فصل 77

CHAPTER 77

THE EMPTY SEA

WAKE UP!

Tink’s urgent chime aroused Peter from his stupor. He saw that this time he had descended to less than fifty feet above the wave tops.

He grunted, forcing himself to rise. His arms and legs felt like stone. He had never tried to fly the whole distance between England and Mollusk Island; he’d always had a ship to rest on.

He gained some altitude and glanced ahead, seeing nothing but the vast, empty sea.

“How far?” he asked Tink, as he had many times.

We’re getting closer, she answered, as she always did.

“I don’t know if I can make it,” he said.

You have to make it, she said.

“Tink,” he said. “I can’t.”

He felt himself drifting downward again. He fought to stop, but could not. He had nothing left.

“I just can’t,” he whispered. His eyes started to close. I see a ship, said Tink.