Everything «JJ Maybank»

Eighteen

"Hey guys so like, my dad's already gonna kill me. So what's this mandatory meeting about?" Pope asked as the pogues sat around a small fire.

"Might as well tell him man, before we're gaffed." JJ said towards John B while rubbing Avery's thigh.

"You ready for this?" John B looked at all of them.

"Yeah." Kie nodded.

Avery glanced over at Bailey who was sorting through a pile of seashells she collected when her and John B were waiting on the beach. There was a small flashlight in her hand that she was using to shine on the pile. Avery smiled when Bailey gasped adorably at the sight of a rather large shell that had white around it.

She was sitting a few feet away from them in her own little world with JJ's sweatshirt wrapped around her to keep her warm. The sight of it just made Avery's heart swell.

"Hey, she's okay." JJ rested his chin on her shoulder since she was sitting on his lap.

"I know." Avery gave him a small smile and kissed the side of his head.

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

"Here we go again with this." Pope said in annoyance.

"Wait, hear him out, all right?" JJ looked over at him.

"It's been here the whole time." John B told him. "It's on the island."

"Are you serious?" Kie asked. "Oh my god." she laughed a little.

"I'd like to voice my skepticism."

"And I'd like to interrupt before you break into song." Avery held up a finger to Pope making JJ laugh.

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

"Proceed."

"All right. So, in my backpack, I have a letter from Denmark Tanny."

"Who the hell is that?" Avery asked.

"Denmark Tanny was a slave that survived the Royal Merchant wreck. Check this out." John B handed the letter to Kie, Avery leaned over to look at it as well. "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. After that, he bought his farm. Drumroll please, because that farm is... Tannyhill Plantation."

"Tannyhill?" Kie raised her brows.

"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." they all looked at John B in interest. "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.

"Where?"

"Harvest the wheat, in parcel nine, near the water. Except there's not wheat. You see, wheat is code for gold. Check this out." John B walked over to Pope to shine his light on the letter. "The old is in parcel nine, near the water."

"Holy shit." Pope voiced.

"No, no word!" Bailey called over to them without looking away from her shells and rocks.

"Sorry lil bean." Pope glanced at her while Avery and JJ smiled.

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