CHAPTER TEN
( ! searching for the merchant ! )

MARLEY STOOD ON Popes dads boat next to JJ who was steering. the group had decided the weather was good enough for them to go looking for the royal merchant.

the boy had told the rest of the group marley would be up with him until she was needed since he knew she wanted to learn more about driving boats as john b stated, "all right, jj. pin it here."

"roger that! x marks the spot." replied jj as he winked at the girl standing next to him. marley chuckled a bit as jj began to steady the boat.

marley watched from besides jj as john b began to lower the drone. it hit the water and began to go further down as kie pushed down more and more of the tether.

pope watched the screen as he steered the drone. john b was watching the ipad with the view of the boat and where the treasure was, "all right, jj, we're right over it. ten seconds northwest."

"got it! ten seconds northwest," replied jj as he began turning the wheel. marley watched the boy, impressed by how he knew exactly what to do with the instructions given. she didn't fully understand what john b was saying but jj seemed to exactly.

"one hundred feet."

pope suddenly gasped, which made jj and marley turn towards him as john b ran over to the boy, "what? what, what, what, what?"

"it's nothing," replied pope as john b sighed, clearly annoyed. "sorry, i thought-"

john b walked away from pope as jj turned back around while stating, "don't do that to me, man. come on, bro!"

"-my bad. i just thought I saw..." pope shakes his head, trying to get past his moment of fear as he looks back towards the camera.

"and to quote The Hobbit, "down, down, to goblin town. down, down. you go, my lad." marley looked back at pope confused before she walked away from jj and towards kie.

"need any help?" kie looked at marley and smiled, "sure, every-time you see some red on the tether, add a line of chalk to the the other lines i've made so we can keep track of how far the drone is."

kie handed marley the chalk and marley nodded in understanding before she began to watch the yellow tether.

a small part of the tether turned red, making marley add another line of chalk to the three kie had added earlier. kie looked down at the marking and shouted, "four hundred feet!"

thunder began rumbling as kie looked towards the water, "the tides turning." john b looked at the ipad to see the boat getting farther from where they wanted to go, "hey, jj?"

"yep?" questioned the boy, his eyes not leaving the wheel. "ten seconds easy, all right? south, south-east easy, all right?" replies john b as jj looks at the boy, "copy that."

marley added another line.

the boat then begins turning around back towards the point on the ipad. "jj, twenty seconds mid-speed, all right? south."

"copy that! aye. aye."

"keep the tether out of the prop!" yelled jj towards kie who was trying to pull the tether away from the back of the boat, "i'm trying!"

marley added yet another line.

"jj, keep going!" shouted john b as thunder continued to rumble. "john b, is that good?" questioned jj as he looked towards john b in question. john b quickly responded, "we're good."

another red part of the tether came and marley added a seventh line of chalk as kie yelled, "okay, seven hundred feet!"

the thunder rumbled again as marley looked at the sky, which had gotten grayer and stormier since they had began their voyage.

marley added another line of chalk.

the waves where crashing pretty hard, making the kids sometimes lose their footing. a big storm cloud was headed their way and yet, they weren't gonna leave till they found the treasure.

"jj, hold it steady!" shouted john b as kie continued with the tether. marley soon saw another red part of the tether and added the ninth line of chalk as kie yelled to the boys, "okay, nine hundred!"

"jj, we'll turtle in this storm." states john b as kie yelled, "nine twenty!" john b yelled again, "crank it north by northwest! ten seconds!"

"john b, there's too much current! we're gonna lose it!" yelled kie as she continued to let more and more tether into the water.

"south, southwest, jj! hard!"

john b looked back down at the ipad before looking at jj, "half speed. steady at this bearing, jj!"

john b turned to pope when he saw the boat was over the point, "what do you got pope? come on, man. what do you see?"

pope sighed, "nothin'. a whole lot of nothin'."

"you should be right above it, brotha." replied john b as pope leaned towards the girls, "kiara!"

"nine sixty," replied the girl as she continued with the tether. "nine seventy!"

the tether was quickly reaching its end as kie continued to yell, "nine eighty!" marley watched with worry as the tether continued to head into the water.

her worries were lifted a bit when pope yelled, "i'm at the bottom! i'm at the bottom!" "okay, steady here, jj!" shouted john b as jj began steadying the boat.

"you should be seeing something, man," stated john b as kie and marley ran over to where the two boys were looking.

"i know, i know! wait, wait."

they all suddenly smiled a bit. the metal remains of the royal merchant was right under them, john bs dad had actually done it.

"oh, good god," spoke pope is amazement as jj yelled towards the group, "see anything?" john b just chuckled before muttering, "it's the royal merchant."

marley smiled, "i can't believe it."

there was a moment in every kids life where they felt they could do anything. the world was their oyster and anything they put their mind to was possible.

those moments are just pure joy. when they come, you know it's gonna be good.

until it isn't.

the four watched as the drone went around the merchant, no gold in sight. the only thing left under water was the metal remains of the boat that hadn't deteriorated.

everyone's faces dropped. they were all disappointed, they had actually believed it was out there and that they had found it.

"it's not there. look, just- just pull the drone up," sighed john b as more thunder rumbled, his spirits the most destroyed.

marley ran a hand through her hair as she went back over towards jj while pope talked about trying again.

"we've done it three times. there's nothing there-" started jj before kie yelled, "shut up!" jj turned back to look at kie, "what? it's true!"

"the gold could be buried. we don't know." responded kie as jj scoffed. john b sighed, "if it was there, it would've been found on the metal detector, okay? somebody beat us to it."

"or it was never there," mumbled jj as marley hit his shoulder, "jj stop." jj began the boat again as he looked at the girl, "what? i know i wasn't the only one thinking it."

marley just sighs and runs her hand through her hair again, "don't kick him while he's down jj."

marley sat down on a box by jj while jj began steering the boat towards popes place to return the boat, everyone else would be walking home.

they made it to popes and everyone, besides the girls who were walking together, went their separate ways.

marley and kie walked in silence, neither fully over the disappointment of not finding the gold. that is until, marley broke the silence, "do you think jjs right? that there was never any gold to begin with?"

kie thought for a moment, "i think it exists. i mean, why would so many people spend their lives trying to find it if it wasn't real?"

marley nodded, she hadn't thought about it in that way.

the two girls continued to chat until they made it to marleys. marley hugged kie goodbye before running into her house and upstairs into her room.

kie had invited them later to the yearly outdoor movie showing were they played a bunch of old movies back to back so marley would be meeting them all there later that day.

marley smiled at her bed and quickly jumped on before staring at her ceiling and getting lost in her own head.