15

FACT OR FICTION?

I think our answers are in that temple,” said Harriet.

“Why?” Toby looked at the journal. “After reading this, I don’t trust William. It seems like the fame has gone to his head.”

“That doesn’t make me not trust him. I get why he wouldn’t want people knowing he was afraid of fire—that’s personal,” Harriet defended William.

Jack said, “Sometimes when you read the book I wonder what is fact and what is fiction. I mean this is how William sees everything, but it might not be the way things happened.”

“Well, it is his journal.” Toby stared at the tattered book.

“There’s no point in debating this. I’m convinced that we’ll get some answers at the desert temple. The treasure’s missing and we need to find out who took it. Once we figure that out, I think we’ll be closer to finding William and Oliver.” Harriet was tired. She wanted to go to bed.

When the sun rose, Jack woke up the others and offered them some carrots. As the group ate breakfast, Jack asked, “Are we ready to head back to the desert temple today?”

“I think we should use the potion of invisibility,” suggested Harriet. “I bet Julian and his friend are still lurking around the temple, and we don’t want them to see us.”

They all agreed. They made their way into the desert, and when they were close to the temple, they splashed the potion of invisibility on themselves.

They entered the temple carefully. It was eerily quiet. They searched the entire temple, but they couldn’t find any secret room. The gang stopped when they heard voices. Harriet looked down at her hands “Oh no—it looks like the potion is wearing off.”

They stood in the center of the desert temple and slowly began to reappear. Harriet gasped when she noticed Julian and his friend standing right in front of them.

“I knew you’d be back,” he said.

“How could you know?” asked Jack.

“You remind me of William and Oliver. They were always very curious, and they were also very stubborn. You couldn’t stop them from doing anything,” said Julian.

“Which is why they wound up in trouble,” the man in the black helmet added.

“I’ve spent my entire life searching for William and Oliver,” said Julian. “That wasn’t a lie. I miss my friends. And I don’t know where they are. I’m worried about you reading the journals, but if you’re not going to give up this quest, then maybe we should join forces.”

Harriet, Toby, and Jack looked at one another. Harriet didn’t trust Julian. This didn’t feel sincere. The day before, he had been warning them not to search for William and Oliver, and now he wanted to join forces. She was confused.

“How can we help you?” she asked him.

“What information do you have from the journal?” He looked at the group. It was obvious he wasn’t sure which person had the journal.

Harriet wondered if this was all a trick to get the journal from them. So she lied. “We lost it.”

“Where?” asked Julian.

“We don’t know for sure. In the cold biome, we think. It’s also where we lost the second journal.” Toby spoke fast and sounded nervous.

“I have the second journal,” confessed Julian.

“You do?” Harriet was surprised that he was telling them.

“Yes. I didn’t think you should have it. And I am still trying to figure out if it’s a hoax. I don’t remember William having a second journal,” Julian replied.

“A hoax?” Harriet asked.

“I have my reasons for believing this, but I can’t explain,” said Julian.

“If we’re supposed to work together, we have to tell each other everything we know. Otherwise this isn’t going to work,” said Harriet.

“Okay,” Julian replied. “Do you still have the first journal?”

Harriet didn’t like the direction this was going. She was still convinced that they were being tricked. Julian hadn’t actually answered the question. “I think it’s time we left. I want to explore. You’re right. Searching for William and Oliver was a terrible idea, and it wasn’t our original plan. We’re done.”

Jack and Toby followed Harriet out of the desert temple.

Julian called out after them. “Wait!”

He ran after the gang. They stopped and turned around. “What do you want?” asked Harriet. “We told you we weren’t going to search for William and Oliver anymore. What more do you want from us?”

The man in the black helmet said, “We want your help.”

“Why?” Jack asked.

For a minute there was utter silence. They just stood and stared at each other. Harriet could swear she heard a faint voice. It was muffled, but the voice sounded like it was calling for help. She didn’t tell her friends; instead she just said, “Don’t answer that question. We’re done here.”

They returned to the small house and climbed into bed. Before Toby began to read from the journal again, Harriet asked the others, “Did either of you hear someone calling for help when we were at the desert temple?”

“Yes!” Jack cried out. “I thought I was imagining it.”

“Hey, me too!” said Toby.

“We have to go back tomorrow, but we can’t let them have access to this journal.”

Toby looked at the journal. Harriet and Jack went quiet as he read the next pages.