ch 20. the cross.

Max sits on the couch in the châteaus porch, a hungover kiara's legs strewn over her own when none other than sarah cameron lets herself inside. jj whistles, gathering the groups attention. "well hello, princess."

"what's up?" kie greets tiredly.

"shouldn't you be on figure eight with your little group of polo players?" john b asks, "or did you break up with topper?"

"we're just friends." sarah answers civilly, crossing to the other side of the porch.

"oh he's just a friend." john b repeats, "you have a lot of friends, sarah cameron."

"yeah and it seems like you've got some of your own, too." the blonde retorts.

john b sits up, kicking down his recliner. "all right, what are you doing here? what do you want?"

"i'm here for pope." sarah exhales, "i think i found the island room."

✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦

Maxine holds denmarks diary on her lap as john b drives the twinkie to tannyhill. pope speaks up, "guys, listen to this. the diary says the cross holds the most holy relic in all of christendom, the garment of the savior."

"so wait, he's saying there's a holy garment inside the cross?" kiara clarifies.

"yeah. it says the garments capable of healing the sick from any malady."

"mmm, yeah." jj chimes in, "if only i may touch His garment, i shall be made well."

his friends all to look at the blonde, furrowing their eyebrows in confusion.

"what? i went to sunday school."

maxine is doubtful, "sure."

"well, that explains why limbrey wants the cross so bad." pope concludes, "she thinks it can heal her."

"man, blondie is gettin' more delulu every second." max remarks.

jj cuts her a look, "delulu?"

"what else does it say?" kiara speaks over the pairs usual banter.

"many feel that we have sinned to steal such a sacred thing, and God will strike His vengeance on us." pope reads.

"thing is, God did have His vengeance." kiara realizes.

pope nods, "he sent a hurricane to sink the ship. only denmark survived."

the group arrives at the cameron residence, following sarah inside.

"this place still freaks me out." john b whispers as sarah leads them upstairs.

the blonde opens a door, revealing the island room. "pope, look."

pope is astonished. "woah. you've got to be kidding me."

"i know right? it's the island room. it's been here this whole time."

maxine enters the room behind the older kids, "no freakin' way."

"this definitely means somethin'." jj remarks.

"this is incredible." john b looks at the images printed on the wall, "yo, this is a map of the whole island."

"yeah, john b, i think you're right because this is rixons right here." jj points, "and then there's the lighthouse."

"guys, look!" max runs a hand over the wall, "parcel nine and the well."

"okay so, if that's parcel nine...and that's rixons, then that's gotta be the surf break at mase." john b works out.

"right, and look." jj holds a page from the diary up against a drawing on the wall, "pope, come here. this is denmarks handwriting for sure."

pope looks over the blondes shoulder, "the drawings. they match up."

"holy shit."

"denmark, you genius!" pope looks around the room, "these are all his drawings. he painted this entire room."

"the question is why." maxine runs her hand along the artwork, "what's he tryin' to tell us?"

"it's gotta have something to do with the key, right?" jj guesses.

"yeah, but what?"

john b approaches sarah, "how did you know to uncover this?"

"i didn't." the blonde admits, "it was like this when i got home."

"what?"

"okay, then who did it?"

"i don't know." sarah shrugs.

"the freaks." a voice speaks up from behind.

the group gasps, spinning around to face wheezie, sarah's little sister. jj makes a fist, nearly punching the younger girl out. "jesus!"

"wait, what freaks wheeze?" kiara asks.

"that sick lady and her attack dog." the youngest cameron answers, "they showed up last night and wanted to talk to rafe."

"wait....pale blonde lady?" jj asks.

max adds, "she have crutches?"

wheezie nods to both of these.

"it's gotta be limbrey."

"what happened?" john b questions further.

"well at 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." wheezie explains, "and they were talking about getting across the sand flamingo."

"that's code. that's code for something." jj mumbles.

pope disagrees, "the cross. the cross of santo damingo?"

"yeah, that's it." wheezie nods, "oh, and then were talking about angels. a lot of angel talk, i don't know."

pope pauses with a sudden epiphany, "guys. denmarks 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 angel in the room."

"start looking, start looking,"

"spread out!"

the teens disperse throughout the room, scanning over each tiny detail. maxine zeros in on a painting of a tree with the specific detail of a keyhole included in its bark. "uh, guys, i think i found somethin'! come here." she waits for her friends to gather, "i've seen this tree on goat island. you know what it's called?"

"angel oak." pope answers in disbelief.

max points at the keyhole, "and look right here. there's the keyhole."

"wait. that means the cross is buried at the foot of the angel." pope breathes out, "wow. that must be where he put it. that must be where they are right now! we have to go!" he grabs the teens shoulders in excitement, jostling her around.

"just call me sherlock holmes, all right?" maxine calls out, "you're welcome by the way!"

john b rolls eyes, "yeah, hurry up sherlock."

✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦

"There it is," kie points as they approach goats island, "angel oak."

"oh, shit." john b curses, "the tides coming in."

"wait a second, look." pope gestures to the muddy tire tracks leading through the road, "they already came through here. those have to be limbreys tire tracks. guys, we gotta go."

"what do you think, chief?" jj asks john b.

"i'm thinking it's looking a little dicey."

"yeah, i'm gonna have to agree with that statement."

"pussies!" maxine cups both hands around her mouth. "clearly they made it through."

"yeah, but in a two wheel drive?" jj turns to the teen, "i dunno about that."

"why are y'all acting like you're not gonna do it anyways?" sarah pipes up from beside maxine. "like when have y'all ever done the safe thing?"

john b shrugs. "she's got a point."

"all right, speed is your friend here, okay?" jj advises, "put her down in second and hammer down, brother."

maxine, sarah, pope, and kiara all brace themselves, grabbing onto the backseats. "stick to the ground in the middle, john b."

"all right, ready? here we go." the driver pressed onto the gas pedal, peeling through the mud.

"come on bro, punch it!" jj reminds, "speed is your friend. you're not going fast enough!"

"i'm in second." john b defends.

kiara cries out, "it's gonna slide!"

"you're fishtailing already!"

"yeah, i know."

pope sticks his head between the two front seats, "not to put anymore pressure on you, but if you don't make it through here, we're gonna be stuck here. forever!"

"relax." john b uses a hand to shove the boy away, "put your head back."

the group lets out a simultaneous breath of relief when the van makes it to the other side of the mud pit. "i told you we'd make it." john b downplays.

"right here, right here." max has the older boy come to a stop. "i think it's right through here."

jj hops out first, sliding open the back doors to let the group jump out of the van, "alright, so. word to the wise—definitely know that gators best back here, so keep your eyes peeled, okay? you definitely don't wanna step on a mama gator. that's the last thing you wanna have happen."

kiara raises an eyebrow, "they have nests?"

"seems like a good place to park." sarah motions toward the van.

"yeah," jj tells kie, "you don't wanna be a pat womack. she had her calf chewed off by a gator. you know that, right?"

"that's actually not true." kiara debunks, "pat womack was injured in a car accident, but, i hear you."

"okay, just live in ignorance. but, like, she had her calf chewed off by a mama gator. i know that for a fact." jj pauses as they approach the swamp, "they like the brackish water. wait, hold on. i see somethin'."

"what are you doing?"

jj grabs a stick and jabs it into the water.

maxine rolls her eyes, "right. wake them up, that's smart."

"i was just making sure it wasn't a gator. that's all, all right?" the blonde insists, leading the group forward after pope.

"shh," pope gestures as they approach sounds of an engine running.

maxine jogs ahead, peering over the older boys shoulder. "hey," she whispers, motioning for her other friends to catch up.

"it's there." they overhear limbrey saying, "the garment will be in the cross and the cross will be at the foot of the tree."

"all right, well, whatever we find i get my cut." renfield responds.

"the actual garment. you understand the significance."

"i do, carla. completely."

"one touch of it and i'll be healed, and this long nightmare will be over."

"your lips to gods ears." renfield sounds unconvinced.

"i know that you don't believe it, but countless stories over millennia prove that..." limbrey hands her crutches to her halfbrother, letting out a sigh of relief as she takes a seat, "miracles happen."

there's a sudden sound of wood crunching from beneath the digger. limbrey snatch's back her crutches, "hey! stop! please stop. did you hear it? get in there, boys. do it by hand." she orders rafe and renfield, rising to her feet and shakily looking over the hole. "it's smaller than i thought. it looks like a—"

"casket." rafe finishes.

limbrey chuckles, "he put it in a casket. denmark put it in a casket. get it up."

the pogues watch through the bushes as renfield and rafe work together to remove the casket from its burial site.

"they got the cross," jj turns to john b, "what do we do?"

"what can we do?"

"be careful." limbrey reminds her goons, "don't touch anything." 

renfield flips open the top of the casket, "it's just a corpse. sorry carla."

limbrey pales, shakily rising back to her feet. "we must have missed something."

"of course. of course it's just a dead body." rafe complains, "jesus!"

"we just got the wrong place. we'll go back to the island room." limbrey decides, "we're going back!it's not over!"

as soon as limbrey and her followers clear out, pope shoves his way through the bushes and starts toward the casket.

"pope, wait. wait! shit." jj curses as they race after him.

pope stops at the casket, "cecilia tanny." he crouches down, "denmarks wife." he looks back toward the tree, rising to his feet. "he wasn't talking about the cross. he buried her at the foot of the angel."

"the true treasure." kiara realizes. "his wife."

pope sits back down beside the casket, overcome with emotion. "denmark was hung for burying his wife, and now they defiled her grave."

the friends join him comfortingly. maxine reaches her hand inside the casket, gently removing an old ring. "this must have been from denmark."

"her wedding ring." sarah delicately runs her fingers over the object, risking a glance toward her now ex-fiancée, john b.

"we can't leave her like this."

"we won't." john b assures pope.

the six friends work together to rebury cecilia tanny.

"i just don't get it." pope sputters as the last of the dirt is returned on top the casket. "i mean, you guys saw the map. he hides his gold so no one finds it for a hundred and seventy years. and then he sends a message to his son robert to come here to his mothers grave, but the message never gets to him, and denmark wanted him to find the cross. i know we're in the right spot, it just feels like—"

"like we missed somethin'?" max interrupts, gazing up into the angel tree. "guys, come here." she hoists herself on top of the twinkie, jj joining the younger girl. maxine points at a hole in the trees trunk, "that looks like—"

"the painting in the island room." jj finishes. "it's worth a shot, right?"

"what did i tell you, i'm sherlock holmes!"max whoops.

jj gestures for the girl to check the hole, "okay, so go for it, then."

she steps backwards, "no chance. have you ever seen a horror movie?"

"you do it!" sarah tells jj.

"yeah, i went in the storm drain and almost drowned, so..." maxine shrugs, "your turn."

"yeah. no, i'm gonna do it. it's just..." the boy hesitates slightly.

"he's scared." maxine whispers.

"i'm not scared."

kiara agrees, "you seem scared."

jj rather reluctantly reaches into the hole, "there's something in here. wait," he chuckles slightly before screaming, acting as though he's being pulled by something from inside the tree.

max grabs ahold of the boys shirt in an attempt to pull him back. the friends remaining on the ground all shout indistinctly; john b reaches on top the vans roof as though he's about to climb up as well.

jj stops struggling, immediately breaking out in laughter.

"oh, you asshole!" pope exclaims, unamused.

"i got all of you on that one."

"oh, yeah. real original." maxine rolls her eyes.

kie quips, "funny."

"no but seriously, there's something in here." jj removes his hand from the hole, revealing a spy glass.

"lemme see." he passes it down to pope, who reads, "hms royal merchant!"

as maxine takes a seat on the top of the van, jj hops down, "give it to the captain. here we go, it's a spyglass." he opens it up, looking through it.

"there's something on the ends." kiara spots.

john b grabs the object, reading an inscription from its side, "look at that shit!"

"what does it say?" max pipes up.

pope reads, "you've come this far, do not falter. the cross is on the freedman's alter." he closes the spyglass, "freedman's alter. the cross is at the church!"

maxine shoots down from the van, "what are we still doin' here? c'mon!"

✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦

"Ah, shit! the tide!" no surprise — the group had come across yet another obstacle. "well, this doesn't look good."

"how deep is that?" maxine asks.

"i dunno. the roads gone." john b slams on the breaks.

"tide rose a little faster than i thought it would," jj points out.

max rolls her eyes, "just a little bit."

"uh, john b, how high are the spark plugs?" jj asks, ignoring maxine's usual sarcasm.

"they're good," the boy tries dodging the question, "we're fine."

"but how high are they?"

"oh, uh...." john b sticks his head out the open window, "just above the taillight."

"okay, so that's...what? like three feet?"

"that's three feet, yeah."

"that water can't be three feet deep." kiara chimes in.

"so then what's the problem?" john b asks jj.

the blonde shakes his head. "not a problem. no, we're good. she'll make it."

"ladies and gentlemen, fasten your seatbelts, hold on to something." john b advises. "we're going into hyperdrive."

the girls and pope quickly grab onto the handles attached to the ceiling in the backseats. from the passenger seat, jj quips, "i'm gonna say a quick prayer."

"three, two, one!" john b slams into the gas. at first, the van sticks in the mud before taking off.

"you got this! you got this!"

"faster! faster!"

"speed is your friend, speed is your friend john b!"

at the very last second, right before making it to the other end of the flood, the van veers to the right, just narrowly missing several trees. maxine slams into the side door, "ah, shit!"

"no, no, no, no!" john b shakes his head in disbelief.

"i think we miscalculated." pope offers.

jj groans, "i knew i should've driven."

the six friends climb out of the twinkie, finding themselves standing knee deep in high tide.

"maybe we can walk from here." pope helpfully suggests.

"and leave the twinkie?" john b gestures to his prized van, "the tides coming in."

"so then what are we supposed to do?"

"not stay here." jj helpfully answers sarah.

after a moment of deliberation, kiara speaks up. "i can take my dads truck."

"kie, are you sure?" john b asks, knowing the girl wasn't on best of terms with either of her parents.

she sighs. "how much worse can it get, you know?"

"we're gonna need something to pull her out with." jj says, quickly remembering, "there's the winch at the château. that's, like, two miles."

"yeah, that's a good idea." sarah agrees.

"okay, if you're gonna do it, let's go, okay?" john b reminds, "tides going in. twinkies going underwater."

"double time, kie." jj quips as he and kiara begin making their way out of the water, "we gotta move."

✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦

Apparently jj forgot the concept of 'double time, as they didn't 'move' very well. "how long does it take to go two miles and back with a car? they take the scenic route?" maxine sprawls out beside sarah on the twinkies roof. 

"should i go look for them?" pope asks, "should i go find them and bring them back?"

john b stuffs his bandana in his mouth, "i don't know. just give me a sec."

"damn it! every time!" pope continues ranting, "why did we have to send jj and kiara, the slowest people on earth? this is always happening to us! we're always right there, and then it's bullshit!"

calming down, he wades closer to the twinkie, "so, here's something i think we can do. we can find something to leverage the twinkie and then you drive it out."

"try driftwood." max pipes up.

"yeah, driftwood'll work."

the younger girl climbs down into the water, "i'll help look. i'm that bored."

"thanks, max...i guess." john b says hesitantly.

"let me know if you guys find anything." pope calls out as he begins looking in the other direction.

"we will!"

maxine wades further and further away from the van and her friends until she's more than waist deep in the murky water. she spots what appears to be a large piece of driftwood, "hey, boys! i found some, come help me!"

"give me a second!" pope calls back.

john b responds the same, "be right there!"

never having been very patient, max heads closer to the driftwood on her own. as soon as she is within grabbing distance, the 'wood' turns into an alligator and hops up with a snarl. max falls back into the water, limbs flailing widely.

having heard the violent splashes, sarah sits up straight. "max?"

the younger girl is able to get her head above water just long enough to frantically shout, "help!" before being dragged back under.

sarah leaps off of the van, "pope! john b! i need help!"

pope turns his head at the frantic tone of the girls voice, witnessing maxine flailing about desperately in the water.

"max, hold on!" sarah reaches inside the twinkie and grabs a knife.

"sarah, what's happening?" john b calls over.

"john b, hurry!" sarah yells back, panting as she tries reaching maxine.

the boys finally realize the dire situation, shouting, "max!"

"a gator has her!" sarah yells, stopping in her tracks when the water suddenly goes still. "max," she whispers, no longer seeing the flailing girl.

maxine pops back above the surface, desperately trying to wrestle the creature off of her. the gator grabs ahold of the teen and tugs her back underwater just as sarah lunges forward, stabbing the animal obsessively over and over until it eventually releases maxine, swimming off and leaving a trail of blood.

pope and john b finally reach the girls, grabbing ahold of their injured friend. "you okay, kid?" "holy shit!"

"go!" sarah pants, watching the gator retreat. she slings one of maxs arms over her shoulder, john b keeping hold of the other as the younger girl continues gasping for air.

the three older kids help hoist maxine on top of the twinkie as she winces in pain. "alright, be careful. i'm pretty sure that thing'll get infected."

"thanks, pope." max rolls her eyes, flinching when sarah presses on her open wound. "jesus christ, sarah!"

"stop moving!" the blonde tightens her grip, "yeah, you're lucky. it didn't cut into muscle too much."

"lucky would've been not gettin' bit by a freakin' gator!" max scoffs, "this is what i get for helpin' you two bozos."

"okay, hey." john b holds up a hand, "this is not on us."

"then who's it on, huh? cause i'm pretty sure your ass is the one that couldn't steer straight!"

"okay, that is not helping anyone." sarah chastises. she looks over at her ex, "do you have something to wrap it with, to stop the bleeding?"

"yeah, uh..." john b reaches into his jacket pocket, retrieving his bandana. sarah pauses slightly, remembering the value the fabric had during their relationship, but ultimately takes it and begins to tie it around max's wound.

"oh, and speak of the frickin' devil." pope looks up as jj and kiara back their stolen truck into the woods. "look who it is, the tortoise and the tortoise!"

"just a couple hours late." john b throws his hands up, "where the hell were you guys!"

"paternal complications," kiara gestures toward jj as they exit her fathers truck.

jj retrieves his winch from the trucks bed, "luke was at the château."

"oh, great. while you were having family time with your pops, max got bit by a gator!" john b gestures to the teen.

jj pauses, "like, for real?"

"does it look like he's jokin'?" max points to her bloody leg, "awe, hell. that bastard ruined my favorite overalls!" she whines, pointing to the rips all throughout the denim.

"okay, what the hell happened?" kie steps forward.

"what happened is i got bit by a gator!" max yells back, pope and john b simultaneously shouting, "she got bit by a gator!"

"i don't know why i'm being yelled at because i put my ass on the line." kiara argues.

"you're being yelled at because it's been two hours and you guys said twenty minutes!"

"okay well we got here as fast as we could, dude." kiara argues back at the boys.

max perches awkwardly on the vans roof as the older kids continuing shouting at each other until, finally, jj cuts in.

"shut up!" he shouts, "seriously guys. i can't take it anymore, all right? everyone just cut it out for a second." jj takes a step back, leaning up against a nearby tree, "look, i just helped my dad leave this island. for good. like, he's not ever coming back. he straight up like the spanish, just, bon voyage."

kiara raises her eyebrows in confusion; john b and pope glance at each other, "that's french."

"not the right language." sarah whispers.

"all we got..." jj continues, unfazed, "and i know for a fact all i got is you guys, okay? you're it. and i've come too close to losing you. all of you! i mean, shit, like, you almost drowned and were almost dinner for a frickin gator!" he gestures to maxine before turning to each one of his friends, "pope, you were kidnapped. sarah, you've been shot. kie, your parents keep threatening to ship you off to some kooky boarding school and john b, you were almost executed. so this blaming each other is some kook-ass bullshit, all right? we don't do that, okay? we're pogues." he pauses, takes a breath. "sorry. that was a lot right now. i didn't mean to..."

john b looks at his friends, shrugging before they all start clapping at jj's pep talk. "well done."

"i gotta be honest—that was the best freaking speech you have ever given. also, you should think about, like, a rosetta stone because your spanish and french are flip-flopped." john b advises.

jj holds up both middle fingers in response.

"we should bon-voyage outta here," maxine suggests, pumping a fist into the air.

"all right, let's get this damn twinkie out of here." jj turns and heads back to the truck. john b helps maxine inside the van while the blonde boy hooks the vehicle up to the truck.

jj climbs into the bed of kiara's truck while they slowly free the twinkie from its mud-trap, "keep it coming, keep her coming! she's almost out. keep it going...easy, easy, easy! sarah, to the right. straighten out!"

"i am!" the blonde girl insists from her spot behind the wheel just as the vehicle finally unsticks from the mud.

"whoo!" jj hoots, "the twinkie lives! the twinkie lives!"

✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦

"So you're tellin' me denmark decided to hide that cross here?" pope nods at maxine, who is currently limping after her friends as they arrive at freedman's church, "mm-hmm."

"okay, everybody just spread out." kiara instructs.

"well, if i was a cross and i wanted to be hidden in an old church, where would i hide?" john b thinks out loud.

jj is skeptical. "are you sure that denmark hid the cross here, pope? like, are we at the right church?"

"it's gotta be here somewhere, guys."

jj heads over to an old piano in the corner of the room, "what if we have to push a secret button or, like, play a certain cord, and then all of a sudden the ground beneath us reveals the catacombs or something on which we stand?"

maxine lets out a groan, carefully lowering herself down onto an old pew. kiara notices, immediately moving to the younger girls side, "you good? is it your leg?"

"yeah, no, it's just that jj's stupidity physically pains me." kiara lets out a laugh at maxine's response, joining her on the pew.

"how about we try to find obvious clues?" john b suggests.

kie nods, "yeah, it's not an escape room."

"it's gotta be in here!" pope paces with frustration.

"look, i just can't see where they would hide a giant ass cross here." max speaks up.

"no, no. there's no way he would set us up on a freaking goose chase that would lead us to a church that has nothing in it!" pope shouts. "the clues led us here. the cross is in this church!" he collapses onto a pew, sitting beside kiara.

"pope, it'll be all right!" john b reassures, "we've had setbacks in the past and we figured it out. we're gonna find it."

"he's right." kiara soothes as pope pulls out denmarks spyglass.

"look, we've just gotta think about this logically, all right?" john b continues, "where else would you hide a seven foot tall cross made of gold?"

pope lowers the spyglass, slowly rising from his seat. the other teens follow his gaze up to the wooden beams of the church—suspiciously in the shape of a giant cross.

"oh my god," kie breathes out, "look at that."

pope rushes to the wall, hooking his hands into spots where the wood as withered away, creating small hand holes.

john b groans, "now popes climbing the wall."

"pope, wait. this is crazy!"

"pope this church is old." kie tries reasoning. "like really old. this isn't safe!"

"this church gots to be at least two hundred years old." jj enlightens.

"he's right, pope! it's too dangerous."

"yeah, let's be real for sec." max chimes in, using john b's arm to carefully rise from the pew, "you aren't the most coordinated person on the planet."

pope ignores his friends pleas, continuing to scale the side of the church until reaching the wooden beams, banging on the first, "all right, this one's solid wood. i'm gonna try the other beam."

"that's rotten as shit right there, okay?"

pope maneuvers around the first beam, pressing against the second.

"hate to break it to you, man, but that's wood." max calls up.

"no, no." pope grunts, pulling himself to a standing position, "it has to be here. i know it!"

"bro, just lookout for that giant wasp nest right above your head." jj warns.

"just move slow, alright?" john b advises, "nice and easy."

pope slowly moves further across the beams, kicking down a piece of wood from off one of the wooden crosses.

a piece just narrowly misses maxine, "hey! just take out the crippled, why don't you!"

"look!" pope gasps, "its hollow. go get me a crowbar!"

sarah nods, heading out of the church, "i'll be right back."

"what are you gonna do, pope?" jj asks, "i don't want this entire church to collapse on top of us."

"yeah, that'd be less than ideal." max quips.

"hey, pope," sarah returns with the crowbar.

"throw it!"

"oh, for real?" kie steps back. maxine carefully shuffles out of the danger zone.

john b advises, "everybody watch your heads."

sarah tosses the metal up into the beams; pope effortlessly catches it with one hand. "ah! got it!"

max shrugs, slow clapping. "not bad."

"hey, pope. there's the wasps nest right there." john b points, "just move slow, all right?"

"got it." pope tears into the wood with the crowbar, revealing thick clouds of dust.

max gapes, "what is that?"

"did you guys see that?" john b asks.

pope continuing ripping away at the wooden beam, eventually revealing pure gold. the group gasps in disbelief, "holy shit. it's here."

"oh my god."

jj whispers in amazement, "you did it, buddy."

"holy shit! holy shit!" kiara repeats.

"oh my god!" max jumps up and down as best she can, excitedly grabbing onto sarah. kie joins, and the three girls jump around holding on to one another in celebration.

john b cheers, "we did it!"

continuing to chip at the wood, pope shouts in excitement, "ohh my god! we did it! we did it!"

"i thought you were crazy!" kiara admits.

the wasps start to notice pope, swarming him. "okay, they're stinging now. ow!"

"take it easy, take it easy!" jj shouts as the crowbar falls from popes grip, landing with a clang on the church floor.

"ow!" pope continues swatting at the insects, loosing his grip and falling from the beam. he grips his fingers over the ledge, desperately trying to keep himself from falling to the church's hardwood floors. "the pogues gasp as kie shouts, "move the pews! move the pews!"

the teens quickly work together to move the church pews out of the way, tossing their seat cushions into a pile below pope. "hold on!"

"i can't hold, i can't hold on!" pope shouts, loosing grip in one hand when he is stung on the knuckles by a wasp. "i'm slipping, guys!"

"hold on!" "pope, hang on!"

he looses his grip, tumbling down and landing on his back on the old couch cushions. his friends rush over, "are you okay?" "pope, you good?"

max snickers, "that was quite the form, dude."

jj nods in agreement, "you did not tuck and roll, that's for sure."

suddenly the bolts on the giant cross become loose, sending it toppling down from its beam and heading straight towards pope.