𝐇𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬: 𝐀𝐬𝐩𝐲𝐧 𝐂𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐨𝐧 ~ 𝐎𝐮𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐁𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐬

𝐌𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝

"I just don't get it!" Pope sighed. "I mean, you guys saw the map!"

We all were just sitting by the tree, thinking of places Denmark could've left the cross. Unfortunately, we had hit a wall. We couldn't think of anywhere else it could be.

"He hides his gold so no one finds it for a hundred and seventy 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," Pope continued. "Denmark wanted him to find the cross. I know we're in the right spot. It just feels like-"

"Like we missed something?" JJ asked, looking up at something.

Following his gaze, I noticed a hole in the side of the tree.

JJ, Kie, and I pushed ourselves on the roof of the Twinkie to get a better look.

"That looks like that painting in the Island Room," I mumbled, remembering the picture we had seen.

My sister, Pope, and John B looked up at us, hoping we had found something.

"I mean, it's worth a shot, right?" JJ asked.

John B nodded. "Let's do it,"

"Alright, go for it," JJ told Kie.

She looked at him as if he was insane. "No chance,"

"You do it," Sarah told JJ.

Kie shrugged. "I went in the storm drain so..."

"She did go in the storm drain," Pope brought up.

That was one of the many things we had missed while we were in Nassau.

"Yeah, no, I'm gonna do it..." JJ hesitated. "It's just..."

"He's scared," Kie whispered.

"I'm not scared, dude!"

"You seem scared,"

"I'll just do it," I decided, stepping in front of them both.

"Cool with me," JJ shrugged, moving back.

I slid my arm into the hole, feeling around the area. "There's something in here..."

It felt like a long cylinder piece of metal.

I slid my arm in a bit further then jerked it inside, beginning to scream.

"Shit! What the fuck?!" I yelled as if something had just grabbed my arm.

The air filled with the panicked screams of my friends.

I slowly allowed my screaming to morph into laughter.

The tension in my friend's bodies released, all of them letting out sighs of relief.

"Oh, you asshole," Pope sighed, putting a hand over his heart.

"Damn, I got all of you on that one," I laughed. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry,"

Pope glared at me. "Oh, yeah, real original,"

"Funny," Kie said sarcastically.

"Nah, it actually was," JJ chuckled, high-fiving me.

Of course, he would think that. Even after I just scared the living shit out of all of them.

"Wait, but seriously, there's something in here," I told them, reaching my arm back in and pulling out the metal cylinder that I had felt before.

It looked to be some form of canister. "The fuck is this?"

"Let me see it," Pope said.

I reached down and handed it over to him.

He dusted it off, reading the words that were inscribed on it. "HMS Royal Merchant!"