you're on your own, kid... obx

013. old crain house

The pogues are sitting around a small fire they built and JJ and Zack are both back in their normal clothes.

JJ is sitting on a long and Pope is sitting on a rock next to him and Kie is on his other side and across the fire from Pope. Zack and Erin are on the log with JJ and Erin has Zack's jacket on to help keep her warm. John B is across from the siblings and Erin.

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

John B gives the twins finger guns.

"Might as well tell him, man, before we're gaffed." JJ says.

"You ready for this?" John B asks.

"Yeah." Kie nods.

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

"Here we go again with this." Pope groans.

"No. All right, wait. Hear him out, all right?" JJ says.

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

"Are you serious?" Kie asks and the brunette nods. "Oh, my God!"

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

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

"Proceed." Pope sighs, knowing he will anyway.

"All right. So, in my backpack, I have a letter from Denmark Tanny." John B states, pulling the letter out.

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

"Denmark Tanny was a slave that survived the Royal Merchant wreck. Check this out." John B hands a piece of paper 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." John B says as Pope reads the letter. "Drumroll, please, because that farm is..." He stops as Kie, Zack, and JJ give him a drumroll. "Tannyhill Plantation."

"Tannyhill?" Kie asks.

"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." John B informs. "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 excitedly whispers.

"Harvest the wheat in parcel nine, near the water. Except... there's no wheat." John B says. "You see, wheat is code for gold. Check this out." He shows Pope another paper. "The gold is in parcel nine, near the water."

"Holy shit." Pope mumbles as Kie laughs.

"All we need is an original survey map of the property, and we've found the gold." John B grins.

"Okay, so this might have a small chance of being actually true." Pope says as JJ goes over to John B and hugs him.

"Dude, it's like King Tut." Kie says.

"I am a genius. Hey, whoa!" John B exclaims as JJ picks him up. "Hello! Fire! You're near the fire. You're gonna burn. You're near the fire." He says and JJ finally puts him down.

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

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