"Annie!" cried Jack.
"Let me out!" he heard Annie shout.
But the lifeboat kept going down.
"Wait for me!" came a loud voice. "Wait for me!"A woman in a fur coat appeared at the railing. Shenearly threw herself over the side of the ship.
"Stop!" the uniformed man called. "Bring the boatback up for Lady Blackwell!"Slowly, the lifeboat was brought back up. Jackpushed his way forward. The lifeboatcame even with the ship. Jack reached out to Annie.
She grabbed his hands. He pulled her back onto thesinking ship.
"Room for one more!" Annie shouted toLady Blackwell.
Then she and Jack took off before anyone couldcatch them.
They ran up the slanting deck. Annie stopped andpeered over the railing. Jack looked, too.
They saw Lucy and William's little lifeboatcreaking down toward the Atlantic Ocean. It reachedthe glassy black water. Then it floated off into thedarkness.
Annie waved.
"Bye, William! Bye, Lucy!" she shouted. "Thank youfor your gift!"She held up the watch that hung from her neck.
Then she and Jack looked at it.
The time was 2:05.
"Only fifteen minutes left!" said Annie. "We have toget back to the tree house now!" said Jack. "Let's climbthe stairs to the smokestacks!"Suddenly, the front of the ship dipped down intothe sea. Deck chairs started to slide past Jack andAnnie.
The band played a slow, calm song. It sounded likea church hymn.
But the crowd started to panic. People pushed andshouted, trying to get to a safer part of the ship.
"It's every man for himself!" the captain shouted toall of his crew.
The men all stopped what they were doing and ranup the deck.
Jack and Annie ran, too.
They dodged sliding tables and chairs. Theyreached the stairs that led to the smokestacks.
They grabbed the railing and pulled themselves upthe steps.
The ship tilted further.
"Get to those smokestacks!" cried Jack.
They slipped and crawled down the deck. But whenthey got to the smokestacks,Jack and Annie looked around wildly.
The magic tree house was gone! |