¥showing a willingness to take surprisingly bold risks¥
In which Jackie Routledge and her group of friends from the south side of Outer Banks try to have the summer of their lives, but end up it being filled with mystery, tragedy, risks, adventure...
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{Tannyhill Plantation}
'"Hey, guys," Pope says, tapping his hand on his knee as we sit around the fire in the forest. "So, like, my dad's already gonna kill me. What's this mandatory meeting about?"
He asks again, a little more nervously. John B flashes JJ a look and shoots him finger guns. "Might as well tell him, man, before we're gaffed."
JJ shrugs. "You ready for this?" My brother asks, looking around at all of us. I lean forward on the log, nodding eagerly.
After a brief silence, I roll my eyes, unable to wait any longer. "Come on, Johnny, I'm impatient," I say, my voice rising, and everyone turns to look at me before laughing.
John B smirks. "So, the gold never went down with the Royal Merchant."
My eyes widen in shock. "Oh my god. Here we go again with this," Pope mutters, but I shush him quickly.
"No, wait. Hear him out," JJ says to Pope.
"It's been here the whole time," John B reveals with a grin, and I jump off the log in excitement.
"It's here! Oh my god, the gold is on the island!" I exclaim, bouncing up and down. JJ and my brother share a smile, looking proud of themselves.
"Oh my god," Kie says, astonished.
"I'd like to voice my skepticism," Pope interjects, and I let out a frustrated sigh.
"I'm sure you would, Pope, but can I please present my evidence, sir?" John B asks, holding up a folded piece of paper from his pocket. Pope nods begrudgingly.
"Proceed," he mutters.
"Alright, so in my backpack, I have a letter from Denmark Tanny," John B explains, pulling out the paper.
"Who the hell is that?" Kie asks, clearly confused.
"Denmark Tanny was a slave who survived the Royal Merchant wreck. Slaves weren't mentioned as crew members, but our dad—he found the complete manifest. That was his big discovery," John B says, handing the paper to me. I smile, thinking about how much effort our dad put into this research. I just wish he was here to see this moment.
"So, Tanny used the gold from the Merchant to buy his freedom. After that, he bought a farm," he continues. "And drumroll, please... that farm is... Tanny Plantation."
"Tannyhill?" Kie asks, her eyebrows raised. John B nods.
"Yeah, that's it. So, after that, he used his money to free even more slaves. He sold a ton of rice, which pissed off the white planters. They decided to lynch him. On the day they were coming for him, he wrote 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 asks, leaning forward.
John B chuckles. "Harvest the wheat in parcel nine, near the water."
