Jack Canyon and The Curse of the Spider Queen | CHAPTER TWO

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"Oh, God, Jack!" Sophia Stone could hardly catch her breath as she panted deeply. Sweat poured down her face causing some of her hair to stick to the side of her face. "Jack," she said exasperated. "You're killing me. Stop."

"Oh, Sophia, I'm so close," he told her excitedly. "Just a little longer."

Sophia breathed deeply trying relax, but she couldn't. "Come on, Jack!" She paused for a breath. "I can't take much more of this pounding."

"Where's your stamina?" Jack asked.

"If you don't stop, we're never doing this again, because I'll never be able to walk after this," she stated.

Jack stopped and stared at her. "Fine, we'll rest here."

"Help me with my pack," Sophia pleaded.

Jack walked over to her and took the weight of the pack off her shoulders as she slipped her arms out.

"Thanks," she said gratefully as he set the pack down. She sat down on a nearby stump and pulled the canteen off her pack. "Why are we out here again?"

Jack looked back at her from where he was standing. He had been looking out at the landscape of the mountains. Then he pointed out at the horizon. "You see that?"

"What?"

Jack pulled her up and pointed at a stone structure in the distance. "That."

"Yeah, what about it?" Sophia asked, unsure of what he was getting at.

"That is the temple that I was talking about, Soph," he stated. "I told you we were close."

"It's in the side of a mountain," Sophia pointed out the obvious.

"Apparently, there's some kind of hidden entrance at the top," he said. Then he gave her a cocky smile. "Don't worry, we'll find it. Then we'll be the first people here in a thousand years."

"And this is the Temple of who?"

"The Temple of Gaia," Jack told her before realizing his arms were around her waist. He quickly released her and took a step back. "The temple was supposedly lost during an earthquake. I guess it slid into its current position."

"And no one thought to check the side of the mountain?" Sophia asked taking her seat again on the stump.

"Well, some miners discovered it; and the IAI wants us to explore it," he told her. He had taken on a few jobs with the International Archaeological Institute since he founded it a year ago.

It had been two years since Jack and Sophia came down from Mount Sinai. He became quite famous and rich and in demand since then. With the money he gained, he put it towards a better future for archaeology with an international institute that could work with the United Nations on securing artifacts all over the world. Sure, it seemed legitimate, but Jack needed the IAI to fund his adventures of rescuing lost relics that are potentially harmful to mankind if in the wrong hands.

Also, within his time, he became a part time teacher at the local university in the archaeological department. It didn't go well at all, either. Jack was often bombarded with questions and interviews about Mount Sinai, God, Noah's Ark, and Eden, as well as the Book of Origin. Not to mention the college girls in love with his rugged looks and adventurous appeal.

He cut lectures down to twice a week and spent as much time away from his campus office as possible. The free time helped him establish the IAI and talk to the UN. Jack asked several colleagues to join the IAI supervisor's board. Long time friends, such as Fred Morris and Sophia's father, joined to support the betterment of collecting and restoring antiquities.

Jack looked at Sophia for a moment. "Are you rested up?"

"Yeah, I'm ready," she responded as she placed her canteen back into her pack.

"Alright, let's go get the Arrow of Apollo," he told her as he moved forward.

Sophia slipped her pack onto her shoulders and followed her boss through the terrain once more. She was silent for only a few minutes before talking again. "So, what's your plan for this year?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you keep complaining about the teaching position," she mentioned.

Jack sighed heavily. "I don't know what to do, Soph. All the students care about hearing from me is about the Book of Origin and all that religious mumbo jumbo."

"You're still not a believer in God?"

"No, I believe in that big blue ball of energy on Sinai, but that mystical and mythical God in the Bible, I don't."

"Some people thought your views were outlandish," she reminded him.

"Thanks for bringing that up," Jack responded. "I had the proof right there in the Book of Origin." He sighed. "See? This is what bothers me. I mean, the religious people, even after finding and translating the Book of Origin, they still refute the find."

"Well, you could've allowed them access to God's lair, you know?"

"But then everyone would swarm Sinai looking for answers to the meaning of life," he replied. "Maybe I should just give up teaching. It wouldn't bother me so much if I could teach about something other than my adventures."

"That's what they're interested in," Sophia announced. "Not archaeology itself, but the fun and adventure behind it."

Jack shook his head. "Don't get me wrong. I enjoy teaching, but I want to teach about civilizations long gone. Not the wet and wild river ride that included very angry Brazilians mercenaries and guns."

"See," Sophia pointed out. "That sounds far better than anything you have to say about Babylon or Atlantis." She gave him a slight smile before he used his arm to block her path. She looked down at his arm, which was across her chest. "Not exactly the kind of place I like you touching, Jack Canyon."

"Sorry," he apologized. "I just don't want you to miss your step." He pointed down at the bridge that led up to the top of the next mountain. Some of the boards were missing.

Sophia looked down at the broken board she would have stepped on. "So, how do we get across?"

"Very cautiously," he told her. With that, he stepped onto the closest board and started across. He glanced back once in a while to check on Sophia. "Just watch your step."

"Why do I always get into these messes?" She asked aloud, but mostly to herself. "If I didn't work for you, Jack, I would have a nice office job that's safe and secure."

Then the bridge jerked.

"Oh, shit!" Sophia cried out.

"Don't move!" Jack called to her. Then it jerked again. "GO! MOVE!"

"Make up your damn mind," she yelled as she began to run toward Jack.

He caught a glimpse behind her of the frail rope giving in to their weight. "Not good," he told himself. He grabbed Sophia's arm when she drew closer and dragged her along as they ran across the failing bridge.

Then the rope bridge jerked and snapped at the other end making it fall.

Jack pulled on Sophia's arm tossing her over onto the firm ground at the other end of the bridge before it completely collapsed.

Sophia rolled forward and into a tree, which she leaned her back against for support. She looked around for Jack, but couldn't find him. "Jack?"

A masculine hand reached up over the cliff and gripped the ground. Jack pulled himself up onto the top and rolled onto his back for a moment.

"I thought I lost you," Sophia said sadly.

"I didn't know you cared that much," Jack replied as he tried to catch his breath.

"No, but had you died, I wouldn't have been able to find my way home." She gave him a smug look. She picked herself up and straightened her clothes when she stood. "Now, come on," she spoke. "We're almost there."

Jack sighed and rolled his eyes as he got to his feet. "A while ago, she was complaining," he told himself.

"So, where is that secret entrance that you spoke of?" Sophia asked.

"How am I supposed to know? That's why it's a secret." He looked down the side of the mountain at where the temple had slid to. "Interesting."

"What? What is it?"

"Nothing," he responded to her question. "Just interesting it didn't just fall to the bottom." He turned away from the edge of the cliff and started searching for an entrance. "You know, we could just repel down and climb through the face of the temple. It would be easi-"

It was as if the ground had opened up and swallowed Jack whole, because in an instant, he was gone.

Sophia moved toward the hole that he had fallen into so she could find him. "Jack?"

"I wish you'd stop calling out my name," he said angrily as he stood and dusted himself off. "Makes me feel like a child."

"Well, you do keep getting into situations like a child would, you know, like falling into deep holes."

"Are you going to stand up there and tell me everything I've ever done wrong, or are you going to come down here and help me?" Jack asked her, adding tone to his voice.

"I'm capable of both," she replied before sliding down into the hole. "Lead the way, mischievous one."

Jack gave her a stern look before proceeding down a corridor. The hall turned left and right and left and right again and again, over and over. It was like a freaky maze of turns.

"Do you know where you're going?" Sophia asked.

"I'm a guy," Jack answered in an annoyed voice. "I have a great sense of direction."

"Great, we're lost," Sophia argued. "Maybe we should ask for directions."

"Well, alright, but I don't think these guys would be helpful," he said as he pointed at some cocooned bodies on the wall. All that was visible were their skeletal heads.

"Who are they?" Sophia asked, disgusted.

"Worshipers," he replied as he continued down the stone wall hall.

As they proceeded, they entered a large chamber that locked down on them. The entrance was closed and there was no way out.

"Son of a bitch," Jack mumbled as he noticed his foot was on the mechanism that caused the room to lock down.

"Can't blame this one on me," Sophia stated as she looked around the room. "Come on, genius, find a way out."

Jack sighed heavily and rolled his eyes are his secretary. He stepped forward a few feet, quickly pausing as a large rod on the other side of the chasm in the center of the chamber.

"I wonder what that's for," Sophia spoke as she examined the rod.

Then a stone to Jack's right slid open and another rod with u-shaped iron pieces arose from the hole. "Horseshoes?"

"Must've been a big horse," she mentioned as she saw the large horseshoes.

"They've always been this big," Jack explained. "Ever get a new horseshoe set from a store? Big damn horseshoes, I tell ya."

"So, what's this have to do with anything?"

"I think it's the way out," Jack said. "Though, I wonder how many I have to put around the rod."

"Jack, don't move," she said. "You're on a pressure plate."

"Shit," he muttered.

"I found something," Sophia told him. She ran her hand along the ancient Greek writing. "It says you can't move from your spot and have to get one shoe around the rod. You get three tries. Miss and die."

"And who ever said you couldn't get hurt playing horseshoes?" Jack said sarcastically. "Alright, here goes." He picked up one of the shoes and tossed it across toward the rod, missing it. "Hm, I wonder how it knows when you've had three turns."

Sophia noticed when the horseshoe landed that a small stone receded into the floor. "Um, Jack, that side is entirely make of pressure plates."

"Great," Jack groaned as he picked up his second shoe. "Here goes." He hurled the second one across to the rod, but missed once more.

"Jack, I don't intend to die in this chamber," Sophia announced.

Jack's jaw tightened in annoyance and anger. He didn't even notice Sophia picking up the last shoe. "Do you think you can do better? Huh?!"

She reared back like a softball pitcher and threw the iron horseshoe around the rod. It spun as it hit, and whirled around the rod.

Jack gave her a look and continued to stare at her.

"What?" She asked as she caught his glare. "My father was a horseshoes champion in his youth and thought he could turn me into one. I learned how to play, but never made it to a tournament."

"Show off," Jack told her.

The door on the other side of the chamber opened as a stone slid across the chasm and met the other side, forming a bridge for them to cross.

"Ladies first," Sophia offered in humor to the sore loser.

Jack shook his head and continued through the chamber. Once they exited, they entered another corridor. "I'm sick of all these halls and rooms and death traps. Why can't anything ever be easy?"

"Well, Mr. Adventure, where would your fun be then?" Sophia asked punching him in the shoulder.

"Just once I would like a simple and easy task," he told her as he entered another chamber. He spotted the golden arrow upon a pedestal in the center of the chamber where a beam of light shined down upon it.

"Well, here is your simple and easy, Jack," Sophia told him.

"Yeah, that's the scary part," Jack stated. "This is too easy."

"But we just accomplished a task, so maybe this is our reward."

"It's never that easy, Soph," Jack said as he took a cautious step forward. Nothing happened, so he took another and another. Finally, he was at the pedestal. He took a deep breath and reached out for the arrow. Once it was in his hands and free of the stand, he stood still. "It can't be that easy."

Sophia simply shrugged. "Don't just stand there waiting for the place to fall down around you. Let's get out of here while we still can."

Jack placed the Arrow of Apollo into the pack on Sophia's back and lead the way out.