JJ and John B had worked together to build a fire and the Pogues all sat on logs around it at Rixons.
"Hey, guys. So, like, my dad's already gonna kill me. So what's this mandatory meeting about?" Pope asked.
Grace was laying down, head on JJ's lap with her eyes closed and a content smile on her face. Pope was on the log next to them and John B and Kie were across from them.
"Might as well tell him, man, before we're gaffed," JJ twirled the stick he was using to poke the fire.
Grace's eyes opened, "Gaffed?"
"Don't worry about it Sunshine," JJ said down to her.
"So, the gold never went down with the Royal Merchant," John B started.
"Oh, my God. Here we go again with this," Pope spoke sarcastically.
JJ was quick to jump to his defence, "No. All right, wait. Hear him out, all right?"
Grace sat up from JJ's lap, ready for a story.
"It's been here the whole time. It's on the island," John B said smugly.
"Are you serious? Oh, my God," Kie breathed.
Pope was still unconvinced, "I'd like to voice my skepticism."
"I'm sure you would, Pope, but can I please present you with my evidence, sir?" John B spoke in a posh accent while getting up to grab a paper from his backpack.
"Proceed," Pope waved his hand.
"All right. So, in my backpack, I have a letter from Denmark Tanny."
"Who the hell's that?"
"Denmark Tanny was a slave that survived the Royal Merchant wreck. Check this out," John B handed Kie the paper.
"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. Drumroll, please, because that farm is..."
Grace and Kie excitedly patted their knees.
"Tannyhill Plantation."
"Tannyhill?" Kie asked.
"Tannyhill as in where my dear sweet family lives?" Grace asked, jaw dropping.
"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. 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 and Grace asked in sync. They made eye contact but Kie quickly looked away.
"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 shone his flashlight on the papers and showed the group a drawing of wheat on a gold bar.
"The gold is in parcel nine, near the water."
"Holy shit," Pope whispered.
Kie laughed.
Grace poked JJ in the side repeatedly while half smiling half opening her mouth in shock. JJ just smiled at her excitement.
"All we need is an original survey map of the property, and we've found the gold."
JJ got up from beside Grace and moved around the fire towards John B as Pope spoke, "Okay, so this might have a small chance of being actually true."
JJ wrapped his arms around John B and lifted him up in a hug.
YOU ARE READING
𝐒𝐮𝐧𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐞 - JJ Maybank
FanfictionGrace Cameron was a Pogue. Always has been. Sure her dad and half-siblings were the Kookiest a Kook could get but her mom had grown up on the Cut so she did too. Her friend group vowed to have a good time all the time but when a boat goes down in th...
