"Oh well hello princess."
The five of us were sitting at home lounging around, recovering from the night before. We'd all been pretty fucked up in a lot of ways. Drunk, high, beaten, no sleep. Just not good.
When all of a sudden. Sarah Cameron walks inside.
"Shouldn't you be on figure eight with your group of polo players? Or did you break up with Topper?" John B sarcastically asks with a face of 'oh no'.
"We're just friends." She smiles at him. "I'm here for Pope." She says as she sits down. "I think I found the island room."
Instantly gaining all our attention.
________________
After a few moments of driving, we pull up to the Cameron house and head inside, where Sarah then leads us into a room with wall paper over the floor.
"It's the island room. It's been here this whole time."
"Holy shit." JB and I say in sync when we enter the room to see boats and houses painted all over the walls.
"It's a map of the whole island."
"Denmark, you genius. These are all his drawings. He, he painted this entire room." Pope points out, matching his handwriting to the wall.
"How did you even uncover this?" John B asks Sarah.
"I didn't. It was like this when I got home." She explains.
"Ok so who did it then?" Kiara and I ask.
"I don't know."
"The freaks." Wheezie jumps in, scary the living shit out of all of us.
"Christ Wheezie." I breathe out.
"Who's the freaks?"
"Uh that sick lady and her attack dog." Wheezie explains to us. "They showed up last night, and they wanted to talk to Rafe."
"Wait pale blonde lady?"
"She have crutches.?"
"It's gotta be Limbrey."
"First they searched the whole house looking for something, and then Rafe told me to go upstairs. But I didn't wanna miss out, so I listened through the grate. And they were talking about getting across the sand flamingo."
"The cross. The cross of Santo Domingo?"
"Yeah that's it. Oh they were talking about angels. A lot of angel talk." She tells us.
"Angels?" Jb and I question, looking at each other.
"Guys Denmark's famous last words. He buried the real treasure at the foot of the angel. They're looking for an angel. We have to find the angle in the room."
"Spread out!"
Spreading out was the easiest option. There was a lot to cover in this room and the 'angel' could be anywhere or anything.
"Hey guys! I think I found something!" My boyfriend yells, while the rest of us walk over to where he was looking. "This humongous tree is still on goat island. You know what it's called?"
"Angel oak."
"Look there. There's the keyhole." JJ states as he points to the centre of the tree.
"We have to go now!"
__________________
"Guys were coming up on Freedman's church." Pope tells us as John B drives past the church.
"There it is. Angel oak." Kiara points out.
"Oh shit. Tides coming in." John B states, looking at the water coming up in front of us.
"Hang on a second look. They already came through here."
"It's gotta be Limbreys tire tracks."
"It's lookin a little dicey." JB tells JJ.
"Clearly They made it?" Kiara chimes in on their conversation.
"In a two wheel drive? I don't know about that." JJ answers.
"Why yall acting like you're not gonna do it anyways. Like when have yall ever done the safe thing?" Sarah asks us.
"Shes got a point." JB states as the boys start to get comfortable and the girls hang on to things.
"Right speed is your friend here."
"JB I don't know much about cars but I do think you're not going fast enough." I state sarcastically to him.
"Yes thank you Lilah."
"Not to agree with her but if you don't speed up we will get stuck here."
"Ok so word of the wise, definitely know that gators nest back here, so keep your eyes peeled okay." JJ tells everyone as we all get out of the van. Since John B manage to make it through the water. We got over just fine.
While we're walking towards the tree, JJ and Kiara will not stop arguing about this Pat Womack who either got her calf bitten off by a gator or injured in a car accident.
I think you know who was arguing what.
"Why do yall argue about the weirdest shit?" I question as I walk past them and further up with John B and Pope.
"Love you too." JJ replies with a smile.
"Hey guys quick." We hear Pope whisper at us. We all run up beside him and hide behind a bush just to see Rafe digging a hole underneath the tree.
"Oh fuck." I whisper.
"Denmark put it in a casket." I hear Limbrey celebrating.
"They got the cross what do we do?"
"What can we do?"
"Guys honestly. Why the fuck would a cross be in a casket?" I ask them. "A normal casket with what a huge cross in there. Wouldn't you use something bigger and maybe cross size." I ask again, leaving the boys to ponder about what I just said.
"It's just a corpse." I hear them say when they lift the lid off.
"Well." I click my tongue. "Sometimes I like to think I'm smart like you Pope." I smile at him.
"And what would you have done if the cross was in there?" Pope asks me.
"Attack them." I state.
"We're going back!" Limbrey tells before everyone gets in their cars and drives off.
We all follow Pope towards the tree as he somehow knows what he's doing.
"Cecilia Tanny. Denmark's wife. He wasn't talking about the cross. He buried her at the foot of the angel. The true treasure. His wife." Pope explains.
"Ew so that was his wife they just found?" I question looking at the casket, seeing his wife's skull, lying in the dirt.
"Denmark was hung for burying his wife, and now they defiled her grave." He states as we all kneel down to Popes level.
"This must've been from Denmark. Her wedding ring." Sarah tells us, handling the ring in her hand.
"We can't leave her like this." Pope tells everyone.
Eventually, after a few minutes, the grave was now pieced back together, and back in the ground where she belonged.
"I just don't get it. You guys saw the map. He hides his gold so no one finds 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 got to him. Denmark wanted him to find the cross, I know we're in the right spot." Pope rants.
"Maybe we missed something?" I suggest, shrugging my shoulders.
"Guys." JJ starts, we all to look to see him looking up towards the tree, starting to climb it. "That looks like?" He points towards the hole in the tree.
"The painting in the island room." Kiara points out as she climbs up the tree behind him.
"Worth a shot." JJ shrugs as he puts his arm in the hole while we all stand here with anticipation. All of sudden he starts screaming.
Turns out he was playing a joke.
Asshole.
"Ahh got you all on that one. That was pretty good." He laughs to himself. "But no really there's something in here." He pulls out this spyglass and hands it to Pope as he jumps down.
"What's the writing on the end?" Kiara asks as Pope turns it around to read.
"You've come this far. Do not falter. The cross is on the Freedman's altar. The cross is at the church!" Pope explains.
"Shit we gotta go!" I exclaim as we all run to the car.
___________________
"Ah crap the tide."
So on the way to the church and it looks like we won't be getting there. The road is blocked with water and pretty sure it's deep enough for us to get stuck this time.
"I think we miscalculated." JB states as we are now stuck in the middle of the water.
"This is why I should've driven."
"I can take my dad's truck?" Kie tells us.
"Ok well I'm coming with you." I tell her.
I didn't want to be attacked by a gator.
"Yeah me too. There's a winch at the Chateau." JJ follows as we start walking through the water.
__________________
"Sure you wanna do this?" JJ asks Kiara.
"No." She tells him as she walks through the gate and then inside.
"You think she'll get caught?" JJ whispers to me.
"Nah. She should be fine." I respond.
"You know we haven't had much time to ourselves lately." JJ points out.
"Well, we have been on this massive treasure hunt for Pope." I explain to him.
"Ok but I love Pope and all but he's cutting into my Delilah time." He whines to me.
"J we'll probably have heaps of time after we find this cross." I laugh at him.
"Ok but I'd like to go back when I had my Delilah time almost everyday." He grabs ahold of my hand and kisses it.
"I'd love to as well but unfortunately we have to help our friend." And just as I was about to say more Kiara runs out and throws the keys to JJ.
We'll have to continue our conversation at a later date.
After a few minutes of driving, JJ comes to a stop to hopefully grab the winch we need.
That's if he even makes it there since he just tripped. Over a branch.
"Oh my." I shake my head in disbelief.
"I'm not even gonna say anything." Kiara shakes her head, not even looking back towards me.
"Why is he taking forever?" Kiara mumbles after a while of waiting.
"Who would know Kie. You think we should go have a look?" I ask her taking off my seatbelt.
"Hold on." She stops me before she starts to beep the horn multiple times. "JJ!"
"What the fuck." We say in sync as we see JJ walk out with his dad.
"No, immedietely no."
"i second that."
"Just get in the truck." JJ tells his dad, who climbs into the back seat.
"Just listen to me." JJ stops us. "I need to get into the marina at the island club. There's a boat he can take. You got the sticker on your truck. Twenty minutes, thats all i need."
"The twinkie is gonna be a submarine in twenty minutes." Kiara argues.
"I know!" JJ hits the car. "The cops are after him. if i do this now, i may never have to do it again." He explains as he gets in the drivers seat.
"Dont look at me." Kiara tells Luke as she jumps into the back of the truck not wanting to be anywhere near him.
"Hey, pull up to home food here. Im gonna need provisions. Crackers and baked beans and tuna all right? and some salt and pepper." Luke tells JJ as he gtes out of the car and inside.
"Your a terrible father you know that?" Kiara asks Luke jumping out from the back of the truck, standing beside it.
"Set me straight." He jokes.
"Do you have any idea how special your son is?" She questions him.
"He's a thief is what he is." He argues.
"He's also a man. Something you could never be. You are a worthless piece of shit. Always have been, always will be. And he has a heart of gold." I tell him.
"I bet your just like your mama. slumming with the bad boys. Hopping up on your high horse, riding around in daddys car. Are you an ungrateful shit like she was?" He leans forward to me while talking to Kiara.
"I suggest you stop talking Luke." I threaten as I spin around and grab ahold of his throat.
"Dont talk about my family." Kiara tells him as we cut the conversation short, when JJ walks back out. "Lets get this over with yeah?" she tells JJ right before gets back in the car.
Once in, he notices something had gone down while he was gone andlooks between us. He interwines our hands before starting the car and driving off.
_______________________________
"You tell your mom hi." Luke tells Kiara as we pull up to wherever we needed to drop him off.
"Shut up." JJ tells him before pushing him out of the car.
See you later Delilah." He yells back at me.
"If you speak to me one more time, i wont hesitate to stab you." I tell him as i give him my middle finger as well as Kiara as JJ leads him away.
"Come on." I tell her as it had been a few minutes. We walk down the dock to see the boat leaving and JJ watching him leave.
My heart breaks when i hear him sniffle. Luke may not have been the best father, but he was his dad.
"It'll be ok J." I tell him as i lean over the wooden fence and wrap my arms around his front as he leans into me and hooks his hands over my wrists. I kiss his cheek softly before we all start to head off again to the others.
_________________________________
"Where the hell were you guys?" Pope yells at us as we finally arrive back to them.
"Paternal complications." Kiara manages to get out although im more focused on the fact that there is blood everywhere.
"Um what the hell happened?" I exclaim.
"John B got bit by a gator." Pope explains to us.
"Well are you ok JB?" I ask him.
"Just dandy." He breaths out.
Then everyone starts to argue.
"He got bit by a gator!"
"I dont know why im being yelled at i put my ass on the line."
"Your being yelled at cause it was 20 minutes"
"We got here as fast as we could!"
"Shut up!" JJ yells interupting everyone. "Seriously guys, i cant take it anymore alright." He tells us, leaning against a tree. "Everyone just cut it out for a second. Look i just helped my dad leave this island for good. Like, hes not ever coming back. He's straight up like the spanish. Just 'Bon voyage"
"Thats not the right language." Sarah mumbles smiling at me.
"And i know for a fact all i got is you guys okay? your it. And ive come to close to losing you, all of you. I mean shit you two almost drowned." He states, pointing at Kiara and I. "Pope, you were kidnapped. Sarah you've been shot. John B you were almost dinner for a freakin gator. So this blaming each other is some kook-ass bullshit, all right? We don't do that. We're pogues." He finishes. "Im sorry that was a lot."
"well done."
"best speech you've ever given." John B tells him as we all clap for him.
He just flips us all off.
"We just Bon voyage out of here." Sarah raises her fist in the air.
and finally the twinkie has been saved.
________________________________________
After we finally got the twinkie back on the road, we headed towards the church, where the clue was.
"So your telling me Denmark Tanny decided to hide the cross here?" JJ asks everyone.
"ok everyone just spread out."
"Well if i was a cross and wanted to be hidden in an old church. where would i hide?" John B asks himself.
"John B knowing you, you would accidentally hide yourself in the most obvious place." I tell him.
"Oh thats rich coming from you. Where did you use to hide when we'd play hide and seek huh?" He throws at me. "Under the bed."
"At least i didnt hide under the blanket dumbass. The worst spot you could pick." We argue.
"ok fuck you, that was one time."
"It was actually three times."
"Are we at the right church?" JJ interrupts us.
"It gotta be here somewhere."
"How about we just try and find obvious clues." JB tells JJ since he was the one that came up with a stupid suggestion of pressing buttons and playing chords on the piano.
"Its not an aescape room."
"We just gotta think about this logiclly. Where else would you hide a seven foot tall cross made of gold?"
"What?" we question Pope as he sits there looking upwards.
"Oh my god."
"Holy shit."
The cross was placed inside the wood. In the roof.
"And now Popes climbing the wall."
"Pope this isnt safe." We all try to tell him as he makes his way closer to the top.
"Bro just look out for that giant wasp nest above your head." JJ warns him as Pope slowly moves over to the next beam.
"This ones hollow. Get me a crow bar." Pope tells us to which Sarah runs out and grabs one for him.
"I dont want this entire church to collapse on top of us. Thats all im saying." JJ states.
"J shush. We've done more stupid shit, im sure bits of wood from a church isn't gona hurt us." i tell him putting my hand over his mouth.
"Ok but I'd like to get out of here without a scratch." he tell me as he pulls my hand away.
"Because you do that so often." I sarcastically smile at him. He flips me off with one hand while the other stays connected with his.
"Throw it." Pope tells Sarah as she comes back in the crow bar. We all step back but Pope ends up catching it thankfully.
As Pope starts to destroy the wood, we all start to lose our breath.
"holy shit."
"its there."
"you did it Pope." we cheer so loudly as the cross now sit openingly for everyone to see. But our celebrations are cut short when the wasps start to sting Pope and he's down dangling from the wood. We all scramble as quick as we can to find anything like the pillows to put underneath so he has something soft to fall on.
"Oh shit Pope you okay?" We all ask as we move towards him when he fell.
"You did not tuck and roll thats for sure."
"Oh Fuck guys move!" i yell at everyone as we look up to see the cross falling down right above us.