Opia || Rafe Cameron

Chapter 26

A large campfire, John B has built, blazed in between all of us. We sat on logs circling the campfire, waiting for this mandatory meeting to start. Cicadas chirped loudly all around us, filling the air with their chirps and the crackling of the fire.

"Hey, guys. So like, my dad's already gonna kill Mila and I. So what's this mandatory meeting about?" Pope asks, nerves deep into his voice.

"Might as well tell them, man, before we're gaffed." JJ tells John B.

"You ready for this?" John B asks excitedly, turning to all of us.

"Yeah, what's the hold up?" I ask impatiently.

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

"Oh, my god. Here we go again with this." Pope speaks up, frustrated.

"No. All right, wait. Hear him out, alright?" JJ asks.

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

"Are you serious?" Kie says shocked. "Oh my god."

"I'd like to voice my skepticism." Pope speaks up, interrupting the excitement.

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

"Proceed."

"Alright, so, in my backpack, I have a letter from Denmark Tanny."

"Who the hell is that?" Kie asks.

"Denmark Tanny was a slave that survived the Royal Merchant wreck. Check this out." JB unfolds the piece of paper.

"What?" John B hands the letter to Kie.

"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. After  that, he bought his farm. Drumroll please, because that farm is..." We all start slapping our knees in a drumroll. "Tannyhill plantation."

"Tannyhill?" Kie questions.

"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."

"Where?" I ask confused. "I'm not following."

"Harvest the wheat in parcel 9, near the water. Except... there's no wheat. You see, wheat is code for gold. Check this out." John B compares two different pieces of paper. "The gold is in parcel 9, near the water." Kie giggles with excitement.

"Holy shit." Pope mumbles.

"Wait, seriously?" I ask in disbelief. John B nods at me, a wide grin on his face. "Wow."

"All we need is an original survey map of the property, and we've found the gold."

"Okay, so this might have a small chance of being actually true." Pope says analyzing the piece of paper John B has handed him.

JJ stands and leaps into John B. He wraps him in a big hug, nearly knocking him over. "Hello! Fire! You're near the fire, you're gonna burn."

"I'm so proud of you right now." JJ states.

"Thank you." John B says taking a step away from him. "That's really sweet of you."

"Okay, what's the play?" Pope asks John B.