Fool's Gold ᨒ MAYBANK ¹

017

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
( bonfire fight repeaters  )

      AFTER leaving the school with the new information that Mr. Sunn gave them on Denmark Tanny, plus him letting Pope copy some pages from the diary itself, they all clamber inside of the Twinkie and head back to chateau. Kie is there awaiting them as they arrive, and the group of five sit on John B's porch and Pope begins to share the knowledge that they learned today.

"Guys, this is from Denmark's Diary." Pope begins to say, "'August 15th, set sail from Port-au-Prince on calm seas. Came upon the Spanish ship San Jose on fire. The entire deck was aflame. And we could hear the screams of men trapped below. The Spanish captain cared about only one thing, his valuable cargo, and cross of Santo Domingo and countless bars of gold. Once the cargo was on board, we went to help the crew, but Captain Limbrey ordered us to pull bayonets and not to let any of the Spanish crew on board. He robbed them and left them to die."

"So it didn't go down off Bermuda." JJ stated, laying down on the couch with his head in Thea's lap as he opened and closed his zippo.

"And it was a Limbrey stealing shit again." Kie expressed, a look of annoyance crossing her honey brown features.

"So now we know that the Limbrey chick comes from a long line of assholes." Thea shakes her head, a scoff leaving her lips. "Somehow, I'm not surprised."

"The diary proves that both the gold and the cross of Santo Domingo were on the Royal Merchant." Pope disclosed.

"Why didn't we find it in the well then?" JJ asked as he turned around to face the others, "I mean, if Denmark was able to get this, like, bedazzled cross off the Merchant to shore, why didn't he just hide it with the gold?"

John B held up his finger, "Because it was too big."

Pope nodded, "You're right. He had to hide it someplace else."

"But where?" Kie asked, glancing down at the copy of diary entries she had in her hands.

"Right before he was hung, Denmark said he buried the treasure at the foot of the angel." Pope answered her.

"Wait." JJ uttered, features etched in confusion. "I thought this was about the key."

"Right." Kie nods, looking equally as confused. "So what's the connection?"

"'The path to the tomb begins in the island room.'" Pope recited, recalling the words that the key had inscribed on it.

Thea groans, "And that would be helpful if we knew what the fuck the island room was."

JJ rolls over and goes to get up from the couch, "You know what helps me figure shit out?"

John B sighs, "Oh boy. Here we go."