𝐎𝐃𝐄𝐓𝐓𝐄 ➺ 𝐉𝐉 𝐌𝐀𝐘𝐁𝐀𝐍𝐊

𝟓.𝟑「𝐀 𝐇𝐎𝐓 𝐌𝐄𝐒𝐒」

𝐎𝐝𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞'𝐬 𝐏𝐎𝐕

"Hey, guys. So, like, my dad's already gonna kill me. So what's this mandatory meeting about?" Pope asks and John B shoots finger guns at JJ who is sat next to me.

"Might as well tell him, man, before we're gaffed" JJ says, throwing wood into the fire and then lifting my legs over his lap.

"You ready for this?" John B asks.

"Yeah" Kiara nods.

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

"Oh, my God. Here we go again with this" Pope groans.

"Shh, I wanna hear this story" I state, waving the Heyward boy away.

"Hear him out, all right?" JJ adds.

"It's been here the whole time. It's on the island" John B declares.

"No fucking way" I gasp out.

"Are you serious? Oh, my God" Kiara asks in surprise.

"I'd like to voice my skepticism" Pope says, not believing John B's words.

"I'm sure you would, Pope, but can I please present you with my evidence, sir?" John B replies, standing up.

"Proceed" Pope nods, waving his hand at the brunette.

"All right. So, in my backpack, I have a letter from Denmark Tanny" John B declares, holding up a piece of paper.

"Who the hell's that?" Kiara asks in confusion.

"Denmark Tanny was a slave that survived the Royal Merchant wreck. Check this out" John B answers.

"What?" Kiara questions as John B hands her the paper.

"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" John B starts and Kiara hands me the paper.

"After that, he bought his farm. Drumroll, please, because that farm is..." John B drawls off and we all give him a drumroll.

"Tannyhill Plantation" John B reveals and I hand Pope the letter.

"Tannyhill?" I repeat in disbelief.

"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. 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 explains.

"Where?" Kiara whispers.

"Harvest the wheat in parcel nine, near the water. Except...there's no wheat. You see, wheat is code for gold. The gold is in parcel nine, near the water" John B answers.

I look up at JJ with a huge smile and his face mirrors mine as he pulls me closer in excitement.

"Holy shit" Pope mutters.