Infinitely Yours

Midsummers (Pt.4)

Whatever we get, she's going to try to take.

......

The Pogues all settle around a campfire that John B and JJ made at one of their usual spots. Since they come here often, there are logs around the fire to sit on and that's exactly what they do. Pope sits on one and Kiara sits on the one next to his and JJ and Juniper sit together on the third one while John B stands in front of them all on the other side of the fire.

"Hey, guys. So, like, my dad's already going to kill me. So what's this mandatory meeting about?" Pope asks.

"Might as well tell him, man, before we're gaffed." JJ says making Juniper send him a questioning look.

"You guys ready for this?" John B asks with a big smile. 

"Yeah." Kie answers.

"So, the gold never went down with the Royal Merchant." 

"Oh, my god. Here we go again with this." Pope says while shaking his head. Juniper scoffs and rests her head in her hands. 

"I'm sorry, my parents are probably at home planning my murder and you are keeping Kiara and I here for this?" Juniper asks in both annoyance and frustration.

"No. Alright, wait. Hear him out, alright?" JJ says while rubbing her back. She shakes his hand away.

"Don't touch me." She snaps and stands to sit next to Kiara. The rest of the Pogues send JJ 'what did you do' looks. He shakes his head and shrugs dramatically, in return.

"Continue." Juniper says after settling next to her twin.

"Uh, anyway." John B says awkwardly before getting excited again. "It's been here the whole time. It's on the island."

"Are you serious? Oh my god." Kiara says.

"I'd like to voice my skepticism." Pope says while holding up a finger.

"Yeah, I'm not sure." Juniper says, agreeing with Pope.

"I'm sure you would, guys, but can I please present you with my evidence, sir and ma'am."

"Proceed." Pope says.

"You're just going to keep talking regardless of what I say, so go ahead." Juniper answers.

"You are not wrong. All right, so in my backpack, I have a letter from Denmark Tanny." 

"Who the hell is that?" Kiara asks.

"Denmark Tanny was a slave that survived the Royal Merchant wreck. Check this out." John B explains while getting the letter out to show his friends.

"Wait, hold on. I thought there weren't any survivors." Juniper says as the Pogues pass the letter around.

"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."

"But, how did he even get the gold in the first place? You said he used the gold from the ship but how would he do that if his owner was most likely on board?" Juniper asks, still not believing him. 

"Uh- I couldn't tell ya." John B says.

"Great." Juniper mutters.

"Anyway, so Tanny used the gold from the merchant to buy his freedom, right? So after that, he bought his farm. Drumroll, please, because that farm is..."