{The Angel}
'Guys, we're coming up on Freedman's church. The church Denmark built for all the slaves he freed.' Pope explains as we drive past the church, I glance out the window and a smile appears on my face, at how beautiful the building is. 'There it is, Angel Oak.' Kie points out the window, over to the massive tree.
'Oh, shit! Tide's coming in.' John b sighs as he drives up closer to the muddy water. 'Hey, wait a second, look. They already came through here. This have to be Limbrey's tire tracks.' Pope states, looking out the window beside me at the tire tracks. 'What do you think, chief?' JJ asks John b, as he pulls the van to a stop before the mud, so it wouldn't get stuck. 'I'm thinking it's looking a little dicey.' My brother says. 'Yeah, I'm gonna have to agree with that statement.' JJ nods in agreement. 'Yeah, me too.' I raise my hand in the back and they both smile at me. 'Okay, clearly they made it. No?' Kie asks. 'In a two wheel drive? I don't know about that.' JJ shakes his head. 'Why are y'all acting like you're not gonna do it anyways? Like when have y'all ever done the safe thing?' Sarah speaks up, looking over at me and I smile at her, knowing she was right. 'She's got a point.' I shrug looking between JJ and John b as they both nod, turning around. 'Speed is your friend here, okay? So, put her down in second and hammer down, brother.' JJ says, as we all position ourselves better and hold onto something, so we don't go flying around the van.
'Stick to the ground in the middle.' Pope tells John b. He starts the car and presses his foot hard on the peddle, making the van speed up. 'Come on. Punch it. Speed is your friend. You're not going fast enough.' JJ argues to John b. 'I'm in second.' My brother states. 'It's gonna slide.' Kie says, starting to panic. 'You're fishtailing already.' JJ yells as the van starts to slide. I hold tightly onto the handle, ready for the van to flip at any moment. 'Not to put any pressure on you, but if you don't make it through, we'll be stuck here forever.' Pope says leaning over to John b and JJ. 'Put your head back.' I say, grabbing Pope by the jacket and pull him back, to sit down beside me. We all cheer in relief when we make it out. John b pulls the van to a stop and we all hop out. 'That's my girl.' JJ exclaims tapping to side of the van. 'What about me?' I whine jokingly and he chuckles. 'You'll always be my main girl.' JJ says, winking at me.
'Angel oak is right through here.' Pope points over to the tree. 'All right, so word to the wise, definitely know that gators nest back here, so keep your eyes peeled, okay?' JJ tells us, as he interlocks his hand with mine. 'You do not want to step on a mama gator. That's the last thing you want.' He states. 'They have nests?' Kie asks as we begin to walk towards the tree. 'All right. You don't wanna be a Pat Womack.' JJ says, picking up a stick for protection. 'She had her calf chewed off by a gator, right, you know that, right?' JJ asks looking at us, and I nod my head. 'That's actually not true.' Kie comments. 'Pat Womack was injured in a car accident, but I hear you.' She finishes. 'Okay, just live in ignorance. But like, she had her calf chewed off by a mama gator. I know that for a fact.' JJ tells Kie, as I stifle a laugh at his attitude.
'They like the brackish water.' JJ says, as we come across the brown looking river. 'Wait, hold on. I see something.' He says before hitting the stick at the water, causing splashes to rise up into our faces. 'What are you doing?' John b and Kie ask in unison. 'Rich. Wake them up. That's smart.' Pope says sarcastically as JJ continues to hit the water. 'I was just making sure it wasn't a gator. That's all, all right?' He says getting up as we carry on walking down the path. 'Okay, I just wanna make this crystal clear, so you don't lose your shit and cause another riot. I am here for Pope not you.' Sarah speaks up as she looks at my brother, as I walk beside him. 'You're here for Pope and not for me?' He asks. 'Yeah.' She answers. 'Then why are you back here walking with me, huh, Sarah Cameron?' My brother smirks at her, as she walks past a tree branch hits into his face and I burst out laughing. 'I don't know. Why am I?' She questions walking away from us. 'Seriously?' My brother mutters as I link arms with him and smile up at him, as we follow behind the others.
'Hey. Ssh.' Pope whispers to us as we come closer to the tree, the sound of an engine revving. 'I don't see shit. You sure this is the right spot!' Rafe's voice could be heard as we all come up behind a bush, peaking over it. 'It's there. The garment will be in the cross, and the cross will be at the foot of the tree.' Limbrey tells Rafe, as they all start digging. 'Well, whatever we find, I get my cut.' Rafe tells her as he walks around the Angel oak. I looked at the others as they dug up a coffin from the ground. We watched as they opened it, expecting the cross to come out but there was no cross. 'Oh god!' I gasp as we all see it's just a corpse. 'I'm going to be sick!' I whisper running behind the tree and throwing up. 'You okay, babe?' JJ asks from the bush and I put my thumb up. 'Fine.' I whisper before joining his side again. We watched as they all packed up and left again. Pope wasted no time and runs over to the coffin.
We all momentarily run over to Pope, as he falls to his knees beside the casket. 'Cecilia Tanny, Denmark's wife.' Pope whispers as I let out a gasp. 'He wasn't talking about the cross. He buried her at the foot of the Angel.' Pope says, walking over to the tree. 'The true treasure.' Kie says softly. 'His wife.' I whisper as Pope kneels down beside the open casket again, and I kneel down after him as he cries out. The others kneel down beside us. 'Denmark was hung for burying his wife, and now they defiled her grave.' Pope mutters, trying to hold back tears but it was no use. Kie ran her hand down his arm, comforting Pope while I reach in and grab her wedding ring.
'This must have been from Denmark. Her wedding ring.' I say softly as a faint smile appears on my face, looking over at JJ, who returned the smile. 'We can't leave her like this.' Pope speaks up. 'We won't.' We all answer in unison. Before the boys put the top back on the casket, I gently place her ring back on her finger. The boys closed the casket and hammered it shut. I walk around the tree and pick up a few flowers, placing them on top of the casket.
***
After a while, we place the coffin back in the ground as JJ dug the dirt back over the grave, patting it down to leave it out. 'I just don't get it. I mean, you guys saw the map. He hides his gold so no one can find it for 170 years. And then he sends a message to his son Robert to come here to his mother's grave, but the message never gets to him.' Pope explains to us as JJ puts the shovel back, I hand him his jacket as he smiles at me before putting it back on. 'Thanks.' He mutters, placing a quick kiss on my lips before leaning on the door of the van.
'It just feels like...' Pope speaks but get cut off by JJ. 'Like we missed something?' JJ finished for him. We all look at JJ, to see his eyes are locked on the tree. 'Guys.' JJ says as the other run over to the van for a better view. JJ claims up on top of the van and I reach my hand up as he pulls me up beside him. 'That looks like..' he says looking at me. 'The painting in the island room.' I mutter as my eyes widen in shocked. 'It's worth a shot, right?' He shrugs. 'Go for it.' JJ tells me and I look at him furrowing my eyebrows. 'No chance.' I shrug and he sighs. 'I..I went in the storm drain so...' I stutter and Pope nods. 'She did go in the storm drain.' Pope states and JJ groans. 'Don't be such a scaredy cat, babe.' I say sarcastically and he scoffs. 'Me, scared? Pfft no! I'm gonna do it. It's just..' he stutters as he hesitantly tries to put his hand in the hole. 'He's scared.' Kie giggles and he rolls his eyes. 'I'm not scared, dude.' JJ argues, taking a deep breath before putting his hand in. 'There's something in here.' He mutters. 'Wait.' He nervous chuckles. Next thing, he starts screaming as if something is gripping ongobhim and I scream out loud as we all begin to panic, I grab his shoulder trying to pull him back. Fear overcame me as I thought of the worst.
He began laughing causing me to let go of him and everyone to go silent as they flared at him. 'What the fuck, JJ! You nearly gave me a heart attack.' I yell, clipping him behind the ear and he groans. 'Ow, Baby.' He huffs and I scoff. 'You deserve that.' I argue and he sighs before bursting out laughing. 'Oh, man. I got all of you.' He chuckles. 'Oh, yeah, real original.' Pope says sarcastically. 'But, seriously, there's something in here.' He tells us as he puts his hand back in. Moments later, JJ pulls out this cylinder gold thing out of the tree. 'Let me see.' Pope orders as JJ hands it down to him as JJ jumps down beside him and gives me a hand down. 'HMS Royal Merchant.' Pope exclaims as the three of us look at it. 'Give it to the captain. Here we go. It's a spyglass.' JJ says opening it and looking through it, John b twists the thing. 'There's something on the ends.' I mutter and we all look at it. 'An inscription right there. Look at that shit.' My brother exclaims. 'What does it say?' JJ and I ask in unison. 'You've come this far. Do not falter. The cross is in the Freedman's altar.' Pope reads out and all our eyes widen in shock.
'The cross is at the church.' Pope says excitedly. 'What are we doing here, guys?' JJ exclaims as he grabs my hand and we all run towards the van. 'Ah, crap! The tide!' Pope groans as we pull to a stop at the muddy road, to see it was now covered with water. 'How deep is that?' Kie asks. 'I dunno. The road's gone.' John b answers and I let out a sigh of frustration. 'Tide rose faster than I thought it would.' JJ says. 'Just a little bit.' John b replies sarcastically. 'Uh, John b, how high are the spark plugs?' JJ asks him. 'They're good. We're fine.' John b says nervously. 'How high are they?' We all ask once again. 'Oh, um..just above the taillight.' John b answers sticking his head out the window. 'Okay, so that's, what, three feet?' I ask and JJ nods. 'That's three feet. Yeah.' JJ agrees. 'The water can't be three feet deep.' Kie states and I shrug. 'Then what's the problem?' My brother asks. 'Not a problem. No, we're good. We're good. She'll make it.' JJ states, not believing himself. 'Ladies and gentlemen, fasten your seat belts. Hold on to something. We're going into hyperdrive.' My brother says, as he starts the van we all quickly hold onto something. 'I'll say a quick prayer.' JJ says blessing himself. 'Three, two, one.' John b counts down as he speeds into the water.
'You got this! You got this!' JJ repeats to my brother. The van goes spinning out, but we almost made it clear. Right at the last second, the van fishtailed, taking us to the right. It pulls to a stop in a deep part of the water. 'Fuck!' I curse. 'I think we miscalculated.' Pope says. 'I know I should have driven.' JJ lets out a sigh of frustration. We all hop out of the car, as the water goes up to our knees. 'Okay, maybe we can walk from here.' Pope suggests. 'What? And leave the Twinkie? The..the tide's coming in.' John b and I say in unison, looking at Pope like he was crazy. 'We're not leaving the Twinkie!' I state and the all let out a sigh before nodding. 'So then what are we supposed to do?' Sarah asks. 'Not stay here.' JJ immediately answers. 'I can take my dad's truck.' Kie speaks up. 'Kie, are you sure?' John b asks her. 'How much worse can it get, you know?' She frowns. 'We need something to pull her out with. There's a winch at the Chateau.' JJ informs us. 'That's, like, two miles.' JJ adds. 'Yeah, that's a good idea.' I say softly. 'If you're gonna do it, let's go, okay? Tide's coming in. Twinkie's going underwater.' John b says in a stressed tone.
'All right.' JJ says beginning to walk away with Kie. 'Jackie, you're coming too.' JJ says turning his head quickly. 'Why?' I ask furrowing my eyebrows in confusion. 'Like hell am I going to leave you out here with gators lurking, while I'm not here to protect you.' He states, gently grabbing my hand as we follow after Kie.
To be Continued...