Chaos and Discomfort

Chapter Eighteen

"Guys, we're coming up on freedman's church. The church Denmark built for all the slaves he freed." Pope says as we drive past it 
"How's your arm feel?" JJ asks me
"Fine." I say leaning my head on his shoulder
"There it is, angel oak." Kie says
"Oh, shit! Tides coming in." John b says
"Umm..." John b says
"Hey, wait a second. Look. They already came through here. Those have to be Limbreys tire tracks. Guys we gotta go." Pope says
"Mmm, what do you think, chief?" JJ asks John b
"I'm thinking it's looking a little dicey." John b says
"Yeah, I'm gonna have to agree with that statement." JJ says
"Okay, well clearly they made it, no?" I say
"In a two wheel drive? I don't know about that." JJ says
"Why are yall acting like you're not gonna do it anyways? Like when have yall ever done the safe thing?" Sarah asks
"She's got a point." I say
"Yup, she's right." John b says
"Speed is your friend here, okay? So put her down in second and hammer down, brother. " JJ says
"Stick to the high ground in the middle John b." Pope says
"Alright ready?" He asks
"Yup, here we go." JJ says
The tires slide back a little and we slowly scrape across the mud.
"Come on bro. Punch it. Speed is your friend." JJ says
"Your not going fast enough." Pope says
"It's gonna slide." Kie says
"Oh god he's gonna kill us." I say grabbing onto Kie
"We're fine." She laughs
"Come on John b hit it! Your fishtailing already." Jj says
"I know."
"Not to put any more pressure on you, but if you don't make it through we're gonna be stuck here forever." Pope says
"Pope shut up." I say
"Wooo!" JJ cheers when we finally make it through the mud
"I told you we would make it." John b says stopping the van
"All right, right here. That's good. Angel oak is right through here." JJ says opening the van
"All right, so word to the wise, definitely know that gators nest back here, so keep your eyes peeled, okay?" He says
"They have nests?" I ask Kie
"Girl I don't know." She says
"Seems like a good place to park." Sarah complains
"All right. You don't want to be a part womack. She had her calf chewed off by a gator, right? You've heard that right?" He asks Kie
"That's actually not true." Kie says
"Pat Womack was in a car accident J." I say
"Okay just live in ignorance. But like she had half her calf chewed off by a mama gator. I know that for a fact. They like the brackish water. Wait hold on I see something." He says picking up a stick
"What are you doing?" Kie asks, he then starts splashing the water
"Right, wake them up. That's smart." Sarah says
"I was just making sure it wasn't a gator. That's all, all right?" JJ says
"Gosh you are just so smart aren't you?" I say sarcastically
"I like to think so, yeah." He smiles
"Keep walking." I say
"Hey, shh." Pope tells us
"So we can just dig half the earth up and it's not illegal now?" I ask and Jj nudges my arm, we all listen to Carla and Rafe talking, watching them dig. We watch as the men pull up a casket from the ground.
"They got the cross? What do we do? What do we do?" JJ asks
"What can we do?" John b says
We sit and watch as they pack up their equipment and drive back to the island room as they said. Pope walks out to look at what they had done.
"Pope. Pope, wait. Wait! Shit." JJ says following him out, we all do the same
"Cecilia tanny, denmarks wife. He wasn't talking about the cross. He buried her at the foot of the angel." Pope says
"The true treasure." Kie says
"His wife." John b says
"Denmark was hung for burning his wife, and now they defiled her grave." Pope sniffles
"This must've been from Denmark, her wedding ring." Sarah says looking to John b
"We can't leave her like this." Pope says
"We won't." we all agree
John b and jj nail the lid back onto the casket, Kie and I went to grab flowers to put on. We could only find dandelions but we will make do. The boys put her back into the ground a jj covers her back up with dirt. He props the shovel against the tree and walks over to me, wrapping his arms around my shoulder hugging me from behind.
"I just don't get it. I mean, you guys see the map. He hides his gold so no one finds it for 170 years. And then he sends a message to his son Robert to come here to his mothers grave. But the message never gets to him. And Denmark wanted him to find the cross. I know we're in the right spot. It just feels like-"
"Like we missed something?" JJ asks letting go of me
"Guys, come here." JJ says climbing on top of the Twinkie
"There he goes." John b mumbles
"Oh god." I say, Kie climbs up with him
"That looks like-"
"The painting in the island room." Kie says
"It's worth a shot right?" JJ says
"Yeah." We all agree
"Go for it." He tells her
"No chance, you do it." Kie says and he looks to down to me
"Sorry. We... we almost drowned in the storm drain so..." I say
"That is true." Pope says
"Yeah, no. I'm gonna do it. It's just..."
"He's scared." Kie whispers
"I'm not scared, dude." He says
"You seem a little scared." I say
"There's something in here. Wait-" JJ says before letting out a blood curdling scream scaring all of us.
"Holy shit!" I yell and he bursts into laughter
"Oh, you asshole." Pope says
"Oh, man. I got all of you on that one." He laughs
"That's, that wasn't funny." I say
"Oh yeah, real original." Pope says
"Okay but for real there's something in here." He says reaching back in and pulling out a capsule
"Let me see it." Pope says and he tosses it down
"Hms royal merchant." Pope says
"Hey give it to the captain." JJ says taking it from him
"It's a spyglass." He says holding it backwards
"Other way..." I say flipping it for him
"There's something on the ends." Kie says
"An inscription right there. Look at that shit." Pope says
"You've come this far, to don't falter. The cross is on the Freedman's alter." Pope reads
"It's at the church!" I say
"Come on." Pope yells
"We got it!" JJ says
We all get back in and try to head back.
"Ah crap! The tide!" Pope says
"This doesn't look good." John b says
"How deep is that?" Kie asks
"I dunno. The roads gone." John b says stopping the van.
"Tide rose a little faster than I thought it would." JJ says
"Just a little bit." John b says
"Uh, John b how high are your spark plugs?" JJ asks
"They're good, we're fine." John b says
"No how high are they." Pope and JJ both says
"Oh ok, uhm just above the taillights." He looks
"Okay so that's what, 3 feet?" Pope asks
"That's three feet yeah." JJ says
"It can't be 3 feet deep." I say
"Then what's the problem?" John b asks
"Not a problem. No, we're good. We're good. She'll make it." JJ says
"Yeah, ladies and gentlemen Fasten your seat belts. Hold on to something. We're going into hyper drive." John b says, me and Kie grab onto the seat and eachother
"I'll say a quick prayer." JJ says
"Three, two, one." John b says and slamming the gas
"Okay." Jj says scared
"Oh my go, oh my god!" I say closing my eyes
"No you got this! You got this!" JJ yells
"John b faster!" I yell
"Whoa whoah!" John b yells
"Speed is your friend. Speed is your friend, John b." JJ says
"You got it! You got it!" Pope yells
"Oh my god!" Sarah screams
"Jesus Christ!" I yell squeezing kids hand as I feel us swerve into the mud
"Shit." JJ says
"No, no, no ,no,no,no,no" John b mumbles
"I think we miscalculated." Pope says
"Little bit?" I say sarcastically
"I knew I should've driven." JJ says
"Get me out of this thing." I say trying to slam the door open
"Okay your gonna break it Iz." JJ says
"It's already broken." I say swinging it open, Kie, Sarah, and pope all file out behind me
"Okay, maybe we can walk from here." Pope says
"And what? Leave the Twinkie? The tides coming in." John b argues
"So then what are we supposed to do?" Sarah asks
"Not stay here." JJ says
"I can take my dads truck." Kie says
"Kie are you sure?" I ask
"How much worse can it get, you know?" She sighs
"We need something to pull her out with." John b says
"There's a winch at the chateau. That's like 2 miles." JJ says
"Yeah, that's a good idea." Sarah says
"Okay, if your gonna do it. Do it now. Tides coming in, twinkies going underwater." John b says
"I'll be back." Jj comes over and kisses my forehead
"Be careful." I say hugging him
"You too, don't get eaten by a gator." He laughs
"Your funny." I say
"Double time, Kie. We gotta move." JJ says walking away
Me and pope sit in the back of the Twinkie while Sarah and john b talk outside.
"So how's everything?" Pope asks
"Fine." I say short
"How do you feel?" He asks
"Good, I don't even think about it much until someone brings it up."
"Right, sorry." He says
"No it's okay." I say
"How's Kie?" I ask
"I don't know." He says
"Oh, right. Sorry." I say
"No, it's cool." He says