DISCONTINUED / NO LONGER WRITING
❛ and its new, the shape of your
body, its blue the feelin' i got and
it's ooh, whoa-oh. it's a cruel summer.
and it's cool, that's what i tell 'em. no
rules in breakable heaven, but ooh,
whoa-oh. it's a cruel summer...
THE POGUES GATHERED at Rixon's Cove for their mandatory meeting. Stella sat beside JJ on a log, shivering and shaking from the wind. JJ, newly changed into his usual clothes, wrapped his arm around her.
"Hey, guys. So, like, my dad's already gonna kill me. So what's this mandatory meeting about?"
John B did finger guns to JJ. "Might as well tell him, man, before we're gaffed."
Stella's eyes widened. "Ready for this?" asked John B.
"Yeah."
"So, the gold never went down with the Royal Merchant." Stella knitted her brows together.
Pope groaned. "Oh, my God. Here we go again, with this."
"No. All right, wait. Here him out, all right?"
"It's been here the whole time. It's on the island," John B spoke, gazing at his friends.
"Are you serious?" Kie asked as Stella gaped at her brother. "Oh, my God."
"I'd like to voice my skepticism."
"I'm sure you would, Pope, but can I please present you with my evidence, sir?"
"Proceed."
John B dug into his backpack. "All right. So, in my backpack, I have a letter from Denmark Tanny."
"Who the hell's that?" asked Stella.
"Denmark Tanny was a slave that survived the Royal Merchant wreck. Check this out." He handed Stella's copy of the manifest.
"Okay, crew members weren't mentioned as crew members on the ship, but our 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." Stella whistled as she passed the letter to Pope and Kiara. "Drumroll, please, because that farm is..." Everyone pat their knees. "Tannyhill Plantation."
"Tannyhill?" Stella and Kie said in unison.
"You do realized it's called Tannyhill, right?" JJ whispered to Stella.
Stella rolled her eyes as she shoved his shoulder. "Shut up. You didn't know either."
"I did, too."
"Not until John B told you."
"Can you guys shut up, please?" John B said. "I'm on a roll."
Stella waved her hand, "Please, continue, my Lord."
"Thank you. So, after that, he used his money to free even more slaves, and then he sold a shit-ton of rice, which pissed off all the white planters, and then they decided to lynch him." Pope and Kie looked at 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, there is a coded message about where to find the gold."
