"𝙀𝙣𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝 𝙜𝙖𝙢𝙚𝙨"
"𝙅𝙅-"
"𝙉𝙤, 𝘾𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙞𝙚, 𝙟𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙩𝙚𝙡𝙡 𝙢𝙚. 𝙍𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚, 𝙧𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙣𝙤𝙬, 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙙𝙤 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙩?"
In which five friends go on a treasure hunt that will change their lives.
Or//
In which Calli...
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As soon as he was sure that Limbrey was far enough away, Pope immediately left their hiding spot. He approached the coffin slowly, the others following his lead.
"Cecilia Tanny, Denmark's wife," he said as he knelt before the casket.
They hadn't even bothered to close it, the woman's skeleton remaining on display. Callie could feel the hurt rolling off of Pope in waves at the disrespect that they had shown this woman. Callie went over and put a hand on the boy's shoulder, squeezing it gently so that he knew she was there.
She looked in the coffin to see the remains of the woman's skeleton and at the head of the casket was a name plate reading 'my love Cecilia'. The girl couldn't understand how these people could do this. No matter how much gold was involved.
Suddenly, Pope stood up, his eyes on the ginormous tree before them as a smile graced his face. "He wasn't talking about the cross. He buried her at the foot of the angel."
"The true treasure," Kiara said quietly.
"His wife," John B stated, completing the thought.
They all moved to crouch around the casket, paying respect to the woman. Callie felt her heart break as she looked over and saw that Pope was crying, placing her hand on his shoulder once again.
"Denmark was hung for burying his wife, and now they defiled her grave," he said as he reached into the casket and picked up a small object.
Using his thumb, Pope brushed off the dust to see the woman's name etched into the oval-shaped piece of metal. Sarah reached in also, finding what they could only assume was Cecilia's wedding ring.
Sarah Cameron and John B shared a look. The two of them were still barely on speaking terms but anyone with half a brain could see that they still cared about one another.
Pope gently placed the keepsake back in the casket before using his sleeve to wipe his eyes. "We can't leave her like this."
"Of course not," Callie assured her friend.
While JJ went to the Twinkie and Pope went in search of flowers, the others lifted the lid of the casket and placed it back on its other half. Upon his return, JJ had a hammer and a handful of nails.
Carefully, he began to hammer the nails around the sides of the coffin, sealing it shut. As he did so, Pope arrived with a bunch of fresh white flowers he'd managed to find, placing them on the lid gently.
Half an hour later, the boys had placed the casket back in the grave, and JJ had used the shovel they kept in the Twinkie to fill it with dirt. Callie had moved the Twinkie closer to the tree before planting herself on top of it with the book she kept in a seat pocket.
