So i have to apologize in advance for this chapter. I struggled with this one. I deleted this and rewrote it several times until finally just giving into it. This is a filler chapter that is needed to get to where i needed to get but seems rough as i re-read it.
Anyway this is really just background that we all know on Denmark that they Pogues had to figure out at some point.
So anyway heres this chapter and hope you stick with this story even if this isn't the best chapter.
"What the hell are you talking about Pope?" Kie asked. Once he could breathe again he began pacing walking between us and around the hot tub.
"So, I was at home right, working on my scholarship essay and I couldn't get the image of the wheat on those bars out of my head, so I thought hey, that could be something. Anyway I went to the Library because the internet is still out at my house…"
"Dude." I said stepping in front of him and holding his arms to stop him from pacing. "The point Pope… get to the point."
"Right… Right." He nodded and looked up at the others. "You all know the story of the Royal Merchant yeah?"
"The ship that went down of the coast, people have been looking for it for years." Sarah questioned and Pope nodded eagerly.
"Wait the gold on Scooters boat… are you telling us that's from the Royal Merchant?" I asked turning to JJ who was staring wide eyed at Pope in disbelief.
"My dad was working on research for the Royal Merchant before he disappeared." John B said quietly pulling out his father's compass running his thumb over the top of it.
"If you fathers compass was in Scooters boat with some of the gold from the Merchant…." Kie commented piecing together all the information. Pope had finally stopped moving and had sat himself on the cover of the hot tub. He seemed to be enjoying watching us all come to the same conclusion he had earlier.
"John B, did your dad find the Merchant?" I asked turning to him and he seemed to be lost in thought staring at the watch.
"How much did they say was on the Merchant?" JJ asked looking at all of us. Pope leaned forward and slowly answered JJ.
"400 Million in gold." He stated and an audible gasp filled the air around us.
"Holy shit." JJ state his hand running through his hair.
"So why did Grubs have it? And why are those guys looking for it?" Sarah asked and none of us had any answers. John B still seemed to be stuck in his head, his eyes not leaving the compass. There were so many more questions that we had now, but none were going to be answered that day. The sun was starting to set and myself personally, I was exhausted. Having been up since the day before with little to no sleep my brain wasn't going to be able to process anymore.
"Sarah… that guy your dad has hanging in his office, what his name again?" I asked sleepily from my place in the Hammock, JJ lying beside me his hand running through my hair softly. The others were set up around the fire beside us talking. The conversation around the gold had died down when we started talking in circles and getting frustrated, now it was mindless banter about whatever we could think of.
"You mean Denmark Tanny?" She answered and I nodded turning my head to look at her as she turned in John B's arms.
"Didn't you say he bought a bunch of land with gold?" I asked.
"Yeah. He's kind of a mystery though. He showed up with a bunch of gold freed all the slaves and then bought all the land around Tannyhill." She shrugged and I could see everyone else's interest peak as she spoke. "You think he had the gold?"
"I mean its possible, isn't it?"
"Everyone from the Merchant died when the ship went down." Pope pointed out.
"Yeah but Slaves weren't labeled as crew, so it is entirely possible." John B countered.
"We found a bunch of books and stuff when we moved in, there all at Chapel Hill." Sarah mentioned
"Can you get us in there?" John B asked, I could hear the excitement in his voice and he wasn't going to take no for an answer.
"I mean my dad has a pass so yeah but…"
"Hold up. Rowyn and I have work tomorrow so we can't…"
"Wait what?" I asked sitting up a bit to look at Kie who just shrugged. "I was pretty sure I quit.. or was fired after the whole thing with my dad."
"Fat chance my parents are letting you go that easy." Kie laughed. JJ laughed beside me.
"Why are you laughing, you have to work tomorrow to." I smiled at him and his own smile fell as he groaned. "You can't keep calling off."
"Yeah, Yeah." He sighed rubbing his eyes.
"Yeah I'm out too guys. I have to get my scholarship essay finished, my Pops has been riding me since Midsummer." Pope added.
"Okay so Sarah and I go to Chapel Hill and we meet back here tomorrow night?" John B suggested. We all agreed and as the night got cooler, we slowly dispersed to our beds and homes.
After rolling JJ out of bed and forcing him to get dressed and head to the club I slowly made my way to The Wreck. Walking in it felt like nothing had changed, as if the last few days hadn't happened. As I moved through the motions to prep the restaurant for the lunch service Kie walked in with her mom and dad.
"Hey sweetie." Anna came up to me instantly wrapping her arms around me. I remember when I used to be uncomfortable with the hugs she would give me, used to shy away from them, but after a while, I looked forward to them.
"Hi Ms. Carrera." I smiled hugging her back. She pulled away and reached up to my face and I knew she saw the small mark on my cheek still red even days later. "I'm sorry about…"
"Don't apologize for any of that." She interrupted shaking her head and she released my face putting her hand on my shoulders. "If you ever need anything, we are always here."
"Thanks." I nodded. I had to blink a few times to keep the tears from building up. After collecting ourselves we started our shifts. The lunch rush came and went and I was sitting at the counter filling napkin holders when Kie came and sat down.
"Okay spill." She said grabbing a few napkins and filling a holder. I raised an eyebrow to her confused and she rolled her eyes, "Don't give me that, I gave you time now you owe me an explanation for yesterday."
"Kie…"
"Don't Kie me." She turned towards me this time and her face was set in a firm scowl. "You left yesterday with zero explanation and left me with nothing, I deserve something Rowyn. No secrets amongst Pogues."
"I went and talked to Topper." I sighed, and her eyes went wide. "Before you go the wrong direction… I asked him to drop the charges."
"You what?" she stated her voice rising and I had to put my finger to my lips to get her to quiet down. "What the hell were you thinking?"
"I was thinking that Topper isn't as bad as you all make him out to be, and I don't think he ever wanted to press charges, which I was right by the way." I said standing up with a tray of napkin holders. She followed close behind as I started placing them on tables.
"and…"
"He said he would." I shrugged.
"Roe, please tell me you didn't fall for it. Its not that simple…"
"He straight up told his mom he was dropping the charges and refusing to testify." I continued. "He is calling his grandfather who will reach out to the DA."
"Wow… you really thought it through." She sounded surprised
"I didn't sleep much, had plenty of time." I stated.
"Wait so why'd you go to the mainland?" with her question, I quickly walked around her back to the counter avoiding her suspicious gaze. "That wasn't sus at all…what aren't you saying."
"I needed to get some cash from the bank." I sighed. I wasn't going to be able to side step her questions. The moment the words left my mouth, I could see the wheels turning and she was connecting the dots. Instead of walking away, I leaned on the counter and waited for the reaction that was coming.
The moment it clicked, I saw her eyes light up and then widen in shock and then there was the scowl and disbelief. "Rowyn please tell me you didn't pay the restitution. Do you have any idea how pissed JJ will be if he finds out?"
"Relax, I didn't pay the restitution." I rolled my eyes, but I left the statement open. "I gave the money to Topper…"
"You what!"
"Dude shut up." I hissed bowing my head.
"Why the hell would you give him the money?" she lowered her voice to a whisper as people started to stare at us.
"Because his boat was damaged Kie…. Because his mom is a bitch and he didn't do anything… because I understand doing things to try and make your family happy." I said frustrated. "I don't expect you to understand why I did it, but I got him to drop the freaking charges, the least I could do was pay for the damage on his boat that I witnessed, that only happened because of my dumbass ex-boyfriend."
"Roe…" her voice was softer now and she placed her hand over mine. She gave me a sad smile.
"Please just… I had to do something, I was watching JJ fall apart right in front of me, you have been watching Pope drive himself crazy with guilt… I just, I had to do something."
"Those boys don't deserve you." She shook her head and came around the corner wrapping an arm around my shoulder. "What about your dad?"
"What about him?" I shrugged pulling away and heading to grab food from the window. "It wasn't his money; it was mine, so he really can't say a damn thing." She just looked at me and raised an eyebrow. After that, our conversation turned back to our regular banter. We made it through the rest of our shift without problem and found ourselves back at the Chateau, sitting on the dock. JJ was standing leaning on the railing, fishing pole in hand as we all enjoyed the calm of the marsh as the sun started setting.
"Anyone heard from Romeo and Juliet today?" I asked picking at a string that was hanging from the sleeve of my sweatshirt.
"Not a word." Pope shook his head. JJ had been oddly quiet since we arrived that afternoon, and I nudged his leg with my shoulder looking up at him. He looked down at me raising an eyebrow giving me a questioning look.
"You good? You've been pretty quiet." I commented quietly.
He nodded looking back out over the marsh tugging slightly on the pole in his hand. "Yeah… um Topper stopped me today at work." He said and I felt my stomach clench and I met Kie's eyes. I hadn't thought what would happen if JJ found out what I had done before I was ready. I wasn't ready to hash out everything. "He… He said he's dropping the charges."
"Are you kidding?" Pope exclaimed standing up and moving to stand next to JJ.
"No, he said I should be getting a call in the next few days."
"Could he be lying?" Pope questioned hesitantly.
"Don't think so, he actually apologize to me." JJ answered shaking his head. "It was really uncomfortable actually. Guess we'll find out."
Before any of us could finish the conversation the Twinkie pulled up to the Chateau, Sarah and John B got out… both looking over dressed. Once we all got our comments about their attire out of the way, we all sat around a fire as John B explained what he found. The gold never went down with the ship and was taken by Denmark Tanny. Tanny then used the money to buy all the slaves freedom and bought all the land around making up Tannyhill plantation. After selling a bunch of rice Tanny pissed off all the white people and they lynched him, but the gold was in fact on the island.
"How does this help us now though?" Pope asked.
"Obviously someone found the gold, that's the only way Grubs would have some of it. Somewhere someone has a little less than 399 million in gold." I added.
"Right so now the question is, who has the rest of the gold…" Kie said.
"Why Grubs had some of it…" I added
"How he got my fathers compass…" John B stated
"And why those groupers are looking for it…" JJ concluded.