I said, “Who the heck is here at this hour?”

My mother asked, “Tom, would you answer that please?”

As I got up, I said, “Sure mom.”

I walked over to the door, opened it, and was startled. Standing there was my Aunt Linda, my Uncle Richard, my Cousin Mary, her husband Jim, and their children. My Uncle Mark and his wife. Larry and Kelly. And Mark and Maria.

“What are all of you doing here?”, I asked.

“We came for breakfast.”, my Aunt Linda said.

“Come on in. I hope mom’s prepared?”

As I held the door open, everyone filed in. I received smiles from everyone, except Mary’s two children, my godchildren, because they were sleepy. I closed the door and walked back into the kitchen behind them. Then I walked over and stood behind Amy.

“Tom.”, my Aunt Linda said, “You asked, what we’re all doing here? We’re here to see you and Amy off.”

I just shook my head, and Amy said, “That is so sweet.”

Amy got up, and we walked around hugging everyone and exchanging comments. My Uncle Mark, who I’d worked for summers, said, “Tom, I knew that I’d probably lose you when you graduated, but not to New Mexico?”

“Uncle Mark.”, I said. “You go where your heart takes you.”

“Uncle Mark.”, Amy said. “They don’t call New Mexico the Land of Enchantment for nothing.”

We talked as long as we could then we excused ourselves, to quickly finish our little bit of packing and for me to run to the basement and retrieve the silver jewelry out of the safe and put it in the camera bag. When I came back upstairs, Amy had everything else packed up.

She and I carrying a suitcase, our dirty clothes bag, the camera bag, and our pillows walked into the kitchen. Bill grabbed the pillows to lighten our load. I looked at everyone and said, “Everyone, it means a lot to us that you showed up so early in the morning to see us off. We love you for it. But we need to get going.”

I felt tears in my eyes, as I saw tears from others. As Amy and I walked towards the door to the garage, we hugged everyone that we could. I heard my Cousin Mary whisper to Amy, “Take care of my little sister.”

“I will.”, I heard Amy whisper back.

As we walked into the garage and I opened the overhead door. I looked down the driveway, and there were a number of cars parked in it, but no one was parked in front of us. We have a big driveway, and everyone that wasn’t parked in it was parked on the street.

I noticed a sign on the back of the car that said, ‘New Mexico or Bust.’ I was going to take it off but thought better of it. I’d remove it when we were out of sight of the house. We tossed the dirty clothes bag and our small suitcase in the back seat along with our pillows. I put the camera bag behind my seat, and Amy put the small paper bag that mom had given her behind her seat.

Then I walked over to the door from the garage to the backyard, picked up the pot with the little tree in it, carried it to the car, and carefully placed it on the floor of the backseat, next to the camera bag so that it wouldn’t fall over.

I heard my Aunt Linda ask my mom, “What’s that for.”

My mom, replied, “I’ll tell you later.”

Everyone was standing outside as I pulled out of the garage. It was too early in the morning to blow the horn, so we rolled the windows down and waved to everyone as we pulled down the driveway and turned onto the street.

Everyone was waving back at us.

Finally, I looked over at Amy, and said, “Well, love. We’re on the way.”

Amy was crying, and just said, “Un huh.”

“Honey.”, I asked. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah. It’s sad that we’re leaving such wonderful people.”

“Honey, I know. But they’ll be here when we come back. And we will come back.”

“I know love. I’ll be fine.”

“I know you will.”

I drove to where I could stop for a minute and parked. I got out, took the sign off the car, and put it in the trunk. When I got back in the car, I asked Amy, “What’s in the bag mom gave you?”

“Just some goodies for the trip.”, Amy replied.

“Did you check it for a small box?”

“Huh?”

“Remember what Mr. Yazzie did to us last year.”

“Oh yeah. The rings.”

I saw a little smile on her face, and I said, “There’s that smile.”

“I’m sorry. It’s just that we’re leaving our friends and family.”

“I know. I feel sad too. But when we come back, it will be like a big party.”

“I’ll be fine. I have you. And that’s all I need.”

“You’re all I need too.”

Amy cuddled up to me and fell asleep. She only slept for about an hour, and when she woke up, she looked at me, and said, “That’s better.”

“What’s better?”, I asked.

“I feel better about this whole thing. And the dream helped.”

“Not another dream?”

“I dream all the time. But this one was about us being in New Mexico, and everything was working out as it should. We even had people come out and stay with us.”

“Who?”

“I don’t know. I didn’t see them, but I knew they were there.”

We stopped for lunch, and since we weren’t in a hurry, we took our time. Then on the other side of St. Louis we found our first stop. A very nice motel with a pool and an attached restaurant. We checked in, parked the car in front of our room, and carried our things in. We had parked in the shade, so I didn’t worry about the little tree being in the car.

After we’d settled in, we put on swimsuits and used the pool. Amy spent some time soaking up the sun. Then we had dinner.

The next morning, Friday, after breakfast, we checked out and headed west across Missouri and into Kansas and onto the Great Plains. Our stop tonight was about halfway across Kansas. And again it was a nice motel. No restaurant, but a pool. It was hot, so the little tree went into the room with us, and it got a little water. And Amy and I used the pool. Then we found a nice place to eat.

Our stop on Saturday night was at Pueblo, Colorado. It was good seeing the mountains again after going across the Great Plains. And we could have made the additional drive to my aunt and uncle’s without a problem, but, as I’ve said before, we weren’t in a hurry. The temperature here was a little on the cool side, so the little tree stayed in the car.

We called my aunt and uncle and told them that we’d be in before Noon tomorrow.

To try and start adjusting to the two hour time difference we tried to sleep in on Sunday morning, and that didn’t happen. We were up well before sunrise this morning. So we just showered, got dressed, and went outside to watch the sunrise. It was okay, but not the best we’ve seen out here.

We found a Mexican restaurant that was open early and had a nice Southwestern breakfast. Then we checked out of the motel and headed south. South towards the resort. And the roads started to look familiar.

At the point where we either went straight south to Taos or turned right to cross the Rio Grande River, I almost went south but figured that we’d have plenty of time to visit Taos. So I turned right, crossed the Rio Grande, and an hour later I was turning into the resort.

We drove to my aunt and uncle’s house and parked, got out of the car, walked to the door, and I knocked. Shortly my Aunt Ruth opened the door, she put her hands on her hips, and said, “Since when do you knock?”

“Hi, Aunt Ruth.”, I said. “It’s great to see you again too.”

Aunt Ruth grinned, held out her arms, and hugged us. Then said, “I sure have missed the two of you.”

“We’ve missed you too.”, Amy said.

“Come on in. Your Uncle Paul should be here soon for lunch.”

“Is grandma here?”, I asked.

From behind Aunt Ruth, I heard, “You think that I’d miss seeing my two favorite grandchildren again.” It was Grandma Devereux.

And before we could get into the house, there were more hugs. When we were finally able to walk into the house, nothing had changed. I set the camera bag on the kitchen table, and my aunt asked, “Is that what I think it is?”

“Yes.”, I replied. “It’s the silver jewelry. I was hoping to leave it here until we figured out where to keep it in the apartment.”

“You can use the floor safe in your room again if you want to.”

“That would be great.”

“Our room?”, Amy asked.

“Honey.”, Aunt Ruth said. “That room is yours anytime that you’re here.”

“Thank you.”

Just then Uncle Paul walked in, saw us, and said, “Yá’át’ééh (it is good), Kai doo Ajie.”

“Yá’át’ééh, Abízhí Yiska (Uncle Paul).”, we both said.

“I thought you would have forgotten your Navajo over the past year.”

“Not with my mom around.”, I said. “She kept us on our toes, and we’re probably better than we were last year.”

Aunt Ruth then put a great lunch on the table for the five of us, and as we ate we talked about our plans. We found out that Uncle Paul had picked out the best two sets of bedroom furniture that he could, one of the leather couches, two of the overstuffed leather chairs, and two end tables. We thanked him and asked him what we owed the resort. He smiled, as he said, “I think your aunt said it would be pennies on the dollar. Right?”

“Yes.”, I said.

“That would work out to ten dollars.”

“Uncle Paul!”

“Tom, the other sets were auctioned off, and you’re paying pennies on the dollar of the average auction price.”

“Tom.”, Aunt Ruth said. “Don’t argue with him.”

“After lunch, we’ll run over to the storage barn, and you can look at them. And if you don’t want them, we’ll just sell them.”

After we finished eating, we had the usual discussion over who was doing dishes, and Amy and I won. So Amy and I did the dishes. Then I asked Uncle Paul for the key to the floor safe in our room, and we took the jewelry back to the bedroom and placed it in the safe.

Then I drove Amy and Uncle Paul over to the storage barn. On the way, Uncle Paul asked, “New car Tom?”

“A graduation gift from our parents.”, I replied.

“Nice car.”

“Thanks.”

When we got to the storage barn, Uncle Paul unlocked the door, turned on the lights, and took us to where the furniture was. Two king size beds, four nightstands, two dressers, two chest of drawers, a leather couch, two overstuffed leather chairs, and two end tables. We looked at them, and I said, “Uncle Paul, this is too much.”

“Tom.”, Uncle Paul said. “It’s just something that we want to do for the two of you.”

“Thank you. We really appreciate it.”

I looked around the barn and saw something. As I pointed, I said, “Uncle Paul is that a safe over there.”

Uncle Paul looked to where I was pointing, and said, “Yes. It’s been in here for ten years just taking up space. It was in the office, and then we got a bigger one. Why?”

“We need something at the apartment to keep the jewelry in. Does it still work?”

“It’s should. Let’s find out.”

We walked over to the safe. It was maybe two-and-a-half feet high and maybe two feet by two feet square. It was painted black with gold trim. It had two large ornate hinges, the combination knob was in the middle of the door, and the handle was on the left side of the door. And in gold letters, it said, “Herring-Hall-Marvin Safe Co. Hamilton O” on the door.

There was a piece of tape on it that had the combination written on it. Uncle Paul tried the handle, and it was locked. So he spun the combination knob, entered the combination, tried the handle, and the door opened.

Then, Uncle Paul closed the door, spun the combination knob, and said to me, “Try it.”

I spun the knob, worked the combination, and tried the handle. It didn’t move. I tried it again, and it opened. Then Uncle Paul said, “If I remember right, the combination knob is very finicky. And you have to be right on each number, or it won’t work. Try it again.”

I tried it again, and it opened right up.

Then my Uncle Paul asked, “Want it?”

“Sure. But how do we get it to the apartment?”

“No problem. We’ll bring it when we bring the furniture.”

“Are you sure?”

“It’ll take four of us. It’s an old time safe, and they were made very heavy.”

We went back to the house, and Amy and I brought in the suitcases that we’d need for the next few days. We also brought in the dirty clothes bag. Aunt Ruth told us to feel free to use the washer and dryer. So we washed clothes.

While the clothes were washing, my aunt, uncle, Amy, and I talked about our plans, besides going to school and working, while we were out there. And I happened to mention the little tree. My aunt said, “You mean it’s still living?”

“Yes, it’s out in the car.”, I replied.

“Why did you bring it.”

“Amy and I felt that it need to be brought back here and planted.”

“You’re kidding me.”, Uncle Paul said, “All the wood from that tree was dead.”

“That’s what we thought too. But something moved us to plant a twig in the flower garden, so Amy and I planted it. And it wasn’t long until we saw a sprout.”

“Tom’s mom said that spirits move in strange ways.”, Amy added.

“That they do.”, Aunt Ruth said. “So you brought it out here to replant.”

“Yes.”, I replied. “In the same place where the old tree was.”

“Where is this little tree?”, Uncle Paul asked.

“In the car.”

“Bring it in.”

I went out and bought the little tree in. Uncle Paul looked at it, and said, “That is a Colorado Pinyon Pine. And I remember your mom asking about it. So you want to plant this where the old tree was?”

“Yes.”, I replied. “If we can.”

“From what you said. I think you’d better.”

“Oh.”

“It’s something that the spirits want.”

“I know.”

“When would you like to do this?”

“Either tomorrow or Tuesday.”

“Okay. We’ll make it happen. Tom, why don’t you give it a little water and put it in the garage where it’s cool. And I’ll see what I can arrange.”

I went and gave the little tree some water, then took it to the garage and put it in a safe place.

When I was back, my uncle said, “Tom, I think if you can wait until Tuesday, we can do it properly.”

“We can wait.”

At dinner, my aunt asked me, “Going to the bonfire tonight?”

“I think it would help get us back into the feeling of the area.”

“Going as Kai?”, Amy asked.

“I think so. And maybe we’ll even watch a sunset.”

“Thought so.”

“Did we bring in Kai’s things?”, I asked Amy.

“Yes. And we even brought in Ajie’s things.”, Amy replied.

After dinner, which Amy and I helped make, we headed back to our room. We unpacked one of Ajie’s long skirts and fancy blouses. And we unpacked the white Biil dress and wrap moccasins for Kai.

Amy had shown me how to braid my hair, and I could do it, but Amy could do it quicker. So, Amy removed my single male braid and put my hair into two braids that hung down in front of my shoulders. We didn’t go fancy, just a simple leather wrap at the end of both braids. I did put on the braided leather headband with the two feathers.

Amy did her hair just about the same way that she’d done mine, except she didn’t add any wraps. And she used one of the beaded headbands.

We both went light on the jewelry. Both of us wore Concho belts and the silver feather earrings. Ajie wore the beaded choker, and I wore the Concho bone choker.

A little light makeup. I looked at Ajie, and said, Yá’át’ééh alní'íní, Ajie. (good evening, Ajie)

Ajie smiled and said, Yá’át’ééh alní'íní, Kai.”

We walked out into the house, and my aunt was on the phone but was the first to see us, and she said, “Girls, you look prettier than the last time I saw you.”

“Thank you, Aunt Ruth.”, Ajie said with a smile.

“Kai, do you want to talk to your mother?”

“Sure.”, I replied.

And I talked with my mother for a few minutes and told her that we were safe and sound. She was happy to hear that.

After my aunt had finished talking to my mother, she hung up the phone, and said, “Kai, I have something for you.”

“Aunt Ruth!”, I said.

“Kai, this was given to me a long time ago. And now I’m giving it to you.”

Aunt Ruth picked up something, unfolded it, and showed it to us. It was a very fancy woven rug.

“Aunt Ruth, we can’t accept this.”

“Kai, this is a special rug, and a special person should have it.”

“Aunt Ruth, I’m not special.”

“Honey, you are special. You are a Nádleeh. You are special to your people.”

“Remembering everything that Naainish has told me, and the things that have happened. I can’t argue with you, Aunt Ruth.”

As she handed me the rug, Aunt Ruth said, “The design is the Tree of Life. But also woven into it are images of the four sacred mountains in different colors.”

I remembered what Mrs. Hatathli, who had done our hair, had told us, and I said, “I remembered what Mrs. Hatathli had told us. That the four colors represent the four sacred mountains, Mt. Blanca, Mt. Taylor, San Francisco Peak, and Mt. Hesperus.

“And that these four mountains were placed by the Holy People causing the land of the Dinè, or Navajo, to be created. And the four directions are represented by four colors. White represents the east, turquoise the south, yellow the west, and black the north.”

“Wow.”, Ajie said. “Where did that come from?”

“It’s what Mrs. Hatathli told us about the mountains and colors when she did my hair that one time, it just came back to me.”

I looked at the rug and the images of the four mountains. And, it was the traditional white mountain at the right, yellow at the left, black to the top, and turquoise to the bottom.

Then Aunt Ruth smiled, and said, “Honey, enjoy.”

I looked at Aunt Ruth, and said, “This is a special rug. Thank you so much.”

As Sunset got closer, Ajie and I headed towards the cliff trail and hiked up the trail. Moccasins! I’d forgotten that these Moccasins aren’t good for use on this trail. Too many stones.

When we got to the top, there were a few people there. And of course, because of the way we were dressed, we were looked at. But no one talked to us. We stood there and watched the sun slowly set, and the colors were brilliant. After the sun had set, we started walking down the trail, and we saw that the bonfire was just starting.

I had left the rug in our room, so we walked over there, retrieved the woven rug, and headed back to the bonfire. As we walked, Ajie asked, “Are you going to meditate?”

“Yes.”, I replied.

“Would you mind if I join you?”

“Honey, you don’t have to ask.”

We walked to our favorite spot by the fire. I spread the rug, helped Ajie sit, then I sat. We saw guests from the resort on the other side of the bonfire, and my uncle was saying something to them. There were no musicians tonight. But as I slowly started to concentrate on the fire, I heard someone begin to chant. Naainish?

When I’d meditated here before I’d had strong feelings of the spirits that were present here, but tonight it was different. It wasn’t like the one time that I’d had problems with the spirits. The spirits felt strong, and it felt good. It was like the spirits were happy. Ajie and I sat there listening to the chanting, and we meditated.

The chanting stopped, and we sat there for another couple of minutes. Then I got up, offered my hand to Ajie, she took it, and I helped her stand. I picked up the rug, folded it, and hung it over my arm.

We walked over to where everyone was, and I saw Naainish. It was him that was chanting. He saw us, smiled, and said, “Yá'át'ééh, Kai doo Ajie, nizhonigó íiná aadóó hozhónahasdlíí – (Hello, Kai and Ajie, it is good, and all is harmony around us.)”

Both Ajie and I said, “Yá’át’ééh alní'íní, Naainish.”

“I didn’t know you were here.”, Naainish said.

“We just got here today. Why are you here?”, I asked.

“Something told me that I should be.”

“Hmm?”

“It’s so good to see you two.”, Naainish said. “How long will you be here?”

I grinned, as I said, “Probably two years.”

“Two years!?”

“Yes, Ajie is doing her master’s work at the university in Albuquerque.

“That’s wonderful.”

“We thought so too, and after tonight I think the spirits are also happy.”

“They are.”

“I have one favor to ask. Don’t tell anyone that we’re here. We have some people, like your uncle and Dibe, that we want to surprise.”

“I won’t tell a soul. My uncle will be very pleased to see you.”

“After what he pulled last time we were here, he may not be.”

“I thought that you put something over on him?”

“So did we. Until we found a small box in our luggage.”

“A small box?”

“It contained two silver and turquoises rings, and a note from him that just said, ‘Gotcha.’”

“I told you that he didn’t like to be fooled.”

“I know. Now, I just have to figure out how to get back at him.”

“That won’t be easy.”

“I figured that.”

Just then my uncle walked up with two women, and he said, “Excuse my Kai. But these two ladies happened to see the rug that you’re carrying and would like to look at it.”

“Why?”, I asked.

“Miss Kai.”, one of the ladies said. “We collect Navajo rugs, both the rugs themselves or pictures of them. And your rug looks very interesting.”

“I guess you could have a look. Why don’t we go into the lobby of the hotel where there is good light?”

“That would be fine.”

“Naainish, would you care to join us?”

“Sure, Kai.”, Naainish replied.

Then I said in Navajo, “I don’t trust them.”

“Iq’qq'. (O.K.)”

We walked into the hotel’s lobby and over to a table. I placed the rug on the table and unfolded it. The two women just loved the rug and knew it was a Tree of Life design. And they said it was one of the nicest that they’d ever seen. Then they noticed the four mountain embroidered on the rug, and I explained it to them. They were excited.

Then one of the women asked, “Would you sell it?”

My response was, “It’s not for sale.”

“I’d give you … ”

“I said, it’s not for sale at any price!”

“But, it needs … ”

“I said, it’s not for sale.”

“I see. Could I take some pictures of it?”

“I don’t think so.”

I picked up the rug, folded it, put it over my arm, and walked out of the hotel with Ajie.

I heard the woman said, “I think that I upset her.”

Then I heard Naainish say, “She is not one to upset.”

We walked back to my aunt and uncles house, as we walked in my aunt was in the kitchen, and she asked, “How was the bonfire?”

“Great until we met two women that were interested in the rug.", I said.

“What happened?”

“They wanted to buy the rug, and wouldn’t take no for an answer.”

“Who were they?”

“Someone that collects Navajo rugs.”

“Oh. Them.”

“You know them?”

“No. But I know of them, and they can be pushy to try to get what they want. And you aren’t the first ones out here to have a run in with them.”

“I hope we never see them again.”, Ajie said.

Just then Uncle Paul walked in, and said, “Naainish told me what happened.”

“Yeah.”, I said. “Are they quests?”

“Yes. Tonight is their last night with us.”

“Good. I never want to see them again.”

“So, what’s your plan for tomorrow?”

“We need to go to Albuquerque and the university, and stop at the registrar's office, then the housing office to see about the apartment, and then go to the bank to set up our account.”

“And I need to see if I can meet with my preceptor, Mrs. … oops, Dr. Etsitty while we’re there.”

“So.”, Uncle Paul said. “If you call me as soon as you know where your apartment is, we’ll bring the furniture down.”

“Really?”

“Sure. It’s what we planned to do. We’ll have everything loaded tomorrow morning, so it’s ready to go when you call. And I’ll bring two of the guys with me, and we’ll have everything in and set up in no time.”

“That’s great Uncle Paul. It’s two hours from here to Albuquerque and the university offices open at eight. So we should probably be out of here at six.”

“Will you have any problems getting up that early?”, Aunt Ruth asked.

“No. We aren’t close to adjusting to the time change, so your six is our eight.”

“That’s true.”

“We’ll try to be quiet in the morning.”

“Don’t worry. We’re usually up by six.”

Ajie and I said goodnight to my aunt and uncle and went to our room. After undressing and putting everything away, we took showers and went to bed. It had been a long day.