Free The Island by Jen Minkman Page B

long to reach the entrance of the house. The Eldest steps forward.
    “ Saul, come out of there!” he calls out in a booming voice. “It’s over. You can’t win this.”
    Nothing happens.
    Just then, I see a stone sail through the air past my head. It hits the front door with a dull thud. It seems to be the signal for an unplanned attack, because more projectiles start being thrown: branches, stones, burning torches.
    “Stop!” The Eldest bellows when the door finally opens a crack. “Someone’s coming.”
    Saul steps outside, his face ashen. He’s tied Andy up with a rope around his arms and wrists, and he’s holding the rope in a death grip. His other hand is holding one of the bloodied swords from the dining room. 
    “If I go down, then Andy goes down with me,” he barks back. “Lay one finger on me and I swear he won’t survive.”
    “What is it you think you’re doing, Saul?” I plead with him. “What are you trying to achieve with this? What is it you’re fighting for?”
    Saul stares at me with a deadly look in his eyes. “This is our world,” he rages, his voice breaking. “A world without help or support from others. A world without parents. That is the truth. And no one will tell us otherwise. Nobody will tell me otherwise.”
    “That’s not true,” I argue. “The parents are here for us.”
    “Yours, maybe,” Saul snaps. “I have no one. I’m alone.”
    He’s right. Only now do I remember that Saul and Ben have no parents. They’re orphans. Nobody has ever really taken care of them. No one in Newexter even stood up for them after my call to arms and sweet suggestion we torch this place.
    “You’re not alone,” Tony’s voice then sounds calmly. “None of you are.” He takes a few steps forward, holding up his hands spread out in a peaceful gesture. “I want to tell you about your ancestors. They loved you. They didn’t want you to ever be forgotten.”
    “What in Luke’s name are you talking about?” Saul grumbles with a frown. “How would you know?”
    “ Well, I know more than you do.”
    Saul turns red. “Are you here to tell lies, just like that other so-called visitor from across the sea? Do you actually know what we’ve done to him for lying to us?”
    Tony nods. “Yes. I do. And I also know that you acted out of fear, and that this fear won’t leave you, no matter how many people you put to the sword.”
    Silence ensues. Tony’s words seem to hit the mark. Saul’s shoulders sag a bit and he looks puzzled.
    Tony uses Saul’s hesitation to his advantage. He takes a strange device with buttons out of his pocket that I’ve never seen before. Saul eyes it suspiciously, but his jaw drops when Tony presses a green button and the thing starts to speak in a tinny voice. A voice speaking an old language, even more old-fashioned than the great-grandparents in Newexter speak like. Some popping and hissing sounds accompany the voice, but the words are clear.
    “Please, whoever you are, whoever will hear this – come to Penzance. Our children have escaped to Tresco by boat. We need help. Everyone’s gotten sick. Please, I beg you, save our children. Don’t abandon them.”
    That name... I know it. Tresco. It was mentioned in The Book. An old name for this place that we hardly ever use anymore. Is this a voice from the past?
    The message continues and then starts over again. Tony clicks off his device and looks at Saul seriously. “That’s the voice of one of your ancestors. A man who couldn’t make the trip to join his children on this island anymore and decided to broadcast a message on the radio. So that hopefully, someone would hear it and be able to help his kids. And here I am… one hundred and fifty years later.”
    “What… what is this,” Saul stutters incoherently, and I don’t blame him. I am equally speechless. Our former leader drops to his knees and lets go of the sword. It clatters on the tiles next to him.
    Andy seizes his chance and jumps down