𝐀 𝐌𝐀𝐘𝐁𝐀𝐍𝐊, 𝗃𝗈𝗁𝗇 𝖻 𝗋𝗈𝗎𝗍𝗅𝖾𝖽𝗀𝖾

20: 𝙷𝚊𝚠𝚔'𝚜 𝙽𝚎𝚜𝚝

After Midsummers, the five Pogues found themselves at Rixon's cove. John B sat beside his girlfriend, his arm wrapped around her as he held the Maybank girl to his chest, chin resting on her shoulder. In the front, Y/n had gently intertwined their fingers together, both their hands resting on her stomach. A fire sat in the middle of the group, the two girls trying to warm themselves up, as they were still only wearing their dresses. John B made sure to put his jacket back on Y/n so she was more warm.

"Hey, guys. So, like, my dad's already gonna kill me. So what's this mandatory meeting about?" Pope asks.

"Might as well tell him, man, before we're gaffed." JJ tells John B.

"So, the gold never went down with the Royal Merchant." John B starts.

Pope groans. "Oh, my God. Here we go again with this."

"No. Alright, wait. Hear him out, alright?" JJ says.

"It's been here the whole time. It's on the island." John B informs.

"Are you serious?" Kie questions, getting a nod in reply. "Oh, my God."

"I'd like to voice my skepticism." Pope tells him.

"I'm sure you would, Pope, but can I please present you with my evidence, sir?" John B asks.

Pope nods a little. "Proceed."

"Alright. So, in my backpack, I have a letter from Denmark Tanny." John B states.

"Who the hell's that?" Kie questions.

"Denmark Tanny was a slave that survived the Royal Merchant wreck." John B replies.

Reaching over, the boy hands the Kiara the letter that he grabbed from his backpack, Kie looking through the letter, then passing it to her other friends.

"Check this out." John B says. "Okay, slaves weren't mentioned as crew members on the ship, but my dad, he found the complete manifest. That was his big discovery. So Tanny used the gold from the Merchant to buy his freedom. After that, he bought his farm. Drumroll, please, because that farm is..."

The other four teenagers begin slapping their hands on their legs as if to make a drumroll type sound, waiting for John B to finish.

"Tannyhill Plantation." John B finishes.

"Tannyhill?" Kie asks.

John B nods. "Yeah. So, after that, he used his money to free even more slaves, and then he sold a shit-ton of rice, which pisses off all the white planters, and then they decide to lynch him. So on the day they were coming to get him, he writes a letter to his son as a farewell, and in the last line of that letter, he leaves a coded message about where to find the gold."

"Where?" Kie questions.

"Harvest the wheat in parcel nine, near the water." John B quotes. "Except... there's no wheat. You see, wheat is code for gold. The gold is in parcel nine, near the water. All we need is an original survey map of the property, and we've found the gold."

"Okay, so this might have a small chance of being actually true." Pope states.

JJ rises to his feet, walking around and tackling his best friend in a hug, who gratefully hugs back before warning the blonde about the campfire behind him.

"I'm so proud of you right now." JJ informs.

"Thank you. That's really sweet of you." John B replies.

"Okay, so, guys. What's the plan?" Pope asks.

"Good question." John B says, pausing.

John B looks to his girlfriend, grabbing her hand and pulling her up to her feet, all of them looking at her as she was the only other person who knew this stuff.