Jack Canyon and The Wiccan Stones | CHAPTER FOUR

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Jack stumbled and fell as the earth shook beneath him. The
volcano quaked violently, causing rock slides which forced
Jack to slip and slide down Mount Fuji part way. He shielded
the ruby as if it were a football. Once he was on his feet
again, the ground would shift once more. Jack tumbled
forward, as if he were doing a somersault. The trek down the
angry volcano was harsh, but he made it. He dusted off his
fatigue-colored pants, though most of the dirt stuck and
stained them. He kicked to force the dust off his boots and
shook his head to turn his dirty hair normal again.

The rumble subsided moments after he set foot off that
horrible mountain of fury. It was just a small tremor. The
volcano didn't erupt. Pity.

Jack figured he had enough time to spare since Yuriko and her
gang was trapped inside Mount Fuji. He needed to get to the
next stone, but there was no rush. He made his way into a
local antiquities shop.

"Can I help you?" An elderly Japanese woman asked as she
moved toward him using her cane to support her.

"Do you have any ancient maps?" Jack asked hoping for good
results.

"Mm, yes," she spoke in a feeble tone as she shifted around
and walked away from Jack. "In the back. This way."

Jack followed the woman into the back room where dozens of old
parchment maps resided. "I guess you don't come back here
often." He looked to her, but received no reply. The room
was dusty and contained cobb webs in various places. He even
spotted a rat crawling across a rack of maps.

"What are you looking for exactly?" She asked as she peered
at him with gray eyes.

"I'm not sure exactly," Jack admitted. He really wasn't
positive. He didn't even have an age on the stone. "Just any
old map will do." He nodded gently.

The woman tilted to her left and felt along the maps. She
pulled one out and placed it onto the dirty, cluttered table,
where she rolled it out.

Jack examined the map, which must have been over five hundred
years old. He pulled the ruby from his back pocket and set it
down on the table. Upon releasing his grasp, the stone slide
across the map.

Both the woman and Jack could feel a coldness in the air which
chilled them to the bone.

Jack hadn't realized it, but he had jumped back when the ruby
moved on its own. So, he leaned in to see where the ruby had
moved to. Narrowing his eyes, Jack pinpointed the central
location on the map that the ruby had landed on. "Cairo."

***

Cairo was a bustling city. People were all over the streets
in pubs, markets, and shops. Jack found himself a nicer
place, though. He had the upper-hand in the matter, so why
not relax? It had been one of the roughest days for Jack, so
he found a massage parlor.

"Oh, that's the spot," Jack moaned as the dark-skinned
Egyptian woman chopped at his lower back. He closed his eyes
because he was in heaven, in bliss. Having a painful day was
worth it if he could get a massage everyday.

Once it was over, Jack dressed himself in tan-colored Carhartt
pants. His scars on his torso showed through his slightly
muscular body. Then they were covered up by a gray T-shirt.
He kept a change of clothes in a small backpack. The backpack
that Sophia usually carried for him.

Jack stood at the window of the second floor of the parlor
looking out at the crowd. Most of the people were Arab, so it
was noticeable when a red-headed white woman pushed her way
through a few men. Jack narrowed his eyes to see if he knew
her. He was interrupted by the masseuse who demanded her
money.

After paying her, Jack made his way into the streets and
crowds. He still felt the need to continue his adventure and
search for the Wiccan stones. However, he was drawn to follow
this red-headed stranger.

***

Jack sat in the balcony of a coffee shop on the corner of one
of the streets. He faced the view of the city with his back
to the door. The red velvet chair had a high back which
shielded him.

"I'm looking for a Professor McAvoy," the red head stated as
she entered the balcony. She looked out of place in her khaki
pants and blue button down shirt with a dark tan safari vest
on.

Two Arab men shook their heads and went back to their coffee.

She eyes the red velvet chair and moved toward it. "I guess
you're McAvoy," she said as she moved to the chair across from
Jack. She turned and sat down. The shock and awe on her face
told the story of her surprise. "You dirty, lying dog."

Jack gave a cocky grin. "I guess you're not mad at me, huh?
The last I recall you were calling me more names, and sure as
hell didn't say dog. It was ba--"

"Bad," she cut him off. "You lied to get my attention? Why?
why did you do this, Jack Canyon?"

"You remember my name?" Jack asked as he shifted forward.
"Why, Erin Sawyer, I can't believe it."

"Jack, a lot of years have passed by," Erin admitted. "Now,
why did you lie to get me here?"

"You wouldn't have come otherwise," Jack replied.

Erin didn't speak, but the expression that came over her face
told Jack that he was right. "So, now that I'm here, what do
you want?"

"I need your help," Jack told her sincerely.

She laughed and scoffed at him.

"This is serious, Erin," Jack said with a straight face.
"It's cost my a partner."

"Fine," Erin said changing her tone a bit. "What is it?"

Jack looked around the balcony and then pulled the ruby from
his bag. He set it down on the table between them.

Erin's eyes widened tremendously. "Wow. I'm surprised you
haven't been robbed carrying such a large ruby around. It
must be worth a fortune."

"It's one of the four Wiccan stones," Jack stated boldly.

Erin was still shocked from the size of the stone, but more so
now about what he said it was. "That's just a story, Jack.
Just because you found a large ruby that's perfect in shape. .
."

"But its perfectly smooth and round," Jack told her. "That's
impossible, even with modern tools."

"So? It could've been left in a river for a thousand years."

"I don't think so," Jack said. "No one will leave something
like this alone for very long. It was forged out of the earth
by supernatural means."

"Okay, let's just say that you're right, though, by a long
shot," she started. "Where do I come in?"

"I've been sent here by this thing," Jack announced. "I heard
rumors that the stones could pin point the others. It moved
all on its own when I placed it near a map. Egypt was where
it stopped."

"Jack, Egypt is a large place. You'll never find the other
stones here. It would be like trying to find a needle in the
sand."

"But we have a compass that could lead us directly to it,"
Jack said as he tapped the ruby.

"Okay, so where do we start?" Erin asked as she ran her hands
through her curly red hair.

"I think I may know where," Jack told her. "Listen, when can
you be ready?"

"Give me half an hour," Erin said as she stood up. "I'll meet
you back here."

"Sure," he replied as she headed out, but she stopped and
turned back. "It's good to see you again, Jack."

"Same here," he said nervously. Then she was gone. Jack
reached out to get the ruby and noticed someone in the crowd
watching him intently. They knew they had been spotted and
mixed in with the people. Jack jumped up to try to find the
person again, but they were gone. He sighed heavily and sat
back down. He placed the ruby back into his pack and awaited
Erin's return.

***

There she was. That big, beautiful nose less stone structure
that had withstood the sands of time for so long.

Jack and Erin stood between the legs of the Sphinx where a
large inscribed tablet sat.

"You look nervous, Jack," Erin spoke through the silence.
They had been there for an hour trying to figure out the
riddle of the Sphinx. "Never been between someone's legs
before?"

"Not legs this big," Jack said with a cocky smile on his face.

"Do you know what you're doing?"

"If I did, I wouldn't still be standing here," he replied. "I
think this tablet is a door. I think the stone is beyond this
door."

"Jack, I've studied the Sphinx and many other structures in
Egypt," Erin explained. "I have no reason to believe that
this is some kind of doorway. And why would a Wiccan stone be
here? Why would Wicca have any ties to Egypt and the Sphinx,
especially when they're thousands of years apart?"

"I don't know, Erin," Jack answered. "I'm just following my
instincts, my archaeological instincts."

"Well, we both know where that can get you," she stated.

"Let's not dwell on what happened in the past, Er," Jack
pleaded with her. He didn't want to go there.

Erin could feel regret pouring from his words. She nodded and
concentrated on the tablet/door. "What's that?"

Jack looked over at her and saw her pointing at a lower corner
in the tablet. "I don't know what that is." He dropped to
his knees and began to dig sand away from the corner. "You've
never seen this before?"

"No," Erin replied.

"Wait a minute," Jack said as he pulled the ruby from his bag.
As he put the stone closer, the hole became more visible.

"That's creepy," Erin stated. "Now, what?"

Jack placed the stone inside the hole and the tablet opened.
"Ladies first."

"No, no," Erin argued. "You should go first."

Jack entered the Sphinx only to find a deep, dark staircase.
"Got a light?" He asked as he turned to Erin, but the door
closed quickly behind them. "No!" He beat on the door.

"I don't think anyone is going to hear you," she told him.

Jack rummaged through his pack to find the flashlight. "Ah,"
he said as he pulled it free and turned it on. "Follow me."
He led her down the stairs, which suddenly shifted and turned into a slide. The steep incline sent them down into the maze. They rose to their feet and dusted themselves off. Jack shined his light around to see their surroundings.

A breeze raced down the corridor and the lanterns were lit all
at once.

"I'm starting to hate this," Erin admitted as she watched Jack
put the light into his bag.

"You get used to it," Jack told her as he stepped forward into
the maze.

"Really?"

"No," he answered as they turned down another hallway.

Erin shook her head. He was the same old Jack Canyon she knew from eight years ago. "I guess things could be wo--" Jack's hand snapped tightly over her mouth.

"Shh," he told her. "That sentence always makes things worse." He heard a noise behind the walls and looked around. "Not good."

Erin forced Jack's hand away from her. "what is it?"

"I don't know," he replied as he continued to look around the hallway. "But I'm not sticking around to find out." He started to move down the hallway when the walls began to move inward. "That's the walls closing in. I hope you're not claustrophobic."

"Just shut up and run!" She yelled as she ran with Jack down the narrowing corridor. She got ahead of him and leaped out into the open chamber.

Jack's shoulders began to rub the walls so he had to turn sideways, but it wasn't good enough. A quick jerk and he fell. He thought he was dead, but when he looked up, Erin stood above him.

"I saved your ass," she told him. "You owe me!"

"You got it," Jack responded as he rose to his feet. He looked at the closed walls and sighed relief. "That was close."

"Stare at it later," she said forcefully as she dragged him along. "We have work to do."

Jack followed the red-headed woman through the maze that was lit by torches throughout. "Now, I know why people can't solve the riddle of the Sphinx."

Erin moved around the bend and stopped abruptly, causing Jack to bump into her.

"What is it?" Jack asked.

Erin pointed down the hall as stone pillars that crashed down then rose. There were four or five moving in various combinations. Dust was stirred by the pounding of the pillars.

"Ladies first?" Jack asked nervously.

"Not this time, cowboy," Erin replied as she stepped back and motioned for him to continue.

Jack slumped his shoulders in disappointment. He inched forward until he neared the first column. He waited for it to come down and rise, before he moved. "Do as I do!"

Erin followed behind Jack. She was passed the first pillar when he was at the third. She rolled passed the next one and made it to safety. Memories of their past exploits came flooding into her mind as she continued her dodging of the booby traps.

Jack waited on the other end for her, searching his mind for some kind of joke. He smiled as he watched her dive under the final pummel and come back up toward him. "What took you so long?"

"You're never short of wise cracks, are you?" Erin asked as she shoved him to the side. "Finding this stone is impossible. No way will we make it back."

"That's why it's called a maze, sweetheart," Jack replied as he moved ahead of her.

"I just hope the nightmare of all these gizmoes is over," she spoke from behind the infamous archaeologist.

"Well, you're not going to like this, then," he told her as he spotted horizontally moving pummels.

Erin's face shouted what she was thinking. She wanted to give up. This entire adventure was tiring, and she wasn't as young as she used to be.

Jack placed his back against the wall and scooted along, but as the pummel came rushing at him, he rolled out of the way. Too close, he thought as he continued to move quickly passed the rams. Once on the other side, he stopped, but heard a popping sound. He dove to the ground just as two pummels collided near his head. When it receded, he stood up and look across at Erin. "Alright, your turn!"

Once she was through, Jack took the lead again. The next few halls were empty and free of traps, much to the relief of Jack and Erin. The next turn revealed a large chamber with an altar in the middle of a staircase.

"Pretty simple," Erin said as she stepped forward, only to be grabbed by the collar by Jack.

"Not so fast," he warned. "You have forgotten what happened in Cambodia eight years ago, haven't you?"

"That wasn't my fault," Erin argued. "A little wind blows my hat off and onto some trap, and I get blamed for it. It's getting a little old, Jack."

"I just want you to be careful," Jack stated as he stepped forward onto the steps and up to the altar. "So far, so good."

"Get it and let's get out of here," Erin pleaded.

Jack grabbed the emerald off the pedestal and placed it into his pack. He turned around to look at Erin, then looked around at the darkness and silence.

The altar fell apart and the steps collapsed. The entire room began to cave in and fill with sand.

"GO!" Jack yelled as he pushed Erin into the direction of the exit. It was the only lit pathway. The entire maze was filling with sand one section at a time.

The duo managed to escape each section, but it was getting harder as the sand got faster.

"Whoa!" Jack cried as he spotted natural light. "That way. GO!" He shoved Erin toward the exit and followed closely behind. The entire corridor was collapsing, so Jack grabbed his friend and jumped out into the desert. Jack's breathing was heavy as he lay on his back.

Erin was flat on her stomach as she looked up to get a view of the area. "Friends of yours?"

"Huh?" Jack asked as he rolled over to his belly to see. He spotted Yuriko and her men with guns hovering over them. He also noticed Yuriko had pulled the ruby from the Sphinx's front door. "Oh, crap."