Jack Canyon and The Curse of The Spider Queen | CHAPTER SIX

Words: 1774

Nightfall had caught the duo of archaeologists at the edge of the Andes Mountains. The series of bridges allowed easier travel, but not less time. It had taken them thirteen hours to reach this location. Midnight was a dreary time of day in the mountains and jungle. They were so tired and the breaks every so often hadn't helped them at all. It had still been a strenuous trek through the Andes.

"Is it time for a break, yet?" Sophia asked near exhaustion.

"I think it would be best to camp," he told her as he stopped dead in his tracks. His T-shirt was soaked in his sweat and his Carhartt work pants were dirtier than they were. Water stains were around the ankles and dirt was on the knees and butt.

Sophia wiped several beads of sweat from between her breasts. "Ugh! Why must all your adventures involve mountains?" She asked as she looked up at him. She noticed him staring at her breasts. "And DON'T STARE at my BREASTS!"

Jack turned away from the angry screaming woman. "It just so happens that most of the relics we search for are in mountainous terrains."

"Yeah," she said exasperated as she flopped down onto the jungle floor. "Noah's Ark at Ararat. God at Sinai. Even in Greece, mountains. Then you bring me here. If the next damn adventure goes between, or around, or under a mountain, I'm quitting."

"Sophia," Jack said simply.

"What?" She sighed and tried to catch her breath.

"Just shut up," Jack huffed. "We both know you won't leave me."

"You don't pay that well, so why else would I stay?"

"Because I'm good looking," Jack said, as if that was obvious. He glanced at her just in time to see her roll her blue eyes. Jack ran his hand through his dark brown hair, which was wet with sweat. "Listen, working for me can't be that bad. . . can it? I mean, I'm doing the best I can."

Sophia scooted close to his side. "Jack, working for you is awful." Wow. Her words were cold and sharp, but true. "I stay here because it's fun and adventurous. Besides, someone has to save your ass."

"Hey, I don't get into trouble that often," he argued. Though, he knew she was right. She was always right about him.

Sophia glanced over at him, but made sure he didn't notice what her eyes were saying, or thinking. She sighed heavily as she mentally beat herself for thinking such things. She had a soft spot for this man still, but she understood why he was the way he was. So, why could she not like him? Nothing was stopping her. She snapped out of her moment of weakness and rolled over to get comfortable. "Maybe you should build a fire."

"What am I, a boy scout, now?" Jack asked as he looked over at his partner. "Sophia?" Silence. "Soph?"

Sophia faked a snore as she kept her eyes shut.

"Right," he said to himself. "Fire." He looked around the area and began to collect logs and sticks for a fire. He used his scuffed up and dirty boots to turn a small patch of grass into dirt. It would keep the fire from spreading. He stacked the logs in the small area of dirt, before searching their pack for flint.

Sophia peaked every once in a while to check his progress.

Jack finally got a fire started by sparking the flint with his knife. He let out a sigh of relief and sat with his back against a tree trunk. He glanced over at Sophia, catching her eyes open. "I thought you were asleep."

"All the noise made it difficult," she lied.

"Uh-huh. I bet." He breathed easy since the fire was done and Sophia seemed to be happy. It would keep them warm through the night and keep the wild animals away. "Best sleep," he told her as he got comfortable. "We're heading out at first light."

"What time is that?" Sophia asked looking at her Swiss watch.

"I don't know," Jack replied annoyed. "When the sun is slightly up and you can see more than ten feet in front of you."

"Well, expect me to oversleep," she said sternly.

"You better get your pretty, perfect little ass up when I wake you."

"What about my ass?" Sophia asked with an angered tone.

"I must be talking in my sleep," he mumbled as he slowly drifted off.

"You better be," she warned as she got comfortable again.

The morning sun beamed down through the dense rain forest and found its way upon Jack's face. He woke suddenly as his face got too warm. He noticed the fire was out and smoke slowly billowed from the dirt.

"Good morning, sunshine," Sophia smiled wickedly at him. "You overslept. I tried waking you twice."

"What time is it?" He asked groggily.

She looked at her watched, and replied, "Almost nine A.M."

Jack adjusted himself as if someone else had been watching him. He had to look like he meant to oversleep. "How long have you been up?"

"About an hour," she told him. "I took a look at Baxter's journal to see where he went from here. I'm very surprised we're even close to the mark."

"Why?"

"Because your sense of direction sucks," she said blatantly. "I mean, I read through the next few pages after Machu Picchu. We're about five or six yards from Baxter's campsite."

"Did you figure out where we go from here?" Jack asked as he rose to his feet and dusted off his pants.

"There is a river with no name," she answered. "Beyond that is where Araneae City is."

"Are there descriptions?" Jack continued with questions. "Maybe a map, where X marks the spot?"

"Nothing," she told him. "There is a temple between us and the river. That's all I know."

"Why don't we follow the path from John's campsite?"

"Why not?" Sophia asked as she stood from her kneeling position. She threw down the stick that she had used to stir the dirt and put out the fire. "It's this way."

Once they were at the campsite, Jack investigated the footprints and other evidence left by his friend. He checked out the stake holes where the tents were kept and then spotted the campfire's place.

"What are you, a tracker?" Sophia asked annoyed.

"We're detectives of the past, Sophia," Jack stated. "This is pretty much our job. We put together pieces of a puzzle to see where people had been or what happened. How is this any different than people who left tracks four-thousand years ago?"

Sophia shrugged, because he had a logical point. "So, which way?"

"The same way we've been going," he told her. "East."

"I hope you know what you're doing," she warned sternly.

Jack turned away from her to face in the direction the expedition had gone and to make a face that expressed his worry. "One foot in front of the other," he spoke as he stepped out in a long stride, but lost his footing and fell forward and down a long chute on the side of the steep hill.

Sophia shook her head and moved forward to check on her boss. She looked down the steep path that had been cut in the jungle terrain. She grabbed ahold of a vine and lowered herself as far as she could. She was careful with each transfer from vine to vine or some other object like a tree. She finally reached bottom where Jack was lying all dirty and bruised.

Jack looked up at her from his lying position. He could see the crotch of her tight jeans.

"One foot in front of the other, huh?" Sophia scolded, before stepping over him so he could no longer admire her crotch. Men.

"You could help me up," Jack admitted as he forced himself up. He groaned as he moved because his muscles and bones ached.

"It's not my fault you're down there in the first place," she stated as she looked ahead of their current position. "I can see the temple from here."

Jack moved in beside her to see what she was looking at. "Let's check it out." He slowly stepped forward and was careful of any sudden drops. The last one had gotten his attention and woken him up. "Why am I always the one getting hurt anyway?"

"Honestly, Jack, that's a stupid question," she told him.

"Look, don't start with that karma crap," he warned her as he pointed his index finger.

"Actually, I was going to say it was because I'm pretty and you're ugly."

"Well, you're half right," he said about her being pretty.

"I know," she smiled. "You're ugly."

The temple only took a few minutes to reach. It was made of stone, some of which was covered in moss or vines. Some other places were broken and crumbled into piles.

"Cozy place," Jack said sarcastically. He led Sophia into the main entrance hall, which looked unending. As they drew closer to the end, they discovered they weren't alone. Jack froze.

Sophia took notice of him and looked down the corridor.

"Get back," Jack urged as he pushed himself against her to pin her against the wall.

"Jack," she squirmed. "I'm not comfortable with this position."

"Well, if you want to be on top," he said with a cocky grin.

"No time for jokes," she reminded.

"Right," he frowned. "You always get to be sarcastic. Why not me?"

"Wait until we're out of this; then you can joke all you want to."

"We're not in trouble, yet," he stated.

"Somehow, I bet that's going to change," she spoke in a monotone.

"Well, I think we should check these people out," he said as he peeked around at them. He finally moved off Sophia, much to her relief. "Brazilians. That's my guess."

"Just what we need," Sophia muttered.

"I think those two are in charge," he motioned with a nod of his head.

"The two women?" Sophia questioned, shocked.

"Look at how the men fear them," he noted. "Notice how they carry themselves? It's quite a turn on."

Sophia cleared her throat.

"Sorry," Jack apologized. "I got carried away."

"What's the plan, genius?"

"I'm going to introduce myself," Jack admitted as he stepped out from behind the stone pillar, while Sophia stayed back behind a pillar. She would stay hidden in case something went wrong, and it was just a matter of time before it did. Jack froze as the Brazilian women and men turned toward him. "Hi."