In which Melody Boudreaux falls in love with JJ Maybank.
All while going on a dangerous treasure hunt to find missing gold.
RANKINGS
09/29/2021- #19 in #jjmaybank
09/24/2023- #2 in #jj
10/02/2023- #9 in #obx
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The group sat around a growing bonfire, JJ adding more wood to the flames. Kie and Melody still sat in their dresses, all dolled up. Which was kind of a funny sight to see considering they were practically in the woods sitting on logs. Sounds of cicadas chirping filled the air. Melody sat beside JJ, keeping her head as far away from the heat of the flames as she could. She was caked in makeup and not able to remove it and she was afraid of sweating and turning into a raccoon.
"Hey, guys. So, like, my dad's already gonna kill me. So what's this mandatory meeting about?" Pope asked, plopping down on a log.
Melody let out a low whistle, already knowing Kie probably wasn't going to take it well.
"Might as well tell him, man, before we're gaffed." JJ said.
"You ready for this?" John B asked them, looking from Melody to Kie.
"Yeah."
"So, the gold never went down with the Royal Merchant." John B started.
"Oh, my God." Pope said, exasperated. "Here we go again with this."
"No. All right, wait. Hear him out, all right?" JJ stated.
"It's been here the whole time." John B stated, calmly. "It's on the island."
Melody lifted her eyebrow, "And how did you come to this conclusion, JB?" She asked him.
"Are you serious?" Kie asked. "Oh, my God."
"I'd like to voice my skepticism."
"I'm sure you would, Pope, but can I please present you with my evidence, sir?" John B stood up, walking to his backpack.
"Proceed."
"All right. So, in my backpack, I have a letter from Denmark Tanny." John B pulled a folded piece of paper from his bag.
"Who the hell's that?" Kie interrupted.
"Denmark Tanny was a slave that survived the Royal Merchant wreck. Check this out."
"What?"
"Here you go." John B handed the paper to Kie. "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..." JJ slapped his knees really fast. "Tannyhill Plantation."
"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."
