Peter Nimble and His Fantastic Eyes

The Just Deserts is littered with the shattered remains of boats. Trolley guards the shore and watches over the prisoners banished to this place by the king. As Trolley prepares to brand the prisoners, Sir Tode nearly confesses the truth of their quest, but Peter quickly interrupts him, spinning a tale of magic carpets rather than magic eyes. Trolley informs them that magic has been banned from the kingdom. Peter and Sir Tode flee, easily outrunning the guard.

Peter and Sir Tode are now lost in the vast desert with no food. Sir Tode suggests using the magical eyes, but Peter is reluctant, remembering Professor Cake’s advice to only use them when he knows the time is right. Still, he is curious, so he pulls the onyx pair from the box and, despite Sir Tode’s sudden misapprehension, slips them into his eye sockets. At once, he feels the air being sucked from his lungs. Peter falls to the ground convulsing, until Sir Tode knocks the eyes free. Peter resolves not to use the eyes again until he is certain he should.

They wander across the vast, scorching landscape, but they don’t see any other prisoners. Peter wonders if the king Trolley mentioned could be the “kings aplenty” from the rhyme. At last, the sun sets, and the blazing heat gives way to a cold night. They build a fire for warmth and huddle under the remains of an old boat, unaware that, merely ten feet away, lurks a “terrible fiend stalking in the sands” (98).

During the night, Peter awakens to find someone rifling through his sack. He grabs his fishhook and presses it to the stranger’s throat, who pleads for mercy. Deciding the man—Old Scabbs—is no threat, Peter lowers his fishhook. Scabbs has a letter branded into his hand—T for thief. When Peter and Sir Tode search the burgle bag to make sure their things are still safe, they find that Scabbs has stolen only a single lemon as protection against scurvy. Peter agrees to give Scabbs the lemon in exchange for his help navigating the Just Deserts. The old man consents to lead them to the border but warns them that escape is impossible: “No one quits the Just Deserts…not even Them!” (106).

As Scabbs leads them past clusters of ships guarded by prisoners Peter and Sir Tode can’t see, Scabbs confesses that he’s never seen anyone new apart from Peter and Sir Tode. Suddenly, they hear a cry: “Thieves take cover!” (110). A terrified Scabbs buries himself in the sand, warning Peter and Sir Tode to do the same. Peter and Sir Tode hide, just in time to evade a passing swarm of ravens.

The next morning, Peter and Sir Tode slip away from the sleeping Scabbs and explore on their own. In the daylight, they see plenty of prisoners, all sleeping in the shade of their wrecked boats. They press on in the blistering heat, fearful of being stranded in this place, when Peter smells water. Beyond the next dune, they discover a huge boulder shaped like a teakettle, water flowing from its spout. After drinking, they bathe and practice swimming inside the large, hollowed-out rock. Gazing into the distance, Sir Tode spies the border of the Just Deserts, a black wall running endlessly in both directions. While they dry themselves in the sun and formulate an escape plan, Peter hears the sound of approaching wings.

As ravens descend on Kettle Rock, Peter and Sir Tode hide near the lip of the spout; Peter hears the ravens speak words along with squawking. The ravens belong to some kind of organized military patrol, and they are searching for Peter and Sir Tode. One bird discovers Peter’s sack buried in the sand. The ravens dig through the sack, scattering its contents—the box of eyes, the fishhook, the magical wineskin, and the scroll with the riddle. After reading the scroll, they open the box. Upon seeing the eyes, they chant, “The Line! The Line! The Line!” (124). Suddenly, Peter hears Scabbs approach. As the old man crests the rise of the nearest dune, he stops cold. The leader of the ravens, Captain Amos, reproaches the old man for showing his face in the daylight. Scabbs begs for mercy, even offering up Peter and Sir Tode in exchange for his life, but the birds attack, pecking Old Scabbs to death. As they bury his body in the sand, Amos cryptically warns of a mysterious enemy. As the ravens fly off with Peter’s magical eyes and fishhook, they chant “LONG LIVE THE TRUE KING! […] AND LONG LIVE HIS LINE!!!” (127-28). Hours later, Peter and Sir Tode emerge and grieve for Scabbs under the night sky. Peter collects the rest of his belongings, and they set out toward the ravens’ Nest, a tall spire in the distance, planning to recover the lost eyes.