CHAPTER 40

THE SHIP

Brightbill was a flying fanatic, and his favorite place to fly was up on the grassy ridge. The robot and the gosling liked to spend afternoons up there, working on the finer points of flying. And it was on one such afternoon that they noticed something mysterious far out at sea.

Brightbill spiraled down to his mother, flopped onto the grass, and pointed to the horizon. “Mama, what is that thing?”

Roz’s computer brain found the right word. “That is a ship.”

“What’s a ship?”

“A ship is a large vessel used for ocean transport.”

Brightbill’s face scrunched up with confusion. “Used by who?”

“I do not know.”

It was the first ship either of them had ever laid eyes on. From that distance, it looked as though it were moving slowly, but it was actually racing through the waves. From that distance, it looked as though it were small, but it was actually one of the largest ships ever built. The robot and the gosling watched it crawl across the ocean until it finally disappeared to the south.

Where had the ship come from? Where was it going? Who was on board? Roz and Brightbill had many questions but no answers.