugar?” Harlan asked. “Any guesses?”

“The more of me you take, the more you leave behind…” she repeated slowly, then her eyes brightened. “Kisses!”

“Not what I had in mind. Elena? Any ideas?”

“Footsteps?” I guessed.

A smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. “Correct.”

Blossom frowned. “That one’s too abstract. And Elena can’t guess. She isn’t supposed to say anything,” she informed Harlan. “Do another riddle.”

“All right.I follow you closely but make not a sound. I dance on the wall yet am not truly bound. I vanish at night and flee from the flame. Without light or you, I have no name. What am I?”

Blossom looked genuinely stumped. “Is it…a bad smell?”

I bit my lip to avoid laughing.

“Good guess, but no,” Harlan said.

“A puppy?” Sugar asked.

“A puppy makes noise and wouldn’t vanish at night,” Harlan pointed out, then glanced my way.

Slowly, I looked behind me to where my shadow had been cast onto the wall and pointed to it.

Harlan gave me a tiny nod, then turned to the girls. “It’s a shadow.”

Blossom huffed and crossed her arms. “These aren’t very fun riddles. Mine had personality. ”

“I agree that they were far more entertaining than my own. I’m afraid my riddles are nothing compared to yours. I’m fortunate you’re so patient with my shortcomings.”

That seemed to placate Blossom. She went on to list off several more “riddles,” but none made any sense to me.

The sand slowly trickled out of the upper half of the hourglass, and when the final grains fell, Harlan stood.

“You don’t have to go quite yet,” Blossom said. “I have more riddles.”

Harlan bowed to her. “But alas, if I don’t go now, I fear I won’t have sufficient time to compose the letters I’m so eager to write.”

Both girls perked up at that. “Good night then,” Sugar said. “Thank you for the dance!”

“And I enjoyed our battle of riddles!” Blossom added. “Elena, go get Daddy and tell him to take you and Harlan back.”

“Ready?” I asked an hour later, drawing my legs up to rest my chin on my knees as Harlan spread the paper on his bunk and dipped the quill into the ink. “Or are you too enamored with Sugar’s grace and Blossom’s wit to do anything other than swoon?”

“Swooning wasn’t my first instinct.” He glanced at me. “You guessed my riddles quickly. I was impressed.”

“I got lucky.”

Harlan shook his head. “Successful people make their own luck. Now, shall we compose these impressive letters now?”

I thought about the letter I’d tried to compose before that turned out so disastrously. “I think Captain Harsh suspects.”