Mr. Smee paced before the door to Captain Hook’s quarters. It had been weeks now. The captain had shouted occasional orders that took them deeper and deeper into the Azurite Sea, but he forbade the crew from engaging other ships—especially those helmed by Illumineers.
No pirating. No plundering. They could not so much as fire a single cannonball, as it would surely break his concentration. Smee had tried to coax him out, but the captain refused to emerge until he’d puzzled out the map’s secret.
Even over the crashing waves around them, the anxious crew heard signs of the captain at work: the thuds of thrown objects, bellows of frustration, and unrepeatable threats. But not a single chime from the captive fairy.
The crew of glimmers grew more restless by the day, and soon they began to press Mr. Smee to relieve the captain of his duties. This was no pirate’s life! Something—and something drastic—had to be done so that they could fill the pirating-shaped hole in their seaworthy hearts.
And so, when Captain Hook had finally fallen asleep one night, Mr. Smee slid silently through his door, crept across the room), and slowly . . . slowly lifted the captain’s hat from atop the lantern. Tinker Bell sat quietly inside, knees to her chin and engaged in a staring contest with the white puffs on her shoes.
The fairy glanced up and looked almost bored when she saw Mr. Smee. He put a finger to his lips, opened the lantern door, and motioned her to come out. She stood, stretched lazily, and suddenly flew up and out of the lantern with a mischievous smile. She dipped toward Captain Hook’s desk and then shot through the open doorway, leaving a trail of pixie dust to settle on his belongings.
The first mate glanced at the Captain Hook glimmer, who was snoring loudly, his mustache rising and falling with each breath. Smee returned the captain’s hat to its place on the lantern, then tiptoed to the doorway, took one last look back at the room, and breathed a sigh of relief. With Tinker Bell’s “escape,” he was confident Captain Hook would return to captaining and the rest of the pirate crew could finally get back to pirating.