Coralina Routledge, twin sister of John Booker Routledge, needs a distraction from the chaos of her life. Her father, Big John, known throughout the North Carolina island of Kildaire as a crazy treasure hunter is always running off and leaving his...
"So, you're sure you didn't tell him where the diary is?" JJ asked, squinting at Coral who now stood at the wheel steering the boat.
"Of course not. What do you take me for, a moron?" she responded, slightly offended, "I told him I'd seen it, but I didn't tell him where."
"Alright, no need to get snippy. I know my Babygirl can lie like a rug," he teased, blowing her a kiss, "Okay, so the diary we have leads to a 500-year-old treasure that no one's ever found?"
"You're a dork and pretty much," she responded.
"I'm in. It's kind of like my best option at this point, so...definitely beats geometry class. I mean I don't even know what'll happen when we get back to the OBX. Nothing good, I can tell you that."
"Shit is going to suck," Coral agreed.
"I got restitution. No job. We got no parents. Yeah, arrows are going to be coming in hot."
"Yeah, shit, it's only October, but we've missed so much school we'll probably have to repeat this year. I'm hoping Anna and Mike let me get my job back, I kind of ghosted them. I do have what was left of the squirrel fund and my bar of gold still hidden in my room though," she remembered.
"Well, there's no way Raz is letting me back at the country club. Maybe I can get something down at the marina at Guffy's."
"You know, whatever happens, we're gonna handle it together. Like we always do."
Nodding, he wrapped his arms around her as he kissed her slowly, "You know it occurs to me that someone has a birthday in a few days. What do you want to do to celebrate?" he asked.
"Nothing really," she replied, shrugging.
"You're turning seventeen. We need to do something," he countered.
"Well, we already basically took an island vacation for the last month. What could possibly top that?" she laughed.
"Hey. Just wanted to let you guys know that we should probably stop for gas," Pope called up from the deck below.
Stepping away from Coral, JJ looked down at the boy, "And some food!"
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Pushing the boat until they were coasting on fumes JJ steered them into a slip inside a marina off of St. Kitts, "I think this is Basseterre," Cleo said, squinting at the lights coming from the city beyond the harbor as she and Pope jumped to the dock to tie up the boat.
"Exactly how many towns in the Caribbean have you been?"
"Terrance got around," she answered Pope, shrugging.
"Alright, the goal is food and fuel. Any ideas?" Kie asked.
"I got food," Cleo announced, "Come on Gray Pipe, let's teach ya a new skill," she said, gesturing for Pope to follow her down the docks.
