All That Glitters

The Hawks Nest

"So what's this mandatory meeting about? My dad's already gonna kill me." Pope said as he sat down by the fire along with the others.

John B looked over at JJ and gave him a whopping two fires of his finger guns. JJ smirked. "Mine as well tell him, man, before we're gaffed."

"Are you ready for this?" John B asked.

"Yeah." Kie said. Propping her chin up on her hands.

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

"Oh my god, here we go again with this." Pope flicked a pebble at John B. It missed him but he still shot Pope a what was that for look.

"No. Alright, wait. Hear him out, okay? Trust me." JJ leaned in.

"It's been here the whole time." John B practically whispered. The roaring flames cracked and sparked louder than he spoke. "It's on the island."

"Are you serious?" Kie glanced between JJ and John B for a second. "Oh my god."

"I'd like to voice my skepticism."

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

"Proceed." Pope said with a quick wave of his hand.

"Alright, so, in my backpack, I have a letter from Denmark Tanny." John B pulled out a folded piece of paper.

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

"Denmark Tanny was a slave that survived the Royal Merchant wreck. Check this out." He unfolded the paper and handed it to Kie.

"What?" She took it in her hands.

"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." Kie passed the paper over to JJ. "After that, he buys a farm. And...drumroll please," they collectively began to drum against their legs as John B spoke. "Because that farm is...Tannyhill Plantation."

"Tannyhill?" Kie said in disbelief.

"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." The heartbreak from hearing Denmark Tanny's story radiated around the group. "So on the day they were coming for him, he writes a letter as a farewell to his son, and in the last line of that letter, he leaves a coded message about where to find the gold." He boops Kie's nose and sits down beside her.

"Where?" She asked excitedly.

"Harvest the wheat in parcel nine near the water, except... there's no wheat. You see, wheat is code for gold. Check this out." He flashes Pope's flashlight at the letter showing off the wheat symbol at the bottom of the page. "The gold is in parcel nine, near the water."

"Holy shit." Pope exclaimed.

"All we need is an original survey map of the property, and we've found the gold!"

"Okay this might actually have a chance of being true."

JJ stood up and scooped up John B in an embrace. "Hey... Woah. Fire! You're near the fire. You're gonna burn." John B wrapped his arms around JJ.

"I'm so proud of you right now." JJ pulled away and smiled at him.

"Thank you. That's really sweet of you." John B cupped JJ's face in his hands for a second.

"Okay, so, guys. What's the plan? Cause I don't know if you've noticed but we don't exactly know much about gold. Your dad said something about magical properties which I wouldn't have bought if I hadn't gotten the ring made for JJ. Like, what are we gonna do with it all? It could literally change the world."