13

SANDY DREAMS

We should try to find the treasure,” Harriet said.

“But we have to wait for Julian,” Toby reminded us.

Jack looked up at the sky. “He told us he wouldn’t be long, but look, the sun is going to set soon and we have no place to stay.”

Harriet agreed. “We have to find shelter.”

“If we go to the desert temple, I bet we can stay there. Then we can look for the treasure in the morning.” Toby was excited. He loved a good treasure hunt.

“Let’s just give Julian a few more minutes.” Harriet looked out to see if Julian was approaching, but there was no sign of him.

The group waited a little while longer for Julian, but he didn’t appear. “We have to go,” said Jack. “It’s getting dark.”

They made their way to the sandy biome, running as fast as they could toward the desert. When they finally reached the desert, it was night.

Harriet spotted the desert temple in the distance. “There’s the temple. We’ll have to sprint there!”

Outside the desert temple were a few dead bushes and a couple of cacti. The desert temple was empty. The room that usually contained the treasure was looted, but they hoped the buried treasure still remained beneath the floor of the temple.

“We need to craft beds. We don’t want to be exposed to hostile mobs,” Toby warned the group.

The gang crafted their beds and then pulled the blue wool covers up and fell asleep. Harriet dreamt of the treasure they were going to dig the next morning. But she also wondered what had happened to Julian. She worried that he had been attacked. She tossed and turned, half awake. Eventually, she finally drifted off to sleep.

In the morning Jack woke them up. “I want to search for treasure.”

The gang took their shovels and pickaxes and broke up away at the blocks. They dug deep into the surface, but they couldn’t find anything.

“Do you think we’re in the right temple?” Toby wondered.

“I think so,” said Harriet. “It looks just like the one William described in the journal.”

The gang spent the entire day digging holes in the temple. Night was beginning to set. They had just climbed into bed when they heard a noise. Harriet climbed back out to investigate.

She heard someone say, “Wait outside. I bet they’re hiding in here.”

The boys were right behind her. Jack took out his sword and approached the intruder, ready to attack.

“Stop!” the person called out.

“Julian?” Harriet was shocked.

“I had a feeling you’d be here,” Julian told them.

“Why?” asked Harriet.

“Because you’re reading the journal. I lived it, so I know what you’re searching for, and you’re not going to find it here. In fact, it’s probably best if you end your journey here. Please let the past stay in the past. You are digging up old memories that should stay buried.”

“But we want to find William and Oliver,” said Harriet. “They could be hurt and in trouble.”

“People have spent their entire lives searching for them,” said Julian. “Just because you have an old journal doesn’t mean you’re going to find them.”

Harriet wondered why Julian was so against their search for the missing explorers. And hadn’t he said it was his mission to find them, himself? According to William’s journal, they were friends. Wouldn’t he want to find his friends?

Jack asked, “Who’s outside?”

“I’ll introduce you shortly. I just want you to promise that you won’t look for William and Oliver. Just give up this search. The journals are too dangerous.”

Toby paused. He thought about the journal and how far they had traveled to find William and Oliver. “I’m not sure we could do that. This is a mystery we really want to solve.”

A man wearing a black helmet walked into the room.

“The man in the black helmet!” Toby shouted. “William and Oliver destroyed you.”

“You were working with Charles and Thao,” Harriet called out.

“That was a long time ago. I was like Julian. I was forced into working with them. They are long gone. As you know, William and Oliver destroyed them with their Ender Dragon attack.”

“Why are you here? What do you want from us?” asked Harriet.

“I’m here to warn you about the journal. It’s cursed. I’ve know people who have found it before, and they all suffered a terrible fate.”

“We aren’t going to give up,” said Jack.

The man in the black helmet walked around the desert temple. Looking around, he said, “I see you’ve been searching for the buried treasure. You won’t find it here.”

“But we’ll find it.” Harriet said.

“Maybe. But you’re searching in the wrong place,” the man in the black helmet told them.

“So you know where it is?” questioned Harriet.

“No, I don’t, but I know this temple is empty. There is nothing here but memories.” The man in the black helmet looked down at the holes in the ground. “Don’t you believe me? Look at the ground. The holes are empty.”

Harriet was wary. She didn’t trust the man in the black helmet. She looked over at Julian.

Julian confirmed it. “This temple is a sad place. I have bad memories here.”

“All right,” said Harriet. “I think we should go.”

“Can I talk to you in private?” asked Toby.

Harriet, Jack, and Toby walked over to the corner and spoke in a hushed whisper.

“I have a feeling there is something here,” whispered Toby. “I don’t trust them, and they want us to leave so badly. I think that’s a sign that we’re onto something.”

Jack agreed. “I bet there’s a secret room here.”

“But how are we going to explore the rest of the desert temple if they are here?” asked Harriet.

“Let’s leave with them. We’ll come back later on our own,” said Jack.

The gang told Julian and the man in the black helmet that they were heading back home. Once they had traveled a bit further out of the desert, and when they were far enough away from Julian and the man in the black helmet, they constructed a house.

As they sat in their beds, they strategized a plan to explore the desert temple. “I bet there is a secret room,” said Harriet.

“I know,” said Jack. “They are definitely hiding something from us.”

Toby opened the journal. “Maybe this will help.” He began to read.