"Guys, we're coming up on Freedman's Church. The church Denmark built for all the slaves he freed." Pope told us and I nodded, I took the bracelet out of my pocket and I slipped it onto my hand.
"You took back your bracelet?" Sarah whispered to me and I covered it with my sleeve and I cleared my throat "I just picked it up and was looking at it whenever JJ found me... I instinctively put it in my pocket." I told her and she gave me a look.
"It doesn't mean anything, I took it without thinking." I told her and she nodded.
"There it is, Angel Oak." "Oh, shit! Tide's coming in." John B said as we stopped and i frowned, I looked out the window and saw tire tracks "Hey, wait a second. Look. They already came through here." "Those have to be Limbrey's tire tracks." I told them and Pope nodded "Guys, we gotta go." He said and the boys frowned.
"Mmm, what do you think, chief?" "I'm thinking it's looking a little dicey." JJ said and i frowned "Yeah, I'm gonna have to agree with that statement."
"Okay, clearly, they made it. No?" Kiara questioned and JJ nodded "In a two-wheel drive? I don't know about that." He said and Sarah smirked.
"Why are y'all acting like you're not gonna do it anyways? Like when have y'all ever done the safe thing?" She said and I nodded "She's got a point." John B looked to JJ and sighed "Speed is your friend here, okay? So, put her down in second and hammer down, brother." JJ gave John B some advice and we all held on to our lives Hoping we'd make it out of this.
"Stick to the ground in the middle." "All right, ready? Here we go." John B said and me and Sarah held onto each other as John B punched the gas and we slid across the muddy ground.
"Come on. Punch it. Speed is your friend. You're not going fast enough." JJ shouted to John B and I groaned "Oh god!" "I'm in second."
"It's gonna slide." "You're fishtailing already." "I know."
"Not to put any more pressure on you, but if you don't make it through, we'll be stuck here forever." Pope said popping his head from the back and John B pushed him back.
We finally made it and I sighed in relief "I told you we'd make it." "That's my girl." JJ muttered and Sarah let go of me and we cleared our throats "We definitely didn't expect we'd die... again." I muttered and John B parked the Twinkie.
"All right, right here. That's good. Angel Oak is right through here... All right, so word to the wise, definitely know that gators nest back here, so keep your eyes peeled, okay?" JJ said opening the door for us and i frowned "You don't wanna step on a mama gator. That's the last thing you want." "What?!?" I questioned and Kiara frowned "They have nests?" "Seems like a good place to park." Kiara and Sarah said and JJ sighed.
"All right. You don't wanna be a Pat Womack. She had her calf chewed off by a gator, right? You know that, right?" JJ told us and Kiara scoffed. "That's actually not true. Pat Womack was injured in a car accident, but I hear you." Kiara said and i frowned "Okay, just live in ignorance. But like, she had her calf chewed off by a mama gator. I know that for a fact. They like the brackish water." JJ said grabbing a big stick.
"Wait. Hold on. I see something." JJ said hitting the water "What are you doing?" "Right. Wake them up. That's smart." I told him and he shrugged "I was just making sure it wasn't a gator. That's all, all right?" He said and John B shushed, I heard people shouting and I stood behind Kiara and Sarah as they watched a group of men digging up the ground.
"I don't see shit. You sure this is the right spot?" I heard and I saw Rafe helping out.
"It's there. The garment will be in the cross, and the cross will be at the foot of the tree." I saw Limbrey and her guard dog. "Well, whatever we find, I get my cut." Rafe said and i frowned as I heard wood crunching.
"Hey! Wait! Stop! Stop. Please stop. Did you hear it? Hey, get in there, boys. Do it by hand." Limbrey said and they dug and took out a box from the ground.
"They got the cross? What do we do?" "What do we do?" JJ and Pope questioned and John B shrugged "What can we do?" He said and looked at me and I shrugged them turned back to look at Limbrey.
"It's just a corpse." I heard Rafe say and i frowned "We just got the wrong place. We'll go back to the island room. We're going back! We're going back! It's not over!" Limbrey yelled and they packed up and as they were out of sight Pope started walking out.
"Pope. Pope, wait. Wait! shit." "Wait, wait. Yo." JJ tried to stop him but he was already standing over the box and we all walked over to him to see it was a casket. "Cecilia Tanny, Denmark's wife. He wasn't talking about the cross. He buried her at the foot of the angel." Pope said and I sighed "The true treasure. His wife." I muttered and I heard pope start crying and I held a hand on his shoulder gently.
"Denmark was hung for burying his wife, and now they defiled her grave." He sniffled and I looked to JJ. Sarah picked up something from the casket and I saw it was a ring "This must have been from Denmark... Her wedding ring." Sarah said and looked at John B and smiled.
"We can't leave her like this." "We won't." Kie told Pope and he nodded, John B and JJ closed the lid on the casket while me, Sarah and Kie picked some flowers.
I handed Kiara the rest of my flowers and I wiped some of my tears away, JJ noticed and he gently grabbed my hand. "Hey, come here." JJ muttered and pulled me into a tight hug. "I miss my mom so much... I never got to say goodbye to her." I cried, I felt JJ rub my back softly and it calmed my breathing down. "I gotcha. I'm here." JJ whispered and I looked at John B and he and Sarah looked at each other. "After I was shot in the Bahamas... there was a time I was unconscious." I told them and sighed "I saw my mom." I said and they frowned.
"I know it sounds crazy but I saw her, I guess it was my subconscious but she felt so real." I told them and I looked at Pope "I'm sorry, Pope. I know this is about you and not me." I said and he shook his head.
"No, it's fine... you miss your mom. I kinda miss her too, she was a great friend to my family... to everyone." He said and I nodded and he pulled me into a hug.
We pulled away and he sighed "I just don't get it. I mean, you guys saw the map. He hides his gold so no one finds it for 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. Denmark wanted him to find the cross. I know we're in the right spot. It just feels like--" Pope said and I saw JJ staring at the tree. "Like we missed something?" "You okay there, JJ?" I asked and he nodded.
"Guys." I muttered and they all looked at us "Come here." JJ said and he climbed on top of the Twinkie. "There he goes." John B mumbled and i frowned "Wait a second..." "Whoa. That looks like--" Pope muttered and Kie nodded "The painting in the island room." JJ looked at us and Kie climbed on top and looked at it better.
"It's worth a shot, right?" JJ said and Kie nodded "Yeah." "Let's do it." John B said and they looked at each other. "Go for it." "No chance." I frowned "You do it!" "Sorry. I... I went in the storm drain so..." Kiara said and I nodded "She did go in the storm drain and so did I." I told him and JJ nodded. "Yeah. No, I'm gonna do it. It's just..." he went to put his hand in the hole but pulled it back "He's scared." Kiara chuckled and he frowned "I'm not scared, dude." "You seem scared." I muttered and he rolled his eyes.
JJ stuck his hand in the hole and smiled "There's something in here... Wait." JJ's face changed and he started screaming. "JJ!" I screamed about to climb on top of the Twinkie but he started laughing "What the hell?" "Oh, you asshole." I got off the Twinkie and rolled my eyes. "Oh, man! I got all of you on that one." "Oh, yeah, real original." Pope scoffed and JJ sighed "Wait, but seriously, there's something in here." He said then pulled out something from the tree.
JJ and Kiara got off the Twinkie and we saw and inscription on it "HMS Royal Merchant." John B read and I smiled "Give it to the captain. Here we go. It's a spyglass." JJ said and Kie sighed. "There's something on the ends." "Yeah, an inscription right there." I told Thom pointing at it and John B smirked "Look at that shit." "Oh, what does it say?" We questioned and Pope read it.
"You've come this far. Do not falter. The cross is on the Freedman's altar."
"Freedman's altar. The cross is at the church!" Pope shouted and we all smiled widely "What are we doing here, guys?" "Come on!" "We got it!" We all yelled and JJ chuckled "Woogity-woogity."
We all climbed into the Twinkie and made our way to the church.
YOU ARE READING
Carolina- OUTER BANKS
FanfictionOlivia Bradley, John B's cousin lives the best of both worlds being a Pogue and a Kook. Living on Figure Eight had its advantages, her father was low life who abandoned her and her mom but her new dad treated her mom as a queen and Olivia like his o...
