Chapter Twenty-Seven 

this feels like breaking and entering 

3rd person pov 

canyon went to popes after. she stayed in his room as he cried and cried to her. she held him and let him cry because she didn't know what else to do. she just wanted to take care of him and make sure that he felt better. 

"so the party tonight?" she said to pope the next morning as he put on a shirt and she looked at him. she didn't mean to stare but god damn it, he was her boyfriend and he was beautiful. 

"maybe, I have class today" he said and she stared 

"you're going back?" she asked as she sat up 

"yeah , I need to. i need to get back on the board and the only way to do is by going back and making sure that I do what I need to do" he stated and she smiled at him 

"I'm proud of you pope" she said and he leaned down as he kissed her and she kissed him back. they both smiled into the kiss. she was happy that he was happy

"alright, I'm going. i love you" he called and he ran out of his room and she laughed as she fell back on the bed and then heard someone knock on the door 

"damn girl, you are in love" cleo said as she walked in and looked at canyon 

"yeah you can say that again" she stated and cleo laughed as canyon got up and cleo looked at the girl. her hair was messy and tangled and didn't look anything like it should but that didn't matter because she was happy 

"so the cross, its gone?" she asked and canyon nodded as she slid a shirt on over her bikini top and cleo smiled. 

"yeah, rafe melted it done. its completely gone" she said and cleo sighed 

"so where did he go?" she asked 

"he stole his dads gun and went to kill rafe. i stopped him before he did but it was like he was someone else. i was looking at him and I didn't recognize him. i didn't recognize pope last night but hes hurting. that's the only thing of his past, of his family. his fucking inheritance and rafe decided to be a selfish kook like usual" she said and cleo nodded 

"is this how its always been?" cleo questioned and canyon nodded

"yeah, its always been like this. its always been kooks vs pogues and they always win. they always fucking win. its annoying and tiring and I think that every time we fight back. he always lose, everytime" she said and cleo nodded 

"so we fight back harder because this is popes family" she exclaimed 

"exactly" canyon spoke up and they smiled at each other. the two girls didn't have a plan but they were thinking the same thing. fighting back and winning might not be in the cards for them but they could fight back for pope and they would fight back no matter what.

so they walked outside and there was heyward 

"canyon moon, oh how good it is to see you" he said and he walked over as he hugged her and she hugged him back 

"its good to see you too" she said and they began to get to work as fast as they could. 

"ya know something mr.heyward? I have this jerk shrimp recipe that will have people lining up out the door" cleo said and canyon laughed 

"I like that" heyward said and canyon smiled 

"I like that too" canyon agreed

"so pope? how is he doing canyon?" he asked 

"well hes at school on a Saturday so I think we're raising him right, heyward" she exclaimed and he laughed and shook his head with a smile 

"I think we raising him right  too canyon" he stated and they got back to work. canyon liked spending time with just heyward and cleo. it was nice to not have to worry about the gold or fighting or death or anything because they could have fun. 

"I like this, not having to do anything just chilling" she said as she washed her hands and cleo shot water at her making her sputter before she grabbed the hose and sprayed her. they both laughed and sighed. canyon ran a hand through her hair and laughing more at the idea of them having fun and not worrying. 

"well this is a sight to see" pope said as he walked in and saw canyon and cleo laughing together. the water was dripping off of them. day turned to afternoon and afternoon turned to night but they didn't change. 

"what the hell happened here?" heyward exclaimed as he walked out. canyon turned to him with cleo and sighed 

"sorry heyward, we'll clean this up right now" canyon said and he laughed as he grabbed the hose and sprayed her more 

"I'm not mad, I want to join" he stated and pope dropped his bag as they sprayed each other and they all laughed again. canyon didn't get to do this a lot and she hated that she didn't get to do this

"alright yall go clean up" heyward said and canyon walked with pope to his room as he got in the shower. she sat down on the floor and waited for him to get out. cleo was outside taking a shower and when she was done, she walked in 

"hey so I found something and I know where we need to go" pope said and they all got up as they left his room and went to the archives of his family. they walked up and tried to open the door but it was locked 

"the window" cleo said and they walked to the window as they climbed in 

"this feels like breaking and entering" she stated and the pair of them laughed before they began to look through everything 

"yeah, this was all our old family history. they kept it from me, my dad too" pope said and canyon sighed as they looked at the pictures and pope picked one up 

"this is my meemaw. she was the one who knew we were tannys" pope stated 

"I remember meeting her, shes sweet" canyon exclaimed 

"she held us all together. all right, lets keep looking" pope said and they continued to look for things but canyon didn't find anything 

"is that tanny guy who owned that lake house that I lived in?" she asked 

"yeah, that's denmark tanny. you know the story, fugitive slave turned land owner. he had three sons who survived it" he stated 

"did he have a daughter too?" cleo asked and pope made eye contact with his girlfriend 

"let me see that. wheat symbol. clarice tanny. yeah, yeah. this was the daughter. she was raised in the limbrey plantation. wait, we have a family tree somewhere" pope said and he went looking 

"I don't even know where to start looking" cleo said 

"me neither" canyon agreed 

"hold on. ha! bingo. here she is. clarice tanny, he must have sent this to her but look its never been opened. should I open it?" pope asked 

"see anyone in here to stop us? open it" cleo said and pope opened the letter

" ' dearest clarice, I apologize for writing the letter that will mostly reach you after my death." its from denmark. 'i also apologize I've never met you and I'm your father. ' they never let him see her. hes talking about her brothers, the family legacy and the royal merchant" pope read to them 

and now there was something new to their story

-ABBYS NOTES-

new trio for the century