-23 -

The next morning Stella heads to the Chateau, she was exhausted though. After Rafe had dropped her off she couldn't sleep until Rachel got back, which was two hours ago. She was lost in her pwn thoughts when Sarah appeared next to her.

"Stella?"

She jumps, "Oh hello, how are you doing?"

"Okay, I guess... have fun at the bonfire last night?"

"Um- i wouldn't say it was fun."

"Are you okay? Where did you end up after?"

"Just had a run in with an old hook up... didn't end well. I went home after...."

"Oh Stella." Sarah pulls her into a hug. "You should've called."

"Mmh... heard about the fight though." She mumbles into her hair.

Sarah scoffs, rolling her eyes. "John B needs to chill out."

"Everyone needs to chill out." Stella nods as they continue walking up to the porch where all the others were chilling.

"Well hello, Princess." JJ grins. "and Stella, where did you run off to last night?"

"I didn't run anyway, I was there after you left." She points out, sitting next to him.

"Shouldn't you be on Figure Eight with your little group of polo players? or did you break up with Topper?" John B asks Sarah.

"We're just friends."

"He's just a friend. you have a lot of friends, Sarah Cameron"

"Yeah, and it seems like you've got some of your own too."

"All right, what are you doing here?"

"I'm here for Pope." She sighs. "I think I found the island room."

• • • • • • • • • • • • •

"Guys listen to this, the diary says the cross holds the most holy relic in all of Christendom, the garment of the saviour." Pope reads as they drive to the Cameron's.

"So wait, is he saying there's a holy garment inside the cross?" Kie asks.

"Oh i've not been paying enough attention to this." Stella groans.

"It says the garment is capable of healing the sick from a malady."

"Mmh, yea. 'If only I may touch his garment, I shall be made well.' " JJ states and they all look at him confused. "What? I went to Sunday school."

"Well that explains why this Limbrey woman wants the cross so bad."

"Yeah she thinks it can heal her." Pope agrees.

"Limbrey?" Stella asks.

"Yeah the woman we visited when you were in the Bahamas... keep up Stella."

"What else does it say?"

"Many feel that we have sinned to steal such a sacred thing, and God will strike his vengeance on us"

"Thing is, God did have his vengeance"

"He sent a hurricane to sink the ship. Only Denmark survived"

"Well shit." Stella sighs as they arrive at the Cameron's and Sarah leads them to one of the rooms.

"This place still freaks me out." John B states.

"Yeah same." JJ agrees.

"Pope, Look." Sarah points out as they walk into the room. The wallpaper is pulled back revealing a painting of the island.

"Whoa! You've got to be kidding me."

"Yeah. I know, right? it's the island room. It's been here this whole time."

"No freaking way."

"This definitely means something."

"Yo! This is a map of the whole island." John B explains.

"Yeah because this is Rixon's right here." JJ points. "And then, there's the lighthouse."

"And Parcel 9, the well." Kie points.

"So if that's Parcel 9, and then if that's Rixon's, then that's gotta be the surf break at Mase."

"Right and look. Pope come here, that's Denmark's writing for sure." JJ holds up the paper to the wall.

"The drawings, they match up."

"This room has got to have something to do with the key, right?" JJ asks.

"How did you even find this Sarah?"

"I didn't, it was like this when I got home."

"What? Then who did it."

"I don't know."

"The freaks." Wheezie walks in making us all jump.

"Wait, what freaks are we talking about Wheeze?" Stella asks.

"Uh... that sick lady and her attack dog. That showed up last night. They wanted to talk to Rafe.. he wasn't here, but they insisted on waiting." Wheezie explains.

"Where was Rafe?" Sarah asks.

"I don't know." Wheezie shrugs. "But when he got back they searched the whole house looking for something, and then Rafe told me to go upstairs. Anyway, I didn't want to miss out, so I listened through the grate. And they were talking about getting across the sand flamingo."

"That's code. That's code for something." JJ points out.

"The cross. The cross of Santo Domingo?" Pope asks Wheezie.

"Yeah, that's it. Oh and they were talking about angels. A lot of angel talk. I don't know."

"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 angel in the room." Pope explains and everyone starts looking.

"What's going on Stells?" Wheezie asks.

"If i'm honest, not too sure but Denmark is related to Pope and we're looking for a cross that's worth a lot and so is that lady of crutches. It's like a massive treasure hunt."

"Hey, yo! Hey guys, I think I found something." JJ yells. "Come here. This humongous tree is still on Goat Island. You know what it's called?"

"Angel Oak."

"Look there, right there. There's the keyhole."

"That means the cross is buried at the foot of the angel."

"Damn JJ." Stella laughs..

"That must be where they are right now! We have to go!" Pope yells.

"I think I might be Sherlock Holmes. You're welcome by the way."

"Yeah come on then Sherlock." She grabs his arm.

• • • • • • • • • • • • •

"Angel Oak is right through here." JJ explains as they pull up. "All right, so word to the wise, definitely know that gators nest back here, so keep your eyes peeled okay? You don't wanna step on a mama gator. That's the last thing you want."

"They have nests?"

"Seems like a good place to park." Sarah points out.

"All right. You don't wanna be a Pat Womack...." JJ starts rambling about a lady who was supposedly attack by a gator which  Stella ignores as she tries to eavesdrop  on Sarah and John b's conversation.

"I just want to make this crystal clear, so you don't lose your shit and cause another riot. I am here for Pope and not you."

"You're here for Pope and not me?"

"Yeah."

"Then why are you back here walking with me, huh, Sarah Cameron?"

"I don't know. Why am I? ....Im going to catch up with Stella."

Too focused on their conversation she walks into JJ, "Ow why'd you stop?"

"Shh." Pope motions to Rafe and the freaks digging up under the tree.

"You sure this is the right spot?" Rafe yells.

"It's there. The garment will be in the cross, and the cross will be at the foot of the tree." Limbrey tells him.

"Wait, she's doing all this just to be healed?" Stella whispers.

"Yeah, come on Stells, pay attention ." JJ whispers as they pull out a casket. "They go the cross? What do we do? What do we do?"

"What can we do?" John B retorts.

Stella jumps at the sound of Rafe's voice and re-focuses on what they're saying , "Of course it's just a dead body. Jesus!"

"We just got the wrong place. We'll go back to the island room. We're going back! It's not over!"

• • • • • • • • • • • • •

"The cross is at the church of course." Stella huffs as they get back into the Twinkie. Unfortunately the tide's come in, so the likely of them getting out right now was very low.

"John B, how high are the spark plugs?" JJ asks.

"They're good. We're fine."

"How high are they?"

"Oh, uh, just above the taillight."

"Okay, so that's , what, three feet?"

"The water's surely not three feet deep" Stella states.

"Then what's the problem?" John B asks.

"Not a problem. No, we're good. We're good. She'll make it."

Stella looks over at Kie and Sarah, who also didn't look confident about the situation. They all grab onto the side as John B puts his foot down. It was going well for about 10 seconds before they skid off to the side.

"Well, shit, that went well." Stella grins.

"Okay, maybe we can walk from here." Pope suggest, as they all stand in the water, but this time Stella doesn't help.

"What? And leave the Twinkie? The... the tide's coming in."

"So then what are we supposed to do?"

"No stay here."

"I can take my dad's truck."

"Kie are you sure?"

"How much worse can it get, you know?"

"We need something to pull her out with. There's a winch at the Chateau." JJ explains. "That's like two miles."

"Yeah, that's a good idea."

"Right if you're going to do it, let's go. Tide's coming in." John b tells Kie and JJ and they quickly head off.

The two boys wander through the water, while Sarah and Stella sit on top of the Twinkie. "Hey." Stella sighs.

"Hey."

"You okay... you seem distant."

"Im good, just this kind of sucks. I mean I obviously want to help Pope but didn't think I'd end up stranded in a gator swamp."

"Yeah, but this is typical pogue shit." Stella chuckles.

"Got a point there." She looks at her, "Are you okay?  Last night..."

"Remember the  guy I hooked up with... Jack."

"Jack?" Sarah takes a minute to register the name. While Stella was known for hooking up with quite a few men, Jack ,despite not remembering his name, was pretty well known. Might have to do with his slight, "Coke addict Jack?" Sarah finally clicks.

"Yup. And well he got a little too handsy for my liking."

"Oh Stells, im so sorry. I should've.... I was too -"

"The fight. Topper. John B. Yeah Im aware. " Stella looks down at the water. "Don't worry about it, I was fine."

"How did you... are you sure you're fine?"

"Yes, someone got him away from me...."

"Who?"

"Your brother." Stella mumbles.

"Who?"

"Your brother."

"Rafe?!" Sarah's eye widen as she raises her voice.

"Shh." Stella clamps her hand over her mouth before the boys look over. "It wasn't a big deal, lets not make this a big deal."

"How did he?"

"Punched him." Stella shrugs, "He was actually quite nice that night."

"Woah, woah. Stells, this is my brother."

"I know! The guy I hate, but I can't deny that he helped me out a lot that night."

"Okay, yup. You're right, he was just doing what anyone else would."

"Exactly." Stella nods in agreement and they ended up in a comfortable silence.

"Are you sure you still hate him?" Sarah quietly asks. 

"What are you on about?  Of course I do. Not to mention we still argue like all the time."

"Yeah like an old married couple. But I- i just don't want to lose you or let you get hurt. He's my brother, I know what he's like."

"I can handle myself, don't worry. And nothing has happened and nothing will..."

"We both knows that's a lie." Sarah smirks, while Stella looks like she had just seen a ghost.  "The tension between you two, do you think you could just fuck and then go back to hating each other or something?"

"Im not having sex with him." Stella pulls a face, making Sarah chuckle.  Their conversation was cut there as all of a sudden Jon B is dragged underwater..

• • • • • • • • • • • • •

"John B got bit by a gator!" 

"I got bit by a gator!" John B yells at Kie and JJ who've finally decided to show up.

"We got here as fast a we could." Kie tries to explain as they still continue to yell.

"Shut up!" JJ interrupts. "Seriously, guys, I can't take it anymore, all right? Everyone just cut it out for a second. Look, I just helped my dad leave this island for good. Like he's not ever coming back. He's straight up like the Spanish, just, Bon voyage."

"That's not the right language." Stella whispers.

"All we got... 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 like shit, Pope you were kidnapped. Sarah you've been shot. Stella you almost drowned. Kie, i don't know how many times your parents have threatens to send you away. John B you were almost dinner for a fricking gator bro. So, this blaming each other is some Kook-ass bullshit, even if Stella is hanging out more with some of them... but that doesn't matter right now, all right? We're Pogues. Sorry, that was a lot right now."

They all start to clap.

"Well done."

"I gotta be honest. That was the bet fricking speech you have ever given." John B states.

"Also you should think about a Rosetta Stone because your Spanish and French are flip-flopped. "  Stella laughs and JJ flips her off.

"We should bon voyage out of here."

"The twinkie lives!" JJ yells as they finally get her out and head to the church.