smooth seas//john b

six

We all sit in John B's van on the way to somewhere. Pope is staring at the compass as he sits in the passenger's seat.

"I mean, it's obvious, right? A family heirloom. What better place to hide a message? He had to know it was gonna get back to me, right?" John B reasons.

"Yeah. It's possible," I agree.

"It could also be possible that you're concocting wild theories to help, you know, deal with your sad feels," Pope offers.

"Pope? Bro, you know how I process my sad feels. Dank nugs and the stickiest of ickies, that's how I do it," JJ states.

"I'm not concocting, okay? My dad's trying to give me a message" John B insists.

"If it helps you believe, John B..." I trail off.

"Look, I-I don't need a therapy session, okay? Look, I'm not trippin' out," John B tells us.

"It's okay to trip, bro, but..." JJ starts.

"Look, my... my dad is missing, okay? Missing. You don't know what it's like to have the person closest to you vanish and then have no idea what happened. Just wake up every morning wondering," John B tells us.

"It's been almost a year," I remind him.

"Hey, he could have been kidnapped. That's definitely a possibility," JJ offers.

"Yeah, could be in a Soviet sub getting interrogated by the KGB somewhere," Pope says.

"Absolutely. Uh... or Atlantis," JJ adds.

"JJ. Look, what do you think the message is?" Kie asks.

"Redfield," John B states. We pass the sign for the lighthouse. "Redfield Lighthouse. That's my dad's favorite place."

We stop in front of the lighthouse and get out of the van. John B turns to look at JJ. "Right. You're gonna post up and look out for bogeys, okay?"

"Wait... Why me?" JJ asks.

"Because you're not coming," Pope states.

"Why?" JJ asks.

"There are independent and dependent variables." Pope says. "You're independent. We don't know what you'll do."

JJ yells at him, "Shut up!"

John B interrupts them, "Listen to me for a second. Pope and Kie, you stand look out with JJ. Okay? If we get split up, we meet back at JJ's house."

"Great," I say.

John B and I start towards the lighthouse. I walk in and look up at the huge staircase. "Remind me what we're looking for again."

"We'll know it when we see it," John B assures me.

"Okay," I say.

I follow behind John B as we walk up to the top of the lighthouse. John B knocks on the door at the top and no one answers. "Nobody home." A man opens the door and looks at us. "Um... we're here for the lighthouse."

"The lighthouse is closed," the man tells us.

"Um..." I start.

The man closes the door in our face.

"Actually, we... we aren't here about the lighthouse. We're here about the, uh..." John B looks at me, "the Royal Merchant."

The man opens the door. "Then you came to the right place." The man leads us up to the top of the lighthouse. "I know more... Watch your step here. ...about the Royal Merchant than anyone else in Kildare County."