"I just wanted to call
you and say, and say."
ALTHOUGH RED KNEW THE POGUES wouldn't be particularly happy when they discovered Red and JJ's little pitstop, she didn't really care. She knew it probably wasn't the best choice considering the Twinkie was going further and further below the tide as minutes went by, she felt she had made a good choice by hearing JJ out and getting Luke off the island.
Red took in a breath before backing up to where they'd left the pogues not 30 minutes earlier, but the expression on each of their faces made it clear to her that they were pissed. But she didn't blame them either.
Red honked the horn twice, getting their attention once again. It only took one look to her right to see John B's left resting on Sarah's lap. It looked like something happened because it was all bloody with a grey bandanna wrapped around it.
"Where were you guys?" Pope yelled, watching as Red jumped out of the truck, rushing over to John B.
"Um... paternal complications." Red countered, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear as she approached John B's leg. "What the hell happened to you?"
"What do you mean, 'paternal complications'" Bennie questioned, also seeming pretty angry with Red and JJ, which was unusual for Bennie as she was particularly laid back and carefree.
"Luke was at the Chateau," JJ explained, digging into the back of the truck for the winch.
"Oh, great! While you were having family time with your pops, John B got bit by a gator!"
"Are you kidding me?" Asked Red, further examining the leg, and concluding that they were pretty serious.
"Like, for real?"
"Does it look like we're joking?"
"Ok, so what the hell happened?! Did you piss it off or something?" Red yelled, throwing her hands in the air. It was safe to say Red was out of patience for the day, or even the week.
"What happened was he got bit by a gator!"
"I got bit by a gator!"
"Ok, why am I being yelled at? I'm the one who put my ass on the line for a plan that might not even work!"
The group continued yelling at eachother from across from where they were standing. Red continued trying to justify why they were elated without mentioning what they did with Luke, and the rest of them were against her. The only silent person was JJ, which was quite the occasion considering JJ's usual character.
"Shut up!" JJ finally yelled, every teen going silent at the sound of his voice. Red looked over at JJ, just as surprised by his behavior as everyone else. "Seriously, guys! I can't take it anymore, alright? Everyone just cut it out for a second." JJ chuckled, leaning up against the tree adjacent to him. "Look, I just helped my dad leave this island. For good. Like, he's not ever coming back. He's straight up like Spanish, like 'Bon Voyage'."
"That's not the right language..."
"All we got," JJ muttered, his attention turning to the floor. "And I know for a fact all I got is you guys, okay? You're it." JJ looked over at Red, who gave him a tight-lipped smile, trying to offer him some kind of support. "And I've come too close to losing you. All of you. I mean shit like you almost drowned." JJ pointed over towards Red. "Pope, you were kidnapped. Bennie, Rafe almost brainwashed you to turn against your brother. Sarah, you've been shot! Kie, Rafe tried to kill you. And John B, you were almost dinner for a friken gator, bro. So this blaming eachother is some kook ass bullshit, alright? We don't do that. Okay, we're pogues." JJ breathed in, reading the look on everyone's face. It wasn't pity, it wasn't regret, it was more realization. What JJ said couldn't be more true, they just needed a reminder. "Sorry, that was a lot right now. Didn't mean to..."
Pope leaned forward, looking at John B and Sarah who shared an expression before putting their hands together into a slow clap for JJ, Kie, and Red quickly joining in afterwards.
"I've gotta be honest, that was the best friken speech you have ever given." John B tested, meaning it more than he'd like to admit. "Also, you should think about like a Rosetta Stone because your Spanish and French are uh- flip-flopped."
JJ scoffed, playfully flipping him off with both hands, getting a chuckle out of Red, who was also particularly proud of his little speech.
"We should Bon Voyage out of here." Sarah chuckled, pointing towards the truck.
"Yeah, she's right. Let's get the Twinkie the hell out of the water."
After a few painful minutes of towing the Twinkie out of the water with the wench JJ had gotten from the Chateau, it seemed all was well and they'd be on their way to the church with their fresh new lead.
On the way to the church, Red and JJ drove the truck while the rest of the pogues remained in the Twinkie that was now risen out of the water and living their best life under the control of John B again.
"Alright, let's get this party started." Bennie whooped, jumping out of the door of the Twinkie and approaching the doors of the church, opening them for the rest of the pogues.
"Okay, you're telling me Denmark Tanny decided to hide the cross here?" Asked JJ, stepping further into the rusty and old church.
"Well, it's not like anyone would come here on purpose anyway. And usually, a cross is associated with the Christian church, so. I'm not exactly surprised." Red voiced, her finger running across one of the pews. She rubbed the dust onto her jeans, looking up and around the church walls.
"Alright, everybody spread out," Kie commanded, the pogues splitting out to different areas of the old church.
"Ok, well if I was a cross, and I wanted to be hidden in an old church, where would I hide?" John B mumbled, splitting to the front of the church over by Red.
JJ looked around, the slight smile on his face now faltering. "Are you sure that Denmark hid the cross here, Pope? Like... are we at the right church?"
"It's gotta be here somewhere, guys," Pope replied, moving behind the wooden podium.
"What if we have to push like a secret button, or, like play a secret chord? And then all the sudden... the ground beneath us reveals the catacombs or something on which we stand?"
"This isn't the goonies, JJ." Red chuckled, sitting down on the pew behind him, still looking all over the place.
"Yeah, Um... How about we try to find more obvious clues."
Pope was now frantically running around the church, searching for some sort of hope. Some sort of clue that could magically lead him to the cross. "It's gotta be in here!"
"Look, I can't see where they would hide a giant cross in here." John B reasoned, trying to keep his voice soft enough not to make Pope mad.
"No, no, there's no way." Pope defended, coming out of the corner he just searched. "There's no way he would set us up on a freaking goose chase!
"I get it-"
"That would lead us to a church that has nothing in it!"
"I know, Pope! I know! I don't know what to tell you, man!"
"The clues led us here! The cross is in this church, John B!" Pope faltered, sitting down on a pew towards the back of the room, laying his head in his hands.
"Pope, it'll be alright!" John B assured. Kie sat down beside Pope on the pew, trying to offer some comfort just by sitting beside him. "We've had setbacks in the past and we figured it out."
"John B's right, Pope." Red stood up, stopping beside John B. "You just have to believe. I know you can do that, we've believed so much shit, but this- this is true, Pope."
Pope let out a shaky breath, examining the spyglass and leaving John B to continue reassuring him things would be okay. "We've just got to think about this logically, alright? Where else would you hide a seven-foot-tall cross made of gold?
Pope's face faltered in realization as he brought down the spyglass from his eye, still looking up towards the ceiling in awe. "What?" Bennie questioned, perking up when she saw Pope's face. It could either be something really good or really, really bad. There was no in-between when it came to that expression, especially on Pope. Red just hoped he wasn't leading them astray.
Pope stood up slowly, his brown eyes still fixated on the ceiling above. Red looked up, trying to see what he was so focused on. And that was when she finally put two and two together. She hadn't realized it before, but tilted on the joists of the church ceilings lay two wooden crosses, both of them parallel in size and shape, but Red figured one of them had to be hollow. There had to be a cross in it.
"Oh, my God. Look at that." Kie muttered, looking up at the ceiling in complete understanding of what Pope was so focused on.
"See, Pope. You just had to see the bigger picture." Red exclaimed a large smile spread across her lips.
Pope made his way to one of the wooden walls, putting his hand on one of the holes, and began to climb the wall, ignoring the group's suggestions to stop. The church was old, and it wasn't unlikely that one of the wooden boards would break off at any moment. Pope seemed to have blocked out their voices completely by the time he made it to the beams, his eyes fixated on the beams. He banged on one of the pillars. Hearing that it was solid, he looked down, finally hearing his friends.
"Alright, this one's solid wood. I'm gonna try the other beam."
"Oh God, please be careful!" Red yelled, cupping her hands to her face. She was sincerely concerned that he would fall. Noticeably. John B gave her a tight-lipped smile, sharing the same fear for Pope as she wrapped his arm around her shoulder comfortingly.
Pope cautiously climbed to the pillar adjacent to the one he had just banged on, repeating the motion with his fist on the one in front of him, getting the same solid interior.
"Pope, I hate to break it to you, but that's wood." JJ insisted, at that point just trying to find a way to get the boy down from the high pillars.
"No, no, no!" Pope banged on the wood once again, standing back up. "It has to be here! I know it." Pope tried to find a way to maneuver his way around the pillar in the middle of him.
"Pope, be careful with that giant wasp nest right above your head," JJ warned. Red looked over not three feet from Pope, her blue eyes landing on the rather big wasp nest.
Pope looked up at the nest, in the slight mental debate on if he should keep going or not. But it was still a no-brainer, he would still do it. JJ's impulse rubbed off on everyone at times.
"Just move slow, alright? Nice and easy." John B commanded.
Pope tried to step one foot around the side of the cross, but knocked a piece off of it, startling his friends below him, but he went on. But that wasn't what Pope was focused on. "Look. it's hollow." He pointed out, a glimpse of hope appearing in him. "Get me a crowbar."
"I got it." Sarah nodded, walking out of the church door and over to the Twinkie.
"I just don't want the entire church to collapse on all of us. That's all I'm sayin'."
Soon, Sarah would re-enter the church, throwing the crowbar towards Pope, which he surprisingly caught. He kneeled beside the wood, getting ready to crack it open.
"Ok, Pope. There's still a wasp nest like right there." Bennie reminded, pointing towards the wasp nest that remained. "Just don't make any quick moves, got it?"
"Got it," Pope replied, banging the crowbar against the wood which did seem hollow from where Red was standing. Of course, she hoped it would work, but she also wanted Pope to make it down with a pulse. Pope continued hammering into the wood, a golden artifact coming into view.
"Holy shit!" Red whooped, turning to JJ. "We did it! Pope, you did it!" She yelled, a bright grin spreading across her face as she jumped into JJ, who spun her around once before setting her back on the floor and turning to John B. "Can you believe this?" Asked Red, putting her hands in her hair and bringing Bennie to her side.
"I told you I'd believe it when I see it. And I'm seeing a whole lot of hope!"
"We did it!" Pope exclaimed, waving the wasps out of his face. "Oh, they're stinging now!" Just as all seemed well, While Pope tried to shoo the wasps away, he slipped down, barely able to grip the wood with his hands before falling.
The group scattered around, laying the cushions they found in the middle of the church from where the Pope was now dangling. The pogues were barely able to get the cushions out in time for Pope to land.
Red rushed to his side alongside the rest of them, calling his name to make sure he was okay. The teens continued asking if he was okay as he lay there, still panting.
Pope opened his squinted eyes, looking up at the ceiling. His brown eyes immediately widened, catching Red's attention
Red-faced upwards, and the last thing coming into her sight was the 5,000-pound golden cross tumbling down in their direction.
ahhh oh no the cross.
only have a few more chapters
to upload until season 3!!