“Honestly, I don’t really look at the fountain. That’s not my purpose when I’m called back, so I don’t really know what is carved into it.”
I feel myself deflate. This is going to be harder than I thought. If Dane, the person who has the most interaction with the fountain out of all of us, doesn’t know any of the details, then it’s possible we will miss something. They’ve all been on the island much longer than me, but maybe one of the other Voyagers will remember. Collectively, we could try to piece things together.
Or the Castaways, but I can’t ask them.
“We should ask everyone when they get back to camp tonight, see what they remember. Maybe with everyone’s memory, we can get a good picture and figure it out,” I say.
“Why don’t we just go look at it ourselves?” he says.
I stare at him, confused. “What do you mean? Is there one on the island? I haven’t seen it in all the time I’ve been here.”
“No, Lennox. I mean back in the real world.”
I suck in a harsh breath, shaking my head rapidly. “Dane, no, we can’t. We can’t use the dust. There’s not enough left.”
No. This cannot happen. If we useanyof the dust now, the amount to get us there and back would be equivalent to four fewer Castaways that can get home. We can’t.
“We have enough to get back. I haven’t been called away, so I haven’t used any. You wouldn’t be trapped there. We could come home so you can keep searching.”
He pulls the pouch off his belt and opens it up in front of me, the golden glow illuminating the inside.
My heart pounds in my ears and my breaths become shallow as I try to talk my way out of this without seeming suspicious.
“But what if it’s a dead end? We’ll only have wasted what little we have left?—”
“But what if it’s not? What if the fountain holds the answer?”
I can’t keep the panic from rising in my voice. I’m desperate to find answers, but not at the cost of ruining the life of one more Castaway.
“We can’t take that risk, Dane! Every time you use it, we’re closer to being trapped here for eternity. No one would even need to find the cure anymore because we couldnever leave!” I yell.
He knows getting back to Blackwood is important to me; it’s the entire reason I am here. My time on Dawnlin has been short, so I still have a chance compared to so many of the Voyagers, and even the Castaways. We had this conversation on the cliffs, and again on the beach. I need the ability to leave, even if that means leaving him.
“If the answer is there, on the fountain, it’s worth the risk,” he says. “We’re taking an even bigger risk if we don’t follow through with the lead. If we do nothing, we’re at the mercy of me getting called and using dust, and I can’t control that. Either way, use it or don’t. It’s still almost gone.”
He’s right, it is, but I can’t allow myself to use any more of it.
“We can talk to everyone. I’m sure between all of us, we can figure it out.”
“No. No one else can know.”
“Why? Why wouldn’t you want them to know that even if they find the cure, they can’t do anything with it?”
“Because it will not get to that. I’m not trying to keep anyone here.”
A small seed of doubt burrows in me at his statement. Is he telling the truth? Would he have let any of the Castaways leaveif they had asked? Is he truly not trying to keep anyone here? Or would he have demanded they tell him the location of the healing waters like Weston and Sig suspected because of how he arrived on the island?
It may not have been worth the risk of finding out, but if Dane is telling the truth, maybe they have all been stuck on the island for so long for no reason.
“Then there must be another way,” I say, and swallow down the fear.
This was a mistake. I shouldn’t have come back. I’m making it worse.
“We can’t risk not checking. It is worth the use of the dust,” he says. He reaches into the bag and pulls his hand out, as a glow seeps between the fingers of his clenched fist.
“Dane, no!”
The scream barely leaves my lips before he is stepping toward me, pulling my chest to his and tossing the dust over our heads.
