On Top//Topper Thornton

thirteen

We sit in the clearing in Rixon's. The guys get a fire going.

"Hey, guys. So, like, my dad's already gonna kill me. So what's this mandatory meeting about?" Pope asks.

John B points finger guns at JJ.

"Might as well tell him, man, before we're gaffed," JJ state.s

"You ready for this?" John B asks.

"Yeah," Kie answers.

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

"Oh, my God. Here we go again with this," Pope remarks.

"No. All right, wait. Hear him out, all right?" JJ tells Pope.

"It's been here the whole time. It's on the island," John B informs them.

"Are you serious?" I ask.

Kie laughs. "Oh, my God."

"I'd like to voice my skepticism," Pope says.

"I'm sure you would, Pope, but can I please present you with my evidence, sir?" John B asks.

Pope gestures with his hand. "Proceed."

John B stands up. "All right. So, in my backpack, I have a letter from Denmark Tanny." He pulls a letter out.

"Who the hell's that?" Kiara asks.

"Denmark Tanny was a slave that survived the Royal Merchant wreck. Check this out, John B says.

"What?" Kie asks.

John B hands her the letter. "Here you go. 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." Kie hands the letter to Pope. "After that, he bought his farm. Drumroll, please, because that farm is..." We all slap our knees. "Tannyhill Plantation."

I look at him surprised. "Tannyhill?"

"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," John B explains.

"Where?" Kia asks.

"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 holds up a picture of british gold next to the letter. "The gold is in parcel nine, near the water."

"Holy shit," Pope says.

"All we need is an original survey map of the property, and we've found the gold," John B states.

"Okay, so this might have a small chance of being actually true," Pope admits.

"Dude, it's like King Tut," Kie states.

"I am a genius," John B states. JJ picks him up. "Hey, whoa! Hello! Fire! You're near the fire. You're gonna burn."

JJ puts him back down. "I'm so proud of you right now."

"Thank you." John B cups JJ faces. "That's really sweet of you."

"Okay, so, guys. What's the plan?" Pope asks.

John B points at him. "Good question. So, Sarah Cameron's coming tonight. She'll bring an original survey map..."

Kie cuts him off, "Wait. Wait. Hold on. Sarah? Wh-why Sarah?"