The Island (The Island Series #1)

Chapter 11

WHEN I finally see the first houses of Hope Harbor looming in the distance, I’m no longer running. Rather, I’m stumbling on. My feet are bleeding from hitting stones on the path in my frantic flight. Tears are running down my face. Even though I didn’t really believe Saul would follow me across the Wall, I still wouldn’t slow down.

I accost the very first man I encounter. “Walt,” I pant. “Where is… Walt. The Bookkeeper’s nephew.”

“My heavens, girl, what happened to you?” the elderly man asks with a bewildered face, putting his arm around my shoulders. “Why don’t you take a seat first, love? I’ll go and get Walt out of that meeting he’s in.”

I sit down on the wooden bench the man has steered me toward, underneath a street lantern next to one of the houses. My heart hammers in my chest and my hair is sticky with sweat. If I could make one wish now, it’d be for hours of rest, just sitting here and letting the world go by, but I know I can’t. Walt is in some meeting – well, so much the better. He can ask all the people gathered there to help him. To help me. I have to save Colin, Andy and Pete. If they’re still alive, that is.

After what seems like an eternity, my savior comes back with Walt in tow. His eyes widen when he catches sight of me. “Leia, what happened? Are you alone? Where are your friends?”

I start crying desperately, sagging against Walt’s shoulder when he sits down next to me. “He’s dead,” I sniff.

“Who’s dead?”

“Henry. They... Saul killed him.”

Walt stops breathing. Anxious, I look up and see his jaw working. “That does it. We’re going in,” he decides. “Is your friend still there? Is Mara in danger?”

I shake my head. “Mara left earlier this afternoon. Saul had arranged her marriage to his brother, so she ran away. But my brother’s still there. And Andy, and Pete – our friends. They helped me. We wanted to confront Saul with his lies, but everything got out of hand.”

“Do you think he’d...” A tell-tale silence follows.

“Yes, I’m afraid so,” I whisper.

 He cries out something – sounding kind of gruff, so I’m assuming he’s using a few choice words in his own dialect – and gets up. “I have to drum up some helpers. Tony will want to come too, I bet.”

“Wait,” I say. “If you want to attack the manor house and capture Saul, I suggest you ask for help in Newexter. Mara has already told my mother about what’s happening at the manor. The… I mean, our parents wanted to come and help us, I think. And they know their way around the house.”

He nods curtly. “We can use all the help we can get. How do we get to your village without being seen?”

I ponder his question for a moment. “We could go by ship. If you sail around the island, you can go ashore at the eastern beach and reach Newexter quite easily from there. The parents often go fishing on that beach, so there’s a road.”

“A ship? Consider it done.”

“Are we leaving now?”

He smiles reassuringly. “Yes, we are, as soon as possible. But we’ll have to tell one of the captains to prepare a ship that’s capable of carrying a lot of people first. I already have an idea which ship to use.”

“You mean the Explorer?” the elderly man inquires. He is still standing next to us.

Walt nods and grabs my hand, taking me on my way to the salvation he’s promised me. During our walk, I tell him bits and pieces about the situation on our side of the Wall. While I talk, we walk along endless streets lined with houses that look a whole lot sturdier than the houses we build. There are street lights everywhere and almost all roads are paved. And it just goes on and on. Hope Harbor is larger than Newexter… much larger.