✯ North Star ✯

Part 10

I sat in the passenger seat as John b drove looking at the amulet they had cleaned up while we were at the hospital.
"Wow John b, pretty opulent engagement gift." I tell him joking
"Do you like it?" He asks
"Well it's no bandana. It's shiny though. Not much of a shiny person, more of like woody vantage type you know" I tell him
"Surprisingly I expect nothing less from you Stella Cameron" John b laughs
"Stella Routledge. I am married you know, but... oh no. Nothing to show for it" I laugh holding up my hand
"Ok ok" John b laughs
"What's wrong with this picture? Guess we'll never know" I laugh

"How about when we get the 50K for this little doohickey, then we uh we get you a ring?" John b says
"JB you know I'm joking. Im fine, as long as I know I'm married then I don't care" I smile
"No. We're gonna get a real one. What do you think?" He asks me seriously
"Ok deal" I smile
John b fake spits on his hand and hold it out for me to shake, I lick my hand then shake his.
"Ah the old spit shake" he laughs as we pull up to the building

"All right. Let's do this" John b says as we get out
"Let's go translate some Arabic" I say jumping out
We start to walk up as a man was sweeping the front porch.
"Prayers not for another hour" he tells us
"Sorry?" I ask
"If you're here to make an offer on the place, just turn right around cause I'm not selling." He says
"Oh no actually we came to ask for your help with something." I tell him
"Yeah uh you used to know my father back in the day. Big John Routledge" John b tells him
"Oh. Sorry to hear what happened to your father." He says
"Thank you" John b mumbles
Then he turns around and walks towards the building
"Come on" he tells us turning back around
As we walk in I take out a piece of cloth to cover my hair.

We all sat down and I gave him the amulet.
"Oh yes, Kufic. Nobody's used this for hundreds of years." He says looking at it
"Is that something you can read?" John b asks
"From the half moon to the North Star, where the living and the dead collide. The gatekeeper will guide the way." The man reads and I write it down
"It kinda sounds like directions" John b mumbles

"Wait there's more on the back. From Edward to Elizabeth. Edward and Elizabeth. Where'd you get this?" He asks us
"That is a family heirloom" John b tells him
"What family?" He asks
"Edward Teach? Blackbeard... and his wife Elizabeth?" He asks
"I'm actually a direct descendant of Edward Teach" John b tells him
"This is cursed" he says putting it down
"What?" John b asks
"I can't help you" he says
"Well um-" I start to mumble
"Get out. Go now. I said, get out." he says not letting us speak
"Sorry" I mumble as we take the amulet and go

We got back to the house and I sat and read a book for a while.
"Elizabeth Teach was enslaved by Barbary pirates in a coastal city in what is now Morocco. And later freed from her captors by a young Edward Teach, who became known as Blackbeard."  I read

Finally everyone else came back and we all sat still trying to found out what it meant.
"Where the living and the dead collide, the gatekeeper will guide the way." John b repeats
"Sounds like a Bible verse" kie says
"Like some fable" cleo says
"To me, it still sounds like directions" John b tells us
"Yeah but to what?" Cleo asks
"Well I mean, Genrette was obsessed with Blackbeard so maybe directions to his treasure?" John b shrugs

"And how much would that be in American?" JJ asks
"Uh in almost every major currency. I think it's considered priceless. Unlimited US dollars" john b tells him
"Tempting" JJ shrugs
"So what is this treasure? Gold?" Cleo asks
"No, wait a minute. I remember on the pier, the diver was talking to some lady about something. It wasn't gold it was like.. like a... a crown. A blue crown." Pope tells us
"A blue crown?" JJ repeats
"A blue crown pope?" Kie asks
"I don't know I'm just relaying information I heard." He defends himself and it starts to hit me

I look over at John b who seems to realize as well.
"Ok wait a minute" John b mumbles
"There's a book" I mumble as I remember reading about it
I quickly stand up and go look for it, same as John b.

"I mean honestly what even is a blue crown?" Kie asks
"Apparently it is the most sought out artifact in the ancient world." I speak up reading the book
"What?" Kie asks
And I just turn around the book showing them.
"I don't believe we are capping on this one pope" John b says
"Look at this" pope says
"I'm interested" JJ mumbles
I give John b the book and he sits down and opens it.

"Right here." He says
"What is that?" Cleo asks
"Legends abound of the Crown fabled origins. So it's a real crown." Pope says
"Ok page... right here look" John b says flipping through the pages
"That's what Genrette wanted" JJ says
"A literal blue crown. It's a blue crown." Pope says
"Listen. The Blue Crown was created for Darius the Great of Persia over 3,000 years ago." John b reads
"Looks more than 50K, I'll say that" JJ says

"It says to possess the blessing of the gods themselves, granting you the wearer immense favor and rare invincibility. Holy shit look at this. It says Xerxas, the son of Darius the Great, he was a badass. He's wearing it. Uh Alexander the Great beat the shit out of everybody. He's wearing it. Julius Caesar also a badass. Murdered a bunch of people." John b says
"So your dad told you all this?" Pope asks
"No no I don't remember any of this. I just know that it granted wishes." John b says
"Grant wishes?" Kie asks
"What like a genie?" Pope asks
"How many wishes?" Kie asks again
"Hold on it says right here. The crown was lost sometime 1700's but it was rumored to be hunted down by...." John b says then stops
"Who?" I ask
"Who?" Kie asks
"Who, John b?" JJ asks

"Blackbeard" he tells us
"What?" I ask
"Come again?" JJ asks
"That's crazy. There's no way" kie says
"It's there right look. Hunted by Blackbeard." pope says
"Come on we're doing this. I know we're doing it, all right?" JJ says
"I mean what other choice do we have?" Kie asks laughing
"Priceless or 50K?" JJ says
"Are we really doing this?" Cleo asks
"Priceless!" JJ cheers

I look over at John b who just sat there like me. I knew what we were both thinking. And hopefully both of us are wrong.