┏━━━━━━༻❁༺━━━━━━┓
❝ i think that went swimmingly ❞
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𝘚𝘺𝘭𝘷𝘪𝘦'𝘴 𝘗𝘖𝘝

Once Carla Limbrey and her men all clear away from the area, Pope storms out from next to us in anger and I don't hesitate to chase after him, the Pogues right behind me.

"Pope. Pope, wait. Wait! Shit" JJ snaps as we all chase after the Heyward boy "Wait, wait. Yo"

I pause beside Pope as he kneels down by the casket with a broken expression and I kneel down next to him, gently placing my hand on his shoulder.

"Cecilia Tanny, Denmark's wife" Pope speaks up "He wasn't talking about the cross. He buried her at the foot of the angel"

"The true treasure" Kiara realises.

"His wife" John B adds.

Pope lets out a choked cry, laying his head on my shoulder and I move my arm around him while JJ places a hand on his other shoulder in comfort.

"Denmark was hung for burying his wife, and now they defiled her grave" He sniffles and I press a soft kiss to his head.

The Heyward boy shakily reaches out and plucks up a small oval shaped piece of metal, swiping the dirt off it to reveal the name Cecilia engraved into it. I watch my friend stare at the name and my heart aches in my chest, wanting to do anything to make the boy smile.

"This must have been from Denmark" Sarah says, holding up a dusty ring "Her wedding ring"

Pope places the named piece of metal back into the casket and lifts his head from my shoulder, looking around at all of us with a saddened expression.

"We can't leave her like this" Pope croaks.

"We won't" John B assures him.

"We've got your back, Po" I murmur and he smiles at me gratefully through his tears.

We all pull ourselves to our feet and get to work, trying our best to undo the damage that the crew caused.

The Pogues and I place the lid back onto the casket before hammering the nails back into place, securing it closed. Pope then places flowers on top of the wood that he picked as JJ and John B lower the casket back into the ground before picking up a shovel, starting to fill the hole back in.

"I just don't get it" Pope sputters as the boys finish up "I mean, 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 gets to him"

"And Denmark wanted him to find the cross. I know we're in the right spot. It just feels like-" Pope rants wildly.

"Like we missed something?" JJ finishes for him, looking up at the tree thoughtfully.

"Guys. Come here" The Maybank boy adds, walking over to the van which is under the tree and climbing on top of it.

"There he goes" John B breathes out.

"Give me a hand, Johnny?" I ask the brunette who clasps his hands together and I place my foot in them, letting him boost me up next to JJ.

"Whoa" Pope breathes out as JJ points at a large hole in the tree.

"That looks like-" JJ starts but he's cut off.

"The painting in the island room" Kiara quips.

"It's worth a shot, right?" JJ chirps.

"Yeah" Kiara answers and I nod at the boy in response.

"Let's do it" John B agrees.

"Go for it" JJ tells me, stepping back slightly to let me past.

"Me? Why me?" I question in confusion.

"You do it!" Sarah yells at JJ.

"Yeah. No, I'm gonna do it. It's just..." JJ hesitates, shaking his hands out.

"He's scared" Kiara whispers, making me giggle.

"I'm not scared, dude" JJ argues.

"You seem scared" Kiara grins in amusement.

"Move out the way" I huff, slipping past my boyfriend.

I take a deep breath for confidence and Push my hand into the hole in the tree, my whole arm being swallowed by the tree. I almost immediately feel something metal and cold, making me shiver in surprise.

"Can you feel anything?" JJ asks me impatiently.

"Yeah, I can feel something in here" I answer with a nod before getting a wicked idea "Wait"

A sudden scream rips through my throat and I start thrashing around wildly as if my arm is stuck, being held my something. Sarah, John B, Pope and Kiara all try to scale the van in horror as they scream while JJ grabs onto me, desperately trying to pull me away from the tree in fear

"Sylvie!" My boyfriend cries out in fright.

I stop freaking out, a laugh bubbling out and my friends all deflate, breathing out in relief and annoyance.

"Oh, you asshole" Pope spits up at me.

"Oh, dude! You should've seen your faces" I laugh to myself in amusement.

"Oh, yeah, real original" Pope scoffs, clearly irritated with me.

"No, but seriously, there's actually something in here, Po" I tell the boy, pulling out the metal object that I realise is long and cylinder shaped.

"Let me see it" Pope perks up.

I hand the object down to Pope and I'm pulled into a warm pair of arms, turning my head to look at JJ.

"Don't ever do that to me again" He mutters out.

"I got you good" I grin at him and he gently head butts me with an annoyed pout.

I look down at Pope to see him wipe the dust off the wooden part of the cylinder to reveal words carved into it.

"HMS Royal Merchant" Pope reads out.

"Give it to the captain" JJ declares, jumping down and snatching it from Pope "Here we go. It's a spyglass"

He extends the cylinder, proving that it is in fact a telescope and he lifts it to his eye, looking through it with a proud smile on his face. JJ then passes the scope to John B to inspect and Kiara offers me her hand which I happily accept, jumping down from the roof.

"Idiot" My sister comments at me with a playful glare and Kiara pushes me with a grin, making me giggle.

"There's something on the ends" Kiara points out to the boys.

"An inscription right there. Look at that shit" John B shows Pope.

"Oh, what does it say?" JJ perks up excitedly.

"'You've come this far. Do not falter. The cross is on the Freedman's altar.'" Pope reads aloud before looking at us in disbelief "'Freedman's altar.' The cross is at the church!"

"What are we doing here, guys? Come on!" JJ hollers.

"Let's hit the road!" I whoop, wrapping my arms around the girls.

"We got it!" Pope cheers

"Woogity-woogity" JJ and Pope celebrate with our signature handshake.

✯¸.•'*¨'*•༻❁༺•*'¨*'•.¸✯

"Ah, crap! The tide" John B curses, the van slowing to a stop.

"Oh, this doesn't look good" Pope comments.

I look up from my seat in the back to get a better look at the flooded road and I curse under my breath.

"How deep is that?" Kiara questions.

"I dunno. The road's gone" John B answers

"The tide rose a little faster than I thought it would" JJ states.

"Just a little bit" John B scoffs.

"Uh, John B, how high are the spark plugs?" My boyfriend asks.

"They're good. We're fine" The Routledge boy shrugs.

"How high are they?" Pope presses.

"Oh, um..." John B drawls off, sticking his head out the window to look back for the spark plugs "Uh, just above the taillight"

"Okay, so that's, what, three feet?" Pope calculates.

"That's three feet. Yeah" JJ confirms.

"That water can't be three feet deep" Kiara reasons and Sarah gives a doubtful look that I can't help but agree with.

"I don't know, Kie. It looks pretty deep" I mumble.

"Then what's the problem?" John B counters, ignoring my negative answer.

"Not a problem. No, we're good. We're good. She'll make it" JJ mutters out, but I'm sure he's trying to convince himself more than us.

"Yeah. Ladies and gentlemen, fasten your seat belts. Hold on to something. We're going into hyperdrive" John B announces.

"I'll say a quick prayer" JJ declares, blessing himself.

"Dear God" I groan, grabbing onto Kiara's leg from where I'm sat on the floor.

"Three, two, one" John B counts down before slamming down on the accelerator.

The van struggles to get through the mud at first and we all starts panicking, clinging onto the closest thing possible in worry.

"Okay. You got this! You got this!" JJ hollers as the van speeds forward into the water "Faster! Faster!"

"Whoa! Whoa!" John B yells.

"Speed is your friend. Speed is your friend, John B" JJ warns his best friend and we all cheer as we near the end "You got it! You got it!"

The van abruptly swerves into the swamp and we all scream in fear as I squeeze Kiara tightly, the girl grabbing onto my shoulder wit her free hand.

"Oh my God! Oh my God!" Sarah screeches "Ah! shit! Oh!"

"No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no" John B repeatedly mutters out in disbelief.

"I think we miscalculated" Pope declares.

"No, I think that went swimmingly" I retort sarcastically and Sarah gives the Heyward boy a sarcastic look, showing him an in of space between her thumb and pointer finger.

"I knew I should have driven" JJ snaps.