𝐀 𝐊𝐎𝐎𝐊 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐀 𝐏𝐎𝐆𝐔𝐄, 𝗋𝖺𝖿𝖾 𝖼𝖺𝗆𝖾𝗋𝗈𝗇

17: "𝚃𝚘𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚛 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚒𝚖."

Away from Midsummers, the group found themselves near the woods at Rixon's Cove like JJ had said at the party, a camp fire in the middle of them as they all sat around it, the two girls trying to get warm. JJ had given Y/n his jacket as she sat beside her brother.

"Hey, guys. So, like, our dad's already gonna kill both me and Y/n. So what's this mandatory meeting about?" Pope asks.

"Might as well tell them, man, before we're gaffed." JJ tells the brunette.

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

Y/n sighs, rolling her eyes. "Oh, my God. Here we go again with this."

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

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

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

"I'd like to voice my skepticism." Pope informs.

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

Pope nods. "Proceed."

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

"Who the hell's that?" Y/n questions, sharing a confused look with Kie.

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

The boy proceeds to hand the letter to the Carrera girl who read it through before passing it around to her other friends, all of them reading it.

"Check this out." John B begins. "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..."

Doing as told, the other four hit their legs with their hands as if to make a drumroll, anxiously waiting for the reveal of the farm that Tanny bought.

"Tannyhill Plantation." John B reveals.

Kie raises a brow. "Tannyhill?"

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 asks.

"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.

Rising up to his feet, JJ walks around his friends and towards John B and tackling the brunette in a hug. John B hugs back, then warning the blonde about the fire right behind him.

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

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

"Okay, so, guys. What's the plan?" Y/n questions.

"Good question. So, Sarah Cameron's coming tonight. She's gonna bring an original survey map--" John B informs.