James read every book he could get his hands on about pirates and their ships, and made it his mission to be able to impress the most seasoned of pirates with his extensive knowledge of cartography, navigation, ship rigging, artillery, and order of accession in the ranks, and of course he became acquainted with their skullduggerous and dastardly ways through the stories of their exploits and adventures. His time at Eton and Balliol College proved helpful in his research. He had read everything in his father’s library when he was quite young, and was happy to have a whole new world of books at his disposal in the vast and expansive libraries while away at school. But there was something else his education and obsessive reading did for James that he did not expect. He became an excellent storyteller, and found that he could speak with authority on almost any subject, as he was able to substantiate his opinions with the facts he easily remembered from the numerous books he had devoured over the years. In other words, he was a good talker, which was one of his greatest sources of pride. The more James read about pirates, the more he became convinced that if anyone could help him find Never Land it would be a pirate. He could think of no one else who had seen more of the world, or met more interesting people. What James didn’t expect is that his adventures would eventually bring him to the Many Kingdoms, a truly magical place unlike any other. But we are getting ahead of ourselves.

James’s true adventure started on the evening of his graduation from Balliol College. His family shouldn’t have been surprised when their butler brought them the farewell letter James had left for them in his bedroom near a stack of pirating books that evening, but they were nevertheless shocked and horrified. Who wasn’t surprised however was their butler, because it was he who had truly known James’s heart since he was a young lad.

When James’s father read the letter aloud, James’s mother all but fainted, and then, in true aristocratic fashion, she took to her room for several weeks afterward, heartbroken that her only son could bring such shame upon his family.

Dearest Mama and Papa,