PAPER RINGS ✧˖° → JJ MAYBANK

chapter twenty 💌

"Hey guys. So like my dad is already gonna kill me. So what's this mandatory meeting about?" Pope started once they all settled around the fire.

John B looked at JJ and did his finger guns towards him.

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

"Gaffed?" Olivia muttered in horror.

"You ready for this?" John B said to all three of them.

"Yeah." Kie nodded.

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

"Oh, my God. Here we go again with this." Pope sighed, shaking his head.

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

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

"Are you serious?" Kie and Olivia questioned at the same time.

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

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

"Proceed." Pope gestured with his hand.

"All right. So, in my backpack, I have a letter from Denmark Tanny." John B explained, pulling a piece of paper from his backpack.

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

"Denmark Tanny was a slave that survived the Royal Merchant wreck. Check this out." John B opened up the folded paper, passing it 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." John B continued explaining.

Kie whistled to Olivia and passed her the letter so she can have a look at it.

"After that, he bought his farm. Drumroll, please, because that farm is...."

Kie started hitting her legs to indicate drumroll sound.

"Tannyhill Plantation." John B finished with a smile on his face.

"Tannyhill?" Kie questioned.

"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."

"That's harsh." Olivia muttered, giving the letters to JJ.

"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." John B gave them a grin.

"Where?" Kie whispered, eager to know more.

"Harvest the wheat, in parcel nine, near the water." John B said. "Except...there's no wheat."

John B paused for the dramatic effect and all three of them looked at him, the letter is now in Pope's hand.

"You see, wheat is code for gold. Check this out." John B took the letters from Pope's hand. "The gold is in parcel nine, near the water."

Kie laughed in disbelief and Olivia covered her mouth as if she was dreaming and the information was false.

"Holy shit." Pope muttered.

"All we need is an original survey map of the property, and we've found the gold." John B finished his monologue earning a grin from Kie and Olivia.

"Okay, so this might have a small chance of being true." Pope added.