By Hook or By Crook

Disclaimer: Not my characters (except for the ones that are). Not making any money off of them. Wish I were, never going to be. Don’t sue me, please.

Read and Review, please, or I’ll have to pull out my teacher voice and demand you complete your assignment or I’ll have to call home. I don’t want to do that. It’s no fun for you and it’s no fun for me. Really. So please, review.

By Hook or By Crook (for want of a better name)

Chapter Ten: The Governor

We trundled along through the town, silent, for the better part of fifteen minutes. Then the carriage ascended a long hill, at the top of which was a huge mansion. We stopped in the drive and Hook helped me down. The path here was stones and mud, so I picked my way slowly toward the main stairs, Hook already at the door by the time I’d made it to the bottom stair. I picked up my skirts and headed up the stairs, my feet feeling abused by the sharp stones of the drive.
“Hurry up,” Hook said, impatient. The door opened and a butler ushered us inside. He took Hook’s guns and sword. The house was cool and dark, the main hallway huge with a long curving staircase leading upstairs right in front of us. The ceiling was two stories high, and the upper floor curved around the walls of the foyer like a balcony.

“Hoi!” a man called from above us. Hook looked up.
“Governor Stubbins!” he said.
“Captain Hook! As I live and breathe,” the governor exclaimed. He walked along the second floor balcony towards the stairs. The two men shook hands when the governor had descended. “It’s good to see you, you old pirate.”
“I’m not the only pirate here,” Hook said and they laughed. I rolled my eyes and tried to pretend I wasn’t there. The governor looked more like a pirate in some ways than Hook did—he looked like a politician. He wore a linen suit in cream, and was clean cut with a square jaw and a wide insincere grin. His hair was cut short and was very blonde. He wore several large rings on his fingers. They chatted for a moment or two before the governor ‘noticed’ me. I knew he’d seen me as soon as I’d entered the hall, but he’d pretended not to see me in order to give all his attention to Hook. Now he rounded on me.
“And who is this enchanting young lady, Hook?” Governor Stubbins asked, his brown eyes gleaming. He sized me up, practically feeling me up with his eyes and I felt like blushing it was so intimate. He took my hand and kissed it, holding it for a bit longer than necessary.
“Miss Mann, may I present Aaron Stubbins, Governor of Neverland. Governor Stubbins, this is Miss Cassandra Mann. She was on a cruise ship that sank and my crew and I rescued her from the cold waters of the ocean and certain death,” Hook said. He removed my hand from Stubbins’ grasp and placed it on his hook arm, claiming me thoroughly as his own.
“Such a pity when a ship goes down,” Stubbins said, but his eyes weren’t sad at all. “Was anything recoverable?”
“Not a thing, unfortunately. The damn thing sank like a stone,” Hook said frankly, as the butler led us into the main house. We were led into the arboretum, where a round table was laid with silver tableware and china plates.
“Were there at least any other survivors?” Stubbins asked as he sat down in one of the three chairs provided.
“Several lifeboats were launched but they were away and out of our range before we could… er… rescue any more people,” Hook said, holding out a chair for me. I sat; my bare feet dangled because the chair was fairly tall.
“How tragic,” Stubbins said. The butler placed a napkin on his lap and then did the same for Hook and me. “Lunch is broiled trout, by the way.”
“Lovely,” Hook murmured, helping himself to some chilled white wine.

I was starving by this time. The butler placed a basket of fresh baked rolls on the table and I nearly swooned at the smell. Stubbins noticed my hunger and let out a bark of laughter.
“She wouldn’t go down on you this morning, eh, Hook?” he said with a grin.
“Not this morning, no,” Hook said sourly. I frowned. How many women captives had he done the same thing to? I looked at the rolls hungrily and Hook sighed. “Go ahead. Eat.” He took a roll for himself and ripped it apart, smearing butter on it. I grabbed a roll and did the same, relishing the flavour. It was marvellous.
“No point in having you hungry, my dear. We need you as energetic as possible for this afternoon,” Stubbins said with a wink, and I put down what was left of my roll, my appetite suddenly gone. He looked at Hook and the two men roared with laughter. I thought I was going to be sick. The maid was right, of course. “This one is much prettier than the last one you brought here, Hook. And it’s been a while since you brought a lady with you—the last three years I’ve had to provide the entertainment.”
“I haven’t been lucky in terms of rescued maidens for a long time, tis true,” Hook said. The butler served the first course, a soup of some kind, and the two men dug in. I was no longer hungry. “You haven’t seen all she’s got to offer, though. She’s tattooed like a sideshow freak.”
“You’re kidding,” Stubbins said, one eyebrow raised. “I’m intrigued.”
“I knew you would be,” Hook said. “Now, about our arrangement…”
“Right. Down to business,” Stubbins said, as he spooned up soup. I just looked at my soup bowl and tried not to think about what the afternoon would entail. Hook said he hadn’t wanted to share me, but obviously the governor was anticipating helping himself after lunch. It looked like I was going to be dessert and I had no one to turn to at all. The Governor was corrupt, no question; he obviously took a piece of whatever raiding or smuggling Hook did, and in exchange, he looked the other way when Hook raped, pillaged, and looted. There was no law in Neverland, so there was no one to go running to for help.

They talked about smuggling and stolen goods for the rest of the meal, arranging for the governor’s cut and the rights Hook would have as long as he flew the Neverland flag. The butler brought in the various courses, giving me a full plate and taking away a full plate at the end of each course. It wasn’t until the end of the meal that Hook finally noticed.
“You haven’t eaten anything at all,” he accused. “And here I thought you were hungry.”
“I’m not.” I looked down at my plate. Stubbins whispered something to his butler and then grinned at Hook.
“I have something that’s guaranteed to garner your interest,” Stubbins told me as the butler returned with a small covered dish. The butler opened it in front of me and placed it on the table. It was chocolate—various kinds of truffles and chocolate covered cherries. “Ladies simply cannot resist chocolate.”
“You dog you,” Hook said with a grin. “Well, then, Miss Mann. Have a chocolate.”
“Why? What’s in them?” I asked, suspicious.
“Simply chocolate, my dear,” Stubbins said. He tried to appear wide-eyed and hurt at my accusation. “I cannot believe you’d think I’d try and… put something in your food!”
“Oh give me a break,” I muttered and pushed the chocolates away from me. “I wouldn’t put it past you to put something in them to make me more pliable. And I should let you know, I’m not going to just be used like some kind of…thing.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Stubbins said as the butler arrived with a platter of fruit and cheese. He poured coffee for us all and the men lit up cigars.
“Would you care for a cigarette, my dear?” Hook asked, and the butler opened a box of cigarettes in front of me.
“Now, that I’ll take,” I said, pulling one out. The butler lit it for me and I took a deep drag. Ah, nicotine.
“I do love to watch a woman smoke,” Stubbins said and Hook nodded with a grin. I blew smoke out my nostrils and Stubbins laughed. “Like a dragon.”
“Perhaps that explains your tattoos,” Hook said to me. He turned to Stubbins. “On each of her legs, she has a different dragon tattoo. They’re really quite remarkable.”
“I can hardly wait to see them,” Stubbins said. I tried to ignore him and smoked my cigarette, enjoying it because I knew I wasn’t likely to get another one that day.
“Why are we waiting?” Hook asked, holding up his cigar. “We’ve completed our business, haven’t we?”
“I’m a bit full from lunch, Hook,” Stubbins said, patting his stomach.
“What better way to promote digestion than a bit of exercise?” Hook said. I put my cigarette butt out and stood up. “Where do you think you’re going?”
“I just want to look at some of the flowers, if that’s all right,” I said, hoping my demure attitude would make him happy enough to let me get away for a bit.
“There’s nowhere for her to go, Hook,” Stubbins said, placatingly. “The way we came in is the only door in or out.”
“Very well, then,” Hook said. He gestured at the rest of the arboretum with his cigar. “Go ahead and smell the flowers all you like.” I walked away from them, wondering how far I could go in the glassed-in room. I just wanted to get away from them so much!