𝑺𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆 // 𝑱𝑱 𝑴𝒂𝒚𝒃𝒂𝒏𝒌 \\

Chapter Seventeen

"Hey, guys. So, like, my dad's already gonna kill me. So what's this mandatory meeting about?" Pope asked, sitting around the fire JJ and John B were making. Valerie took a seat next to Kiara. John B finger gunned at JJ. "Mind as well tell them, man, before we're gaffed." JJ responded. Kiara and Valerie shared a look of confusion. "You ready for this?" John B asked as he turned to the two girls. "Yeah." Kiara nodded.

"So, the gold never went down with the Royal Merchant." John B explained. "Oh my god. Here we go again." Pope rolled his eyes. "No. Alright, wait. Hear him out, alright?" JJ looked at Pope. "It's been here the whole time. It's on the island." John B continued. "Are you serious? Oh my god." Valerie turned to John B with a smile. "I'd like to voice my skepticism." Pope said. JJ rolled his eyes. "I'm sure you would, Pope, but can I please present you with my evidence, sir?" John B stood up. "Proceed."

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

"Who the hell's that?" Kiara asked. "Denmark Tanny was a slave that survived the Royal Merchant wreck. Check this out." John B opened the letter and handed it to Kiara and Valerie. "Here you go. 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." Kiara whistled, making John B pause, as she handed the letter to Pope and JJ. Then, John B continued. "After that, he bought his farm. Drumroll, please." John B said as Kiara was the only one who started to drumroll. "Because that farm is... Tannyhill Plantation."

"Tannyhill?" Kiara stopped as she looked at John B. "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." Kiara rolled her eyes looking to the side. "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 walked closer to Valerie and Kiara. "Where?" Valerie whispered with a smile. "Harvest the wheat, in parcel nine, near the water. Except... there's no wheat. You see, wheat is code for gold. Check this out." John B walked next to Pope looking at the papers. "The gold is in parcel nine near the water." John B finished. Kiara's mouth dropped as she laughed. Valerie raised her eyebrows in amusement.

"Holy shit." Pope whispered. "All we need is an original survey map of the property, and we've found the gold." John B finished with a smile. "Okay, so this might have a small chance of being actually true." Pope said. JJ stood up from besides Pope and stomped over to John B, picking him up in a hug. "It's like King Tut!" Kiara commented. "I'm a genius- Hey, whoa! Hello! Fire! You're near the fire. You're gonna burn." John B said. JJ stepped forward as he put John B on the ground. "I'm so proud of you right now." JJ said to him. "Thank you. That's really sweet of you." John B held JJ's face. "Okay, so, what's the plan?" Valerie asked as John B and JJ looked over to her.

"Good question. So, Sarah Cameron's coming tonight. She'll bring an original survey map--"

"Hold on. Sarah? Wh-Why Sarah?" Kiara interrupted John B. "Um..." John B started. "This gonna be good." JJ whispered from behind Valerie. Valerie stood up and walked next to JJ. "Sarah, um, she-- she got me into the archives in Chapel Hill yesterday, and that's where I got the letter."

"You were in Chapel Hill with Sarah Cameron?" Kiara snapped. "Yeah, um..."

"He was mackin' on her." JJ said as Kiara turned to him in surprise. "I wasn't macking."

"You were totally macking Sarah Cameron." JJ replied. Valerie raised her eyebrows at the two. "i wasn't macking on her, okay? I was using her for access."

"That's rude." Valerie whispered. "There was an access, alright." JJ commented making Valerie laugh. "Did you tell her about the treasure?" Kiara asked. "I was just trying to get into the archives."