Lost Boy: The True Story of Captain Hook

Jamie wonders if Peter will notice that he is taller and cannot decide whether he should be worried that he is growing up. Dismissing these thoughts, he adds Harry’s body to the fire that is cremating the Many-Eyed. He does not want to leave Harry’s body to be eaten by wild animals, but he does not have time to give the boy a proper burial. He collects the Many-Eyed’s blood and sets off down the path toward the pirate camp. Once he reaches the plains where the monsters live, he leaves splatters of blood on the ground until he reaches his meeting spot with Peter. Peter soon arrives and confirms that the pirates are coming because he burned their camp down to get them to follow him. Jamie is horrified to hear this; he thinks that burning down the pirate camp is cruel and out of line with their normal looting, stealing, and fighting. He believes that Peter’s actions will put the boys in danger, as the pirates will now be looking for revenge, but Peter is not concerned. 

The pirates pass Jamie and Peter’s hiding place. Jamie worries that they will continue on to the tree house and suggests that they lure the pirates onto the plains where the Many-Eyed live. Peter enthusiastically volunteers to do this; he does not want to put Jamie in danger. Jamie is briefly gratified that Peter still seems to care for him and feels sorry for growing up a little bit. Peter tells Jamie to pick off any pirates who try to escape the plains. Then Jamie must go back to the Bear Cave and wait for him. Peter darts off before Jamie can protest these orders, so Jamie waits, listening to Peter and the pirates in the distance. After a while, one of the pirates, Red Tom, stumbles onto Jamie’s path. Jamie cut off the man’s hand in a past battle; cutting off the hands of pirates is Jamie’s signature move. Jamie kills Red Tom quickly and leaves his body at the edge of the plains. Heading up the mountain toward the Bear Cave, he looks out across the plains and is surprised to see Peter in the distance. Peter is talking to a bobbing light in his cupped hand, and Jamie is shocked when he suddenly flies across the plains. Jamie has never seen Peter fly before, and he is jealous and angry that Peter has never shared this secret with him. He decides not to wait for Peter at the Bear Cave and begins to run home instead.

Peter catches up to Jamie and tells him that he fed many of the pirates to the Many-Eyed. Jamie tries to hide his anger. He asks Peter why he hates Charlie so much, and Peter confesses that Charlie takes up all of Jamie’s time. Jamie asks to take Charlie back to his mother, but Peter refuses because no one is allowed to leave. He implies that Nip will have done something to Charlie by now, which makes Jamie panic. Peter says he has made arrangements to ensure that no one will take Jamie from him. Jamie is furious at the thought of Charlie being hurt and runs back to the tree house. When he arrives home, all the boys are gathered in a circle outside. Del lies dead, and Nip is tied to a pole. Jamie is relieved to see that Charlie is unharmed. Fog and Nod assure him that Nip never got a chance to hurt Charlie. However, because Nip killed Del, the boys plan to have a trial for Nip and then execute him by hanging. They try to select a judge, and Nip tells them that they cannot judge him for what he did because Peter told him to do it. The boys call Nip a liar and insist that Peter would never do such a thing, since killing each other for no reason goes against his rules. Jamie outwardly agrees that Nip broke the rules despite his knowledge that Nip was indeed following Peter’s instructions. 

The boys fetch some rope and are halfway through hanging Nip before Peter arrives and cuts him down. When Peter insists that he never told Nip to kill Del, Nip feels betrayed and confused, for he knows that Peter told him to “take care of that yellow-haired little brat” (103). Now, however, Peter insists that he told Nip to take care of Charlie, as in look after him, because he is very small; he claims that he did not instruct Nip to kill the boy. The boys argue, and Peter decides that the only solution is Battle. Because Nip did wrong by killing Del and trying to kill Charlie, and the other boys did wrong by trying to hang him, Nip and Jamie will fight to the death in a Battle to settle the issue. They agree that the Battle will take place in 30 days. The delay will give Nip time to recover from his many wounds. Meanwhile, Peter takes some of the boys to swim with the mermaids while Jamie stays behind with Charlie and buries Del.

Jamie lies awake and wonders how Peter is able to fly. He remembers that when Peter first led him to the island, he brought Jamie through the roots of a tree. The boys return home, and Fog tells Jamie that Peter has gone to the Other Place to find boys to replace Harry and Del. Jamie wonders who Peter will bring back this time. When Peter returns, he has three boys with him: a boy called Crow, who gets along with the twins so well that they eventually become the “triplets;” a thin boy called Slightly; and a boy called Sal, who is kind and good with Charlie. Sal and Jamie get along well, and Sal is well-liked by all the boys.

Jamie worries that the pirates will come looking for revenge, but Peter assures him that they will sail away for a while to find more supplies and a new captain. Peter says that when the pirates return, the boys can have fun fighting them again. Peter claims that the pirates believe the boys have a fountain of youth, and he implies that this is why the pirates keep coming back to the island. Jamie wants to know how Peter manages to fly, but he has not been able to catch him doing it. Meanwhile, Nip bides his time and gathers his strength for the coming Battle, though he cannot eat solid food for a while because of his injuries. 

Peter takes the boys to a beach near Skull Rock, where the mermaids swim in the lagoon. Sal and Charlie cannot swim, so they play in the shallows while the other boys swim to Skull Rock to fish. Peter is confident that Jamie will win the Battle with Nip, because Jamie always looks after the other boys, even Peter. Jamie wonders if Peter is trying to apologize, but they are interrupted by the arrival of the pirate ship. The boys are horrified because the pirates never come to this side of the island. Jamie warns that the ship’s cannons can reach the shore and suggests that they swim back to the beach and hide in the forest. Peter tells Jamie to take the others back and swims toward the pirate ship. Jamie tries to round up the boys and get them safely hidden in the woods. He tells Sal and Charlie to run for the forest. Then he goes to get the rest of the boys. The pirate ship launches a cannon just as Jamie approaches the group. One cannonball kills all six of the remaining boys who have not yet made it to the woods; Slightly, Billy, Terry, Sam, Jack, and Jonathan are dead in an instant.