When we were back at the resort, Naainish filled us in on the Eagle feathers. And I filled him, my aunt and uncle, and Maria and Mark in on the Eagles back home. Was this too much information for Mark and Maria.

Of course, as my uncle was escorting me to my new job, I had asked him if there were any special quests. His reply was, “Well, of course, Naainish is here. Chief Kinlicheeny dropped in. And … ”

“And who?”, I asked.

“You’re not going to be happy.”

“Why?”

“Chief Peshlakai is here.”

I stopped dead in my tracks, slowly turned to look at my uncle, and said, “What!?”

“Yes, he just showed up.”

“Why?”

“Because he can.”

“I don’t want to be anywhere near him.”

“I understand, Kai. Just introduce him, and leave it at that.”

“No, I’m sorry Uncle Paul. That I can’t do.”

I turned and walked back to where Ajie and the crew were.

Ajie looked at me, and asked, “Honey, what’s wrong?”

“Peshlakai’s here.”, I replied. “Uncle Paul wanted me to introduce him, and I refused,”

“I don’t blame you.”

The crew walked over, and Kelly asked, “Kai, is something wrong?”

“Yes and no. I know that you know about the scholarship that Ajie and I set up. We’ve had a problem with one of the clan chiefs who has tried to take credit for the scholarship. I’ve made the mistake of accepting an apology from him twice.

“When we got out here this time, we found that he was still taking credit. So last week we came right out and told everyone that we had funded it. They even published a front-page article about it in the Navajo Times. And tonight that chief shows up and I was going to do the introductions of special guests, and when my uncle told me he was here. I refused to do the introductions.”

“So this chief has been a real problem?”

“A major pain.”

Just then my uncle started doing the welcoming with introductions. And we stopped talking and listened. He introduced Chief Kinlicheeny. And Larry asked, “Is he the problem?”

“No.”, Ajie replied. “He’s one of the good guys.”

Then my uncle introduced Naainish. But he never introduced Peshlakai. Hmm. Why?

When Naainish finished, my uncle said that the food was ready, the six of us got up and started walking towards the food area. After we’d walked a short distance I heard a voice say “Kai, I’d like to talk to you.”

I knew the voice. It was Chief Peshlakai. I just kept walking. Then I felt a hand on my shoulder.

I spun around, grabbed the hand, twisted it, bent it back, and glared at him. Then I said, “Sir if you ever touch me again I’ll put you on the ground!

“There is nothing that you can say to me that I want to hear. You lied to me twice, I accepted your apology twice, and you made a fool of me. You forced me to reveal that Ajie and I funded the beginning of the scholarship. If I ever see you again, it’ll be too soon!”

I sensed Ajie standing next to me and the rest of the crew standing behind me. And I was looking at a very shocked expression on Peshlakai’s face. I saw my uncle almost run up, and he asked, “Kai, what happened?”

“He touched me, and I reacted.”

My uncle looked at Chief Peshlakai, and said, “Peshlakai, be happy that you’re not on the ground. We’ve told you before that Kai isn’t someone to be messed with.

“You’ve done enough damage here. I think that you had better leave.”

“Kai, let go of him!”, Ajie said.

I let go of Peshlakai’s hand. He stepped back, stared at me, and rubbed his wrist. It looked like he wanted to say something. So I said, “Don’t say a word. Just leave.”

He turned and walked towards the parking lot. I heard Mark say, “Is that the Chief that been causing the trouble?”

Ajie replied, “Yes. And I don’t know why he showed up here. He knows he’s not welcome.”

I turned around, and said to the crew, “Guys, I’m sorry that you had to see this.”

“Kai.”, Maria said, “Don’t be. People like him need to be put in their place like you did.”

“Thanks. But why me?”

“I don’t know. But you did what you had to do.”

“Look!”, Larry said as he pointed in the direction that Peshlakai had walked.

We all looked in the direction Larry was pointing. And there were two men in suits and two uniformed deputy sheriffs talking to Peshlakai. We stood there and watched. Then we watched as the deputies handcuffed Peshlakai and put him in one of the two marked police cars that were there.

As Uncle Paul started walking towards them, he said, “I know one of the guys in a suit, I’ll see if I can find out what’s going on.”

Ajie then said, “Kai, you know that Mr. Tlizilani said that there was more to the Peshlakai thing than just us.”

“Obviously.”, I said.

“Who’s this Mr. Tlizilani?”, Kelly asked.

“He’s a reporter, an investigative reporter, for the Navajo Times.”

“The Navajo have a newspaper of their own?”

“Yes. A daily. Realize how big the Nation is. It has a population of over three hundred thousand people spread over an area of more than twenty-seven thousand square miles in parts of three states. So a newspaper is one way to reach most of them.”

We watched my uncle as he reached the four police officers. He shook hands with one of the guys in a suit. Then it looked as he was introduced to the other guy in a suit, and they shook hands.

They spoke for a few minutes, then shook hands again, and my uncle started walking towards us. And I’d swear that he was smiling. When he got closer, he was almost laughing.

As my uncle walked up, he said, “Well Kai, I don’t think we’ll have to worry about Peshlakai for a long time. The one suit is my friend, a detective from the Navajo Nation Police Department, and the other suit is an FBI agent.”

“FBI?”, I said.

“Yes. They had two arrest warrants for Peshlakai. One Federal and one Tribal. Since some of what Peshlakai supposedly did was on an Indian reservation, it involves the FBI and Federal charges.”

“What did he do?”

“They wouldn’t go into details. But it had something to do with money and the election.”

“How did they know he was here?”

“I guess when they issued the warrants they started looking for him. One of the deputies who was patrolling saw him drive in here and then he called the others in.”

“Well, after all of this I’m hungry.”, I said. “And I want to see a Sunset. So we’d better hurry. Plus we have to beat Uncle Paul to the food if we want any.”

“Kai, you never give up. Do you?”, my Uncle Paul said.

“No, Uncle Paul, it’s too much fun.

“Uncle Paul, why didn’t you introduce Peshlakai?”

“Honey, I got to thinking about what you said and about how we felt about him and decided that he wasn’t worth introducing. So I didn’t.”

The crew walked over to where the food was served, and we each filled our plate. We found a place to sit and eat. And as we ate, we talked about what had just happened. I filled them in on everything that had gone on with Peshlakai and the scholarship, and no one could believe it.

When I finished, Larry said, “There’s never a dull moment with you. Is there, Kai?”

“I guess not.”, I replied. “There are times that I’d like just to get lost in the woods for a while.”

“Yeah, and one of the Mountain People would have you for dinner.”, Ajie quipped.

“Mountain People?”, Mark asked.

“It’s what the Navajo call bears.”

“Kai.”, Kelly said. “You know you’re sadistic.”

“Sadistic!?”, I asked. “Me?”

“I saw that evil grin on your face as you watched them put handcuffs on that guy.”

“That wasn’t an evil grin. It was a smile of relief.”

“If you say so. But it sure looked like you enjoyed watching him put in the back of the police car.”

“Maybe I did enjoy it just a little.”

After we finished eating, I said, “I’d like the six of us to see a Sunset together.”

“I’d like that.”, Maria said.

Everyone agreed. And soon we were hiking up the cliff trail. After we were about halfway up, Ajie said, “I see what you mean about moccasins on this trail.”

“We should have changed into sneakers before we came up here.”, I replied.

“What’s wrong?”, Mark asked.

“There isn’t much of a sole, so you feel all the rocks.”

We were up on the cliff about twenty minutes before Sunset along with about fifteen or twenty guests. And being dressed as we were, Ajie and I got questioned about our dress, the area, and other things. As the Sunset, there were some brilliant colors and oohs and aahs from the guests.

After the Sun had set and it was twilight, and most of the guests had gone back down the trail, I said to the crew, “Come with us for a minute.”

The others followed Ajie and me over to where the little tree was, and it looked good. Larry then said, “Don’t tell me that this is that tree that you put in the car when you left Columbus?”

“It is.”, I replied. Then I told them the story behind it. When I finished, Maria said, “You two have become part of the culture out here. Haven’t you.”

“Maria, honey.”, Ajie said. “It’s not hard to do.”

“Now.”, I said. “I had another reason to come over here. I would like us to make a pact. I’d love to see the six of us promise to get together somewhere at least once a year to help maintain our friendships.”

“I love that idea.”, Kelly said.

“Me too.”, Maria added.

“I guess since the girls like the idea we need to do it.”, Larry said.

“You’re right.”, Mark said.

So right then and there the crew pledged to get back together once a year no matter where we were.

Then with a grin, I said, “Remember you just made a pledge on sacred land, and the spirits will hold you to it.”

Larry looked at me, and said, “I don’t need any spirits to hold me to something like this. I like all of you guys too much.”

“I know Larry. I feel the same way. And I really miss seeing you guys all the time.”

“We miss you too.”, Maria said.

We then did something that we’d never done before, and it was spontaneous. We had a group hug.

We walked back over to the cliff trail and started back down to the resort. As we walked, I noticed that the bonfire was going. Kelly saw it, and said, “What’s burning!”

“That’s the bonfire.”, Ajie replied.

“I thought a building was on fire.”

“No. It’s all right.”

As we came down off the trail and walked towards the bonfire, Ajie whispered, “After wearing those moccasins on that trail, I’m going to need a foot massage tonight.”

I whispered back, “M’Lady, Your wish is my command.”

I think that Maria overheard us as she looked at me and smiled. I smiled and winked.

We found my grandmother, aunt, uncle, Naainish, and Chief Kinlicheeny standing together. When we walked up, Chief Kinlicheeny said, “Kai, your uncle told me what happened with Peshlakai. I guess the law finally got him.”

“Yes.”, I said. “I don’t know what he did, but he got the FBI interested in him.”

“I know. There’s been an investigation going on since Peshlakai was elected.”

“And it took this long to arrest him.”

“From what I know they wanted to be sure that they had an open and shut case.”

“That’s good. Please excuse me. There’s something that I need to do.”

“I understand Kai. We’ll talk later.”

I saw my aunt standing there looking at me with a smile and holding a woven rug. Ajie and I walked over to her, she handed me the rug, and I said, “You know me too well, Aunt Ruth.”

“And the spirits know you too.”, she said. “Your uncle called Mr. Bylilly and filled him in on what happened. And he told me that Mr. Bylilly was going to call that reporter that’s working on the article on Chief Peshlakai and tell him.”

“The Navajo Times may be interesting tomorrow.”

I looked at Ajie, and said, “Coming with me?”

“Try and stop me.”, Ajie replied.

I placed the rug over one arm, took Ajie’s hand in my hand, and first walked over to our friends and told that what we were going to do. Then we walked to our favorite spot by the bonfire. I looked at the other side of the fire. I saw my aunt talking to Maria, Kelly, Mark, and Larry. And, I figured my uncle was telling the guests what was happening.

I spread the rug out on the ground, helped Ajie sit, and I sat next to her. The fire started to draw me in, and I started meditating. I heard Naainish begin to chant. And then I was alone with my thoughts.

A while later I looked at Ajie. She smiled at me, and I returned the smile. Without a word, I got up, helped Ajie up, picked up the blanket, and we walked over to where everyone was standing.

I saw smiles from everyone, even the crew. Ajie and I walked up to Naainish and thanked him for the excellent song. He just smiled. I handed the rug back to my aunt. And we walked over to the crew.

“Your aunt explained to us what you were doing.”, Maria said. “Meditating.”

“Yes.”, Ajie said. “This is a very sacred place, and we feel that it’s a way to communicate with the spirits.”

“So, do you talk to the spirits too?”

“It’s not talking to the spirits, it’s feeling them. I felt that the spirits were happy tonight.”

“So did I.”, I said. Then looking at our four friends, I asked, “Guys, is this too much for you?”

Kelly said, “No. Witnessing it is fascinating, and knowing that it’s your friends that are doing it, makes it special .”

“It is interesting to see something like this.”, Larry said.

Mark then added, “Knowing what you were doing. Hearing the chanting, and seeing how everyone gave you the respect that you deserve. Says it all. You two are special.”

Maria was shaking her head. Amy asked, “What’s wrong, Maria?”

“Nothing. If I didn’t know you two as well as I do, I wouldn’t believe any of this. You sat at that fire, and I know that you were almost in prayer. You were feeling your spirits.

“And Kai, Chief Kinlicheeny is the head of the whole Navajo Nation. Isn’t that like being the President of the United States?”

“I guess it’s something like that.”, I replied

“And you can just walk up to him and talk with him like you do?”

“I guess we can. Chief Kinlicheeny is a friend, and he treats us as friends.”

We hung around the bonfire longer than we realized. Then I noticed that Maria was yawning, so I asked my uncle for the time, and he said it was a little after ten.

I said, “We’ve got a two-hour drive, we’d better get going.”

My aunt overheard us, and said, “Why not stay the night. Two of your friends already have a room here at the resort, and we have a spare room at the house, for your other friends.”

“We can’t do that.”

“Why not. In the morning we can put together a frybread breakfast for the eight of us, and then you can take your friends to Taos.”

“We don’t have a change of clothes with us.”

“We’ll work out something.”

“Let me ask.”

Ajie and the crew had overheard what my aunt and I were talking about, and I said, “Well?”

Maria said, “Your aunt is willing to do that?”

“Yes.”, I replied. “And Taos is a neat place and would be fun.”

Maria looked at Mark, and Mark said, “Why not.”

Then I said, “Oh! Kelly and Larry, you’re in on this too.”

“Included in the breakfast and a guided tour of Taos?”, Larry said.

“Yes. I don’t know how good of a guide we’ll be, but we’ll try. And my aunt will probably make you help with breakfast.”

“We’ll be there.”

“Also you might want to join us for a Sunrise up on the cliff.”

“How early?”

“Sunrise is at about six, and if I know Aunt Ruth, she will have breakfast scheduled for seven.”

“We’ll probably be up. So where should we meet?”

“How about the hotel lobby at five-thirty.”

“I looked at Aunt Ruth, and said, “Is that all right with you, Aunt Ruth?”

“It’ll be fun having a big group of hungry young people for breakfast.”, Aunt Ruth said.

“What about clean clothes?”, Maria asked.

“Larry and I have things in our room.”, Kelly said.

“I can loan long skirts and blouses to Kai, Ajie, and Maria.”, Aunt Ruth said.

“Are you sure?”, Maria said.

“Yes. You can leave the clothes with Kai and Ajie, and they can bring them back. But. what are we going to do for the young man?”

“I can just wear what I have on.”, Mark said.

Maria looked at him, and said, “No. They’re dirty.”

“I’m not wearing a skirt!”

“No.”, Aunt Ruth said. “Kai’s Uncle Paul, before he put on some weight, was about your size. Let’s go to the house and see what we can find.”

We said goodnight to Kelly and Larry with hugs, and a, “See you in the morning.”

At the house the five of us went to my aunt and uncle’s bedroom, Aunt Ruth opened the door to the walk-in closet, and said, “Girls, take your pick of the blouses and skirts.”

Maria looked into the closet, and asked, “Mrs. Biakeddy, why so many skirts and blouses?”

“First, please call me Aunt Ruth. Mrs. Biakeddy sounds too formal. Now, all the skirts and blouses come from wearing them every day for work here at the resort, and needing to look good.”

“So, we have our pick of them?”

“Yes. I’d stay away from the velvet things. They’re too formal.”

“Go on, Maria. You’re first.”, Ajie said.

Maria walked into the closet. She was in the there for a few minutes and walked out with a pretty skirt and blouse. Then Ajie did the same thing. And I followed suit.

When we’d all chosen our clothes, Aunt Ruth said to Mark, “Why don’t you wait in the hall for a minute while the girls try these on.”

Mark walked out of the room and closed the door. The three of us removed what we were wearing and put on what we’d chosen. Aunt Ruth looked us over and smiled, then said, “Good choices girls. But Maria will need a belt. I have a Concho belt that isn’t silver that she can borrow.”

Then Aunt Ruth called out, “Mark, you can come back in.”

Mark walked back into the room, and Aunt Ruth said, “What do you think?”

“They look great.”, Mark replied.

“Yes, they do. Now for you. We’ve kept Uncle Paul’s clothes that are still good but don’t fit. Let’s see. Blue jeans and a ribbon shirt should work.”

Aunt Ruth went into the closet and was in there for a few minutes. When she came out, she was carrying a nice ribbon shirt and two pairs of jeans. And she said, “Mark, take these into the bathroom and try them on.”

Mark took the clothes and went into the bathroom. When he came back out, he had on a pair of jeans and the ribbon shirt. And Mark looked good in them.

Aunt Ruth gave him a good look, smiled, and said, “Looks good. I have a leather belt that’ll help the pants stay up.”

Aunt Ruth went to a chest of drawers, took out what looked to be a real silver Concho belt and handed it to Maria. Then she found a leather belt and handed that to Mark. Then she said, “I think that this will work. Now you four, you’d better be getting to bed if you’re meeting your other friends at five-thirty. Kai and Ajie, show your friends the spare bedroom.”

“Yes, Aunt Ruth.”, I said. “Good night.”

“Good night kids. See you in the morning.”

Ajie, Maria, and Mark almost in unison said, “Good night, Aunt Ruth.”

Ajie and I showed Maria and Mark the spare room. And they were amazed that it also had an attached bathroom. We told them that all the bedrooms had attached bathrooms. We said goodnight and headed to our room.

Ajie didn’t get her foot rub. We both just undressed and crawled into bed. I think tonight had been more stressful than we thought.

Saturday morning Ajie, Maria, Mark, and I met Kelly and Larry in the hotel lobby at five-thirty. I know, it’s early in the morning, but if you want to watch a Sunrise out here, you have to suffer.

Ajie, Kelly, and I were dressed in long skirts and blouses that we’d borrowed from my aunt. And Mark was in the jeans and ribbon shirt. The girls went light on the jewelry. All three of us girls wore Concho belts and various earrings. Maria’s hair was in a ponytail, and Ajie and I wore our hair straight with the new braided leather headbands with the Eagle feathers.

When Kelly and Larry saw us, Kelly said, “Mark you are a fortunate guy going out with three pretty girls.”

“I know.”, Mark said. “But I don’t have enough arms for the three of them to hang on to. So I guess I’m going to have to share one of them with Larry.”

“No way. He’s all mine.”

We hiked up the cliff trail with some of the resort guests. Once on the cliff, as we waited for the Sun, I listened, and Larry asked, “What are you listening for?”

“The coyotes?”, I replied. “Most mornings around Sunrise you can hear them talking.”

“Talking?”

“Calling to each other.”

“I don’t hear anything.”

“I know. And that means one thing, there are wolves around.”

“Wolves?”

“Yes. We see them every once in a while.”

“You seem to know a lot about the area?”, one of the guests asked.

“A little.”, I replied. “My aunt and uncle run the resort, and we come and visit.”

“Are you a native?”

“Yes. I’m a Navajo.”

“All the natives I’ve seen have brown eyes. Yours are blue.”

“I have some white blood on both sides. So, I have a recessive gene that gave me the blue eyes.”

“Interesting. I see one of the other girls also has blue eyes.”

“Yes. She’s my cousin and has the blue eyes for the same reason.”

“That’s interesting. Thank you.”

“Your welcome.”

Kelly whispered, “Kai, you seem at ease talking to strangers about yourself.”

“I am. It’s like I’m talking about who I really am.”, I replied.

Then just as the Sun was starting to come above the horizon, I saw something. I pointed and whispered, “Be quiet and look over there.”

The people who heard me looked to where I was pointing, and someone softly asked, “Are those the wolves?”

“Yes. It’s a rare sight, so enjoy it.”

Then some guy said, “Someone needs to shoot them.”

I turned, looked at him, and said, “What did you just say?”

“I said that someone needs to shot them. Wolves kill and eat people.”

“Sir, you don’t know what you’re talking about. There are very few recorded attacks on humans by wolves.”

“Little girl, you don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Sir, first I’m not a little girl. I’m a young woman. I’m a Navajo woman. Wolves are part of our heritage. They help control the population of other animals. Without them, there would be an overabundance of some species, and that would cause other problems.”

“That’s just your ideas.”

“No sir, I’ve had this discussion before. After that when I was back at college, I did some research in the college library on this because I was curious. And I found out what I've just told you was true. There are very few incidents of wolves attacking a man.”

I turned my back to him and with the rest of the crew quietly watched as the wolves moved across the desert west of us and then disappear into the rocks. Then the Sunrise got our attention, and it was pretty.

After the Sun was up, we walked back down the cliff trail and towards my aunt and uncle’s house. As we walked, Kelly said, “Kai, you really stand up for what you believe in. I thought that you were going to get mad and start yelling. But you kept your cool.”

“I had problems keeping my temper.”, I replied. “People like that make me so mad. They don’t know the facts. And when you give them the facts, they try to discredit you.”

“You knew you were right, and so did we. And that’s all that counts.”