"I still can't believe you're related to Denmark Tanny." John B spoke in shock as they all crowded under a deck as the rain started to sprinkle. "Are we in the presence of a royal?"

"A king?" JJ asked in an accent. "We shall crown him. All hail the lord of Tannyhill! We're not worthy!"

They all bowed to Pope as he waved them off. "All right, everybody relax. Can we relax, please?"

"Should have done a 23andMe early on." Skyler hummed, sipping her drink.

"Or Ancestry.com." Kie hummed in agreement from next to her.

"Relocate to Cat's Ass, question mark?" Sarah hummed with a nod.

"I'm with that." JJ agreed.

"How soon can we move in?" Kie looked toward Pope in questioning.

"Cause I don't have a place to stay." JJ agreed.

"Yeah, fuck a Kook house when I can live with a famous man like the Pope Hayward." Skyler exclaimed with her hands. "What are the chances in that?"

"Sky not knowing the chances of something?" Sarah blinked in disbelief. "Woah, she must really be amazed."

"I don't have a place to stay either." Kie pointed out. "Bunk beds?"

"Bunk beds." JJ agreed.

"I just keep thinking about the letter, the one that Limbrey sent." Pope cut in as he scratched the side of his face. "It had the wheat symbol on it. That must mean it had something to do with the Royal Merchant."

"Yeah. Something seems fishy." JJ agreed.

"But if we find the cross, we can split it like we were gonna split the gold." Pope spoke up.

Skylers eyes widened. "Wait, what?"

"Oh, god. Y'all didn't tell her?" John B looked in disbelief.

"Wasn't sure how long she was gonna stick around." Kie defended herself with risen hands.

"Tell me what?" Skyler shook her head.

"Okay, look, we'll inform you soon." JJ waved her off.

"So, you've just been walking around helping us do all kinds of crazy shit, having zero clue what the end goal is?" John B gave a snort in her direction.

"Oh, fuck off. I can't help it I was getting lonely." Skyler defended herself, throwing a piece of ice his way.

"And live happily ever after?" Limbrey spoke as she walked toward the group, Renfield holding the umbrella over her head.

Pope walked forward, Renfield pushed him back. "You assaulted my father."

"Oh, I didn't assault anybody." the blonde woman shook his head.

"He can identify the psycho from a mile away." Kie glared in her direction.

"Not hard to miss with that hair." Skyler mocked as she stared toward Renfield. "Balding so soon?"

"Why would my employ a-a-assault your father?" Limbrey faked her shock toward Pope. "That's absurd. Listen, we can keep on negotiating, but the fact is that I want the key."

Pope went to lung at her, John B holding her back.

"And I won't stop until I have it. I didn't have a choice, which means you don't either." Limbrey went on, unbothered by Popes anger.

John B pulled a key from his pocket. "It's Limbrey, right? Is that right?"

She turned to look at him, mesmerized. "Yes."

Skyler and Kie shared a look.

"Is this what you're looking for?" John B continued to mock her with the tiny gold in between his fingers.

"Yes, it is."

"Looking at the tide right now, id say it's about 20 feet deep out there." John B squinted toward the water. "So, if I threw it in the channel, the probability of you finding it again is slim to none. Wanna give it a shot? Ready?"

He dangled it over the side, Limbrey nearly fell from her crutches. "No! Hey!"

John B paused as the older woman caught her breath. "Please don't do that."

"Get him to back the hell up." the teenage boy spoke, nodding toward Reinfield, who had Pope pinned to one of the post.

"Of course." she answered with a forced smile, looking toward the man. "Back up."

He did so, Limbrey hobbled forward. "As I told you from the beginning, I'm willing to be reasonable."

Pope side eyed John B. "Okay. I'll give you the key. But, I want the tape."

"Pope. Hey, hey, hey." John B walked forward with a shake of his head. "You don't have to do this."

"No it's okay." Pope shook his head as John B tried to protest again. "Hey, it's fine. It's okay. It's about your dad. This is way more important."

John B handed the key over, Sky looked toward Kie as she gave her a knowing look. Limbrey exhaled when it was in her palm. "Oh, you're a good friend."

"The tape." Pope demanded.

"Yes, give him the tape." the older woman looked back with a grin. Reinfid walked toward, dropping it into Popes hands. "You know, I wish that you'd come to this decision earlier. We could have avoided all this unpleasantness."

They headed off, Reinfield looked back. "See you around, Pope."

As they headed off, JJ cleared his throat. "How long do you think we have until she realizes she has your fathers old key?"

"Ten minutes." John B hummed.

"No, shit?" Skyler rose her eyebrows in their direction, JJ nodded. "No freaking way."

"Who's idea was the fake key?" Pope turned around in shock and relief.

"Shockingly, not mine." Kie spoke up honestly.

Pope looked to Sky as she shook her head. "Not me either, I would have never thought to do that."

"Humm, I don't know. Should we tell him?" John B wrapped an arm around JJ with a questionable look.

"Wow. Im impressed." Kie laughed. "Maybe you are good for something."

"Did hell freeze over?" Pope laughed as he joined in on the pair of boys.

"Even a blind pig can find an acorn at times." JJ giggled as Pope tickled him, while John B shook him. "I actually don't know what that means, but I saw it on Reddit. Sky?"

"It means even someone who is usually wrong can be right sometimes." she hummed in his directions. "A little self sabotaging there, JJ."

"We gotta take this tape to Shoupe." John N announced, Kie jumped off the side of the deck and helped Skyler do the same.

"Yes, sir. Ward Cameron, we're coming for you, big boy!" JJ cheered.

The trio of girls sat together on the chateau bench, listening to the boys cheer from inside. Kie noticed Sarah's discomfort. "Do you regret it?"

"No." she said nearly immediately. "He deserves all of it. And I know that."

"He's your dad, I get it." Kie shook her head.

"According to Meg Meekers, daughters that have strong connections with their dads do better in life." Skyler said honestly with a shrug. "So, yeah, you have the right to be upset and not want to party it up."

"I'm sure it sucks to be in the middle." Kie agreed.

Sarah's phone went off, turning it around to see a smily picture of Topper, indicating he had been calling. She looked toward the two. "Sorry."

As she stood up, walking away, it left Kie and Skyler alone. "So, you've been lonely?"

"What?" Sky looked over at her in questioning.

"Back on the dock, you said you felt lonely, that's why you've been hanging around us." Kie spoke as Skyler stared at her. "I thought you had so many friends."

"Sure, yeah." Skyler nodded, meeting her eye. "But, never like this, you know? Never a whole group of friends that can actually get along instead of constantly comparing ourselves to each other, trying to figure out who is the best and why we should envy them."

Kie shook her head. "They're not worthy of you anyways."

Sky grinned, nodding. "So, what? You guys are?"

"Well, we compare ourselves still." she laughed slightly. "But, it's more of a who's the better surfer or who can drink the most beers in under a minute."

"Oh, I think I have you all beat in that category." she hummed with a joking grin.

"Oh, yeah?" Kie rose her eyebrows. "I'm in the lead, you know."

"Looks like i've gotta hold you to it." the shorter girl looked over slightly, holding back a grin.

"Hey, they're coming for my dad." Sarah walked back to the two quickly.

"What?" Kie gapped.

"We have to go, I need to be with Wheezie." Sarah spoke quickly, hurrying into the chateau to round of the boys.

They were all in the twinkie in no time, John B driving behind a large black van. Sarah gripped the side of the van. "Can you hurry, I really wanna be there for my sister."

"You think I wanna miss this?" John B looked her way in questioning.

The twinkie came to a stop infront of the large wall outside of the Cameron's, each of them jumping out. They stared at the multiple police cars, all running out toward the Druthers.

"Screw it, i'm going over." John B spoke, attempting to jump the wall.

He went over first, yanking on the rope as they all followed close after. Kie held her knee and hand out, letting Skyler and Sarah do the same before the boys did her. Sarah gripped Skylers hand in a panic, running off and pulling her with her.

"Wheez." Sarah called as she ran toward her sister. Skyler let her go, the pair hugging as Kie came to her side, "Go inside. Don't come out."

Skyler slipped her hand inside of Kies when the Cameron girl headed toward the druthures behind the house.

"Dad!" Sarah called, staring up at her father on the top of his boat, running close behind John B.

"Let us through." John B tried to reason with the deputies that started to hold them back

"Thats Sarah Cameron. Let her through!" Shoupe called as they made it through the few, hands raised to show they'd been unarmed.

"What are you doing here, Sarah?" Ward called out to his daughter in panic, voice breaking.

"Dad! What are you doing?" Sarah yelled his way in panic.

"Vic, you gotta get her out of here! She can't be here right now!" Ward shouted toward the blonde man. Kie's hand tightened on Skylers in a panic.

"Just come on in, and you can talk to her!" Shoupe shouted his way, clearly looked for a way to get Ward off the boat and back on land.

"Sarah, i'm so sorry, baby! I can't!" Ward called, pulling a button near the wheel as the anchor rose from the water.

"What are you doing? Dad, no, no, no!" Sarah called to him.

"Sarah, be carful." Skyler grasped her wrist so she wouldn't fall.

"Ward, this ain't gonna end the way you want it to!" Shoupe yelled quickly. Skyler watched Ward, the same man that had welcomed her into their house for multiple sleep overs.

"Dad, don't leave! Where are you going?" Sarah cried his way as he climbed down from the small latter.

"I love you!" Ward called to his daughter.

"Damn it, Ward! Turn it around and get back here!" Shoupe yelled as Ward disappeared into the boat yet again, only on a different level this time.

"Please don't leave!" Sarah called in agony, only this time the boat exploded, loud crashes and a harsh fire roaring from the inside. Skylers hand slipped from Kie's in a panic, only she had better plans as her arms blocked Skyler as a habit. The explosion rung within their ears before Sarah's sobs took over.

"No. No! Dad!" Sarah yelled out.

It took the shock to wear off before Skyler realized Sarah was sobbing on the docks, leaning down and holding onto her tightly. The blonde cried as she leaned onto her, still calling out for her dad. Topper ran down the docks, Skyler looked up at him in a panic as he kneeled down, wrapping his arms around the both of them.

•

kylie speaks

smh, thank you sky.