AN: This is a short sequel to The Further Adventureīs of Wendy In Neverland and is set a few years after it ends. Itīs a bit sentimantal, Iīm afraid.
A big thank you to Minx, who corrected it.
Rosieīs Adventure
When Rosie was a child, she once had an adventure all on her own. It made Motherīs face go white and Fatherīs red when she told them, but Rosie herself remembered it fondly for the rest of her life.
That particular day had begun badly for Rosie. Peter, who usually was her very best friend, had decided he was going to have an adventure with The Lost Boys. It was, he explained, an adventure for boys, so Rosie could not go with them. When Rosie went to her parents to complain, she found that they were busy with something grown-up and boring, so she went away on her own to sulk.
She wanderd away rather aimlessly in search for something to do. She couldnīt even fly, because all her happy thoughts had gone away with Peter. For a while she considered a visit to the indian village, but then she saw a butterfly of a kind she had never seen before, and followed it instead. She ran after it, jumping and skipping and sometimes taking a step or two in the air, as she had begun to forget she was sulking. Eventually she came to a part of Neverland she had never been to before. And it was here her adventure began.
She came out from the jungle and saw an unknown beach in front of her. In the water, not very far from the shore, a ship was anchored. Rosie knew what it was, because Father had once been a pirate and he had told her all about ships. He had even made her a toy ship that she could sail with in the lagoon. The real ship was far larger than she had expected it to be and she found it quite exciting. A small dinghy was pulled up on the beach, and there, close to Rosie, sat a man on a fallen tree trunk.
He looked very different from any man she had ever seen before and she found him terribly interesting. If she had been older she would have noticed how thin he was and how pale he was despite his olive skin. A grown up would have come to the conclusion that he must have been ill for quite some time. But Rosie was a child and she only saw the rich embroidered velvet in his coat and the fancy hat that lay on the ground beside him. She saw a faint scar on his left cheek and, what interested her the most, the man had an iron claw instead of his right hand.
She went closer and the man saw her for the first time. At first he looked startled, but then he beckoned her to come closer, which Rosie readily did. She had never had any reason to fear anyone and it never occured to her that the man could be dangerous. Standing close to him she saw that he had very blue eyes. They were as blue as her own, but she didnīt thought about that. The man did, however.
"So", he said after a pause. "You must be Wendyīs child." Rosie nodded.
"Do you know Mother?"
"Oh yes, I know her very well. Tell me, child, who is your father?"
"Well, Mother calls him Jean-Baptiste, but everyone else calls him Frog." She threw the man a glance, and noticed that he seemed to take the news of her fatherīs name rather grimly. But then she realized that she had forgotten what Mother called Manners. Naturally the man was upset over her lack of them. So she firmly shook the claw and said hello and her name. The man laughed a rather surprised laugh and returned her greeting.
"You can call me James", he told her. "Tell me, are you not afraid of me, Rosie?" Rosie thought that was a very silly question.
"Oh no. Peter says that I donīt have to be afraid of anything. So Iīm not."
"Yes, of course you know Pan as well."
"He is my very best friend." Then Rosie remembered how shamefully Peter had treated her today and she added. "He is not my best friend right now. You can be my best friend today." James looked a bit taken aback over this proposition.
"I donīt think I am a very good friend", he said.
"Oh, itīs not difficult at all." Rosie, feeling very pleased with herself, climbed onto her new friend's lap. When she sat in Fatherīs lap, he always smiled and hugged her, but James looked rather alarmed. He gingerly positioned her face to face to him, as far out on his knee as possible.
"So, what do friends do?" he asked. Rosie thought it over. It was obvious that James had little experience about friendship, so she decided it was best to start a conversation. She told him about her garden and found that he too, liked flowers. He told her about strange and wondrous plants he had seen on his travels. She talked about her parents and James asked her all sorts of questions about Mother. Rosie found some of the questions a bit peculiar, but she answered them as well as she could anyway.
"Tell me Rosie. Would you like to come and sail with me on my ship?"
"Could Mother come too?"
"Most certainly. We could not go without her." Rosie felt tempted. It would be a great adventure. Father had told her about climbing the mast and other exciting things one could do on a ship, and she longed to try them herself. But then she realized that some very important persons were excluded from the invitation.
"But what about Father and Peter. Canīt they come with us?"
"No. I am afraid that is not possible." Rosie thought it all over a little longer. The offer was tempting, but no, she could not go without Peter and Father.
"Then we canīt come. Iīm sorry." James looked sad and Rosie felt unhappy for her new friend, but she really couldnīt go away with just Mother. Mother wouldnīt want it either, she was sure.
It was noon now and Rosie felt she was hungry. James had no food to offer, so she decided it was time to go home. She invited James to come with her, but he declined.
"I have to leave now."
"Leave! Wont you stay here in Neverland?"
"No. It was just a visit. To see you, it seems. But before we part, could you give me something Rosie? Could I have a lock of oyur hair?" Rosie had previously only seen her curls as something annoying that tangled, but she gladly agreed to give James some of it. It was quite exciting to watch Jamed produce a sharp dagger and carefully cut off a dark ringlet. He then took out a piece of blue silk from a pocket and wrapped the hair in it.
"And what are you going to give me?" Rosie asked. After some thought James took up a handkerchief and gave it to her. It was a beautiful handkerchief, made of the sheerest linen and it was trimmed with lace. In a corner two letters were embroidered in silk. Rosie traced the letters with a finger and read.
"J. H. J is for James, isnīt it?" James nodded.
"Rosie, could you tell your mother something for me? Tell her I wont come back"
"Not ever?"
"Well, not in a very long time, anyway."
Rosie felt that it was very unfair that her new friend had to leave, but James said that he really had to. So Rosie left with her memento and her message. Before she left she gave her friend a really hard hug, so it would last a long time. James hugged her back, but very carefully, as if he was afraid she was going to break.
When she was to leave, Rosie found that her happy thoughts had come back to her. She rose into to the air, turning around a few times to show James how well she could fly and then she left. James watched her disappear and then he sighed and returned to the dinghy.
At home, Rosieīs parents had their very colourful reactions to her story. Jean-Baptiste went to look for the ship, but it was already gone. Wendy sat for a long time with her arms around Rosie, listening to her talking about her day. She was grateful, so very grateful that Captain Hook had left Neverland with only a piece of his daughterīs hair, when he could have taken so much more.
The next day Peter took Rosie to dive for pearls and was once again her very best friend.