Chapter Text
Chapter four- How we ended up here
The night had truly set in now, luckily, they were on the boat and felt much safer. The last few days since arriving in Morocco hadn’t at all gone to plan- in fact, not a single thing had gone to plan at all.
This time they had actually arrived with a plan in mind. A very well thought out plan with additional backup plans added for good measure. What they didn’t plan on was for the original plan and all four backup plans to be ruined within an hour of setting foot onto Moroccan soil.
They’d arrived by boat- over from Spain. And how they got there was another long, long dangerous story. Their boat, the Lady Pogue had been their first combined purchase with their El dorado gold. She was beautiful. Fully furnished, three cabins of a good size, a kitchen, lounge and of course two bathrooms with showers- this is what sealed the deal for the girls.
Those first summer months back in the OBX after their Golden adventure, they spent days on the Lady Pogue living “full kook” as JJ would say. There had been so much to sort out and deal with it was the first thing that brought them all joy.
Of course, Lady Pogue had been brought originally just for sailing around the Outer Banks, but she soon had big work to do as they were led into another treasure hunt. It didn’t take them long to add extras into the boat, none of which the boys thought they needed; but the girls, who at least thought a little more logical, had requested scuba gear, different storage things and more medical supplies. All of which the boys had been grateful for at one point or another.
That evening on the boat, it was silent. They were all drained. No one spoke. Kiara and JJ were lounging on the sofas, throwing a small bouncy ball back and forth to each other, they’d occasionally laugh or tease the other but mostly they were quiet. JJ had somehow managed to find himself some weed and was pretty happy with his previous self for having thought to store some on the boat.
Cleo and Pope were sleeping- they were officially together and so were sharing a cabin. When brought, it was intended that John B and Sarah would have one cabin, JJ and Pope would have one and Kiara and Cleo the last. That didn’t last long though, one night, after they had been out for the day; Pope and Cleo decided the middle cabin was theirs- that was the first and last anyone heard about it- no one argued, no one disagreed. It just happened and everyone was ok with that.
John B walked in from the dock and placed his beer on the side. “I’m calling it a night guys…we’ll make a plan tomorrow” Kiara and JJ threw a ‘night” in his direction but weren’t really paying attention.
He walked into his and Sarah’s cabin and pulled off his t-shirt. It was even hotter than they were used to in OBX. Sarah stirred as he slid into the bed next to her, she turned into his body and shuffled into his embrace. “Shhh…go back to sleep” John B soothed her, but it was too late, she was awake now.
“Hey” She turned in his arms, so they were looking at each other’s eyes.
“Hey yourself.” He tucked her hair behind her ear and let his hand linger on her cheek “are you feeling ok now?” She gave him a nod.
As soon as they had got back onto the boat, Sarah had showered and collapsed into bed. “Yes.” She bit her lip a little “I got my period” she said a little shyly. “That’s why I’ve been ‘off’ today”
“oh” John B wasn’t expecting this, but it made him feel a whole lot better knowing she was ok. “Anything I can do?”
She shook her head “Just exactly what you’re doing now.” His hand moved to her lower tummy and lay there. His fingers just grazing the rugged scare she wore. She sighed, the heat of his hand radiating and relaxing her aching muscles. “That’s feels nice…can you talk to me?”
“About what?” John B said softly.
Sarah turned in his arms, so she was almost cocooned by him, their left hands combined as his right lay on her tummy still. “Anything…”
“Ok…humm, what do you think we’d be doing right now if we were back in OBX?”
“Well, if we’re talking about time difference too, we’d probably just be shutting up the surf shop.” She smiled. Yes, they had a surf shop, she and John B owned it and ran it. She took tourist groups around the islands and taught the little ones to use a body board. John B ran the shop, sold boards and swim gear and taught surf classes. They loved it. They loved how much joy it brought them, but mostly they loved it was theirs.
“Yeah…JJ would probably be hanging outside with Kie, they’d have bags of food from Heyward’s, and we’d be planning to do a BBQ on the beach.” He looked down at Sarah and noticed she was already asleep. He kissed her head gently and begin to wonder how on earth they had got themselves here.
*12 months ago, *
Sarah paced outside the county Jail, she was walking back and forth, back and forth. Checking her phone repeatedly. “This is stupid” she proclaimed “They can’t arrest him…he’s done nothing wrong. we've been back less than a day”
“Well clearly they can because he’s in there isn’t he?” JJ said as he sat on the wall opposite. “Something Kooky in the name of Topper is going on”
“He’s in there too” Pope said as he reappeared with Heyward. “Shoupe won’t tell us anything”
“You guys best go home and get some rest.” Heyward told them. "You ain’t been back on US soil for 24hrs yet and I already got more Grey hairs”
“I have no home” Sarah said bluntly. They all turned to look at her. “My boyfriend is in jail. The place we called home has burnt to the ground. My father is Dead. Big John Is Dead” Her voice was getting progressively louder as she began sobbing. “Rose made it clear she want’s nothing to do with me. I…I…” she stumbled over her words and sobbed.
Heyward moved to crouch in front of her and took her hand “Sarah Cameron. You got all you need right here baby girl. You coming with us and we’ll get you sorted, we’ll get your boy in the morning."
“Actually Dad…JJ and Kie need a place for a few days too” He heard his Dad scoff but then chuckle.
“Well you cant all stay out on the steps of the jail now can you?”
That first night back was hard. Sarah didn’t sleep, she was crying all the time still in shock about her father but needing John B to be with her. She hadn't left his side sine El Dorado. She and John B had been to see Rose earlier in the day. Sarah cried as her key no longer worked in the door to the place she once called home. Rose opened the door and refused to let her in. It was John B in the end who had to break the news about Ward and beg to have access to the home.
She was allowed half an hour to pack her things up which she did. She didn’t want much at all, just the necessities, she managed a quick change of clothes and that was all. It was only on their way back to the Chateau they remembered their last night there and how it was probably no longer liveable; they were right. It was a charred shell as they saw it- nothing left but the bare bones of a timber frame.
They decided to get a hotel for the night and meet the others at Heyward’s. They didn’t get that far though. News of their return had seemingly spread fast. The familiar sound of a siren pulling them over . Shoupe got out and greeted them both.
“So we got word from the authorities that you’d be returning. I’m sorry to hear about your fathers.” He said solemnly and removed his hat. “Look kids, I don’t want to do this but…I don’t have a choice. I got a warrant out for your arrest John B”
“What no!” Sarah proclaimed “He hasn’t done anything!”
“According to Topper Thornton he has…lets not make this harder than it needs to be”
John B held her hands “I’ll be ok…go find the others.” He nodded and handed her his backpack that still contained their gold. “Hey, look at me…” his hands held her face, thumbs brushing the tears away. He kissed her forehead “I’ll be fine. Go find the others”
He climbed into the back of Shoupe’s car and gave her a reassuring nod.
They hadn’t discussed the possibility of them not actually being together when they arrived back in OBX it was just a given. They were together now and only had eachother.
Sarah made her way to Heywards where she filled the others in on what had happened. They had all been hiding out there to avoid the adults in their lives. The others looked refreshed now, they had on clean clothes and had obviously had showers.
Kiara had managed to calm Sarah down enough to get her to talk sense and actually explain what had happened. Kiara had managed to convince Sarah to shower and change- she was still covered in dirt and blood. She reluctantly agreed but argued when it was then suggested that she eat something. once a little calmer, they made their way to the county Jail.
Heyward had taken them and was hoping he’d be able to talk to Shoupe and buy John B some time. They had stashed the gold in Pope’s room, completely forgetting they had it. John B was more important.
They sat for almost two hours waiting for an update. And when it did come- it wasn’t good. They were holding John B.
Sarah was losing it.
Reluctantly she allowed herself to some place of Safety and comfort and held onto Kiara’s hand as they climbed into the back of Heywards truck.
They once again headed back to Heywards. They stayed up until the early hours of the morning trying to figure out what they were going to do. Most plans that they came up with were ultimately dismissed by Pope as being stupid or too risky. They exhausted every avenue and had eventually fallen to sleep on the porch, mentally and physically exhausted.
It was 4am that Morning when they were woken by an engine switching off and a door shutting. Sarah was the first to her feet and was running down the steps into his arms as she saw John B standing at the bottom of the path. He caught her as she came running to him and held onto her like never before.
“I’m ok” He breathed “im ok”
Sarah checked him over and looked over to see the others waiting “JJ was about to pitch another rescue mission to us.” She smiled “How come they released you?”
John B took her hand and pulled her with him to get to the others so they could all hear. “Topper dropped the charges.”
“what?” Pope and JJ both said at the same time.
“I know…Turns out he is quite the arsonist.” John B heard Sarah gasp to the side of him “Shoupe agreed that if we called Truce, he’d drop the charges”
“John B no. You cant let him get away with burning down the Chateau” The tears were beginning to pool in her eyes “It’s your home”
“It was Sarah, and it will be again. We can rebuild it…together.” He looked at JJ “We can make it big enough for all of us”
And that’s exactly what they did, they spent the first 3 months of their return figuring out how to get the El dorado gold into spendable cash. JJ of course had some shady connections that were able to help and bit by bit, the gold was melted down and sold to different people across the lower states of America. The profits were split equally between them all. They first re-built the Chateau, brought the Lady Pogue and each had their own things they wanted to spend the money on.
John B and Sarah were officially emancipated from their Parents- on the pronunciation of Wards Death, Papers were delivered one day to Sarah at the Chateau.
She wasn’t expecting it, it was three months since their return now. She was home alone and was reading a book in the hammock when an unfamiliar car pulled up and a suited male approached her.
“Miss Sarah Cameron?” He asked
“Who’s asking?”
“Miss Cameron, my name is Alexander Johnson. I worked for your Father and Step-Mother.” Sarah climbed down from the hammock and stepped closer to him. “I am under instruction to deliver these papers to you”
He handed a brown envelope to Sarah and bid her goodbye.
When John B returned home that evening, he found Sarah at the kitchen table. She had been crying, he could tell.
“Hey…” he sat down next to her and took her hand in his “want to tell me what’s happened”
Instead of speaking, she handed him a couple of sheets of paper that had been stapled together. Sarah watched him as he read over the words “We no longer have Legal Guardians” she said softly. “Ward was still registered as a legal guardian for you too…”
“so what does this mean?”
“It means we’re free… he already filled out and signed emancipation papers, stating that upon his death we were to be left alone” She sighed shakily. “for once he actually did the right thing”
John B nodded “He always loved you Sarah”
“Shame he couldn’t have shown it more when he was alive” She said bitterly as she swiped at tears falling down her face. “That’s not all.” She pushed another set of papers towards him. “Tanny hill belongs to Rafe. Rose has all of the other properties…and I…I get the house in the Bahamas” John B raised his brows in surprise “and all that goes with the house. Including the Royal Merchant gold”
“Baby…” he couldn’t help but smile “after everything we’ve been through.”
“He finally let the guilt get the better of him” Sarah sighed “At least Pope can have some of history back”
John B nodded “He’s going to be so stoked” he could see her smile wasn’t quite full. “It’s ok to be happy about it Sarah and It’s ok to miss him”
“I don’t miss him.” She shook her head “Im just sad he couldn’t have done this when he was alive”
The next few days there were some final processes they needed to go through, Sarah signing documents with a lawyer, the two of them getting emancipation certificates from the courts. Things started falling into place.
They fell into their own lives, running their own little business, studying and spending days on the Lady Pogue. Life was good- Whilst it lasted.
A storm was moving in. A storm in the shape of another treasure hunt. One they couldn’t turn down- but probably should have.
After the residents of OBX found out what had happened in El Dorado, a service was held to celebrate them and commemorate those they had lost.
Families were present, who at the time they were on talking terms with as were friends and teachers and historians. It was here they were approached to take on a new challenge.
John B felt excitement again at the prospect of a new adventure. He and JJ were never settled to just be. The others took more convincing. Cleo came round easy enough, she liked adventure too but Kiara and Sarah- well it took weeks to convince them to go through with it. Even Pope had had to think hard if it was something worth doing.
Sarah and Kiara were pretty settled in their new lives, they were content. They were happy and finally felt like they had their sh*t together- which at 17 is no mean feat. There were days of arguments, pro’s and con’s lists from Pope, lectures from the Carrera’s, pleading from JJ and finally a heartfelt speech from John B about it being their chance to do something for the fun of it before they became too old. Sarah knew he was thinking about the toll treasure hunting had taken on his father.
Some way or another, they had all eventually agreed but had given themselves a target of 12 months. 12 months to be done.
John B held onto Sarah as she slept, clearly that 12 months wasn’t going to be met. He felt bad for having encouraged this. Nothing had gone their way so far. They had been given little to no clues. They first began by sailing to England on the Lady Pogue. Edward Teach or Blackbeard was from the UK so they believed this was the best place to begin. It took them 10 days to sail there, having hit a couple of rough nights on the crossing. They were risking everything- toying with their lives. They didn’t really know what they were doing.
The reached the Uk and Spent a month there- they learnt a lot which took them over to Spain. It was here they encountered others who were looking for the same treasure as they were. It got messy. JJ nearly got shot, they all nearly drowned when Scuba gear malfunctioned and all of this time they were still dealing with the fact they were doing this as 17 year olds with no parents.
They eventually discovered that they needed to seek the other half of a map they had been given. Which is why they were in Morocco.
An now they now had the other half of that Map, which is the most they had achieved in months. They just needed to figure out where it lead.
