Never Too Far Novel

Chapter 2023

The chamber was about eight feet tall, but Willow jumped anyway. Jasper caught her, and they clung to each other. With her arms wrapped around his neck, Willow felt safe in his embrace.

Jasper held up a lamp for Willow while she checked things out. A moment later, she found a metal box and opened it, revealing a few pieces of yellowing paper within. Even though it was probably a thousand years old, she could still make out the words. Some of the papers had broken down, however. Willow quickly took a few photos and made sure she didn’t make any noise. Once she was done, the papers started rotting as they had been exposed to the humidity in the air, and they turned into dust.

Willow heaved a sigh. Good thing I took the photos in time. She swiveled around, but someone covered her eyes and darkness overwhelmed her. “What’s wrong?”

“There are a few skeletons there. Are you scared of them?” Jasper asked, in case she got spooked if she saw the remains. NôvelDrama.Org holds this content.

“If they’re just skeletons, then no,” said Willow.

Jasper pulled his hand back, and Willow shone her flashlight on the skeletons. She then crouched down and checked the items around them, and she noticed one of the skeletons holding a metal box. Hmm, the artifacts the islanders found must have been sold for money. They haven’t found this chamber yet, so I can keep a few things.

She picked up her backpack and unfurled a stretch of cloth. Carefully, she placed the metal box in the cloth and tied it up.

Jasper watched her as she worked. He said nothing, only keeping an eye on them. They stayed on the ship for three hours, and they gained a lot from the investigation. The team had lunch and went for another round to clean up things, then they could leave.

It was then an explosion broke out at the cave’s entrance, shocking everyone.

“Quickly find out what happened,” said the leader.

Part of the team quickly checked things out and came back a moment later. “Someone blasted the entrance. The exit’s blocked by a boulder.”

“Must be the locals. What are they trying to do?” someone barked.

“They want to take all our stuff for themselves. You know how lawless this place is. They own the island. They can take everything we have and live a rich life for years.”

“Damn it, and we just got everything we needed to. All we had to do was get out and leave.”

Willow looked at Jasper. Jasper gave her a look of assurance. No matter what, he would lead them to safety. “Everyone split up and see if there are any more exits. Three hours left before sundown, so make haste.”

Everyone split up to search the cave for another exit, but an hour later, everyone came back and said they found no more exits.

“So, we’ll have to stay the night in a cave?”

“There’s an exit there.” Jasper pointed up.

Everyone looked at the top of the cave, agape. He’s talking about the exit on the roof? But we don’t have any climbing gear. How can we even get up there?

“That’s too high up. How can we even get up there?”

Willow held Jasper’s sleeve in worry. “No. We can wait. The other guys will come for us if we are missing for too long.”

“I can climb my way up there and smash the hole open. We can get out before sundown.” Jasper didn’t want Willow to stay the night here. The temperature difference between night and day was big, so she could fall ill.

“Are you sure you can do it, Mr. Wyatt?” a surprised Winston asked.

“I can,” said Jasper confidently.

Everyone else was shocked. They were just archeologists, not ninjas. There was no way any of them could scale the walls of this cave without any gear. Thinking that Jasper was also just an archeologist, they didn’t think he could do this.