❝𝐀𝐃𝐌𝐈𝐑𝐀𝐁𝐋𝐄, 𝐣. 𝐦𝐚𝐲𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐤❞

019

019
DENMARK TANNY

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▌𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐅𝐈𝐕𝐄 𝐓𝐄𝐄𝐍𝐀𝐆𝐄𝐑𝐒 𝐖𝐄𝐑𝐄 𝐒𝐀𝐓 𝐀𝐑𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐃 𝐀 𝐂𝐀𝐌𝐏𝐅𝐈𝐑𝐄. 𝐉𝐎𝐇𝐍 𝐁 𝐈𝐍𝐒𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐘 𝐇𝐀𝐃 𝐀 𝐌𝐀𝐍𝐀𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐘 𝐌𝐄𝐄𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆.

"Hey, guys. So, like, my dad's already gonna kill me," Pope trailed on. Liv sat next to Kie and JJ. She was just scornful to be in her brother's company again. "So what's this mandatory meeting about?"

John B looked at JJ. The two boys knew something the others didn't.

"Quit eye fucking each other and spit it out," Liv sighed as she was getting frustrated. She knew it was probably something to do with Sarah Cameron.

"Might as well tell them, man, before we're gaffed," JJ agreed as he looked at Pope. 

John B stared at JJ, before finally speaking up. "You ready for this?" The brunette turned to Kie, "Yeah," Kie stated.  Liv nodded her head in agreement. 

"So, the gold never went down with the Royal Merchant," Was all JB said to get a reaction out of Pope. "Oh, my God," Pope mumbled, "Here we go again with this,"

"No. All right, wait. Hear him out, all right?" JJ defended John B.  "It's been here the whole time,"

Olivia's eyes widened. "What?" Her brother smiled as he turned to look at her. "It's on the island,"

Kie turned to look at John B, making sure it was not a joke and that he was 100% serious. "Are you serious?" JB smiled, "Oh, my God,"

"I'd like to voice my skepticism," Pope stated. "Of course," Liv chuckled as she was in denial. They had a chance. John B and Liv could finally finish what their father started.

"I'm sure you would, Pope, but can I please present you with my evidence, sir?" John B replied to the skeptical teenager. "Proceed,"

"All right," John B started again, "So, in my backpack, I have a letter from Denmark Tanny," The boy spoke as he got a from his bag.

"Who the hell's that?" Kie smiled playfully. "Denmark Tanny was a slave that survived the Royal Merchant wreck," John B walked over to Kie, "Check this out,"

"What?" 

"Here you go," John B passed the note to Kie. The girl in the purple dress stared at the letter. Okay, slaves weren't mentioned as crew members on the ship, but my dad, he found the complete manifest," John B turned to his sister.

"That was his big discovery. So Tanny used the gold from the Merchant to buy his freedom. After that, he bought his farm,"

Kie whistled at Liv, passing her the letter. The girl observed the paper. She didn't understand any of it.

"Drumroll, please," The group began slapping their knees. Everyone except for Liv cause she was too busy trying to understand the letter. "Because that farm is... Tannyhill Plantation,"

"Tannyhill?" Kie questioned, her eyes opening wide as John B nodded. 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,"

Liv frowned as just passed the note to Pope. JJ looked back at Liv, to see if she was listening. He knew she didn't understand any of it, but the thought of her caring made him smile.

"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 smiled at Kie.  

"Where?" The intrigued teenage girl asked as she smiled. John B instantly replied with, "Harvest the wheat in parcel nine, near the water," 

The boy dramatically paused. "Except... there's no wheat," Pope looked at Liv with a confused look. It was a mutual feeling between the two. "You see, wheat is code for gold,"

The gold is in parcel nine, near the water," John B spoke, causing Kie to laugh, "Holy shit!"

"All we need is an original survey map of the property, and we've found the gold," John B smiled, causing his sister's face to light up. "No fucking way,"

 "Okay, so this might have a small chance of being actually true," Pope spoke as he held his flashlight out at the letter. JJ instantly stood up and went to hug John B.

"Dude, it's like King Tut," Kie smiled at Liv. The Routledge girl smiled in disbelief. She finally had a chance of finishing what her father started.

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

"I'm so proud of you right now," JJ put his hand on JB's waist, causing Liv to chuckle. "That's cute," She muttered, noticing Pope grin at her.

"Okay, so, guys. What's the plan?" Pope asked, breaking the unserious mood. John B pointed at him and walked closer to him, "Good question. Sarah Cameron's coming tonight. She'll bring an original survey map,"

Liv frowned in denial. She knew that Sarah Cameron helped her brother, but she didn't know what she helped him with. Clearly, it was more than she thought.

Kie frowned "Hold on. Sarah? Wh-why Sarah?".Kie looked towards Liv, only to see her looking down.

All Liv could think about was the things Sarah Cameron had said to her. "So you fucking lied," Liv spat as her brother looked at her. "This is gonna be good," JJ muttered.

"Sarah, um, she got me into the archives in Chapel Hill yesterday, and that's where I got the letter," John B said nervously.

"You were in Chapel Hill with Sarah Cameron?" Kie frowned. Liv couldn't believe the person she trusted most in the world could lie to her about a person she despised the most.

"Yeah, um..."

"He was mackin' on her," JJ interrupted the brunette boy. "I wasn't macking,"

"You were totally macking Sarah Cameron," JJ said again. "I wasn't macking on her, okay? I was using her for access," 

"There was access, all right," JJ muttered under his breath, causing Pope to smile.

"Did you tell her about the treasure?" Liv asked her brother. "I was trying to get into the archives," John B raised his voice

"Is that a yes?" Liv also raised her voice. He knew she was angry.

"I... I left out key details," John B's voice calmed down.

"Yo, what?" Kie interrupted the twin's argument. "You let a Kook in on our secret? What about Pogue Lyfe? What about the T-shirt company, bro?"

"I was just using her for information,"

"Why don't I believe you?"

"I'm trying to make us filthy rich here. Okay, so that we can pay off a boat, r... or, uh... send you to autopsy school to study dead bodies," John B pointed at Pope. Liv rolled her eyes.

"Look, you guys know me. Do I look like the type of person to fall for Sarah Cameron?" John B asked with instant regret.

"Uh..."

Pope looked up, "Do you want us to answer that, or..."

"Look, you don't know her yet. I do! Like Liv does! You can't trust her," Kie sighed as nobody was listening. "Her brother did hit me in the back with a golf club," Pope finally agreed, causing Liv to look over at him.

"Rafe and Sarah are different human beings," John B defended. "They seem the same to me," Liv snapped.

"What did she do to you, exactly?" JJ asked Kie, causing Liv to look down. She hated talking about Sarah Cameron cause all it caused her to do was overthink their argument.

"She's like a... like a spitting cobra. First, she... she blinds you, and then..."

"This is a bad analogy," Pope sighed. "Listen to me! Whatever we get, she's gonna try to take,"

Liv looked up, "Kie's right. Sarah Cameron is not someone you can trust,"

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