CHAPTER FORTY-TWO:
MUDDY WATERS
(episode three: prayers)
■ ■ ■ ■ ■
AS HAVEN CAME TO find out the next day, everything important just had to happen in history class. First, it was the revelation that John B and Sarah weren't as dead as they thought. Then came the letter. Everything was quiet except for the scratches of pencil ends against test papers and the routine flip of Mr Sunn's magazine. The clock ticked slowly above his head. Five minutes, then ten. Before Haven knew it, forty minutes had passed, and her hand throbbed from scrawling out half-hearted paragraphs. It was painfully obvious she hadn't studied. And judging by the look of frustration on Leonie's face beside her, she hadn't either.
Mr Sun was not going to be happy with them, that was for sure.
But Haven didn't have the chance to worry about it then. Suddenly, the silence was interrupted by the door creaking as it was sharply opened. A second later, a man dressed in a smart suit stepped into the room, drawing everyone's attention to him, confused but nonetheless eager for a distraction as he addressed Mr Sunn.
"Mr Sunn, can I borrow Pope for a minute?"
Haven's eyes sought out Pope's as a few students murmured in amusement. What had Pope Heyward done to garner such attention? He was supposed to be the goody two-shoes, the one who rarely ever found trouble. The man's face remained impassive as Mr Sunn sighed and closed his magazine. Haven couldn't tell what either of them were thinking, but it wasn't hard to notice Pope's fear as he turned around to catch JJ and Kie's worried gaze.
"We're in the middle of a test right now," Mr Sunn informed him with a displeased frown.
But the man just smiled and said, "I'm from the Vanderhorst Foundation."
Vanderhorst Foundation? Did Haven hear that right? She thought Pope blew his scholarship interview. Or at least, that was what he'd claimed.
From the looks of it, Mr Sunn's perspective had changed when the man introduced himself. His frown morphed into a small but hopeful smile as he called out, "Mr Heyward, it's for you." Could this be Pope's redemption, a second chance to get back what he lost? Haven sure hoped so.
Seconds continued to tick by. They felt like hours now, trickling past as Haven sat back in her chair. She couldn't focus on the test anymore, no matter how hard she tried. She wanted to know what was happening out in that corridor, and from the looks of it, so did the pogues. Both JJ and Arden were sitting back too, ignoring Mr Sunn's disapproving glare as they caught each other's gaze, seemingly communicating through one look. Kie was distracted too, but she forced herself to turn back to her paper after a few minutes, to just wait for Pope to return.
In the end, that was what Haven decided too. But just as she sighed and picked back up her pen, the door opened and closed again. Pope came marching in with wide eyes, shakily sitting down in his seat and spinning around to hold up an envelope in their direction. It seemed like an ordinary letter to Haven, the paper a dark brown with a golden wax symbol pinning it shut.
But upon second glance, it was something else entirely.
Haven's breath hitched at the image of a wheat bunch imprinted into the wax. It couldn't be... It wasn't possible. Ward Cameron had the gold, so why on earth was there a letter in Pope's hands linked to it?
"Is that the wheat symbol?" she heard Kie whisper, just to make sure she wasn't seeing things.
Pope nodded grimly. "Yeah."
JJ and Arden gasped in unison, Arden's eyes bright with delight.
"Oh, shit!"
"What the fuck—"
Mr Sunn was quick to scold them, the class snickering at their solemn expressions.
Yeah, there was no chance Haven was finishing this test.
And so her paper sat unfinished until the bell rang and Mr Sunn came around the room to collect each booklet. He seemed unhappy when he saw the empty space in Haven's, but she couldn't bring herself to care as she quickly gathered up her things and rushed into the hall after the pogues. They couldn't have gone too far. They'd only just been let out. But no matter where she looked, none of them were anywhere in sight.
Haven had been left behind, with a heart swelled in disappointment.
So much for fixing things.
■ ■ ■ ■ ■
SURPRISINGLY, HAVEN WAS WITH Alison and Leonie when she heard about the pogues again. The three girls had a free period off at the same time that day, and Leo had managed to convince Haven and Alison to sit outside in the cool sun with her. The sky was grey and gloomy but a small sliver of light shone down on them as Leo guided them over to an oak tree on the field. She had a biology book under one arm, which she half-heartedly flipped through to make it seem like she was studying, whereas Alison immediately poured over a stack of mathematics textbooks and Haven did her best to do the same. She couldn't afford a repeat of what happened in history. She hadn't cared at the time, but if she continued to fail, she knew the school would contact her mother and Haven wasn't about to sit through another Melinda Maybank lecture.
But Leonie Schneider didn't care about that. When she was bored, she said so. And not even ten minutes after they started, she closed her book and yawned loudly, the sound cutting through the silence.
"Do you mind?" Alison let out a sigh, shooting her a furtive glance at her friend, then flipped pointedly onto another page.
"Sorry," said Leo, though she didn't seem the least bit apologetic as she laid back on the ground, eyes gazing up at the gloomy sky. A mere minute later, she was huffing to herself, a pout settling on her red-coated lips. "I'm bored."
Haven chuckled, nudging the girl's foot with the toe of her boot. "And what do you want us to do about it?"
"We could skip," she said with a hopeful smile. "Maybe go surfing?"
"No way," Alison immediately protested.
"Oh, come on," she begged, glancing at Haven pleadingly. "Haven, we just failed history together. That practically makes us sisters."
"What the — how does that work out?" Haven laughed, but Leo's plan was beginning to work. Slowly, she closed her book, ignoring Alison's glare as she looked at the other girl curiously. Surfing did sound fun. She'd only been once, and that was months ago, way back when Pope had wanted her to get into it. Maybe she'd pick it up again, if she could find a new teacher, that is.
Leo huffed and pushed up onto her knees, like she was kneeling in the church pews, praying that Haven and Alison would agree with her. "Well, you know what they say; friends who fail life together, stay together."
"That's not a saying," Alison scoffed at the same time as Haven rolled her eyes. "Besides, you two shouldn't celebrate failing. Haven, you're good at history. How come you got distracted? Was it because of Pope? I saw him show his friends that letter."
"Why would Pope distract Haven?" Leo frowned. "They're not even friends anymore."
Ouch. That one hurt. Yeah sure, it was the truth, but why did she have to say it like that?
"I wasn't distracted because of him," she said, quickly, before Alison was able to retort and make things worse. "I was just tired. Didn't get much sleep last night, you know?"
Alison's lips pursed in evident disapproval, but she didn't say anything else as she turned back to her equations. Leo sighed in apparent defeat, going back to tracing shapes in the clouds. Haven watched her absent-mindedly, her book forgotten at her side. She wondered where the pogues were, what they were doing with that letter. Had they already decoded it? Were they off on a mission without her? If it didn't have anything to do with John B, then she supposed she shouldn't care. But she couldn't help it. She'd gotten used to the same old routine again.
"Actually, speaking of Pope," Leo piped up suddenly. "Alison and I heard him and his little groupies talking in the library earlier."
"Groupies?" Haven snorted, though she had to admit, her interest had peaked. She moved to lay down beside Leo, her feet in Alison's lap in an attempt to seem casual. "What were they talking about?"
"Some trip to Charleston, from the sounds of it," Leo shrugged against her shoulder. "I don't know. We couldn't hear much. But they mentioned a letter and leaving for Charleston today. See, Alison, that's how you have fun around here. Spontaneity."
Alison was quick to protest, but Haven was no longer listening. So the letter really was something. What was in Charleston? And why was it so urgent? Were they ever planning to tell her? Well, even if they weren't, she was involved now. She'd need to track one of them down, and she knew just who to choose.
"Haven?" An elbow suddenly nudged her ribs, snapping her out of her thoughts. Leo was watching her in concern, sharing a look with Alison over her head. "Haven, you okay?"
Haven did her best to smile and nod, but she knew they saw right through it. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just thinking."
After that, the girls settled back into conversation, but Haven couldn't stop thinking about what Leo had said, of what was to come.
■ ■ ■ ■ ■
THE LAST PERSON POPE expected to willingly track him down was Haven. The lunch bell had just rang, and before he could even think of joining Arden, JJ and Kie out in the courtyard, his ex-girlfriend, of all people, was cornering him by his locker with her new girlfriend at his side.
God, Pope Heyward had the worst luck. Just when he was beginning to get over her, Haven Murphy was shoved back into his life in the most unexpected of ways. He wished he could hate her. And don't even get him started on Brec. That girl was too happy for her own good, but she was nice to him, and he refused to be a dickhead just because she had what Pope had spent so long chasing. But a sad part of him was actually happy to have Haven around again, even as just a friend. It felt normal, like nothing had changed, even though everyone on both sides knew that it had.
Maybe he was cursed. That would explain it. Why Pope could never, ever hate Haven, and Haven couldn't ever seem to leave him alone, even platonically. Yeah, that explained it. Pope Heyward was cursed and he didn't know how to break out of it.
"Uh, can I help you?" he stammered, feeling closed in by the two girls.
Haven just hummed, looking him up and down like she knew all his secrets. "We know, Pope."
Know? Know what? Jesus, since when was Haven so scary? I mean, he always knew she could be intimidating when she wanted to be. Maybe it was her new look, all the fishnets and combat boots and pleated skirts. Pope feared that if he said the wrong thing, she'd kick him in the throat. He seriously wouldn't put it past her.
"Uh..." Haven smiled at that, like she could smell his fear, and Pope winced before mustering up all the courage to say, "Know what, Haven?"
"Leo and Alison heard you and the pogues in the library," Brec filled in where Haven refused to speak. Her smile was a lot nicer than her girlfriends, but Pope knew the venom was there too. If he didn't think carefully, she could dropkick him too. "You mentioned Charleston...?'
"Oh."
Oh? Was that seriously all he had to say? Haven's eyes narrowed as she looked for weak spots, points she could use to find out what she wanted to know. It was fine. If they didn't tell her things, then she'd do the work herself. "What's in Charleston, Pope?" she asked him, expectant. "Does it have something to do with the letter? Or John B? Is he hurt?"
"It's not John B — well, not quite," he sighed, then turned to face his locker. Haven watched on curiously as he searched inside, pulling out the letter a moment later. The wax seal was torn, but he still handed it over to Haven, Brec eagerly peering over her shoulder to read its contents.
Dear Mr Heyward,
I am reaching out because I have material evidence that can exonerate John B Routledge. It is of vital importance that you come and meet me in person at my offices at 27 King Street, Charleston, at 8pm sharp tonight.
Please come alone.
Regards,
C. Limbrey
"How do you know this is real?" was the first thing Haven asked. She'd felt it, the familiar surge of hope at the mention of helping John B. But just as quickly as it came, the doubt followed. Anybody could've sent this. What if it was a trap? And the pogues were willing to walk right into it?
Brec seemed to be thinking the same thing. "Pope, I don't mean to be negative here, but this sounds sketchy."
"That's what I thought," Pope admitted. "But I looked up that name. Limbrey. The Limbreys are well known around here."
"They are?" Haven frowned, flipping the letter over in case there was more written on the back. There wasn't, causing her to sigh and hand it back to him. "How come we've never heard of them before now?"
"Well, they were well known a long time ago," he corrected. "Herman Limbrey... he was the Captain of the Royal Merchant."
Oh. Oh. Well, this just got interesting.
"Do you think they know where the gold is?" she asked, almost smiling at the thought.
But Pope just shrugged, uncertain. "I don't know," he said. "Maybe. But they said they have evidence that can free John B. Even if it is a sham, we can't just ignore it."
Haven and Brec shared a look at that. As risky as it was, Pope was right. Haven wouldn't forgive herself if she didn't go and it turned out the Limbreys really did have the evidence they needed. From the looks of it, Brec couldn't either. She nodded stubbornly, both girls turning to smile at Pope in a way that had him gulping nervously. What were they planning?
"Alright, Heyward," Haven nodded to herself. "So when do we leave?"
Pope's face fell at that. "Haven, listen..."
"No, you listen," she was quick to intervene. "I've come this far. I'm not going to let you cut me out, not when John B's freedom's on the line."
"Arden told us not to invite you," he said, as if that would change her mind.
But Haven just laughed, amused. "And I'm supposed to care what she says, am I? You're not going to stop me, or Brec, Pope."
"Haven—"
"I know I've fucked a lot of shit up," she interrupted again, the air going tense. Brec stiffened at her side, but Haven didn't look at her as she held Pope's gaze, stubborn yet pleading. "And I'm trying to fix it. Starting with this. With bringing John B back to me, to us."
Pope nodded slowly, wheels of thought evidently turning in his head. Eventually, he sighed in defeat, and Haven knew she'd won. "You can come along," he declared. "But we're going to need a different car. We were planning to take my dad's truck, and that definitely won't hold six of us."
Haven didn't seem too worried, though. She was already making her way down the corridor with Brec's hand in hers, smirking at him over her shoulder. "Looks like we'll be needing the Kid-Napping Machine then," she said. "Thank god JJ went back to fix it, huh?"
Pope sighed, watching her disappear around the corner.
First, he let Haven and Brec in on their recon mission. Now, they were going to have to take the mystery machine? Arden was so going to kill him.
■ ■ ■ ■ ■
POPE JUST HAD TO be right. The moment he showed up at the Chateau with Haven and Brec on either side of him, he knew. Arden was sitting on the porch with JJ and Liam, her daughter in her arms. The mother was in the middle of cooing at the girl when she spotted Haven. Her smile instantly dropped, and she quickly stood up to greet them, clinging to Logan defensively.
"I thought this was just a pogue thing," she said, ignoring JJ's sigh as he and Liam exchanged a glance.
"Arden, listen," Pope began, but Haven was already interrupting him.
"I've said it before and I'll say it again," she said, genuinely smiling at Arden despite the intensity behind her words. If Arden was put off by the expression, she didn't show it, simply rolling her eyes at her former friend. "Whenever John B's freedom is involved, I want in. I don't care about anything else. But you're stuck with me until he's no longer a murderer, okay? So deal with it."
Arden observed her for a moment before nodding grudgingly. "Fine," she muttered, to which Haven blinked in surprise. She hadn't expected that to work, and from the looks of it, no one else had either. "Let me just say goodbye to Logan and we can go pick up Kie."
But Arden's passive mood didn't last long. The moment she heard Pope asking JJ for the van's keys, her frustration returned.
"Seriously, Pope?" she hissed as she stormed after the two boys, Liam watching in amusement from the porch, Logan wrapped up in his arms now. Haven took a moment to coo at the girl before following after the pogues, not wanting Arden to get even more annoyed than she already was. A whole night on the road with her would be hard enough as it was. "I thought we were taking your dad's truck."
"We can't fit six people into my dad's truck," he pointed out.
Arden scowled, glowering in Haven and Brec's direction before throwing herself into the back of the vehicle. "Fine," she called out to the others. "But wait until Kie sees this. She won't be happy either."
Haven rolled her eyes. "Yeah, I bet she won't."
But it seemed like Kie had more on her mind when the van pulled into her parent's driveway. In fact, she barely even spared it a glance as she faced off against her parents. Both of them were frowning at her, their shouts heard through the open driver's side window. It didn't take a genius to figure out that neither of them were happy with this little adventure of theirs.
"Well," JJ said from the passenger's seat. "They're taking it really well."
Arden gaped at him incredulously. "What part of that looks like they're taking it well?"
JJ didn't reply. He just smiled sweetly, then turned to look at Pope. "So," he began, prompting Pope to tear his eyes away from Kie's figure to frown at him. "How'd you convince your dad to let you do this?"
"I didn't," he said simply.
It was then that it hit Haven. She hadn't even thought to tell her mum. Well, fuck. She quickly sent a text to the woman, trying her best to soften the blow, but it was kind of hard to make 'Hey, Mum, I'm going to Charleston. Be back in a few days xoxo' sound anything close to acceptable. Hopefully, Liam would calm her down so Haven wasn't grounded for the rest of her life when she got back.
"What did you tell your folks, Brec?" she asked, nudging the girl's side to get her attention.
Brec just shrugged, her reply barely heard over JJ and Pope's chatter in the front, "I didn't tell them anything," she muttered. "They won't notice."
Only Arden and Haven heard her, and the two caught each other's gaze in confusion. What was that supposed to mean? Haven knew that Brec was often overlooked in her household, but this much? Who knew how long they'd be in Charleston. And her parents weren't bothered at all? She quickly reached for the girl's hands, pressing kisses to her knuckles until she smiled again.
Even if it was only temporary.
"Oh, my god. Boarding school?" they heard Kie shout before she came marching down the stairs towards the van.
"It's just an option," Anna defended as she followed after her daughter. "It could broaden your horizons, baby, get you out of OBX."
"I'm not going to boarding school."
"It would give you structure," Mike Carrera defended.
"They're not my people," she justified, refusing to even look at them as she came up to the passenger seat and gestured for JJ to move. He did without question, not wanting to test the extent of her anger.
"Look at your life right now," Mike shouted. "Look at your life."
The timing was almost too perfect. Kie spun around to glare at him, JJ smiling and waving from her side, "It's good to see y'all, Mr and Mrs Carrera."
At that, Arden pushed the back door open and yanked him in by the arm, shaking her head as she snapped, "Would you shut up? Now is not the time, baby."
"Right, right."
Meanwhile, Pope was leaning out the driver's window to greet them, Anna and Mike glowering back at him with unimpressed expressions. "Hi, uh, ma'am... sir. I promise to have her back at a reasonable hour... and safe."
Kie gaped at him. "What are you doing?"
"Kiara, listen to me," Mrs Carrera yelled. "You wanna go, then you can go! But if you don't come back at the proper time, then don't come back at all."
The words were supposed to be stunning, but JJ poking his head through to the front seats ruined the effect. "She's bluffin'," he declared, then waved at Kie's parents again. "Y'all have a good day."
Haven sighed. "It's like you want them to hate us."
For a moment, the car didn't move. Pope was watching Kie settle in the passenger seat, an exhausted look in her eyes as she turned to them and said, "This shit would be so much easier without parents."
Haven was inclined to agree, but was stopped at the thunderous expression that crossed Arden's face. She was watching JJ's face — for what, Haven didn't know — before kicking the back of Kie's chair to get her attention.
"Arden?" Kie frowned as she turned to look at her. "What's up?"
"What's up?" Arden repeated in disbelief. JJ immediately sighed at her tone, sensing her anger, but she barely even looked at him as he reached for her hand. Haven didn't really get what was wrong until she said, "What's up is that you have parents that actually care about you, Kiara. The rest of us don't. So fucking think before you speak, yeah?"
Kie was stunned into silence, as were the others. JJ nervously laughed, intervening with a panicked smile. "Okay, y'all. Let's just relax. Maybe smoke some weed. We're going on a road trip. It's meant to be fun."
But nothing about this was fun, and Haven was already regretting tagging along.