Jack Canyon and The Wiccan Stones | CHAPTER FIVE

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Jack and Erin both stood with their arms raised high as the Japanese gang had their guns trained on the two archaeologists.

"Friends of yours?" Erin asked him once more.

"It's a long story," he replied as he stared down Hiroshi's gun barrel.

"I think I have time," Erin stated looking from Yuriko to the other men one by one.

"Well, I was in Japan a few days ago," Jack started, "on a return trip from Nepal. My late partner, Logan Scott, introduced me to this woman." He pointed out the female leader of this gang. "She wants the Wiccan Stones."

"You thought you could get them before her?" Erin questioned him.

"You know me so well," Jack said as he turned to her. He shifted his weight and threw a punch at Hiroshi, who quickly took the man down. Jack landed hard on his butt when the Japanese man kicked him.

"So do they," Erin spoke not surprised by Jack's attempt to escape.

"We only need Jack," Yuriko told her. "You are free to go."

"I think I'll stick around to help, just in case Jack--"

"No," Yuriko interrupted her. "Leave. NOW!" She paused in hopes that Erin would leave peacefully. It wasn't the American girl that they needed. It was Jack. When the red head would not leave, she nodded to Kin, who fired shots at Erin's feet.

The bullets fell short, hitting the sand instead.

"Alright, alright," Erin pleaded as she jumped at the shots. She quickly turned and walked towards the vehicle they had arrived on.

Taku and Kisho pulled Jack to his feet and held him in place.

"Do not try to escape, Mr. Canyon," Yuriko said as she made her way toward their SUV. She opened the rear cargo door and folded out a map on the floor. "Show me."

Jack sighed and set the emerald stone on the floor next to the map. "Okay, watch." He let go of it and it began to move slowly across the map and stopped somewhere in North America.

"Where is that? What is that?" Yuriko moved closer to the map. "I am unfamiliar with this place."

"As you should be," Jack told her. "It's nothing of archaeological importance. . . or so we thought. It's Niagara Falls."

"Okay, so the fire stone is in a volcano. The earth stone is found in the earth. It's only logical that the water stone be found in water."

Jack listened to Yuriko's words carefully. He had a very bad feeling that this wasn't going to be the easiest one to gain. Niagara falls was a vast place to search.

"You will lead us to Niagara Falls," Yuriko ordered him. "You will take us to the Water Stone."

Jack looked around at all the armed men for a moment, when Yuriko started to talk again, but Jack interrupted her. "Or you'll kill me. I know." He shook his head and looked to the sand. "Fine. I don't suppose you have a plane."

"You would be surprised, Mr. Canyon," she said as she rolled the map up and put the stones into a bag. "Get in."

"The back?" Jack asked, feeling claustrophobic.

"No, back seat between Hiroshi and Kin," she answered. "Taku, drive. Kisho, take the rear."

***

Erin Sawyer reached her desert vehicle and sat down in the driver's seat. She felt something tap her back and was about to turn to see what it was.

"Don't turn around," the deep voice spoke.

"Who are you?" Erin asked frantically.

"A friend," he stated confidently.

"What do you want?"

"To help Jack Canyon," he told her.

***

The roar of the water was deafening and the mist was a relief. Niagara Falls was quite the spectacle from the Niagara Falls, Ontario side. Jack leaned against the railing near a bench as Yuriko stood nearby.

"What do we do, Mr. Canyon?" Yuriko asked in a thick Japanese-American accent.

Jack looked around at her and then all the tourists before he replied to her question. He needed time to think. Now, he had an answer. "I don't know."

"Wrong answer," Yuriko said angrily.

"Ok, wait," Jack pleaded as he threw up his hands. "Let me think!" He spun around on his heel and looked out at the Falls again. He examined the area for a few minutes and spun around again. This time he faced Yuriko. "I need the stones."

Yuriko narrowed her eyes at the American before continuing. She needed to know if he was planning a daring escape. She looked at Kisho and nodded.

Kisho pulled the ruby and emerald stones from a bag and gave them to him.

Jack held the stones in separate hands and touched them together hoping their magical power would show him the way.

Yuriko watched him in wonder. She was stunned at this man's ingenuity.

Nothing happened, so Jack held them closer to Niagara Falls.

Yuriko literally gasped as the water became clear and a temple was visible beyond the waterfall. The power of the stones revealed the temple that was normally hidden from the human eye. "How do we get there?"

"You're not going to like this. . ." Jack said simply as he turned toward her and handed her the stones. "At all."

Yuriko took the two stones and gave them back to Kisho. "Now, Mr. Canyon, why won't I like this? Hm?" She perked her eyebrows slightly at him.

***

"You're insane!" Yuriko shouted.

"I told you, you aren't going to like this," Jack said in return. "This is the only way."

"Luckily, I brought more men," Yuriko announced. Then she shouted something in Japanese to her men.

Kisho and Taku carried out her orders by leading a several men down into the docks where they could steal a few boats. Once they obtained three boats, Yuriko forced Jack down to them. She stayed with him, as did Kin and Hiroshi.

"More boats," Jack said sadly. Before he could step into the boat, he was shoved down into it by Kin. He shifted around to get situated in a seat.

The three boats filled with six men each set sail down the river toward the Falls. Everyone was nervous due to the danger of Jack's plan. It was stupid and probably going to cause their deaths. The trio of boats moved in close proximity to each other, which was giving Jack ideas.

Jack looked left and then right, since his boat was in the middle, but his mind was giving up on escape plans. He fought a battle in boats days before, which did not end well. He looked at Yuriko, who was still in dismay that she was even entertaining Jack's ludicrous plan. "So, am I living up to my reputation?" He gave her a cocky grin.

"I had heard you have done some really crazy things, Mr. Canyon," Yuriko replied as she looked from him to the horizon. "I had no idea I would actually participate in them."

Jack just continued to grin like some child. However, that smile subsided as the boats neared the waterfall. His mind suddenly remembered all the facts of Horseshoe Falls. "Its one-hundred and sixty-seven feet down. I hope you remember to wear your life vest." He took a deep breath and kept the stones tightly against his chest.

The stones would allow them passage to the hidden temple, but it required the combined powers of two separate stones.

Jack took deep breaths as the boats neared the edge of the waterfall. In his mind, he kept remembering the tourists on the Maid of the Mist, the Niagara Falls cruise boat. They had looked at the trio of boats in awe. Then his mind went blank as the boats dropped off the edge.

Screams and gasps came from all over, but it was the tourists standing in the parks.