Maria Beyond the Sea

Aeroplane Adventure

The Captain, Maria and Snowy swam safely to the boat. Once onboard, the Captain and Tintin tied the men up with rope while Maria was left by the control panel. She still couldn't take her eyes off of the locket. Who are they? Are they mainlanders too? What do they do?

Soon afterwards, Tintin placed himself at the panel. He then noticed Maria.

'Don't bother her, lad', the Captain said. 'She's been looking at it all this time'.

'But for what reason?' the journalist asked.

'Who knows?'

Maria didn't hear a word they said; she was too focused.

Instead, Tintin moved onto his attention to the controls. He found a manual, instructing pilots how to fly the plane. Carefully, Tintin read and worked the controls; back and forth.

'You do know what you are doing, Tintin?' asked a nervous Captain Haddock.

'More or less', he replied confidently. At that moment, Tintin started the engine; he was afraid that it wouldn't fly after he shot it down with a solo bullet. But there wasn't need for anxiety and much to his relief, all of them were ready for take off.

'Which is it more – or less?'

'Relax. I interviewed a pilot once', Tintin laughed.

Oddly, Maria didn't notice the plane taking off into the sky. She was still mesmerised by the couple. 'Who are they?' she said out loud. 'Where did they come from?'

'Still looking?' the Captain asked.

'I am. I feel I've seen them before. I don't know where –' Her eyes drifted from the locket when she saw a bird's eye view of the ocean. She couldn't help herself; Maria was smiling. 'Is this what the world's like from above?'

'Indeed it is', Tintin replied. The three of them saw the Karaboudjan sailing on the ocean blue. 'Captain, Maria, look. We've caught up with them. Now, which way to North Africa?'

'Wonderful', said the Captain. 'Would you think we might find another way to North Africa? That doesn't take us through that wall of death?'

They noticed thick, dark grey clouds hovering toward the plane. Thunder roared, warning them to stay away. Maria was very frightened but she forced herself to hide her fear. Have courage, she thought. She then looked to Tintin whose focus was on the clouds. 'Tintin, is there another way? Can we turn back?'

'We can't turn back. Not now', he mumbled. 'Not now'. He was willing to take that risk.

The plane flew into the clouds, rocking from side-to-side as the lighting came toward them. Maria gazed into Tintin's eyes, hoping that he'll get them to safety. The Captain didn't take the journey too well, though. He was feeling queasy and wanted to get out. Suddenly, he found another bottle of alcohol. Licking his lips, he reached his hand towards it but failed to reach his grasp when Tintin's hand smacked the Captain's. 'No, Captain', he said assertively, 'that's surgical spirit for medical purposes only'.

'Quite right, laddie. Quite right', the Captain answered.

Suddenly, the plane twisted and turned to avoid the thunder and lighting. Maria held onto her seat, as did the Captain. He breathed heavily and began to panic. So, he bent the rules and started drinking. Snowy wanted some two – the two of them fought for the delicious liquid, seeing who could finish it first. The Captain won, of course. Maria closed her eyes. She didn't want to see what was happening; perhaps she was developing a phobia. She opened her eyes when the engine was making a sound. It wasn't good.

'No, no', Tintin mumbled. 'The fuel tank. It's almost empty!'

The plane was on the verge of crashing. This was dangerous, so Tintin had to act fast. He remembered the surgical spirit. 'Captain', he instructed to his friend, 'this may sound crazy, but I have got a plan. The alcohol in the bottle may go on for a few more miles. I need you to climb out of the plane and pour it into the fuel tank'.

Christopher Columbus', the Captain cried. 'Can I put on the parachute first?' He did so, looking at the empty bottle in his hand. He hurried along before gently putting the bottle down and opening the door. It was quite a breeze; he didn't feel like moving. 'It's a terrible storm out there – And it's raining –'

'And you call yourself a Haddock?' Tintin snapped.

'Pity', Maria added. 'I guess somebody maybe too sour'.

In response, Haddock angrily opened the door and gently climbed toward the front of the plane. He lost his grip halfway and was about to give up.

'Captain? Captain, can you hear me? Captain? You're doing fine. Now, pour the bottle into the tank. We're running out of fumes'.

'FUMES!' he roared.

The Captain climbed to the front and opened up the fuel cap and patted his chest to release the air inside. His body was blocking Tintin's view. Maria was concerned about them both, but she was worried about how they were going to land. Maria noticed the empty bottle rolling on the floor and pointed it to Tintin. Suddenly, there was a bleach. The Captain burped inside the tank, setting the engine on fire. Without control, the plane sped up and Tintin lost power to tame the machine. Now they were in trouble.

Cries of land, land were heard from the Captain.

'Captain, I can't see!' cried Tintin.

'Land! Land!'

'We can't. We're not there yet!'

'No, land!'

Right in front of him, Tintin can see sand dunes. He was trying his best to doge them; however, the wind drifted the plane across the sky. Unsteady, Maria stood up and and tried to balance herself. She saw the two men, untied, jumping from ten plane with parachutes. Maria tried to stop them but she fell backwards, hitting her head behind the wall. She got back up again, but there was no time. The plane was losing and the engine was about to fail. Behind him, Tintin looked at Maria. He wanted her to get to safety.

'Jump, Maria!'

'I'm not leaving without you', she said.

'Go, I'll follow you!' In a flash, Tintin jumped out of his seat and pushed Maria out of the plane. She landed safely out of harm's way.

The Captain did too but he was holding on the tail before the tip of it snapped. Tintin hurried back to the driver's seat, making one last attempt to stop the plane. But it was too late; the plane hit one of the dimes, forcing it to bounce each time, tearing the plane piece by piece. Tintin lost consciousness and his quiff was close to the whirling propeller. Snowy attempted to pull his master away, but gravity kept pulling him toward the propeller. The Captain released that the young journalist was in danger. He came to his rescue, battling with the wind pulling his parachute toward the wreck. 'I'm coming!' he cried.

And just in time, the Captain climbed down and threw both Tintin and Snowy up into the air, landing on the roof. Tintin regained consciousness but the Captain's parachute caught in the propeller. He spinner round and round before falling into the dunes. The propeller stopped fell to the ground.

Snowy jumped from the plane and ran behind it, heading toward another unconscious body. He barked to alert his master who followed in pursuit. When they stopped, they noticed that the body was Maria's. Snowy nudged and gently pawed Maria to see if she was alright. Suddenly, there was movement. Maria groaned heavily as Tintin carried her in a bridal carry. He walked back to the Captain who placed his jersey on the dunes. Maria blacked out again and her unconscious body was put down. The Captain and Snowy waited nervously. The clouds began to part, indicating that the sun was about to appear. Tintin knew he couldn't leave Maria but all of them couldn't stop under the boiling sun. The desert is a hot place; without water, shade and nowhere to stop, they could die if they don't keep moving.

'Captain, take Snowy. I'll hold Maria'.