Free The Island by Jen Minkman

came.”
    I shudder. So this is the truth. The island is a paradise world compared to what’s on the other side of the sea.
    “But that is all over now,” Tony assures me when he sees the disillusionment on my face. “One hundred and fifty years have passed, and the survivors and their offspring have managed to build a better world. We live scattered, and we leave each other alone. We only gather to share our knowledge, but that’s all. This is how we prevent conflicts.”
    We’ve only talked for a short while, but in my mind I’m ten years older. We may not be alone, but I sure feel like we are. Our island is nothing more than an insignificant dot on the map of an enormous world we don’t know at all – a small star next to a bright, full moon in the night sky.
    Which raises a new question. “How did you and Henry ever manage to find our island?”
    “Because your ancestor s left a message that wouldn’t be lost,” Tony says mysteriously.
    Before I can ask him what he means by that, Walt rushes over to us. “The Bookkeeper found men who are willing to fight.” He points at the harbor. “Now we need you as a navigator, Leia.”
    On the docks, I see a large group of people flocked together, boarding the Explorer via the gangway one by one. Men who have come together to get rid of Saul once and for all - but they’ll eliminate our way of life in the process as well.
    Painful as it is, I think it is time.
    It’s time for the truth.

 
    -13-
     
    SMOOTHLY, THE ship glides through the waves. Although the waters are calm, I don’t feel quite steady on my legs, so I hold on to the railing. Or maybe I’m just spinning on my legs because of all the stress.
    Walt walks over and joins me. We look at the stars in the dark sky together in silence.
    “I’m sorry,” he finally says, sounding genuinely contrite.
    “For what?” I ask.
    Clumsily, he puts a hand on my fingers clasping the railing. “I bet you think I’m an arrogant showoff.”
    “Yes, I kind of do,” I admit frankly.
    His face falls. “Oh.”
    “Well, you’re being one.”
    “True.”
    “But you’re sorry about it?”
    “ Yes. Because I’m not like that.” He takes a deep breath. “I just don’t know how to behave when I’m around you. So I start acting all tough.”
    Oh. I totally hadn’t seen this coming. I shoot him a nervous glance. “Uhm, yes, I sort of recognize that. I, uhm, feel that way too when I’m close to you. So I start acting all snappy.”
    Walt nods slowly. The coastline is approaching on our left side. Or the ‘port side’, as the captain calls it. We’re almost at the eastern beach, and the moment of truth is upon us.
    “Will you stay by my side when we go ashore?” he asks softly.
    I grin awkwardly. “What, and run the risk of you acting all tough?”
    He bites back a smile. “I’ll try to restrain myself.”
    “Okay. We’re good, then.”
    Walt flings an arm around me, pulls me close and kisses me gently on my forehead before walking away to join the captain. His smell lingers in my nose when I watch him walk away. He smells good.
    The captain is busy instructing his helmsmen to get the ship as close to shore as possible before lowering the anchor.  We have to disembark by using smaller boats – or sloops, as Walt said they were called – to get to the beach. In my mind it takes ages before we’re all standing on the eastern shore. Every moment that I don’t know what happened to Colin and the others seems to last a lifetime. Anything could be happening to them right now, and I can’t stop myself from thinking up all kinds of horrible things.
    When we finally leave for Newexter, I lead and keep up the pace. The woods are dark, but I know my way here like the back of my hand. The night is pitch-black, and there’s a certain tension in the air that I pick up on our way to the village. Even before we get to my old village, I know something’s going on. Despite the late hour and the lack of