young blood | outer banks | JJ

fifty | not worth

POPE WAS THE FIRST one to run forward to see for themselves what was in the casket. They all felt determined to find the cross, but for Pope it meant something more. This was his family's legacy. If anyone deserved to get the cross, it was him.

He dropped to his knees next to the casket that was filled with the remains of a corpse.

"Cecilia Tanny, Denmark's wife," he said. He walked closer to the Angel Oak as he began putting it together. "He wasn't talking about the cross. He buried her at the foot of the angel."

"The true treasure," Kiara said.

"His wife," John B said. Carson laid a soft hand on Pope's shoulder as he began crying over the corpse. They all kneeled down around the casket, taking in the significance of what Denmark had done and also what Limbrey had done to it.

"Denmark was hung for burying his wife, and now they defiled her grave," Pope said. He reached down and picked up a pendant that had Cecilia's name engraved in it while Sarah did the same with a ring.

"This must have been from Denmark," she said with a sad smile. "Her wedding ring." John B and Sarah held each other's gaze for a moment, clearly thinking about their own relationship.

"Why is it that tragedy can still be so beautiful?" Carson said. Pope stared at her for a moment as he took in her words before determining something.

"We can't leave her like this," he said.

"We won't," John B said. Him and JJ lifted the covering over the casket as they began to put it back just the way that they found it. The history of Cecilia and Denmark was not worth destroying over some cross. Either way, it was obvious that the cross was not even there, but that didn't mean it wasn't somewhere else.

"I just don't get it," Pope said. "I mean, you guys saw 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 mother's grave, but the message never gets to him. Denmark wanted him to find the cross. I know we're in the right spot. It just feels like-"

"Like we missed something?" JJ said as his eye caught sight of something. He climbed up on top of the van with Kiara closely behind him as he pointed to a hole in the tree. "That looks like-"

"The painting in the island room," Kiara realized.

"It's worth a shot, right?" JJ said. He looked at Kiara. "Go for it."

"Sorry, I went in the storm drain, so," she said.

"It's true. We went in the storm drain," Carson said. "Don't worry, I don't think you'll catch any worms in there." He shot her a look to tell her to shut up before he looked back at the tree.

"Yeah, no, I'm gonna do it. It's just-" he said.

"He's scared," Kiara whispered, making Carson laugh.

"I'm not scared, dude," he denied. He finally stuck his hand into the hole and they all watched in anticipation. "There's something in here." All of a sudden, he began screaming and thrashing around.

"JJ!" Carson screamed as she immediately jumped onto the ladder to climb up on top of the van to get to him. She went to grab him to pull him out but before she could he burst into laughter. She let out a breath and rolled her eyes as she released his arm in annoyance. "Fuck you, dude."

"Oh, you asshole," Pope said.

"Oh, man," JJ said with an amused laugh. "I got all of you on that one."

"Oh, yeah, real original," Pope said.

"Wait, but seriously, there's something in here," he said. He pulled out a gold canister-looking item that he handed to Pope to look at.

"HMS Royal Merchant," Pope exclaimed.

"Give it to the captain," JJ said as he ripped it out of his hands. He opened it and held it up to his eye to look through. "It's a spyglass." John B grabbed it and found what the purpose of it really was for.

"An inscription right there," he said. "Look at that shit."

"What does it say?" Carson asked.

"'You've come this far. Do not falter. The cross is on the Freedman's altar,'" Pope read. "Freedman's altar. The cross is at the church!" They all jumped back into the van in excitement that they were back on the right track while Limbrey and her men were back at square one. Of course though because they had been there for so long, the tide had unfortunately become worse.

"Oh, this doesn't look good," John B said when they reached the road that was now filled to the brim with water.

"How deep is that?" Kiara asked.

"I don't know. The road's gone," he said.

"The tide rose faster than I thought it would," JJ said. They began debating on how deep the water was and whether or not they could make it before John B made the executive decision that they could.

"Ladies and gentlemen, fasten your seat belts, hold onto something. We're going into hyperdrive," he said. Carson put her hand against the back of JJ's seat as she prepared herself for whatever was going to happen next, which she was sure was not going to be good. John B floored the gas pedal and the van launched forward into the water. They almost made it too before the van took a turn as it skidded deeper into the swampy water.

"I think we miscalculated," Pope said.

"No shit," Carson said. They all piled out of the van into the water that was up to their knees. "So, what now?"

"Maybe we can walk from here," Pope suggested.

"What, and leave the Twinkie?" John B said. "The tide's coming in."

"So then what are we supposed to do?" Sarah asked.

"Not stay here," JJ said.

"I can take my dad's truck," Kiara said.

"Kie, are you sure?" John B said. Kiara was already in so much trouble with her parents that anything more, they weren't sure what they would do. It seemed that Kiara realized this but also thought about the other fact of the matter.

"How much worse can it get, you know?" she said.

"We gonna need something to pull her out with. There's a winch at the Chateau," JJ said. "That's, like, two miles. Alright, Car, you in?"

"Well, I can't stand to watch the Twinkie drown, so yeah, I'm in," she said.