Bad Karma

twenty-three

Leilani Elrod

Episode 5. Midsummers

"Ah, JJ! Blow it out! Blow it out!" I flailed my marshmallow back and forth, trying to extinguish the flames that were engulfing it. I only liked it a little bit golden, not burnt to a crisp!

He grabbed my hand, making me stop shaking it, "Hold it still." He brought it close to him, blowing it out and eating it right off the stick after cooling it down. Hot mama I think I might be on fire now. My cheeks turned red. It's just because I was sitting too close to the fire. Yeah, totally that.

"Hey, guys, sorry to interrupt." Pope began, "So, like, my dad's already gonna kill me. What's this mandatory meeting about?"

JJ looked over a JB, "Might as well tell 'em, man, before we're gaffed."

"You ready for this?" John B said ominously, the fire lighting up his face just enough to make it look like we were telling scary stories.

"Yeah?"

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

Pope shook his head, "Here we go again with this."

JJ put his hand up, "No. All right, wait. Hear him out."

"It's been here the whole time."

I looked over at JJ and he raised his eyebrows, nodding at me in agreement.

"It's on the island."

"Are you serious?" Kie smiled, "Oh, my god."

I wasn't sure how much I really believed that. I mean, if the gold was here on the island wouldn't someone have found it by now? How hidden could it really be?

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

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

"Proceed."

"So, in my backpack I have a letter from Denmark Tanny."

"Who the hell's that?"

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

I don't really know who this Denmark Tanny character is, but I'd like to speak with him. Him and I have something in common. Get it? Like, he and I both survived- okay, I'm done now.

John B handed the letter to Kie, "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... Tannyhill Plantation."

"Tannyhill?"

"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."

I smiled up at John B, shaking my head obliviously, "Where?"

"Harvest the wheat in parcel nine, near the water."

My eyebrows turned down and I leaned closer to JJ, whispering, "Am I supposed to know tha-"

"Sh." He put his finger to my lips. My shoulders sunk and I sighed. Okay, then.

"Except.. there's no wheat. You see, wheat is the code for gold. Check this out." He held up a photo of a block with wheat carved into it, "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."