11

TRACKING DOWN OLD FRIENDS

So Julian isn’t a bad guy?” asked Harriet.

“So far, he isn’t, but I think we have to read more,” said Toby.

“We should just go back the wheat farm and find Julian. I think he is a good guy, and hopefully he’ll be able to give us some answers,” suggested Jack.

“I want to get out of this ice biome, and I hate this secret room. I keep thinking we’re going to get trapped again,” Harriet said as she walked toward the door.

As the group made their way to Julian’s town, Jack reminded them, “We still have a house there.”

“Yes,” said Harriet, “that is very helpful.”

As they continued on, Toby mused, “I wonder if Julian’s house exploding has to do with his past? Maybe the explosion has a link to Charles and Thao?”

“Yes, they could still be around and terrorizing him,” said Harriet.

The town was bustling, and people walked through the streets, entering the shops. A librarian in a white robe walked by them, and Jack called out to her. “Are you Tess?”

“Yes.” She was surprised. “How do you know my name?”

“We’re friends with Julian,” Jack replied.

“Julian,” Tess paused. “Do you know where he is?”

“We thought Julian was here,” said Harriet.

“No, Julian’s house exploded a few nights ago, and he has been missing ever since. It’s awful. Everyone is worried about him.”

“Don’t worry, we’ll find him,” Harriet told Tess.

“We’ll search his farm for some clues,” added Toby.

“That’s wonderful,” said Tess. “If you find him, can you please tell him to come see me? I’ve been very worried about him.”

The gang told Tess they would do their best, and then walked on toward his home. When they reached the wheat farm, an ocelot meowed.

“That must be Snowball,” Harriet remarked. She found him hiding and reached down to pet the ocelot. They walked around the farm inspecting it.

“I don’t see any clues,” said Jack, looking around carefully.

“Me neither,” said Toby.

The sky grew dark. Harriet suggested they head to their house before night set in.

Before they reached the house, two Endermen walked by them. One of the Endermen stared at Harriet, let out a loud piercing shriek, and teleported right in front of her. She lashed out with her diamond sword, but the Enderman kept attacking. Jack approached the Enderman from behind and struck it with his diamond sword. With one final hit from Harriet, the Enderman was destroyed.

The second Enderman attacked Toby. Harriet and Jack ran to his side and helped him defeat the lanky mob. When the two Endermen were defeated, the trio returned to the house.

“Oh no!” Harriet cried.

“What happened to the house?” Jack shouted.

The house had been blown up. Just like Julian’s. A cluster of endermites crawled around the ground beside the remnants of the building.

They used their diamond swords to battle the bugs. “We’ll have to rebuild,” said Harriet as she swung at one of the creatures.

Toby annihilated the final endermite and then looked through his inventory for supplies to craft a house. “I don’t have any wood.”

Jack and Harriet looked through their inventories. They didn’t have any wood, either.

“What are we going to do?” Jack stared at the dark sky. “There’s no way we’ll survive the night without shelter.”

The group walked back into town. They hoped somebody might offer them a place to stay. As they trekked through the quiet town, a voice called out to them.

“Who’s there?” Harriet couldn’t see anyone.

“It’s me,” the voice replied.

The group stood still and looked for the person who was calling to them, but they couldn’t see anyone nearby.

“It’s me—Julian.” Julian walked into the center of the town.

“What are you doing here?” asked Harriet.

“Come with me,” Julian told them. “Let me help you.”

The group followed Julian out of the town and into a grassy biome. They could see zombies spawning just a few feet in front of them. Julian grabbed a potion and splashed it on the zombies.

“Where are you taking us?” Jack asked as he swung his diamond sword at the zombies.

“I can’t tell you. But I want you to meet someone very important,” Julian replied.

Harriet destroyed the final zombie. “We don’t want to follow you unless we know where we are going.”

Julian looked at the gang. “I’m sorry, but you’re just going to have to trust me.”

They glanced at one another and then followed Julian into the dark night and up a mountain. “Are you taking us to the ice biome?” asked Jack.

Julian replied, “I told you, I can’t tell you where we are going, but I can tell you, it’s very important that you come with me.”

The group traveled all night as the sun began to rise. A chicken spawned in front of them. Julian hunted the chicken and offered the group some food. “We need to eat and replenish our energy. We are about to do something amazing.”

Harriet accepted the piece of chicken, wondering what amazing thing they were going to do.

“I have to travel the rest of the journey on my own,” said Julian, “and will meet you back here. But you have to promise to stay here and wait for me.”

Harriet saw a stretch of beach up ahead. “We’ll wait on that beach, but we’ll only wait until dusk. We need to find a place to stay when it gets dark.”

Julian promised he wouldn’t be very long, and thanked them and left to continued on.

“So, we’re just supposed to wait here?” Jack asked when Julian was out of earshot.

“I guess so,” replied Harriet.

Toby took out the journal. “At least we can read this while Julian is away.”