ISSUES 2 II OUTERBANKS S3/S4

treasure hunt

Sarah and I help Ward sanitize his wound while the others keep their distance. Especially Sarah is looking more disgustedly than amused. "John", Ward speaks up, "I thank you. I know that you don't believe me but you've got nothing to be afraid of when it comes to me. I'm only here to help.. each of you. I've got a lot to compensate. If I'm allowed to say this, I'm glad that your dad is still alive." 

I take the seat in front of Ward knowing that the others would want to stay as far away from him as possible. "I can't believe that he did this", I whisper shocked and look out of the window. "What proves him right is what he did in the end, Isabella." "No", I shake my head vehemently, "He almost killed you on his own and afterwards he tried to have someone else kill you. How can you justify this?" 

"Isabella, dear child", Ward smiles at me weakly, "You've always believed he'd be good in the end. You've seen the good in him. Don't give up now." Yeah, right. That was before Rafe killed Peterkin, threatened us, almost shot us, slept with Sofia, tried to- "Don't worry about it now. You've got a father figure to rescue and gold to find", Ward mumbles slowly so I nod. If he doesn't worry about Rafe right now, I won't either.

"Iz, are you listening?", John B asks me when we're about to land and they go through their plan. "Yeah, sure", I nod confused, "I'm all in. Hide from Singh, find the gold, leave. That's it, right?" Pope gives me a worried look but seems fine when I listen to their plan now. When we're looking for the contact who's going to guide us further on, I leave with Sarah and John B. Cleo is as strong as the three of us and as soon as we find Big John I could defend him as good as possible. 

"Leave me alone you bastard!", we hear a certainly familiar voice yelling from behind a window in a house. "There's only one man in the whole world who'd say this", I state unbelievingly. "You mean-" "Yeah, that's my dad", John B reassures me. As soon as we see one of Singh's men, we know what to do. They're still here so we have to get Big John out. 

Luckily, we're in South America and are able to buy some firecrackers to throw them through the window to the room next to the one in which Big John is encaptured. All while we're hiding ourselves. Outer banks learnt us how to fight. 

John B might not be able to walk up the ladder to John B but his dad shows us how to do it. He throws one of Singh's men from the room upstairs to the bottom and jumps down to find us waiting for him. "Dad." "Good to see you, boy." "Hi." "Hi, Sarah. Isabella." 

"Yeah, we need to leave", I recommend and we all start to run. "Incredible that you've just fallen out the window, dad", John B comment while we're still running. "Just a stunt", he adds quickly, „We take a moment to breath now. We need to orientate ourselves." "Do you think we'll make it to Solana before the sun goes down?" "Yeah, let's not be enthusiastic. I can't read these signs." 

"I've got something that might help us", John B offers him reaching out a piece of paper, "Listen, I've got this from Pope, it's his family's heirloom." "Pope?" "Yeah, it's-" "Pope is here as well? Damn, I've told you-" "Relax, Big John", I interrupt him seriously, "It doesn't matter. Listen to John B." 

"Right. It's a.. What did he say?" "It's a certain type of stone, a-" "Yeah, I know what you mean. No, right. It's about Tanny. Denmark is the connection to San Jose and this whole story. Oh my god, if this is real, we might make the deal. The gods know that we're here." "Yeah, great but we need to leave."

The gods were here for us until Jose tells us that Ward's been paying already. "I've told you something. Don't you listen to me for once?", Sarah yells at Ward as she approaches him. "What the hell is he doing here?", Big John asks us but turns to Ward furiously. The only time when I hear Singh's voice and think it's at least kind of helpful is now that we jump into the boat all together which ends the current fight between these stubborn men. Great, I'm stuck here escaping from Singh with two children with their kind of sick dads. It's not like their fight ends the next morning. The only thing that helps Big John to stay focused is Ward who tells us that he's staying in El Tesoro.

Thank god we used to go hiking a lot when I was little so I'm used to being quick to get to the top of the mountain. Sarah and John B are not this lucky but I tell Big John to be a little understanding as I'm walking next to him. He looks at me frustratedly but he knows that I'm right. His obsession for this treasure could cost us our lives. We're doing this for him and the pogues.

I have to admit that I'm impressed when we find the stone table for the sculpture that Big John got in the Bahamas, one of the many moments in which we could have almost died. "Wow", I whisper shocked by actually finding something and especially what it is. "It's as real as possible, kids", Big John comments as he's running his hands above the stone, "Thousands years of history. Maths.. everything written down here. This is the evidence for this story being absolutely on a par with the Mayas."

"Great, dad, come on, put out the other stone", John B tells him urgently. The sculpture fits just right onto the table. It feels like we've finally made it already. "When the moon is at its highest point, it's starting. John B, you translate." "Sarah, Iz, are you helping me?" "Yes, sure", we immediately reply and take out our paper to translate the signs. 

"That's it", Ward gasps as the moon and the sculpture react with one another. Holy shit. That's pretty incredible. "It's showing us the direction to El Dorado!", Ward exclaims after we've finally translated the signs. Well, it's great until Big John seems to hide his knowledge due to Sarah. 

"It's about me, right?", she confronts him, "Big John, I'm not my father and not my brother. You can trust me." "She's right, Big John", I add, "Sarah's always supported us in this treasure hunt. She gave up her own life for us." Okay, great, now Big John and John B are fighting. "What does the message say?", John B asks Big John once more raising his voice.