sunkissed ✯ jj maybank

vii. redfield

"crack rock , how you feeling girl ?"

"beautiful , beautiful , beautiful , beautiful boy."

--

"we're here for the lighthouse ?" i call , wondering if i'll even get an answer. most people don't seem to trust the pogues - something i've learnt since moving here. there certainly is a social hierarchy present in the outer banks.

"the lighthouse is closed." a stern male voice responds , with a note of finality in his tone.

john b sighs , hoping the man will be easy to convince.. "actually , we- we aren't here for the lighthouse." he clears his throat. "we're here about the , uh - the royal merchant."

a scruffy , rotund man pokes his head around the door. he beckons us up the stairs. "i know more .." he gestures towards a rickety stair. "watch your step here." i carefully avoid the step. ".. about the royal merchant than anyone else in kildare county."

we jog up the steps until we reach a room in the lighthouse. john b begins with his questioning. "now , the merchant disappeared in the graveyard of the atlantic in about 1829." he pauses , taking a deep breath. "with four hundred million."

the man nods , confirming it. "correct." he chuckles to himself. "you're a bit of a merchanteer yourself , huh ?"

i give kie a glance , because who the fuck says merchanteer ? he's not an arianator , for god's sake. john b gives the man a skeptical look , raising his eyebrows. "uh , yeah. somethin' like that."

"well , follow me." he leads us up more steps. "i wanna show you somethin'." he stands in front of a window , and points out at the horizon. 

"i've been working thirty years up here , and the view has never changed - until two days ago. the point's almost gone. one more storm like that , it'll take the lighthouse. i'll go with her. now , the trick to knowin' where the merchant is - is knowin' whether she was on the north end or the south end of the eye of the storm. now , most experts believe that she was on the south end. now , she's on the south end , the bands from the hurricane would have pushed her back out to sea. but i don't believe that. uh-uh. i think she was on the north end of the eye. which means the bands would have pushed her-"

"closer to shore." john b murmurs in apparent realisation.

"that's right." the man nods.

to be honest , i could not have less of a clue on what they're talking about. i'm just a girl from philly - i didn't grow up around talk like this. but that's not to say i don't care. i know how important this is to john b - all the pogues , really. and i'm a pogue now , so i care more than anyone knows.

"now , by my calculations , the royal merchant .. should be about ten miles thataway." the man says , pointing out the window. right here is where the point used to be. my calculations say the merchant is right about there , down about one thousand feet. "

"that's what my dad used to say." john b mutters breathlessly. he hesitates for a moment , before lifting up the compass. "yeah , i- i know this is weird , all right ? do you know anything about this ?"

"he slides open the back of the compass." look , it - it says redfield in the back , in my dad's handwriting." he sighs. "yeah, i don't know why i'm here , but i feel like i'm supposed to be here. do - do you have anything to give to me , or to.."

the man shakes his head , and backs away from john b. "where are you going ? wait a minute. look.. look , man , i know this is weird. i just thought , hoped , even , maybe you would know something about this , all right ?"

"sir , you won't believe what he's been through in the past twenty-four hours." kie defends john b.

"i mean , he's been threatened , shot at , home invaded. it's been hell." i add on to kie's support.