by Julie O & Amelia R & Bob Arnold

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Introduction: Josh Reid was a typical teenage boy when he was transformed physically into a young woman. She became Jirra Reid and struggled to accept her new female persona. This is the continuation of her journey to find balance in her life. This tale also contains cameos from many of my other stories, including Ambition, Celestial Awakenings, and the Turbulence series. It also contains a major guest star, Jennifer Stevens from Bob Arnold's wonderful series Zapped.

Chapter 97

Jirra walked over to her mom's office.

"I'll be with you in a few minutes, Roo, I have a patient to help," stated Liz.

Jirra nodded and took a seat by her mom's desk. She reached up and touched her cheek and was pleased to feel that the pain was totally gone. Standing up, she moved close to the mirror that was mounted on the wall. There was almost no sign of the black eyes she'd gotten in the fight with Randy several days before. That was strange, she thought, the last time I had a black eye it took over a week to clear up.

Liz walked in a few minutes later. "Sorry for the delay, but one of kitchen staff cut her hand."

"How bad?" asked Jirra.

"Just five stitches and a shot. So what's up?"

"Did Dr. Montgomery tell you why he's coming up here?" asked Jirra.

"Something related to your canyon search, but he didn't go into details," replied Liz.

Jirra then filled Liz in on what had happened in town.

"I think we should check out the canyons now," stated Jirra.

"We'll wait to see what Dan says," replied Liz.

"That's better than a no," added Jirra.

Liz smiled. "Hannah's making chili for dinner, and even Judy is joining us this evening."

Jirra was a little surprised. "Why so many people?"

Liz began to laugh. "This isn't a date, Roo."

"I know," replied Jirra, feeling her face start to get warm. "That's not what I meant."

"I know, Roo. I like Dan, and we do plan on spending some time together, but right now he's working," replied Liz.

"Okay, I'll see you later. I want to look over the maps I have of the canyons," stated Jirra.

"See you later," replied Liz.

After Jirra left, Liz picked up her phone and called Jen Stevens.

Chapter 98

After dinner, Dan looked at Jirra's map and the assorted satellite photos that she had downloaded from the internet.

"I wish they were better, but I didn't want to spend money for the actual photos," stated Jirra.

"No, they're good enough for now," replied Dan. "How long will it take us to get up to these canyons?"

"By foot, it'll take you a full day to get to the first one," stated Judy. "However we have a fire-road that will cut a half day off the trip. It's not on the map, but it should get you to here." She then pointed to a spot on the map.

"How far are the two canyons apart?" asked Dan.

"If you try to go this shorter length route, it'll actually take you longer, as the terrain is awful. I'd recommend that you backtrack to the drop-off point first and then use this path," stated Judy.

Dan sighed. "I was hoping to do a quick survey of both in one day, but that looks out of the question. So, I suggest we go up in two groups. Barrett, you and Jirra will go to the second canyon, and I'll take the first one."

"You're not going by yourself are you?" asked Judy.

"I can go with you," suggested Liz. "I've been camping many times."

"This isn't an easy hike," stated Dan.

"I was in the army," replied Liz. "Seriously, I'm in good shape, and I won't hold you back."

"I can get you up to that point in my jeep," stated Cody.

"Sounds like a plan," stated Dan.

"I'd like to go along," interjected Dave,

Dan shook his head. "Let's keep this small. If there are artifacts up there and someone is poaching them, we don't want to let them know that we're on to them. If there are Anasazi relics in the hills, then I'll need time to get the bureaucracy of the state going. How's the walkie-talkie reception up in the hills, Judy?"

She rocked her hand back and forth.

"I'll tell you what, I'll camp out at the drop-off spot, and you can try to contact me. I can then forward the message," suggested Cody.

"Can we stay with you?" asked Lindsey, as she pointed to Dave.

"The Jeep doesn't hold that many people, honey," replied Cody.

"We'll hike up and meet you there," suggested Lindsey.

Cody looked at Hannah, who nodded.

"Okay, sounds like a plan; we'll be the base camp," stated Cody.

"I wish we could go too, but we can't have the entire staff off on an adventure," stated Cari.

"I claim dibs on the next one," said Tara with a laugh.

Dan then went over the rest of the plan. They would spend the next day getting ready, and the expedition would start early the following morning.

"Can I see that sheet you got from the gift shop?" asked Judy.

Jirra nodded and handed it to Judy.

Judy read the limited information and nodded to herself.

"Does the name mean something to you, Judy?" asked Tara.

"I'm not sure, but I think I'll be doing a little sleuthing myself," replied Judy.

Chapter 99

It was a tough drive up to the base camp, and it took them an hour longer than expected to get there.

"Okay, try to keep in touch," stated Dan. "Barrett, as soon as you get to the canyon, set up your camp. As you know, it can get dark quickly up here."

"Will do, Doc," replied Barrett as he unpacked the back of the jeep. "We should reach the canyon in three or four hours, maybe less."

"Take your time and be safe. Besides, if the Anasazi were here, you might see signs along the way," stated Dan.

After some quick goodbyes and equipment checks, they were on their way.

While there wasn't a true trail, the terrain wasn't too bad. Jirra followed Barrett, who set a slow but steady pace.

"Let me know if you need a break," he stated.

"I'm fine," replied Jirra. "I'm sort of surprised that Dan let my mom go with him."

"Me too," replied Barrett.

The weather was nice, and the temperature was in the low sixties.

"Thankfully, there's no sign of any rain," stated Barrett.

"I'm just glad it's warm," replied Jirra.

"It is now; tonight it'll drop off quickly," explained Barrett.

After an hour Barrett checked his GPS receiver. "We're right on track."

"Does that look like an old creek bed to you?" asked Jirra as she pointed to her right.

"Yes, it does. Strange that it's not on the map," he stated. "I guess it's been dried out for so long that it was ignored."

"Looks like it's paralleling our route. Do you think it's coming out of our canyon?" asked Jirra.

"Maybe, we'll find out soon," stated Barrett.

Twenty minutes later they discovered a long trail that ran along the dried out creek.

Barrett stopped and slipped off his pack. He then knelt down and examined the path.

"What's up?" asked Jirra.

"This is too straight to be a game trail, and if it's manmade it almost looks like it was designed to be hidden. I mean if we had been ten feet to the right we never would have seen it."

"I take it that that's a good sign," stated Jirra.

Barrett nodded. "It's very old, and it looks like it hasn't been used in hundreds of years."

Two hours later, they reached the mouth of the canyon.

"Crap," exclaimed Barrett.

There had been a landslide that effectively blocked any entry into the canyon.

"Wow," replied Jirra. "Does this mean we made this trip for nothing?"

Barrett smiled and shook his head as he took off his backpack. "No, it just increases the difficulty points. Judy said that there was a landslide, but I was hoping that it wasn't this big. We'll set up camp and then do some exploring."

An hour later the camp was set up. The small circular tents went up in no time. The hard part was finding sufficient firewood. Barrett called Dan and Liz, but only got static. He was able to reach Cody who copied his report.

"Okay, let's start to see if we can find a way into the canyon," stated Barrett.

They walked around the front of the landslide looking for possible ways over it.

"Looks pretty steep," commented Jirra.

"It is. It's also not very old, it could be hiding something interesting behind it," replied Barrett as he opened his map.

As Barrett looked at the map, Jirra walked around looking at the ground. She then noticed what looked like a reddish rock. She bent over and picked it up.

"Barrett, look at this!" she exclaimed.

Barrett took the small red object from her. "This looks like a piece of pottery."

The piece of pottery was the same reddish color as the piece that Tara bought. It was much smaller with rounded edges from being worn down by the environment.

"It must have washed down from the canyon. I wonder if this is where they found the potshards."

"Maybe, but they don't usually last long in the open environment."

After a few attempts, Barrett ruled out climbing over the landslide.

"Let's eat lunch, and then try another way in there," stated Barrett.

Chapter 100

As they finished lunch, Barrett pointed to an area south of the camp. "That's where I set up the latrine. The bushes should give you some privacy."

"Thanks," replied Jirra. She had totally forgotten about this aspect of camping, and she silently cursed herself.

She walked over to the site prepared by Barrett. There was a log near the hole that she could use to sit over the hole. Jirra decided to just squat over it. As she cleaned up, she made a mental reminder to give her mom a lot of credit for going camping so many times.

Jirra rejoined Barrett and they headed off towards the canyon.

"I think there might be a path down this way," explained Barrett, as he looked at the map. "I called Cody and told him about the shard. He passed it on to the others. So far they've found nothing."

They walked along the base of the canyon for nearly twenty minutes before Jirra noticed what looked like a game trail leading up the side.

"What do you think?" asked Jirra.

"It's worth a try. It doesn't look that steep," stated Barrett.

Barrett took the lead, and they started up towards the crest. The trail seemed to head right towards the top.

Forty minutes later they were on top, looking down into canyon.

"Look, there's the landslide. It doesn't look natural," stated Barrett.

"What do you mean?" asked Jirra.

"It looks like both sides of the canyon were broken off; it almost looks like someone did it with explosives," he noted.

"Okay, how do you know that?" asked Jirra. She couldn't see what Barrett was talking about.

"One of my uncles is in demolition, and I used to go out and watch him blow things up. It was pretty cool. Anyway, it looks like someone blew up both sides of the canyon to close it up. I bet we'll find some proof when we get down there."

"Who would do something like that? The looters?" asked Jirra.

Barrett shook his head. "I doubt it was them. No, the rocks have been there for a while. See how there are plants growing out of some of the rocks. But you can also see how the edges of many of the rocks still have sharp edges. If the slide was really old, those would have worn down by now. I have a feeling that Dr. Margate might have been responsible."

"Dr. Margate? Why?"

"Think about it, Jirra. If he discovered something here, he might have wanted to hide it from others until he was ready."

"Well, this path seems to lead down into the canyon," noted Jirra. "You want to go down?"

Barrett looked at his watch. "We have three hours of good sunlight left, so we have time for a short trip."

Before going down into the canyon, Barrett called Cody and told them what they were about to do.

The path switch-backed down into the canyon, and it only took Jirra and Barrett a half hour to reach the bottom.

Barrett looked up at the path. "That's definitely a manmade trail. It's also interesting how it's barely visible from down here, almost as if someone did it on purpose."

"Margate again?" asked Jirra.

"Maybe," replied Barrett. "The trail is old enough."

"Look at this, it looks like this is part of that same creek bed!" exclaimed Jirra.

"I noticed that on the way down. Let's follow it up into the canyon, we can check out the landslide area tomorrow," stated Barrett.

As they walked up the creek bed, Barrett and Jirra scanned the ground. In less than five minutes, they had found ten pieces of pottery.

"Leave them where they lay," instructed Barrett. "This is starting to look very promising."

"Is the pottery Anasazi?" asked Jirra.

"I can't tell, the pieces are too small to tell by the naked eye," he replied.

Ten minutes later they reached an area where the canyon curved. As they walked around the corner, they were stopped dead in their tracks.

"Oh my god," exclaimed Barrett.

Jirra just stood there speechless.

Chapter 101

Barrett fumbled for the walkie-talkie and tried to get a hold of Cody.

"There's no reception here," he stammered.

"What do you think it is?" asked Jirra.

Barrett took out his camera and began to take pictures. "I'm not sure, but judging by its location, I would say that it looks like an observation post."

It was an adobe brick structure built into the cliff wall. It was located ten feet off the floor and would have afforded the residents a dominating view of the canyon. Anyone coming around the bend wouldn't have stood a chance of surprising the canyon's residents.

"Can we go up and check it out?" asked Jirra hopefully.

"I'd love to, but the doc would kill us. No, we'd better go back and let him know what we found."

"Can't we go up there first?" pleaded Jirra, pointing up into the canyon. "I want to see what this was guarding."

Barrett nodded. "Sure, why not."

The canyon twisted to the left as it narrowed. The dry creek bed meandered through the canyon.

"I wonder what was up here. This doesn't seem large enough to support a real settlement," stated Barrett. "Obviously this place was important, but why?"

"Is the building Anasazi?" asked Jirra.

"It looks like it, but it'll take a closer inspection to make sure. It's definitely old and doesn't look like it's been used in centuries, if not longer."

They walked up slowly into the canyon, following the creek bed. The walls of the canyon were now only eight feet away.

"According to the map, we should be reaching the end of the canyon soon," stated Barrett. "The opening at the end should be much bigger too."

"Do you think that that structure back there is enough to preserve this land?" asked Jirra.

"If it's Anasazi, definitely," replied Barrett.

"So what will the state do? After all this is private land," asked Jirra.

"If they feel the site is important enough, they'll try to work out a deal. If the site is really significant, then the Feds will get involved," replied Barrett. "They can't just grab the land, but I'm sure they'd be willing to make a deal for a real significant site."

"I wonder if that will help Judy," stated Jirra.

"I don't know about that," replied Barrett.

They reached the end of the canyon and, as the map showed, it opened up into a bigger area. The creek seemed to continue into the walls. The whole area was about fifty feet in diameter, and was in the shape of an oval. The canyon walls seemed to go straight up.

"Look at that," exclaimed Barrett, as he pointed to the right.

Carved into the canyon wall there were a series of small structures. Each one seemed large enough for one person.

"What do you think this is?" asked Jirra as she looked into one of the structures.

"Please don't go in," instructed Barrett. "It's too small to be a community village. Only a few people could have lived here."

Jirra turned around and saw what looked like a circular structure. "Look at that."

"It was probably used to store grain," he answered. "This is so curious, why would they build this? There's no place here to grow crops."

Jirra walked carefully towards the structure and almost stumbled as she crossed the creek bed.

"You okay?" asked Barrett.

Jirra nodded. "Look at the ground." She knelt down and began to push the dirt away.

"What did you find?" asked Barrett.

"It looks like there's a structure buried here by the creek," stated Jirra.

"I agree," replied Barrett. "Okay, we'd better go back; it's getting late."

"You've got to be kidding? We can't leave now."

"Jirra, this site has been here for ages, and it can wait for another day," stated Barrett. "Besides, we need do a careful study of the site."

"Okay," replied Jirra. "You're right."

"Thank you," replied Barrett with a bow. "Come on, we need to get back and tell the doc what we've found."

They left the canyon the same way they arrived. When they reached camp, they called Cody and told them that they'd found something.

"What did you find?" asked Dan.

"Hey, Doc, I didn't think you could hear us," replied Barrett.

"We're back with Cody at the base camp. Our canyon was empty," he replied.

"Our canyon isn't. I think you'd better get here as soon as you can," replied Barrett. He then went on to describe what they had found.

"We'll be there tomorrow morning, it's too late to reach you this evening," he replied. "Can the jeep make it up to the canyon?"

"Maybe, but it'll be slow going," answered Barrett. "You could probably make it at least half-way though."

"Well, we'll try to bring it up," he said.

"Okay, and we'll sit tight here tonight," replied Barrett.

Chapter 102

"So this is an MRE?" Jirra asked as she examined the dark green bag that Barrett handed her.

"Yep, it's a meal ready to eat; actually they're not that bad and a lot cheaper than the fancy dehydrated meals, besides I like them better. "So what do you want, spaghetti with meatballs or chicken with pasta in tomato sauce?"

"I'll go with the spaghetti," stated Jirra.

"Okay, let me show you how to heat it up. They're pretty simple to prepare, after all they were designed for the military," he stated with a laugh.

"Excuse me? Remember my parents were in the army!" retorted Jirra.

"Just kidding," he replied. He then showed her how to use the heater for the meal. "Just pour in a small amount of water, and it'll heat up the meal in just a few minutes."

Jirra followed Barrett's example and watched as her meal heated up. While she waited, she examined the rest of the meal. There was a small package with salt, pepper, hot sauce, eating utensils, a napkin, and a wet wipe. There was a side dish – in her pack it was a container of sliced peaches, and a dessert, which was a bag of chocolate chip cookies. Additionally there were two beverage envelopes; one was orange drink and the other hot chocolate. The last part of the meal was a bag of raisins.

"This doesn't look all that bad," she stated as she poured the orange drink powder into her cup.

"I like them, besides they don't add much weight in the pack," stated Barrett. "I'll boil up some water later for the hot chocolate."

They ate their dinner by the firelight.

"So?" asked Barrett.

"It's pretty good," replied Jirra.

"You want to try the chicken?"

Jirra nodded and stuck her fork into Barrett's bag. She pulled out a small piece of the chicken and ate it. "That's not bad."

"Unfortunately, they don't make breakfasts," stated Barrett.

"So what will we have tomorrow morning?" asked Jirra.

"You get first choice," he stated as he dumped out several of the green packages in front of her.

She looked at the contents. "Chili-Mac, beef stew, beef ravioli, jambalaya," she stated as she sorted through them.

"We have enough for several days," he stated. "Water is our limiting resource."

Jirra switched to her peaches. "So what do you think the site is?"

Barrett laughed. "I was just thinking of that. I don't think the site was a permanent settlement. It's too small, and there's no sign that they did any farming here. The food silo was probably used to store food they brought here."

"It looks like only a few people lived there at a time," noted Jirra.

"I agree."

"Now, about that observation building, what was its purpose?" asked Jirra.

"Again, I'm just guessing, but I imagine it was there as a guard post to protect the people in the end of the canyon," answered Barrett as he carefully filled the kettle.

Jirra nodded. "But why wouldn't the guard house be closer to the front of the canyon?"

Barrett paused before answering. "If the site was sacred, then the Anasazi would have wanted to keep it a secret. Placing the guardhouse, as you call it, back into the canyon would make it less noticeable. If the site wasn't occupied all the time, then it would be less likely that another tribe would see it."

"That makes sense," replied Jirra.

"What's curious is that thing you found in the dirt. It was next to the creek, and I imagine that the creek wasn't dry back then. I wonder if it was a bath of some kind."

"Hey, that might be it; the site was a sacred bath, maybe even a mud bath!"

"Okay, how did you come up with that?" asked Barrett.

"Judy said that the native people used to come into the area to use the mud in fertility rites. Maybe that's what brought the Anasazi here."

"That actually makes sense," replied Barrett. "You ready for some hot chocolate?"

Jirra nodded.

"Well, the site is definitely worth excavating," stated Barrett. "I'm sorry I doubted you."

"It's okay," replied Jirra. "I sort of cheated on this one. I think I was here in my last vision quest."

"Really?" replied Barrett.

"You think I'm crazy, don't you?"

Barrett shook his head. "No, not at all. In fact, it makes sense that your spirit guide would lead you here."

Jirra blew on her cup of hot chocolate and then took a sip. "Thanks."

Barrett then reached into his pack and pulled out a bag of marshmallows.

"No sense in wasting a perfectly good fire," he stated as he handed Jirra a long thin stick.

They sat up for another hour, drinking hot chocolate, roasting marshmallows, and talking before going to bed.

Chapter 103

Jirra woke up and crawled out of her sleeping bag. She hadn't remembered sleeping so soundly in a long time. It was a nice morning as she stepped out of the tent.

Barrett was already up and smiled. "Good morning, Jirra."

Jirra stretched. "Good morning, Barrett. I slept great, what about you?"

"Like a log," he replied. "You hungry?"

Jirra nodded as she walked towards him. "I'll take the beef ravioli, please."

"I talked to the doc, and he said that they're on the way," he said, as he handed her the MRE.

As they ate breakfast Jirra checked her watch. "I wonder when they'll get here."

"I think I hear someone coming up the trail right now," he stated.

To their surprise, it wasn't who they expected. It was a single male hiker. He was listening to his MP3 player and didn't notice them until he was almost on top of them.

He appeared to be around thirty, with short brown hair, and blue eyes. He seemed shocked that someone else was at the site.

"Good morning," stated Barrett as he stood up.

The man nodded and removed his earplugs. "I wasn't expecting to see anyone else up here."

Jirra thought that wasn't exactly a friendly reply.

"To be honest neither did we," countered Barrett.

The man looked at Jirra and Barrett. "You know this is private property," he stated.

Jirra was about to open her mouth but Barrett stopped her. "I'm sorry we didn't know," he answered.

"Look, you just pack up now, and I won't tell the owners," the man stated.

Jirra stared at the guy, studying every detail of his appearance. She noticed he had a GPS receiver on his belt. He was wearing a pair of binoculars around his neck. Additionally, another object was hanging around his neck; Jirra recognized it as something her dad had showed her, a laser range finder.

There was also something about his voice that sounded different. He didn't sound like the locals, and in fact he sort of sounded like he was from back east.

"Well, that's mighty kind of you, so who owns the land?" asked Barrett. "I was hoping we could get permission to continue hiking up here."

The man just shook his head.

Jirra was tempted to get her camera and take a photo of the man.

Just then they heard the sound of Cody's jeep. The man looked slightly confused. He then looked at his watch. "Well, I need to get going. I fully expect you to be gone when I come back this way." He then started walking down the trail away from the sound of the jeep's engine.

"What was that all about?" asked Jirra.

"I think he's our looter," replied Barrett.

"What? Why didn't you do something?" asked Jirra.

Barrett smiled. "I know what he looks like now."

"Hello, the camp," shouted Cody.

"We're over here," replied Barrett.

Chapter 104

"The guy sounds like he has a lot of chutzpah," stated Dan as he took a drink of water.

"He obviously didn't know why we were up here, probably thought we were just hikers," replied Barrett.

"So can we go back to the canyon?" asked Jirra.

"Sounds like a plan," replied Dan. "Again, I must remind all of you to be very careful about touching anything."

"I'll stay here and watch the camp," stated Cody.

Liz, Dave, and Lindsey all wanted to see the canyon.

"You sure you don't want to join us, Cody?" asked Dan.

Cody shook his head. "I better hang around here, just in case our friend comes back."

"Okay, then lead on, Barrett," stated Dan.

Chapter 105

Before they headed down into the canyon, Dan took a series of photographs.

"The outpost, or guardhouse, is just around that bend," stated Barrett.

"Do me a favor, go down there and listen. I want you to see if you can hear us coming down this trail," stated Dan.

"Will do, Doc," replied Barrett.

As soon as Barrett moved around the curve in the canyon, the others slowly worked their way down the trail to the canyon floor. A few minutes later they re-joined Barrett.

"That was pretty cool. Not only could I hear you, but I could just about make out how many of you there were," stated Barrett.

"That's what I expected. The Anasazi were experts at placing their guard posts in the best possible locations. I imagine it was placed here as the best acoustic location. Any unexpected guest would never know what hit them," stated Dan as he looked at the guard post.

"So this is Anasazi?" asked Jirra.

"It definitely looks like it. The architecture looks very similar to other sites I've studied. There would have been another structure nearby that would have housed the rest of the warriors," explained Dan. He looked around the canyon. "Did you look over that way, Barrett?" he asked pointing to the other side of the canyon.

Barrett shook his head. "We didn't have time yesterday."

Dan walked towards what looked like a solid wall of rock, but it was soon obvious that it was an optical illusion, because there was another opening in the cliffs and there, above the canyon floor, was another structure, similar to the guardhouse, but larger.

"This is where the warriors would have lived," stated Dan.

Jirra took out her camera and took photos, as did Barrett and Dan.

Next they headed to the end of the canyon. Dan walked around carefully and took photos; he stopped to examine the object that Jirra had tripped over. The whole time he didn't speak a word.

He then took off his hat and wiped his brow. A large smile broke out on his face. "I think we've just hit the mother lode."

"So what happens now?" asked Liz.

"First we need to guard this site. Barrett, do you mind staying up here for a few more days?" stated Dan.

"Mind? I'd love it!" replied Barrett.

Dan smiled. "It should only be for a few days, because as soon as I notify the university, we'll have more than enough help up here."

"What then?" asked Jirra.

"Well, I've already talked to Judy, and she has something in mind. The main thing is to protect the site. I imagine our friend will be back to see what we were looking for. If the word gets out that we've found a pristine Anasazi spot before we protect it, then it will be stripped clean like an antelope on the Serengeti," continued Dan.

"What about the landslide?" asked Jirra.

Barrett then explained his theory that it was manmade.

"Let's go take a look at it," stated Dan.

Soon they were standing at the edge of the landslide at the front of the canyon. Dan scanned the edges of the canyon wall, while the others looked around at the base of the rockslide.

Jirra walked towards the far edge when something caught her eye. It was a wire leading away from the slide. She slowly followed it, as it curved around a large boulder. She walked around the huge rock and found the source of the wire, and let out a loud scream.

Barrett and the others ran over as Jirra tried to regain her composure.

"What's wrong?" asked Liz.

"There's a dead man behind that rock," replied Jirra in a near whisper.

Dan and Barrett knelt down by the skeletal remains. What was left of the body was covered with rocks from an apparent landslide that occurred right above him. Next to the body were a leather backpack and a detonator.

"Looks like the explosion killed him by accident," noted Dan.

Liz knelt near the remains and nodded in agreement. "I'd say that his skull was fractured."

Barrett looked at the bag. "Should we look inside?'

Dan nodded and gently opened the bag. The leather began to fall away, but thankfully the contents were still in relatively good shape. The bag's location had apparently shielded it. Dan pulled out an old pair of binoculars and a .38 caliber pistol. There was also a leather bound notebook. There were faded letters on the cover – "R. Margate."

"Oh my god, this is Dr. Margate!" exclaimed Jirra.

Dan nodded as he stood up. He then took off his hat and bowed his head. The others followed his example.

A few moments later he let out a long breath. "Well, it looks like we'll have help up here sooner than I expected."

Chapter 106

"It's no good, I can't reach the spa either, I guess we'll have to go back," stated Cody, as he set his radio down.

"We'll need to let the authorities know about this, and I want to let the university and the state know too," stated Dan.

"I can stay up here," offered Barrett.

"That's a good idea, but I don't want you up here alone," replied Dan.

"I'll stay!" offered Jirra.

"Absolutely not," interjected Liz.

"I must agree. We don't know who that person was and if he was alone," stated Cody. "I'll come back after I drop the rest of you off. I can also bring some more supplies."

"I'll stay up here with Barrett," said Dave.

"Come on, Mom, I'll be safe," pleaded Jirra.

Liz shook her head. "You can help us more down at the spa."

Jirra looked over at Barrett who just shrugged his shoulders. She was about to say that she would have been able to stay if she was still a boy, but stopped before she opened her mouth.

"It's not fair," she muttered.

Liz smiled and put her arm around Jirra as they walked to the jeep.

They off loaded the remaining meals and several large jerry cans of water for Barrett and Dave.

"This should be more than enough for the two of you. I expect to be back tomorrow," stated Dan as he surveyed the camp.

"Won't the authorities want to see the body sooner?" asked Liz.

"There's no rush, Dr. Margate's been dead for years," stated Cody.

Dan nodded in agreement. "In my expeditions, I've found bodies before, and since Margate's been dead for over sixty years I doubt if they'll rush up here today. Besides there's no place for a chopper to land, so they'll have to come up like we did, and they won't do that at night."

Liz cocked her head. "You've found other bodies?"

Dan nodded. "Twice, one turned out to be a dead cavalry trooper from the 1880's, and the other was probably a miner circa 1890. I'm just glad we could tell the remains were Margate's. If there was even a chance they were native remains, then this would get even more complicated."

"What do you mean?" asked Liz.

"I'll tell you on the way down," stated Dan.

On the slow ride down, Dan told them that if native remains were found, the local tribal authorities had to be notified immediately.

"In the past the body was just shipped to a museum, and you can understand the anger that has caused over the years. One thing that should make studying that canyon easier is that it looks uncontaminated from other native cultures," he explained.

"That means that you'll be able to study the site without interference, right?" asked Jirra.

"That's right. The tribes agree that the Anasazi are a different group, and it makes it a lot easier to study a site," replied Dan. "Don't get me wrong, I'm very sensitive to the Native Americans. I understand their anger and frustrations, but at the same time I have a job to do too."

Halfway back to the spa, they were able to get Judy and she agreed to call the authorities.

"I imagine things will get rather exciting around here over the next few days," stated Dan. "I don't imagine too many exciting things occur up here, everything seems so calm and well… normal."

Jirra and the others did their best not to break up laughing.

Chapter 107

By the time they arrived at the spa, the sheriff was already there. Harold Cross was holding a mug of coffee and talking to Judy. They waved as they saw the Jeep approaching.

"This is getting to be a habit coming up here," he remarked.

Jirra and the others stepped out of the Jeep. Liz made the introductions.

"So the body is Doc Margate, huh?" asked Harold as he wrote down what they were saying.

"It looks like it," stated Dan.

"Well, that certainly will clear up an old mystery around here," continued Harold.

"I can lead you up there," stated Cody. "The site is being guarded by Barrett and Dave."

Harold nodded. "I know both of them, good choice."

"When do you want to head up?" asked Cody.

"Not until tomorrow, there's not enough light left today; besides, the county coroner won't arrive until later this evening," replied Harold.

"I'll be ready," replied Cody.

"Sounds good, we'll head up at first light," replied Harold. "Now, Judy, how do you want to handle this?"

"You can't hide the fact that there's a body up there," replied Judy.

"What about the site?" asked Dan.

"I've already contacted my lawyers concerning the archeological site," replied Judy. "They'll be coming up here tomorrow. Don't worry, Dan, I won't block your access, but if the state wants the site, then they'd better be prepared to deal."

Jirra noticed a wicked smile across Judy's face.

"What does that mean?" asked Dan.

"We'll talk about it later," replied Judy confidently.

While Judy and Dan talked, Harold turned to Jirra. "You're looking much better. I'm surprised the black eyes went away so quickly."

Jirra nodded. "I'm sort of surprised myself."

"Hey, Harold what about the trespasser that Barrett and Jirra saw?" asked Cody.

Harold looked at Jirra. "Would you recognize him again if you saw him?"

"I think so. I would definitely remember his voice," replied Jirra. "He had a distinctive accent, I just can't place it. He was definitely from back east."

"Really?" replied Harold.

"It'll come to me," replied Jirra.

Harold smiled. "I'm sure it will. Well right now all I can book him on is trespassing, that is if you want to press charges, Judy."

Judy nodded. "I'll be glad to press charges, especially if it can lead to other charges."

"I assume the press will have to be notified, assuming they don't already know," remarked Lindsey.

"The local paper knows something is up, but not much more," replied Harold.

"Jirra why don't you call them and offer to write the story?" suggested Lindsey.

"That's a great idea," concurred Judy. "That way our side of the story can get out first!"

"You feel up to it?" asked Liz.

Jirra nodded vigorously as her anger over not being allowed to stay at the site passed.

"Good, come on, you can call them from my office," stated Judy.

Chapter 108

Jirra was sitting at her desk typing out her story. She was wearing her pjs and terrycloth robe, having had a long soak in the tub. It was funny, she thought, until recently she had always preferred showers.

The article mentioned both the discovery of the site and of Dr. Margate's body. The editor of the paper was thrilled to have an eyewitness at the site. He was even going to use some of the photos that Jirra took of the canyon. Thankfully, he drew the line on showing the actual skeletal remains.

As Jirra typed she wondered what Judy had in mind regarding the canyon.

"You almost done?' asked Liz, who was standing just outside Jirra's room.

Jirra turned around. "Yes."

"You still mad at me?" asked Liz as she entered the room.

Jirra shook her head.

"It's okay to be angry at me," continued Liz, as she sat down on the bed across from Jirra. "I would have been angry if I was you."

"Was it just because I'm a girl?" asked Jirra.

"That's part of it. If there are any problems up there, I'll feel better knowing Barrett and Dave are there. They can handle themselves."

"And all I would do is either get hurt or get in the way, right?"

"I wouldn't put it exactly that way, but you're right," replied Liz.

"I know you're right," said Jirra. "I still wanted to stay there."

"On the plus side, you get to write this article," said Liz. "By the way, how's it coming along?"

"Almost done, you want to read it?" asked Jirra.

"I'd like that," replied Liz.

As she read the article, Liz spoke to Jirra. "I know it's hard for you to accept that you're female and that you're now perceived as weak. I know you're not, but I don't want you to get hurt again."

Jirra absorbed her mother's words. "I hadn't thought about that."

Liz turned and faced Jirra. "I almost didn't allow you to go on this trip after what happened to you in town."

Jirra saw the seriousness in Liz's eyes.

"I'm sorry, I was so wrapped up in myself that I didn't think of what you were going through," said Jirra softly. "I guess my transformation has caused you to worry about me.

Liz got up and began to hug her daughter. "I've always worried about you, Roo. Your gender change hasn't affected that. I guess I'm just going through some premature empty nest syndrome."

Jirra held onto Liz tightly.

Chapter 109

The next morning, Judy was reading Jirra's article.

"Very well written, Jirra," commented Judy.

"Thank you, Judy. I'm emailing it to the paper this morning," replied Jirra. "They'll have to hold it until the body is recovered and officially identified. I understand that Dr. Margate doesn't have any living relatives."

"Assuming his name was Margate," interjected Judy.

"That's true. The editor told me that the story will even be sent out on the wire to other news services, and that I'll even get paid for this one!"

"This will become a big news story. Margate's death won't be the big story, but the discovery of an Anasazi site here will be," stated Judy. "My lawyers have already contacted National Geographic."

"So what is your plan?' asked Jirra with a grin.

Judy smiled back. "I'm offering a land swap. The Anasazi site for the land outside the spa grounds."

"Do you think they'll go for it?" asked Jirra.

"The hotel is important, but the site is also important. If they think I'm bluffing, I also have a trump card."

"What's that?" asked Jirra.

"I can always threaten to give the site to the local tribes. Trust me, that's the last thing the state wants."

"Do you think they'll call your bluff?" asked Jirra.

"If they think I'm bluffing, then they're in for a very rude awakening. My Granddad taught me to play poker when I was nine, and he was very good," replied Judy.

"What about the hotel chain?" asked Jirra.

"That part is still up in the air. However, I'm working on something that might freeze them out."

"What's that?" asked Jirra eagerly.

Judy shook her head. "Sorry, I can't let even you know that one yet, as I haven't worked it out completely. But I promise you'll be one of the first to know."

Jirra smiled. "Any word from Cody?"

Judy shook her head. "They left early this morning. I don't expect we'll hear anything until later this afternoon."

"What about Dan?" asked Jirra.

"He agreed to my plan. He also has agreed to help me and let the state know that I will block access if I don't get my way. Granted he knows it's a bluff, but he's willing to be a coconspirator."

"I like him," replied Jirra.

"So does your mom," said Judy.

"I don't mind, she deserves to be happy too."

Judy nodded. "Speaking of being happy, have you e-mailed Alexis today?"

"Yes, I sent her a note about the site this morning. She's in Boston taping her show, so I don't expect an immediate reply. Oh, I also let Jen know."

Judy nodded. "That's fine; I know we can trust both of them."

Chapter 110

It was right after lunch that Jirra got a phone call from Jen.

"I just read your e-mail, sounds exciting," stated Jen.

"I'm sort of on the outside looking in," replied Jirra.

"Be patient, dear."

Jirra laughed. "Patience isn't one of my better virtues," replied Jirra.

"Well, I have something that might keep you busy. I want you to start to write a story about the spa and the archeological discovery. I know that you don't know everything yet, but don't let that bother you. Also I'm not looking for factual history; I want an entertaining story, so feel free to exaggerate events."

Jirra was slightly confused. "Why?"

"I think you have the makings of a good script writer. I'm looking for ideas for my next movie, and I'm thinking what's happening at the spa could produce a great script," replied Jen.

"Jen, I don't have any idea on how to write a script," interjected Jirra.

"Jirra, I don't want you to write a script, just write the story. If you, as I expect you will, produce a good story, I'll have it turned into a script. Don't worry, you'll get both credit and payment, I'm not looking to rip you off. I just have confidence in your writing ability."

Jirra took a big gulp. "Okay. When do you need it?"

"Already interested in the deadline, I like that; no rush, how ‘bout in the next month?"

Jirra laughed. "No rush huh?"

"Of course not! There's just one rule. No nudity. I've never done nudity in any of my films."

"Any particular type of story, Jen?"

"Well, maybe an action adventure or mystery type story, something that would appeal to a wide audience. A romantic interest would be nice too, but nothing so heavy that the story gets labeled as a ‘chick flick.' Feel free to call me if you have questions, and you can also e-mail me rough drafts to see if you're heading in the right direction," replied Jen.

"I'll do my best."

"And no one could ask for anything more," replied Jen.

Chapter 111

The next few days were very hectic. The spa served as the headquarters for both the recovery of the remains of Dr. Margate and the exploration of the site.

The coroner agreed with Liz's initial diagnosis that Dr. Margate had died from a fractured skull and ruled the dead accidental.

Dan sent Dr. Margate's journal to a friend who did document restoration. While it had been protected somewhat from the elements by its leather cover and the backpack, the pages had been repeatedly soaked. Dan was optimistic that they might be able to recover most of what Margate had written. He promised Jirra a copy as soon as it was possible.

Judy was immediately locked into negotiations with the state over the site. Dan had to hide his smile when he saw the jaws of the state's representatives drop when they arrived and were greeted by Judy's lawyers. They were even more shocked when they saw the plan for the land swap already typed out in contract form.

Jirra was more than a little frustrated by not being in on everything that was going on. She desperately wanted to see more of the site, but it was off-limits to almost everyone. Barrett was still living at the site, but Dave had to leave, as he had to get back to his own classes.

Dan brought in several other grad students to baby-sit the site. Jirra noticed that they were all male. The present plan was to have two up there at all times, and rotate through so that they only spent three days in a row at the site. They would spend their days off at the spa. The university was picking up the tab for a cottage, and Judy was throwing in a discount.

Dan and Judy had dinner with Liz and Jirra the night before he headed back up to the site. After dinner they talked shop over coffee and Dutch apple pie.

"Jirra, I read your article in the local paper; it's very well written," stated Dan as he sipped his coffee.

Jirra smiled. "Thanks." She was pleased to see that Dan was sitting next to her mom on the couch.

Dan then turned to Judy. "You really pissed off those lawyers from the state."

"Good, that's what I was trying to do. Trust me, Dan; my battle is with the state and not you. I want the site studied, and I want you to be the one who does it. But I'm not about to give up the site and eventually my spa," stated Judy. "If I just sell the site, I still won't have enough money to fight the corporation."

"I understand that the hotel chain is providing some legal assistance for the state," replied Dan.

"That's not unexpected," replied Judy. "My family got involved in a little land war back in the 1880s, and the other guys brought in some hired guns from out of state to force us off. We won then, and I have no intention of losing now."

"Hey, I'm on your side; I just think that you might show a little more tact," stated Dan.

Judy shook her head. "Not at this point of the battle. I can't afford to look weak."

Dan then gave them an update on the work at the site. The campsite that Jirra and Barrett had slept at was now being expanded as the base camp for a long stay. A generator had been hauled up to the site, along with larger tents and lots of supplies.

"We now have communications with the site 24/7," stated Dan. "This is good, as I want the site to stay secure."

"Has the mystery man been back?" asked Jirra.

"Barrett said that they'd heard someone moving around the campsite as if they were trying to get up the track to the trail," replied Dan.

"You sure it wasn't a coyote?" asked Judy.

Dan laughed. "Barrett's pretty experienced as an outdoorsman. He even found wrappers of protein bars and boot prints in the area they heard the noise."

"Aren't you worried that this guy might get violent?" asked Liz.

Dan shook his head. "Not from this guy, but he might have friends. That's why I wanted to establish a large base camp up there so quickly. Looters thrive on secrecy, and the last thing they want to do is mess with a site being excavated."

"Any idea who he is?" asked Jirra.

"I took the description we got from you and Barrett and sent it to a detective friend. She's checking it against a list of known looters who've worked the Southwest," replied Dan.

"Do you think that this guy would get violent to keep others from the site?" asked Jirra.

Dan's eyebrows raised and glanced at Liz and then looked back at Jirra. "That's an unusual question coming from you," he stated.

Jirra laughed. "I'm working on something for a friend; she wants me to write a fictional account of what's happening here. I just want what I write to be at least somewhat plausible."

"Let me guess, you're writing a movie screenplay," replied Dan with a smile.

Jirra nodded. "Well, I'm just writing the story, the script will be written by someone with more experience."

Dan broke out laughing as if he was in on a big joke.

"Dan, she's not joking. Jennifer Stevens is having her write the story," interrupted Liz.

"Jennifer Stevens, the actress?" asked Dan.

Liz nodded. "She's also a director."

Dan shook his head and turned back to Jirra. "I offer my apologies, Jirra."

"It's okay, I doubt if anything will come from it," said Jirra.

"Don't be so sure," replied Dan. "Okay, back to your original question, yes the looters are sometimes violent. They've beaten and intimidated landowners over sites. I've had colleagues threatened when they've started digs in areas where looters were working."

"Even here in the states?" asked Judy.

Dan nodded. "The problem is that there's been such a huge market for the objects. Huge profits can be made in a very short period of time."

"Do you think that this guy is the same person selling the artifacts in town?" asked Jirra.

"Could be. He's probably running a pretty small operation, and I doubt he would want to share the profits. He's making a few hundred on each sale for some potshards. The big money is in dealing in whole pots, but with that you need help to make the sales. Even with the computer age, it's not easy to sell whole pots illegally."

"Do you have a database of legitimate buyers of Anasazi goods?" asked Judy.

"I know where I can get one, and even provide a few names of those we suspect of buying illegally items," answered Dan. "Why?"

"Just something I'm working on," replied Judy. "Can you get me that list in the next few days?"

Dan nodded. "You're not going to tell me what you're up to, are you?"

Judy shook her head. "That way you can't be indicted later."

Dan laughed, but he wasn't sure if Judy was kidding.

"Well, I'd better get some sleep; we're heading up to the site in the morning. By the way, I'm sending Barrett down to get a shower and a good hot meal. Please feel free to ensure he actually gets some sleep. You can threaten him by saying you'll tell me if he doesn't do as he's told," said Dan. "He's got great potential, but he has to know to keep himself in good shape."

"Don't worry about him," stated Judy.

Chapter 112

Jirra made notes before starting to write the story. She went to several websites, including one related to Jen's movie. She found good information on Jen's character Rayana Martin from a movie insider's website. The buzz on the movie was very good. This only made Jirra feel more apprehensive about her story. The story would have to be very good to follow in the footsteps of the original.

She started writing the story on her laptop, deciding to start the tale in a spa very similar to the one she lived in. Many of the characters were based on the actual staff, and she even made a character based on Randy. He worked in the stable and was in charge of mucking out the stalls. True, Caldera de Gaia didn't have any stables, but it was fiction. Jirra decided she would take great joy in torturing the fictional Randy and that she didn't mind one bit if Jen cut it all out.

Barrett was hanging around the spa and while he wasn't happy about his forced R&R, he did take the time to enjoy the baths. He even commented to Judy that it would be nice if townspeople could buy a pass to access the baths. Judy thought it was an idea worth looking at.

Jirra was pleased that the spa was not only doing well with all the confusion over the discoveries, but that reservations were increased by twenty percent. The guests didn't even mind that they couldn't actually access the site.

"So what are you going to do regarding the guests and the site?" asked Jirra, as she ate lunch in Judy's office.

"I talked to Dan, and he's going to help me develop a display on the site. He's going to have weekly updates videotaped for the guests. He's even considering doing weekly lectures on the site, with any artifacts they find," stated Judy.

"That would be so cool," replied Jirra. "I wish I could go back up there."

"Me too, Jirra. From what Dan told me, they're still surveying and mapping the site. They won't actually start excavating until summer."

"I don't have the patience to be an archeologist," said Jirra.

"That's why we're being kept out," added Judy.

"Part of it is that I'm curious about what's up there, and part of it is… well, I'm hoping that there's a connection to what happened to me. I know it doesn't make sense, but there's something in the back of my head that keeps telling me that this wasn't just an accident, that there has to be a reason for what happened," stated Jirra. "I know that's silly."

Judy shook her head. "It's not silly. It makes sense that you want to find a reason for what happened to you. If Dan finds anything that seems related to your transformation, I promise that you'll learn about it."

"Thanks, Judy."

"Now tell me, Jirra, when are you going back east?"

"Mom wants to go as soon as possible, so I can find a place to live when I'm at Penn. She's found a few places that look promising," replied Jirra.

"You don't want to wait too long; trust me, you don't want to live in a dump," stated Judy.

"I'm hesitant to leave right now. I'm afraid that something might happen at the site," stated Jirra.

"Jirra, now that's silly," stated Judy. She picked up her phone and hit one of the speed dial buttons. "Liz, why don't you take off next week and go to Philly. I'll call my travel agent, and she'll make all the necessary reservations. Okay?"

Judy hung up the phone and looked at Jirra. "There, that's all taken care of. If something is discovered, I'll call you immediately."

Jirra shook her head in disbelief. "I can't believe that those corporate guys think that they can beat you."

Chapter 113

"So how long will you be in Philly?" asked Alexis.

"Four days," replied Jirra. "We're staying downtown at the Marriott on Market Street."

"Okay, I know where that is. I'd like to try to see you and your mom, if I can sneak away from here," stated Alexis.

"I'd like that; I'd like that a lot," said Jirra, as she adjusted the phone in her hand.

"Any idea of where you plan to live?" asked Alexis.

"Mom came up with a list of a few places that we're going to check out. I just want a place that's close to campus, safe, and clean."

"That's rules out the first place I lived off campus. I slept with the lights on the first few weeks," said Alexis.

"Why? You afraid of the dark?"

"The dark, no, mice, yes," replied Alexis. "Still at least the mice ate the roaches."

Jirra laughed.

"Okay, maybe it wasn't that bad, but it was a dump," confessed Alexis. "Are you going to tour campus too?"

"Yes. I'm pretty excited about that. I can't believe that I'm actually going to be attending an Ivy League school."

"I'm pretty excited about it too, just as long as you don't turn into an elitist snob," said Alexis with a giggle.

"Fat chance of that happening. They'll probably snub me for wearing cowgirl boots," replied Jirra.

"Just imagine if they find out that you were once a guy!"

Jirra laughed. "That'll probably impress some of them."

"That's true, they can befriend you so they can show how open-minded they are!" said Alexis who was fighting back laughter unsuccessfully.

"Yes, but I'll lose points for dating an actress," added Jirra.

"A TV actress, even more disgraceful."

They were soon both laughing uncontrollably.

Chapter 114

A few days later Liz and Jirra were driving from their hotel to the first place on their list.

"You don't mind me driving?" asked Jirra, as they waited for the traffic signal to change.

"No, besides you need to know how to drive in this sort of traffic," replied Liz.

"Does that mean you're letting me get a car?" asked Jirra hopefully.

"You've got to be kidding!" replied Liz with a laugh. "Actually, I'm considering it; we'll see how your first semester goes."

"So I'll need a place close to campus or at least the bus," replied Jirra.

"The first place on the list is only a few blocks from campus," said Liz. "This place was recommended by your academic advisor."

"When did you talk to her?" asked Jirra.

"Keep going straight; we don't have to turn for a few blocks," said Liz. "Actually she called me last week. She wanted to know how you're adjusting."

"Adjusting? Adjusting to what?" asked Jirra. Then it hit her, her paperwork documented that she'd had SRS. "Oh."

"Anyway, her heart seems to be in the right place. She said that this place might be perfect for you," continued Liz. "The owner of the building is also a student at Penn."

"Really?" asked Jirra.

"That's what she said," replied Liz.

"Okay, she owns the building, but why would that make it a good place for me to live?" asked Jirra.

"I don't know, but we'll find out soon," replied Liz.

Twenty minutes later, they pulled into one of the visitor parking spots in the parking lot of a converted warehouse. The access code for the parking lot had been included with the directions.

"This place looks pretty cool," stated Jirra as they walked over to the elevator.

"I'm impressed that they have secure parking," noted Liz.

They took the elevator to the third floor, where they were met by a young woman. Even though she was only wearing jeans and a Penn t-shirt, she looked elegant.

"Hi, I'm Liz Reid, and this is my daughter, Jirra; are you Celeste Farnsworth?" asked Liz.

The young woman nodded. "Yes, I am. It's a pleasure to meet both of you. Did you have any trouble with the directions?

"No, not at all," stated Jirra.

"Great, well why don't we go out to the deck area and talk?" stated Celeste.

"Can we see the apartment?" asked Jirra.

Celeste gently shook her head. "I like to talk to potential tenants first."

Jirra followed Celeste outside and stared at the view from the deck. "Wow, this is great!"

"I know. It cost me a lot to convert it into an open deck, but it's worth it," stated Celeste. "Please sit down, would you like something to drink?"

"I'm fine, we just had breakfast," replied Jirra.

"Same here, thank you for asking," added Liz.

Celeste nodded and sat down. "I suppose you're curious about how I own the building. I was married to a wonderful man, who passed away a few years ago. He left me with a rather sizable fortune. I decided to go to college so I could learn how to run my various business and charitable organizations."

Jirra just nodded.

"Anyway, I live here along with two wonderful friends. Beth is also an undergrad, and she's studying cognitive science."

"Who's your other roommate?" asked Jirra looking around the deck.

"Her name is Spirit and she's out having a walk with Beth. Although she's not currently enrolled at Penn, she does like to chase the squirrels on campus," replied Celeste with a smile. "They have an agreement; Spirit promises never to actually catch one, and they promise to actually run when they see her. She's a very sweet dog and wouldn't hurt a thing."

Jirra and Liz laughed.

"Here, I have a photo of her," stated Celeste as she got up and retrieved a photo of a large mixed breed dog. "She's Labrador- Chesapeake mix."

"What a beautiful dog," commented Jirra as she looked at the photo.

"Thank you. So, tell me about yourself, Jirra," asked Celeste.

Jirra gave Celeste a short bio and her plans for Penn. She left out the gender side of her story.

Celeste nodded. "I've never been to New Mexico; it sounds wonderful."

"It is, although I do miss this area," replied Jirra.

"That's right, you used to live around here," stated Celeste knowingly.

"You seem to know a lot about me," said Jirra with a surprised look on her face.

"Can I ask you something personal, Jirra?" asked Celeste.

"Is it about my past?" asked Jirra softly.

Celeste nodded. "I just wanted you to know that I've had SRS myself."

Jirra's jaw dropped, and she stammered for a response.

"It's okay, Jirra. I have an unofficial agreement with some people in the admissions office. They tip me off when they are admitting a student who's like us. I like to be the first to offer them a place to live. You seem very well adjusted, but sometimes it's nice to be around people you can be open with," continued Celeste. "We can sit down and discuss our life stories another time, but I just wanted you to know that you'll be safe here."

"Is Beth also TS?" asked Jirra shaking off her surprise.

Celeste paused for a second. "No, but you'll like her just the same."

"Is everyone who lives here transgendered?" asked Liz.

"No, but I make sure that they're accepting. I bought this place essentially for myself. I rent out the other units, but I don't need the money, so I get to pick who my neighbors are. The apartment that is open is a nice one bedroom on the second floor. The couple who live next door are very nice. I know you'll like them."

"Does that mean I pass the initial test?" asked Jirra with a smile.

"Absolutely, come on, I'll show you the place," stated Celeste.

The apartment was a corner unit. It had high ceilings, with brick wall. There was a small, but modern, kitchen area and a small living room. The bedroom had a large walk-in closet.

Jirra was pleased to see that the bathroom had a large tub.

"There's a laundry room on the first floor," said Celeste.

Jirra looked out of the windows.

"I installed central heat and AC. It's nice outside now, but in summer you'll appreciate the AC," added Celeste.

"I forgot about the humidity here," replied Jirra.

Celeste turned to Liz. "The building is secure, and each unit has a security system. The neighborhood is pretty safe, and there's a police station two blocks up the street."

"Is it safe to walk to campus?" asked Liz.

Celeste nodded. "Yes, but I don't really recommend it after dark. We haven't had any trouble, but why take chances? But since most of the people staying here are students at Penn, we've worked out a ride system; so if Jirra decides to stay late on campus, she can call for a ride."

"That's rather nice," replied Liz.

"Like I said, I've screened my tenants. I want a neighborhood in this building."

"Cool, sounds like the staff at the spa," stated Jirra.

"We try to get together weekly, even if it's just for a pizza and DVD," stated Celeste. "So do you want the place?"

Jirra looked at Liz. "I really like it, Mom."

"I do too. What is the rent?" asked Liz as she turned to Celeste.

"Affordable," replied Celeste with wink. "Let's go back up to my place to work out the details."

Chapter 115

"I can't believe how easy that was," stated Jirra as they drove away.

"Things sure seemed to work out," said Liz.

"I also can't believe that Celeste used to be a guy too. I can't wait until I hear the whole story," noted Jirra. "She seems like someone I could tell the truth about my situation."

"I agree," concurred Liz.

"What? No telling me to be careful about who I tell about my transformation?" asked Jirra with a laugh.

"No, I trust your intuition. You've made good choices so far, and I think you'll know who you can trust," said Liz. "Speaking of which, when is Alexis coming down?"

"Not until tomorrow. She's coming down for the evening, and then she's heading back up. They have to shoot a few days in Newport, Rhode Island.

"Now there's a nice place to spend a few days. Your father and I spent a long weekend there. He tolerated my wanting to see the mansions."

Jirra smiled. She had heard about that trip a few times.

"How're things going between you and Dan?" asked Jirra.

Liz smiled. "Nice."

"Just nice?"

"Yes, just nice. We talk and trade e-mails. He lost his wife ten years ago, and he's sensitive to what I'm going through. Neither of us wants to rush into anything, and we're content to let it just happen, even if that means nothing more than friends."

"That's really nice," replied Jirra.

Liz smiled. "See what I mean?"

"I do, and I'm so happy for you," replied Jirra. She then took a deep breath and let it out. "Mom, I'm so in love with Alexis, even though everything logical tells me that it's going to be difficult for us to have a relationship."

"Don't try to analyze everything logically, just let it happen," stated Liz.

"Thanks, Mom."

"Okay, we just have time for lunch before you have a meeting on campus," noted Liz. "You don't want to start your time at Penn by being late."

Chapter 116

Alexis arrived outside Jirra's hotel room a little after one. She was dressed in jeans, a maroon top, and had a Boston Red Sox's hat on.

Jirra answered the door and they immediately hugged.

"I made it down here in only six hours," stated Alexis.

"Aren't you afraid of getting pulled over?" asked Jirra as they continued to hug and kiss.

"Hey, I'm a movie star; we don't get tickets," replied Alexis with a giggle. "No, I just drove with the flow. Actually, coming down the Jersey Turnpike I had a hard time keeping up with some of those idiots."

Jirra laughed.

"So, where's Liz?" asked Alexis.

"She's out seeing some old friends; she'll meet us for dinner."

"Good, I worried that she wouldn't accept my invitation out of being polite," stated Alexis.

"I know," replied Jirra. "So have you eaten lunch?"

Alexis shook her head.

"You want to go get a real cheesesteak?"

"That's sounds great. My personal trainer will have a fit, but I need some real food."

"I'll drive; we'll go down to South Philly to Pat's."

Thirty minutes later, they arrived near the famous sandwich place.

"It's not Spago, but the food here is so good. This is my treat. My dad brought me here after every sports game we saw," stated Jirra. "Now, make sure you know what you want BEFORE you get in line. They'll kick you out of line if you hold up the orders."

Alexis laughed as she read the posted menu. "I heard all about this place from Jen. Speaking of her, how's your scriptwriting coming along?"

"It's not really a script," replied Jirra. "I think she's just doing it to be nice.'

"Nonsense, Jen isn't doing this just to humor you. Now, don't be afraid to put in notes on how'd you like the scene to be filmed," stated Alexis.

"I don't know. I really don't know a thing about filming movies."

"It doesn't matter. Just picture the scene and write that down. Trust me; you'll probably be better at this than you think."

"Thanks," said Jirra. "So what are you having?"

"Cheesesteak with onions and provolone cheese," stated Alexis.

"That's ‘wit' not with," corrected Jirra.

"Excuse me, ‘wit' onions!" laughed Alexis.

"I'm just having a cheesesteak wit-out onions and wit Cheez Whiz," stated Jirra.

"Ugh! How can you get that?"

"It tastes really good, trust me!" replied Jirra. "Now let me show you how to eat one, without spilling anything on your top." Jirra then demonstrated how to hold the sandwich outward, while leaning forward.

"So that explains the colorful stains on the sidewalk," noted Alexis.

As they placed their orders, the man behind the window stared at Alexis. "Hey, I know you; you're Alexis Eden aren't you?"

Alexis nodded.

The man nodded and then turned to another of the men. "Hey, look who's out here, Alexis Eden. Yo Vinny, get the camera!"

Alexis turned to Jirra and laughed. "Looks like I'm about to be immortalized at Pat's."

They were handed their steaks and sodas just before the man came out and snapped a quick photo of Alexis holding her steak.

"Thanks a lot, Ms. Eden; we'll stick this on the wall next to the other celebrities," he stated.

"It's a pleasure," replied Alexis, as she took a bite of her sandwich.

"What do you think of your steak?" asked the man.

"It's wonderful. Better than I was told," replied Alexis, flashing a big smile.

"Thanks, Ms. Eden, I only wish those guys at Geno's could have heard this!" he exclaimed as he returned to work.

Jirra was amazed at how easily Alexis could switch into being Alexis Eden the star and back to being an everyday person.

"Sorry, I didn't think that they'd recognize you here," stated Jirra.

"It's okay, but this will really bug Jen. She doesn't have her photo in Pat's. So what's with the comment about Geno's?"

Jirra pointed across the street to the rival cheesesteak place. "They have a rivalry that goes back decades. They both claim to make the original and best steak."

"And who do you think makes the best?" asked Alexis.

"I was brought up on Pat's, so I really don't know. Dad would never let me try Geno's."

Alexis smiled. "Oh, so it's something passed down from generation to generation. Well, I wouldn't want to break a family tradition."

Jirra laughed as she held out her sandwich. "You want to try mine?"

Alexis cocked her head. "Okay," she replied reluctantly. She took a small bite and a smile broke out on her face. "Hey, that's not bad."

"Told you," replied Jirra with a wink. "Here, try a sip of birch beer."

Alexis sniffed the soda and sipped it. "That has a nice bite to it. It's not as sweet as root beer."

"I know, it's very hard to find outside of the Philly area."

"Well, I learned a few things today," stated Alexis.

Just then the man from behind the counter came out and handed both Alexis and Jirra some t-shirts.

"If you get a chance, can you maybe wear these sometime, especially if you're going to be on TV? It'll kill Geno's!"

Chapter 117

They spent the afternoon walking downtown, taking in the historic sites, while at the same time doing some shopping.

Jirra told Alexis all about the apartment and Celeste.

"She sounds pretty interesting," noted Alexis.

"I feel better about coming here now, knowing I'll be safe. The apartment is really nice too."

Alexis updated Jirra on the TV show and the upcoming movie. "The good thing is that my movie will be opening before Jen's. I couldn't imagine us opening the same weekend."

"From what I've read, the buzz is good on both movies," noted Jirra as she stared in the window at a throwback jersey of the Philadelphia Phillies. It was something that she would have worn when she was a guy; sadly it wasn't something that would fit into her wardrobe now.

"The buzz? For someone who's a novice scriptwriter you definitely have the terms down," said Alexis.

"Seriously, both movies sound like they're going to be big hits," stated Jirra.

"I know, I'm kinda enjoying this lull before the storm," said Alexis. "It'll take a while for the hype to die down. Thankfully, Boston is more interested in the Red Sox than a movie star."

Jirra laughed. "Well, we'd better get back to the hotel to meet up with Mom."

Chapter 118

Dinner was a blur as all Jirra could think of was spending time with Alexis afterwards.

Liz knowingly smiled at Jirra as they arrived back at the hotel. "That was a lovely evening, Alexis; it was good to see you again. Now, Jirra don't forget we have an eleven-thirty flight."

Jirra smiled and felt her face blush. It was strange, knowing that your mom knew you were about to spend the night with your girlfriend.

Jirra went to her room and was joined by Alexis a few minutes later.

They sat down on the couch and began to kiss and caress each other. As before, Alexis took the lead, but tried to ensure that she didn't totally dominate the situation.

"You want to go to bed?" whispered Alexis into Jirra's ear.

"Hmmm, yes," replied Jirra.

As they walked into the bedroom, Alexis turned to Jirra. "I just have one question, do you want ‘wit' or ‘wit-out'?" asked Alexis as she pulled her vibrator out of her bag.

Jirra started giggling and was joined by Alexis as they sat down on the edge of the bed.

"Well?" asked Alexis, as she began to tickle Jirra. "What's your reply?"

"Wit," squealed Jirra as she tried to move away. "Oh, no, please stop!"

"Ohhhh, this is new, I didn't know you were ticklish, now this is going to be fun," continued Alexis as she continued to tickle Jirra.

Jirra was now laughing and squirming around on the bed. Alexis stopped tickling her and began to kiss her. "I've missed you so much."

Chapter 120

They ate breakfast at a diner around the corner. The hotel restaurant didn't have scrapple on the menu, and Liz wasn't about to miss an opportunity to have some.

Jirra smiled when she saw Alexis was wearing a Pat's Steaks t-shirt.

"I want you to take my photo, so I can send it to Jen," stated Alexis.

Jirra laughed. "Okay."

"So do you think that Judy will find a way to beat the corporation?" asked Alexis. She was just having some scrambled eggs and wheat toast.

Jirra was having pancakes and nodded as she ate.

"I would never underestimate Judy," interjected Liz.

"I can loan her some money if she needs it, I'm sure Jen would help too," said Alexis.

Liz shook her head. "I'm sure Judy would appreciate the offer, Alexis, but money isn't the issue. The corporation can outspend us easily. No, she's looking for something to make them pull back. I have no idea what that is, but she's got her feelers out."

"The more I learn about Judy, the more I think someone should make a movie about her," noted Jirra.

"I can't think of anyone who could play her and do her justice," said Liz.

"I agree," added Alexis. "So how's your history project coming along?"

"It's almost done. I have to turn it in next week. I'm just writing a short addition concerning the discovery we made. I wish I had more time, but they won't let anyone on the site right now."

"Well, it's been there for thousands of years, so I'm sure you'll eventually get an opportunity to see the site. I wouldn't worry about not having too much info on the discovery, I mean how many people can state that they found a site?" stated Alexis.

Jirra laughed. "I guess you're right."

"So can I give you a lift to the airport?" asked Alexis.

"Thanks, but we have to return the rental car down there, besides, you'd be going the wrong way. In fact, you'd better get on your way soon yourself," said Liz.

Alexis glanced at her watch. "I suppose you're right. Well, it was fun seeing both of you again."

Liz smiled. "Thanks, Alexis. Jirra, I'll go get the car and meet you here."

Jirra smiled. "Thanks, Mom."

Chapter 121

"Well, once again we have to say goodbye," said Alexis.

"I know. Do you think you can get out to the spa anytime soon?"

"I don't know; summer's going to be crazy. I have a huge promotion schedule for the movie, and we still have a bunch of shows to film. I will try to get away when you move in. We can go out to Ikea and pick out your furniture."

"I'd like that," replied Jirra. She was hesitant to show any affection towards Alexis in public.

Sensing Jirra's apprehension, Alexis leaned over and gave her a hug. "It's okay, Roo, I know exactly how you feel," whispered Alexis.

Liz pulled up a minute later, and Jirra reluctantly got into the car. She turned and watched Alexis waving goodbye.

Jirra let out a big sigh.

"It's okay, Roo, she obviously loves you."

"How did you and Dad get through the separations?" asked Jirra.

Liz glanced over and smiled. "It wasn't easy, Roo."

"Please tell me about it?"

"Okay, Roo."

Chapter 122

Jirra finished up her senior history project shortly after her return to the spa. She called up the head of the social sciences department at the local high school and made an appointment to turn it in. She had both a written report and a presentation on CD-ROM. This included some photos of the newly discovered site.

There was a buzz in town over the discovery of the site, even though information was slow in coming out. Jirra smiled to herself as she saw many shops now carrying Anasazi souvenirs. She desperately wanted to see the site again, but for now it was off-limits to all but those on Dan's team.

Barrett was back up in the hills, having the time of his life. He left a long letter to Jirra thanking her for forcing him into looking for the site. He promised to keep her informed on any discoveries.

The teacher agreed to meet Jirra off campus to avoid any conflicts with Randy's supporters. They picked the coffee shop as the place where Jirra would turn her report in. She was a little disappointed that she wouldn't be allowed to give an oral presentation, but the teacher insisted that he only wanted to see the hardcopy report.

Still Jirra dressed up for the meeting. Judy had drummed it into her that she needed to dress up when she was doing something professional. She was wearing a Kelly green skirt and a white cotton blouse. She even took the time to put on some makeup.

Jirra arrived early and waited nervously for the teacher to arrive. A few minutes later, a slightly overweight man walked into the coffee shop. He was wearing Dockers and a green shirt without a tie. He was also wearing a well-worn suede jacket.

"Good afternoon, Jirra," he greeted. "I'm Mr. Dawkins."

Jirra smiled as she shook his hand. "Pleased to meet you."

He smiled back. "I should be the one honored to meet you. That was quite a discovery you made."

To her horror, Jirra could feel her face getting warm. The last thing she wanted to do was start blushing. "Thank you."

"I mean most of us have read Margate's book, but I never though he was actually telling the truth. I can't wait until they open the site up."

"That won't happen for a while. I'm not even allowed back up there. Apparently it's a rather unique site."

Dr. Dawkins nodded. "It would have to be for it to be so far out of their normal range. Now, I believe you have an assignment ready for me."

Jirra nodded as she took the report and CD out of her bag. "The CD-Rom has photos of different sites, including a few of the new site."

He nodded as he paged through Jirra's report. "Very professional job, but that's what I'd expect of a future Ivy Leaguer. Well done, Jirra. I only wish that you had spent some time in my classroom. I could use more students like you."

"It wasn't meant to be; just as well anyway."

He cracked a slight smile. "You didn't miss much."

Jirra smiled as she suddenly wished that she had been in his class, as he seemed pretty cool.

"I'll read through this and get back to you by Monday. I wouldn't worry, from what I can see you have nothing to worry about."

"Thank you again for agreeing to this," she stated.

"You're not the first home-schooled student that I've had. Around here, it's rather common. I'll call you Monday. It was nice meeting you."

Jirra shook his hand. She felt confident that she would get a good grade. She decided to celebrate and have a cappuccino. The girl behind the counter did a double take.

"Sorry, Jirra, I didn't recognize you all dressed up fancy," she said.

Jirra smiled back. "I'll take that as a compliment."

After she got her coffee, she sat down and opened up her laptop. She was just about to check her e-mail when a man walked past her and up to the counter.

He looked familiar, even though he paid her no attention. He was too busy listening to his MP-3 player. He was dressed in jeans and a crew top shirt and had on a well-worn cowboy hat.

She shrugged it off and went back to her computer when she heard the man's voice. He had forgotten to take off his headset and was almost shouting his order. It was then that Jirra recognized his voice. He was the mystery man!

Jirra listened as he placed his order. He ordered a latte to go. Jirra decided to follow him.

The man paid for his coffee and headed out of the shop. Jirra slowly got up and followed him out. Her heart was pounding in her chest as she tried to look casual as she followed him. He walked a block down the street before stopping in front of a blue Ford pickup. He placed his coffee on the roof as he pulled out his keys.

Jirra pretended to window shop, while at the same time trying to read his license plate. The plates were from Arizona, and she was able to see the entire plate. She pulled a pen out of her bag and wrote it down on her palm.

The truck pulled out and headed south out of town. Jirra watched it leave and then called Judy.

"I just saw the mystery man!"

"Calm down, where did this happen?" asked Judy.

Jirra explained what had happened.

"Give me the number please," requested Judy.

Jirra gave it to her.

"Thank you very much. Now are you sure it's him?"

"Absolutely, the voice gave him away."

"Wonderful. Thank you very much," stated Judy.

"What are you going to do?" asked Jirra excitedly.

"I'll let you know later," she replied.

Chapter 123

"Dan's back down from the site," said Liz. "He's coming over for dinner tonight."

"Really? That's cool," replied Jirra. "Do you want to be alone?"

Liz shook her head and smiled. "While I appreciate the offer, it's not necessary… at this time."

Jirra's eyebrows rose. "At this time, huh?"

Liz just smiled. "Anyway, he specifically requested to see you. He wants to update you on the site."

Jirra nodded. ‘I still wish I could see it myself."

"Well, at least you'll see his latest photos," said Liz.

"Okay, I suppose that's better than nothing. I'll see you later.

Jirra sat in the main hall and worked on her story for Jen. She had taken Alexis's advice and added notes on how the scenes should look. She also decided to throw in some fun twists. She decided that the skeletal remains of the lost archeologist would turn out to be someone else and the real archeologist would turn out to be the used book shop owner. She figured Abe would get a laugh out of that.

She also played up the mystery man and added a lot of comic book sort of violence and some literal cliff-hanging scenes. To her surprise she found that she was actually pretty good at this sort of writing. She was soon lost in her writing when Lindsey tapped her on the shoulder.

"Hey, what's up?" asked Lindsey.

"Oh, I'm just writing that story for Jen," said Jirra without even looking up.

"You've been working on it for the entire afternoon."

Jirra looked at her watch. "Crap, I have to get going, Dan is coming over for dinner, and he's going to show us the latest discoveries."

"Exciting," said Lindsey pretending to yawn.

"Hey, you have to admit that it's pretty cool that ancient people might have used the springs and mud baths here."

Lindsey cocked her head. "How do you know that?"

Jirra looked around. "My spirit guide showed me the site during my last meeting, only I didn't realize it until just now. The Anasazi used the mud and springs, but what I don't know is why."

"Maybe Dan knows now," said Lindsey.

"I hope so. I keep thinking that this is related to what happened to me," said Jirra.

"Why? I mean, why would the Anasazi want to turn men into women?"

Jirra shrugged her shoulders. "Maybe the people transformed have some special status in the tribe, like a shaman or something like that."

"You're really reaching on this one," replied Lindsey.

Jirra smiled. "I suppose, but I just can't believe that my transformation was pure chance."

"Does it really matter?" asked Lindsey. "I mean, you have a pretty interesting life now; you're writing a screenplay and you're dating a movie star. I doubt that would have happened if you hadn't been transformed."

Jirra stared back. "You can be irritatingly wise sometimes."

Lindsey laughed. "Hey, it's one of my many talents. I just want you to move on. This doesn't mean to forget your past, but accept that you're a woman. It seems sorta silly to deny the truth."

"Easier said than done," replied Jirra. "I really want to fully accept what happened to me and just live as a woman, but it's very hard to overcome what's up here." She then pointed at her head.

"I guess you're right, but don't stop trying."

"I won't, even if it does cause some confusion for me," replied Jirra.

"Well, I gotta get into the kitchen; we're cooking lasagna this evening. Mom is trying a new recipe to make it have a Southwestern taste."

"That sounds interesting," stated Jirra.

"I'll save you some, it's pretty good," replied Lindsey.

Jirra nodded and shutdown her computer. "See you later."

"Just one thing, am I in the story?"

"Of course," replied Jirra. "I'm even giving you a romance scene."

"Cool!"

Chapter 124

After dinner Dan showed Liz and Jirra a videotape of the site.

"What's interesting is that we've discovered that the thing in the end of the canyon is a bath. I suspect it was used in fertility rites," stated Dan. "Look, see how it's built right into the cliff? We've found mineral deposits showing that there was once a spring there, but it went dry a long time ago."

Jirra could see the red stains of the mud. "That looks just like the mud we use here at the spa."

"I noticed that too. It looks like the same mud used in the potshards too. We've sent a sample of the mud away to be analyzed," said Dan.

"So why do you think that this was used for fertility rites?" asked Liz.

"We've found some pictographs that seem to show that the site was off-limits to men. I suspect the guards at the front of the canyon were there in part to enforce this," explained Dan.

"Well, Judy said that the native people used to use the springs around here," added Jirra.

Dan nodded. "What is surprising is that the site lay undisturbed. In many Anasazi sites, we've had to deal with cross-cultural contamination. There's none at this site."

"Maybe they didn't know it was there?" asked Liz.

Dan shook his head. "We have documented sites nearby showing at times a sizable population of people lived here. The area would have been rich in game too. But the absence of any other races in the canyon is confusing."

"Maybe they knew about it and stayed away on purpose," said Jirra.

"I've wondered that myself, but I have no proof. I've contacted a friend who specializes in the myths and legends of the indigenous people to see if there is anything about a canyon like this."

Jirra was tempted to mention her theory, but decided that it wasn't the right time. She didn't want to scare Dan off by freaking him out about her change. Maybe later she would find the right time.

"Anyway, we still have a lot of work to do. The university has assigned me to the site. I won't be at a loss for help either. I have a long list of willing volunteers and grad students."

"I hear that you're going to set something up here to tell the guests about your latest discoveries," said Jirra.

Dan nodded. "Judy insisted on it, and I think it's a great idea to promote and protect the site."

"Any word on what Judy's up to?" asked Liz.

"No, but she says that she knows who the looter is. She's asked me to trust what she's doing with him."

Jirra nodded and wished she knew what Judy was up to.

Chapter 125

Two weeks later Judy was sitting behind her desk. It was a little after ten in the morning, and she had left explicit instructions not to be disturbed.

Sitting to her right were her lawyers, sitting by the door was a stocky man in a sport coat that was stressed by his muscular frame. An athletic looking young woman was standing next to him. She may have only been 5-8, but she also had several martial arts black belts.

Sitting nervously across from Judy was the mystery man that Jirra had identified.

Judy picked up the thick file in front of her and opened it. "Scott James Spears, age twenty-seven, several arrests for trespassing on federal and native lands. One conviction for selling stolen artifacts in Arizona, suspected of selling stolen artifacts in Colorado, Utah, and New Mexico."

The man said nothing. He just stared confidently back at Judy.

"The word on the street is that you are strictly small time… but I know better. Thanks to Mr. Barnes and Ms. Gonzales, we have proof that you've been selling some very expensive native artifacts," continued Judy.

The man just smirked. "You got nothing on me; if you did, I would be talking to the police."

"That's one way of looking at it," stated Judy without showing any emotion in her face. "Assuming that I want the police to get involved."

For the first time since he agreed to talk to Judy, Scott looked nervous.

"Mr. Black and Ms. Gonzales are private detectives who have been working for me the last few weeks. They've had you under surveillance almost continuously and have built a rather sizable file on your activities."

Scott turned around and looked at the two detectives as if he was trying to remember if he had seen them before.

"They're too good for you to have picked them up," continued Judy. "They've provided me with evidence that you've trespassed on my property, and that of several of the Native-Americans. They also have photographic proof that you looted objects from the reservations."

"Bull," stated Scott.

Judy opened up the folder and pulled out a series of photos showing Scott. There were also photos of what looked like the inside of a truck. The photos showed a near perfect Anasazi pottery jar hidden in the back part of the cab.

Scott turned angrily and stared at the two detectives. "You broke into my truck? That's illegal!"

"We also broke into your laptop," said Mr. Black in an unemotional tone.

"The correct term is hacked," corrected Ms. Gonzales.

"Pardon me, we ‘hacked' into your computer and found all sorts of interesting things," continued Mr. Black.

Scott looked nervous and turned and looked at Judy. "What do you want?"

"There was a file in the computer which showed photographs of native artifacts. I assume these were items you sold," stated Judy.

Scott nodded. "That's right."

"There's a code next to each photo. In some cases the codes are repeated. I assume the codes are the buyers of your looted objects," said Judy.

"Maybe, what do you want?" asked Scott.

"I want those names and copies of any proof you have," stated Judy.

"Is that all?" asked Scott sarcastically.

"It's a start, and depending on how cooperative you are we'll see about what happens to you."

"I'm not afraid of being arrested. The local cops could care less if I steal a few pots," stated Scott as he leaned back in his chair. "You'll have to do better than that."

Judy nodded. "Okay, how about the tribal police? They would love to get their hands on you. Also the feds don't like looters either."

"You can't turn me over to the redskins," sneered Scott.

"Ms. Gonzales back there is part Navaho. Before we go any further, I'd like you to apologize for that racial slur," said Judy.

Scott turned around and saw Ms. Gonzales intently staring at him, and he mumbled what sounded like sorry.

"I want the names of your clients," demanded Judy.

"What do I get out of it?" asked Scott.

"You won't go to jail," stated Judy.

"That's it?" he asked.

Judy shook her head. "From the information we got from your computer, we know you have a rather sizable offshore bank account. I assume this is from your illegal activities. I want half of it to be donated to the tribal schools on this list." She handed him a piece of paper.

"Half my money! You've got to kidding!" he exclaimed.

"The feds would take it all, and stick your ass in the pen," said Judy.

Scott stared at Judy and felt a drop of sweat run down the side of his face. He wiped it off. "What else?"

"You never come back to New Mexico. If you do, I promise you'll end up in prison."

Scott seemed to be debating his choices. He stared down at the ground and shook his head slowly. "Okay, I'll do it. Do you want the whole list?"

Judy nodded.

"Hand me my computer… don't worry, I'm not going to do anything stupid," stated Scott. His computer was in a case next to Judy. It had been taken from him when he entered the office.

Judy nodded and Mr. Black handed Scott his laptop. He started it up and in a few moments had called up a file that had a list of all his clients. He then handed the computer to Judy.

She scanned the names on the list, recognizing many of them. She then saw a name in the file, and for the first time that morning she smiled. The man had been one of Scott's best customers.

"Tell me about this one?" she asked as she pointed to the name.

He smiled. "He's the one that pot was going to. Thinks he's doing everyone a service by buying from me. He keeps them locked up in his office safe in Santa Fe," stated Scott.

"Scott, I'm going to ask you to be my guest here at the spa for a few days, all expenses paid. All I ask is that you stay in your room. We'll provide room service."

"Can I get a bottle of bourbon?" he asked meekly.

Judy nodded. "If everything goes as planned, you can drive out of here in a day or so."

Scott nodded. "Why him? I mean there are some important men on that list, and they all knew they were buying stolen goods."

Judy just smiled and shook her head. "Sorry, you don't need to know. I do recommend that you go straight, consider this the proverbial dodging the bullet."

Scott stared at Judy. "I just might."

Chapter 126

That evening, a man drove onto the spa grounds in a Mercedes sedan. He was wearing jeans, a short sleeve shirt and had a very worried look on his face. He went immediately to Judy's office.

"I'm very pleased that you could make it up here on such short notice," Judy greeted him.

The man nervously nodded. "What do you want?"

Judy smiled; he wasn't even going to deny it. "Please sit down."

Other than Judy and the man, her office was empty.

"Mr. Blair, I appear to have you over the proverbial barrel. I have proof that you have been buying looted rare artifacts from sites all over the state, including my property. This isn't going to look good when the papers get it, especially since you're trying to force me off my land," stated Judy.

"Right to the point, Ms. Ramone," said Mr. Blair. "I've heard that about you."

"Yes, in the old west I would have shot you. This is my family's land, and I will do anything to protect it," stated Judy firmly.

"I'm only one man, I can't kill this deal myself," he stammered.

"Yes, you can. According to information my lawyer has provided, this whole hotel project has been your idea. All you have to do is stop the plan and you walk away."

"That's it?"

"One more thing, you'll donate your entire stolen collection to The University of New Mexico… anonymously," stated Judy. "I'll know if you do, and I'll know if you don't. This ends today, one way or the other."

Mr. Blair stared angrily at Judy. "My entire collection? You must be kidding?"

Judy nodded. "I'm not going to let you steal and get away with it. If you don't agreed to this, I'll contact every reporter I know, the feds, and the tribal police. I have a witness who'll testify that you knowingly bought stolen artifacts."

"You're a cunning bitch," he growled.

"I've been called worse, so what's your answer?"

"I want to think about it," he said.

Judy shook her head and pushed the phone towards him.

"Just because I'm not getting that plot doesn't mean you will. Any one of a dozen companies will jump at the opportunity to get it, and like me they can easily outbid you."

"The first person you're calling is on this list," stated Judy.

Mr. Blair looked at the sheet and in spite of his anger, he couldn't help but smile. "You really thought this all out, haven't you? I must say we definitely underestimated you."

"Just call him," ordered Judy.

He dialed the number. "Jim, this is Robert. Hey, I just want to say that there's been a change in plans; we no longer have any plans for the site near the Ramone property. What? Yes, I'm serious; we will drop all challenges to the land deal she proposed."

They talked for a few minutes before Mr. Blair placed several more phone calls.

After the last one he hung up the phone. "Is that all?" he asked.

Judy nodded. "I'll send you the proof of the theft of the artifacts as soon I get confirmation that the university has received them. After that, I hope we never have the displeasure of seeing you again."

Mr. Blair nodded. "I feel the same way."

Judy watched him walk slowly back to his car and then drive away. She then walked over to the mini-fridge in her office and removed a bottle of champagne. While she usually didn't like to drink alone, this was a worthwhile exception. She held the glass up to the photos of her family and made a toast. She drank as tears rolled down her face.

Chapter 127

Judy stared at the list of Scott's other customers. It would have been easy enough to let it go; after all, she had gotten everything she wanted from the list. Still it bothered her that these men had knowingly bought looted objects.

She took the CD-ROM of Scott's files, and after a short time on her computer, she had created some very informative letters. They not only informed the men in question that it was known that they had bought looted artifacts, but showed photos of the objects in question. The letters anonymously informed the men that they had one week to donate the objects in question to one of several museums listed. If they failed to comply, the authorities would be contacted.

Judy was sure that the men would comply, as the negative publicity of buying looted objects would cause them much pain. She wasn't naïve enough to think that this would stop all of them from collecting looted objects, but it might force some back to the straight and narrow.

Chapter 128

The official announcement wasn't until a few days later. Judy called the entire staff into the main hall.

"I just wanted to let you all know that the threat to the spa is over. The hotel chain has decided not to build here. Additionally, I have worked out a land swap with the state. They will get the Anasazi site in exchange for the plot along the access road," announced Judy.

This announcement was met by thunderous applause and cheering.

Judy put her hands up to quiet the crowd momentarily. "So, your jobs are secure, and we will continue to build the finest spa in New Mexico."

Jirra joined the others on their feet cheering Judy. At the same time, she was wondering what Judy had done. She had tried to get Judy tell her, but it was to no avail.

"Jirra, if I tell you, then you're a co-conspirator," said Judy that morning before the meeting.

Jirra was about to ask Judy another question but stopped, figuring it would be pointless. "Promise me that you'll tell me someday!"

"I will when the time is right," replied Judy. "Oh, by the way, I never congratulated you for the grade you got on your Anasazi project."

Jirra nodded. "Thanks. Dan also looked at it and said it was better than some of his grad students' work, but I think he was just being nice."

Judy shook her head. "No, Dan wouldn't do that; he's always been brutally honest."

Chapter 129

The news that the spa had been saved lifted a huge weight off the collective minds of the staff. There was sense of excitement that seemed to be bursting from the staff as they prepared for the summer season.

Jirra wished she knew how Judy had gotten the hotel corporation to back down, so she could incorporate it into her story. She did the next best thing and made up something. She remembered Judy's interest in the mystery man, so she came up with a story of the spa owner using information from the looter and then blackmailing the backers of the hotel. It was a little farfetched, but Jirra felt it worked.

She finished the story and sent it off to Jen. Even if nothing came out of it, it was a fun writing exercise, she thought.

Two days later she got a call from Jen.

"Jirra, I finished reading the story, and I must say that I'm very impressed. I sent it to a screenwriter friend of mine, and he's going to refine it, although I must admit there's not much that needs work."

"Thanks, Jen," replied Jirra.

"By the way, I liked how you sketched out some of the scenes, that definitely helped," continued Jen.

"That was Alexis's idea," confessed Jirra.

"It doesn't matter, what's important is that you wrote a very good story. The screenwriter will send you a copy of what he produces. He'll expect you to approve what he's done."

"Jen, does he know that I'm only eighteen?" asked Jirra.

"No, and it wouldn't matter to him anyway. Besides, you're almost nineteen, if I remember right."

"You're right, I turn nineteen in two weeks," replied Jirra.

"Well, I may have an interesting way for you to spend it. I'd like to show everyone at the spa a sneak peek of my new movie. I have a DVD version and would love to show it there first," said Jen.

"Really? That's so cool."

"The national release will be two weeks later. We had to get it in before the big blockbusters come out."

"Have you told Judy yet?" asked Jirra.

"Of course, she's already contacted a large screen TV dealer in Santa Fe to get the right system. I'd like to show it in the main room, and plan on showing it on a large screen TV. They'll also need to hook up the sound system."

"That sounds expensive," noted Jirra.

"It is, but I want the spa to have the system. That way you can have regular movie nights. By the way, only you and Judy know about this, so keep it hush-hush. You can tell Liz and Lindsey if you want."

"I will," replied Jirra.

"Okay, well. I'll be out there next week. I want to relax a few days first. When I leave the spa, I'll be hitting the road on a major promotional road trip. I have a lot wrapped up in this movie."

"Well, I read about the movie in Entertainment Weekly, and they call it the sleeper hit of the summer," stated Jirra.

"That's nice, but I need to make sure that people go to see the movie. Great reviews don't always mean good revenues. I'll be doing the talk show circuit and will be on all the major morning shows."

"Sounds like fun," stated Jirra with a laugh.

"I'd rather have a root canal, but it's part of the deal."

"Alexis says the same thing," said Jirra.

"Speaking of good reviews, her show is getting a lot of good publicity. The word is the network might move the show's premier to September."

"I know, Alexis told me that, it means she's working seven days a week right now," said Jirra with a bit of sadness in her voice.

"You miss her, don't you?"

"A lot. I mean, besides being a really cool person, she knows the truth about me and totally accepts me."

"I know what you mean, Jirra."

"I just wish we could be together more often," continued Jirra.

"I know exactly how you feel. How's everything else going?" asked Jen.

"I still have some feelings for guys, but thankfully I'm so in love with Alexis that it represses those feelings. I'm still not happy about them, but I'm starting to accept them."

"That's good, you can't be in conflict with yourself all the time, its not healthy."

"I've been told that a few times from various other people."

"What about your sense of vulnerability?" asked Jen.

"Thankfully, I haven't had another incident."

"You didn't answer my question, Jirra."

"Okay, it still bothers me a bit… make that a lot. It hasn't quite gotten into my mind that I'm female and that means that to some people I'm a potential victim. Tara has been showing me some moves to protect myself, and that has helped a little."

"You're honest."

"Does it still bother you; I mean that you were transformed into a woman?"

"A little, but I've learned to move on with it," replied Jen. "My circumstances were a little different from yours, in that my transformation was publicized. It would have been very easy for me to shrink away, but I decided to move on. Partly, I didn't want to give the bastards the satisfaction of winning."

"I feel a little funny about my circumstances; I mean, even the woman who I'm renting my apartment from in Philly thinks I'm TS. I mean, I know I needed some sort of cover story, but I've read about what most TS go through, and now I feel guilty," stated Jirra. "I'm also worried that once she gets to know me better, she'll see through me."

"So… tell her the truth," replied Jen.

"That sounds too simple," said Jirra.

"Sometimes the simple answer is the best. She sounds pretty open-minded, so when you feel the time is right let her know."

"I'll think about it," said Jirra. "I've been pretty lucky so far in the people who I've told."

"Well, if she was once married and is TS herself, I'm sure she'd be compassionate regarding what happened to you," said Jen. "I wouldn't worry too much about it; you'll be too busy just adjusting to college when you get to Philly. But when the time feels right, I would tell her."

"Okay. Thanks for listening to me, Jen. You have no idea what it's like to have someone else who I can talk to about this. I mean, with someone who has similar experiences," said Jirra.

"I feel the same way, Jirra. We share something unique, and I'm glad that we've become friends."

"Me too."

"Well, I'll see you soon. Good bye," stated Jen.

"I can't wait," replied Jirra.

Chapter 130

"What's up?" asked Jirra as she walked into her mom's office. "Judy said you were looking for me."

"I just got a call from the sheriff, Randy's lawyer made an offer regarding the charges," said Liz.

Jirra sat down. "Go on."

"He'll plead guilty to the assault charges in exchange for a reduced sentence. He'll still have to do eighteen months in the county jail and then be on probation for two years, additionally he'll have to attend and pass an anger management course as part of his sentence."

Jirra thought about it. While eighteen months wasn't that long, she really didn't want to go to trial. "I guess that's fair, I just want it to be over."

"That's what I thought you'd say. I'll call the sheriff back and let him know the deal is acceptable to us," said Liz.

Chapter 131

On a warm late spring morning Jirra walked into the main hall looking for Lindsey. She saw Judy supervising the installation of the new large screen TV.

Judy looked over and smiled. "I thought you were going to the airport to pickup Jen?"

Jirra nodded. "Her flight doesn't get in until this afternoon. I'm trying to find Lindsey, she's supposed to ride with me."

"There she is," said Judy pointing towards the back of the hall.

Lindsey came bounding up. There was a huge smile on her face.

"Why are you so happy?" asked Jirra.

Lindsey looked over at Judy. "You didn't tell her yet?"

Judy shook her head. "I was going to let everyone know tomorrow, but you can tell her."

"Judy's going to expand and add a separate dining room for dinner. The hall will still be used for breakfast and lunch, but now we can serve dinner like a real restaurant."

"Sounds great," replied Jirra.

"Well, we're already booked for most of the summer season, so I'm going to expand the number of cottages too. We're not going to be huge, but I don't see a problem in adding two dozen more cottages," stated Judy.

"When did you decide this?" asked Jirra.

"Actually right after last year's season, however I had to wait until the crisis with the hotel chain passed," replied Judy. "We're also going to have a dedicated exhibit on the Anasazi site, even though the site itself will be off-limits for a while."

"I'm so happy for you, Judy," said Jirra. She then looked at Lindsey. "You ready?"

"Sure, let's go," replied Lindsey.

Chapter 132

"I want to stop in town before we head to the airport. I want to get something for Jen," stated Jirra as they drove down the long road from the spa.

"What are you going to get her?"

"I don't know, but I'll know it when I see it. I just want to give her something for everything she's done for me."

They stopped on Main Street and walked into the jewelry shop where Jirra had first seen the Anasazi art. There was a sign announcing it was now under new management. Jirra wondered if it was related to the looted objects, but no one was saying a thing.

Jirra looked around the shop, not really knowing what she was looking for.

"Hey, Jirra, how about these?" said Lindsey.

Jirra walked over to where Lindsey was holding a pair of silver and turquoise earrings. They were in the shape of lighting bolts.

"What do you think?" asked Lindsey.

"They're perfect," stated Jirra as she examined the earrings.

Chapter 133

They arrived at the airport just a few minutes before Jen's Learjet landed. Jen stepped out of the jet wearing a short sleeve white blouse, jeans, cowgirl boots, and a tan Stetson hat.

"I figured that if I'm going to have my own cottage out here, I should dress like the locals," said Jen, as she hugged Jirra and Lindsey.

"Who dresses like that?" asked Jirra with a grin.

"They will, once I start hanging out here more!" replied Jen as she gave Jirra a playful nudge in the ribs.

The bags were quickly loaded, and they were on their way back to the spa. As they drove, Jirra and Lindsey gave Jen an update on doings at the spa and the Anasazi site.

Jirra also shared her theory that the site might have something to do with her own transformation.

"Granted, all I'm going on is a theory and some memories from my last vision quest, but I'm sure the site is related to what happened to me," said Jirra.

"It's possible. In many ancient races, people of mixed gender were important figures in their culture," said Jen.

"Really?" asked Lindsey.

"Yes. In the time since my own gender metamorphosis, I've looked for information on it happening to others," replied Jen.

"One of the problems with my theory is that the Anasazi didn't leave a lot of information about themselves, and I doubt this site will be any different," said Jirra.

"Maybe you'll see it in your next vision quest," remarked Jen.

"I hope so, but I usually leave them with more questions than answers," replied Jirra.

"Sounds like a therapist," said Jen with a laugh.

"So how long will you be here, Jen?" asked Lindsey.

"Just for the weekend, Lindsey. I have to start the big promo tour for my movie on Monday. Still, it will be nice to relax for a few days. I can't wait to get into one of Cari's kettles and soak in the nice hot mud."

"Well it's great to have you here, even for just a weekend," said Lindsey. Then it hit her. "You came here for Jirra's birthday!"

"Jirra's having a birthday?" asked Jen with a straight face. She then started laughing. "It's part of the reason why I'm here."

Lindsey shook her head as she laughed. "Jeez, I can be so dense at times."

"Most artistic geniuses are absent minded," piped in Jirra.

Lindsey's eyes opened up wide. "Who's a genius?"

"You are. I mean you can do magical things in the kitchen, Lindsey," said Jirra.

"Thanks," replied Lindsey.

"I agree, anyone can cook, but it takes skill and talent to be a chef," said Jen in concurrence.

"Well, I can't wait to play in the new kitchen," said Lindsey. She then told Jen about the spa expansion.

"I'm so glad that Judy won, although I personally never had a doubt that she would beat those corporate suits," said Jen.

"I just wish I knew HOW she did it," said Jirra.

Jen laughed. "I suspect that even Judy likes to keep a few business secrets. Still, I like your solution in the story, it was very imaginative, and it doesn't seem that out of character for her."

"I showed it to her and she laughed," remarked Jirra.

"Oh, am I going to meet the professor who's been wooing Liz?" asked Jen.

Jirra laughed. "Yes, he should be down from the site this weekend. He usually comes down on Friday and gives the spa an update. He's been living at the spa since the site was discovered; that is, when he's not up in the hills."

"And how do you feel about him seeing your mom?"

"I like it. He's good for her," stated Jirra.

"Does he know about you?" asked Jen.

"No, not yet. Mom said that we'll cross that bridge when we get to it."

"Which story are you going to tell him?" asked Jen.

"We'll start out with the SRS story and see how he reacts. A lot will depend on how serious they get," said Jirra. "I hate lying to people."

"I know how you feel, but I don't think you'd want to go through what I did," said Jen.

"I still don't know how you survived that," said Jirra.

"It wasn't, and still isn't, easy," replied Jen.

They started up the long access road to the spa.

"Is that the land that Judy got in exchange for the site?" asked Jen.

"Yes. As Judy says, it's not big for around here; but to me six hundred acres is still pretty big," replied Jirra. "Still, it will act as a buffer for the spa, and it's nice that the land won't get developed."

As they drove under the sign of Caldera de Gaia Spa, Jen nodded. "Looks like we're here."

Jirra nodded and smiled. "Yep, we're home."

Chapter 134

Dinner that night was barbecued chicken at the Dylans. Of course, Liz and Jirra were there, along with Judy, Cari, Tara and Jen.

"I'm so glad that the warm weather is back," said Hannah, as she stood over the grill. "I love outdoor cooking."

"Me too, I can't wait until we start using the big barbecue again," said Lindsey, as carried the plate of chicken to the grill.

"Well, once we're in the full summer schedule, we'll be doing it once a week," said Judy.

"What's the big barbecue?" asked Jen.

"I bought a large mobile barbecue unit last year, and it's large enough to roast a steer," noted Judy.

"That sounds like fun," said Jen.

"Well, it adds to the western feel that many of the guests want, especially those from back east and those from Hollywood" said Judy with a laugh.

Jen smiled and gave her a tip of her Stetson.

"I just like cooking with it," said Lindsey.

After dinner, Jen made her announcement concerning the unofficial movie première. "We'll show it Saturday night in the main hall. Please don't tell anyone else until Saturday morning."

"So that's why you had the new entertainment center installed in the hall," said Cari.

"That's another gift from Jen," said Judy.

"Well, if you're going to have movie nights, you need a decent way to see them," added Jen.

"Well, this calls for a toast," stated Cody. He held up his wine glass. "To Jen, welcome to the family."

The others followed by lifting their drinks.

Jirra smiled and soaked in the feelings of the crowd, and it hit her how much she would miss everyone when she went to college.

For dessert, Lindsey brought out a Key Lime Pie with nineteen candles in it.

"We decided to have this now, as Saturday will be too hectic," said Liz.

"Now, just remember, Jirra, when I asked you what was your favorite type of cake you told me you prefer this," said Lindsey.

Jirra smiled. "It's perfect. Did you make it?"

Lindsey nodded as she set the cake down in front of them. They all joined in a chorus of "Happy Birthday."

"Now make a wish and blow out the candles," said Liz.

Jirra thought for a second and then leaned over and blew out the candles.

"So what did you wish for?" asked Jen.

"I thought if I told then it wouldn't come true," said Jirra.

"Come on, tell us," said Tara.

"Okay, okay, I wished that Alexis could be here," said Jirra.

"That's a good wish," said Lindsey as she nodded.

Jirra shrugged her shoulders as she passed out the pie.

"Hey, don't forget me," said Alexis, as she stepped out of the darkness.

Jirra turned around at the sound of Alexis's voice. She stood there facing Alexis, stunned and unable to speak.

"It's good to see you too, Roo," said Alexis as she hugged her. "Happy Birthday."

Eventually Jirra regained her composure. "Were you all in on this?" she asked the others.

"Pretty much," said Liz.

"I flew in this afternoon and arrived just after you started dinner. Thankfully, Hannah brought me some food," said Alexis, as she sat down next to Jirra. "I'm just here for the weekend, and then I'm flying out with Jen."

"My first appearance is in Boston, so it all worked out," said Jen. She took a small bite of the pie and smiled. "Lindsey, this is wonderful."

"Thanks," she replied. "I got the recipe off the internet."

"I'm stunned that you'd fly all the way out here for my birthday," said Jirra.

"Hey, get used to it," replied Alexis as she leaned over and kissed Jirra on the cheek.

"This is the best present I could ask for," said Jirra.

"Oh, so we should return our gifts?" asked Judy.

Everyone started laughing.

"I wasn't kidding," said Judy.

"Actually, since Lindsey's birthday is next month, we've decided to kill two birds with one stone," said Hannah as she motioned to Cody.

He got up and walked into the house.

"Since you're both heading off to college, we've decided that you'll both need some help," said Liz. "These are from all of us."

Cody brought out what looked like two binders. Each had a large bow tied around them. He handed one to each of the two girls.

Lindsey and Jirra opened up the binders at the same time. Inside each was a collection of gift cards, ranging from Ikea to Target.

Jirra paged through the cards and found several for restaurants and even movie theaters.

"These will allow you to set up your places and still have some fun," said Tara.

Jirra looked at one card and held it up to Liz. "A gas card?"

Liz nodded.

"I don't own a car," said Jirra.

"Not yet. We'll pick something out when you go back to Philly," said Liz.

Jirra's jaw dropped, and she hugged her mom.

"We'll help you pick your car out, Lindsey," said Cody.

Lindsey pointed at her chest. "You're buying me a car? Cool!"

"Well, it's too far for you to ride a bike," said Cody, as Lindsey hugged him and then Hannah.

Chapter 135

While the others talked, Jen took Judy aside.

"Have you had any more computer problems?" asked Jen.

Judy shook her head. "The security system you set up seemed to do the job, that and the arrest of that punk Randy. After he assaulted Jirra, I went into town and laid it out with several of the adults who were making the most trouble. I explained to them that it had gone far enough and that if there were any other problems I would unleash my lawyers on them and make their lives a living hell."

"And that did it?" asked Jen with a laugh.

"Well, we haven't had any more problems since my little talk. They know me and know that I don't make idle threats. Still I don't think it's over. I look at this as the way I do wildfire season, you stamp out one fire and another one starts somewhere else."

"Too bad you didn't catch the hackers in the act," said Jen.

"I know. I don't think that it was Randy or those girls, they don't seem smart enough to do something like that," said Judy. "No, I suspect it was someone else and I don't think we've heard the last of them."

"If you have any more computer problems let me know," said Jen.

"I will, thanks," replied Judy. "Oh, by the way, thanks for all the referrals. Your reporter friend also made a reservation for next month."

Jen smiled back. "Maggie is one of the few reporters that I trust out there, you'll like her."

"I'm not looking to become a trendy spa, but it doesn't hurt to have the occasional celebrity here," replied Judy. "Trendy doesn't last long in this business and I want this place to last for a long time."

"That's good to hear," replied Jen. "May I ask you something?"

"Sure," said Jen.

"I know you see Jirra and Lindsey as family, but when are you going to start one of your own?"

Judy smiled back. "Don't worry; I have no intention of being a spinster. Contrary to what my personal life appears, I do date and I do want to have some kids of my own."

Jen's left eyebrow rose. "No offense but isn't your biological clock ticking pretty loud?"

Judy laughed. "Oh, I have no intention of getting pregnant. No, I've been looking into adoption. I like children who I can talk to, I'm not into babies."

Jen nodded.

"What about you, have you thought of raising a family?" asked Judy.

"I'm still rather young," replied Jen.

"You didn't answer my question," counter Judy.

"Okay, you got me. I'm physically capable of having children, but the idea of actually doing it…. well, it sort of terrifies me," replied Jen.

Judy laughed and put her arm around Jen. "I've always felt the same way, Jen."

"It's one aspect of being female that I've never really felt comfortable about," said Jen.

"I can imagine how that could be an issue," said Judy. She then wondered how Jirra felt about it.

As if she was reading Judy's mind, Jen nodded. "I'll be available should Jirra have the same issues, we do share a common heritage."

"I'm happy that you two have each other. It must be somewhat comforting to share feelings that most people have no concept of."

"It is," replied Jen, looking over at Jirra who was laughing at something Tara just said. "In some ways, she's my sister."

Judy nodded in agreement. "That's the nice thing about being able to choose your family."

Chapter 136

It was almost midnight, and the only two people still up were Jirra and Alexis. They were sitting out on Jirra's deck, staring up at the stars.

"I love the night skies here," said Alexis as she pulled Jirra closer to her.

"Me too. It hit me tonight how much I'll miss this place when I'm off at college."

"It is a special place. I could live here very happily," said Alexis.

"It's magical," sighed Jirra.

"I like that," said Alexis. "Not what you said, but the sense of peace that I sense in you."

"I'm still not balanced, but I'm closer than I've been since my change," said Jirra. "I guess the thing is that I'm not giving up."

Alexis smiled. "That's what I want to hear. Now, I'd better be off to my cottage."

"Oh," said Jirra, The disappointment in her voice was obvious.

"Don't worry, we'll find some time to be together."


Chapter 137

It was early morning, and Jirra was knocking on Alexis's cottage door.

"I'm coming… I'm coming," groaned Alexis. She opened the door, fumbling with the latch. "Jirra, what time is it?"

"Seven. Sorry to wake you, but Cody is driving up to the site to drop off supplies and the weekend shift. There's room for us to ride along, do you want to?"

"Really?" said Alexis, now awake. "Cool, what time is he leaving?"

"Twenty minutes, can you make it?"

Alexis nodded and waved Jirra in. "I'll be dressed in a few minutes."

A short time later, they were sitting in the back of the jeep heading up to the Anasazi site. There were two male grad students heading up as relief. One sat up front with Cody; his name was Sean. The other one sat in the back with Alexis and Jirra. His name was Rick. He was a friendly Mexican-American, originally from Taos.

"So, Jirra, you're the one who was with Barrett when the site was discovered?" he asked.

She nodded.

"That's incredible. I would kill to make a discovery like this," he said with a smile. "Just kidding about the killing part."

"It's okay," replied Jirra.

He looked over at Alexis. "By the way, I loved your old show. I hear you're in a new one now."

"Yes, it's premiering in late September."

"If it's not too much of a bother, can I get you to pose with me for a photo? My roommates will never believe me otherwise," he asked.

Alexis smiled. "I'd be happy to," she replied.

"Thanks, I appreciate it. So, Jirra what made you think that this canyon was special?"

"I read Dr. Margate's book and talked to the woman who runs the spa. She told me that he spent time around here."

"I love that book; it's what made me want to be an archeologist," replied Rick. "So have they decided where they're going to bury him?"

Dr. Margate's remains were currently in a state of limbo. He had no living relatives that anyone knew of, and there were several groups pressing to have the remains.

"I've heard that Judy is offering to allow him to be buried here," said Jirra.

"That seems appropriate," said Rick.

Chapter 138

"Well, Jirra, I didn't expect to see you up here," said Dan, as he greeted her.

"I was hoping that you'd let us take a peek into the canyon," replied Jirra. She then introduced Alexis.

"Pleased to meet you," said Dan. "Do you really want to see the site?"

Alexis nodded. "I just finished a movie in Crete and got to see a very interesting site there. One of the archeologists there was the daughter of my movie's producer."

Dan nodded. "Oh, yes. I read the article on that site in National Geographic. Okay, come on, it'll take them some time to unload the jeep."

"Where's Barrett?" asked Jirra.

"Up at the site, where else? I can't keep him out of it," said Dan.

Jirra noticed that the trail was larger and was better marked. As they headed down into the canyon, Jirra noticed that there were now several tents set up.

"We use those as our workshops," said Dan. "Eventually, I'd like to have a permanent structure built just outside the canyon, and I'd like to have the landslide cleared too. However, we won't allow any permanent structures in the canyon itself."

"Any idea of what they were doing here?" asked Alexis. "Jirra said something about it being used as a fertility site."

"That's starting to look more and more reasonable. The site is definitely religious in nature and wasn't used year-round," said Dan as he showed them around.

"How do you know that?"

"From the construction of the structures, they don't have the signs of being used permanently," he replied. "We also haven't found any garbage pits, which are usually common. The food storage areas are also small."

"So they could have come up here for a ceremony and then left?" asked Alexis.

"It looks like. While the site was obviously used a long time, it may have only been used for a few days each year," he said. "We have a lot of work ahead of us, and we may never find the answer. The Anasazi did a great job in covering up their secrets, and this may just be another of their mysteries. But I'm willing to try to solve this one."

They walked around the bend and found Barrett working by what they had called the guardhouse.

"Hey, Jirra, good to see you," he said looking up from his work. "Doc, looks like we found some potshards. They look similar to the ones we found at the head of the canyon."

"Great, Barrett. Rick and Sean are up at the campsite unpacking, and they'll be taking over for us," said Dan.

"Barrett, this is my friend Alexis," said Jirra.

"I'm sorry; I didn't mean to be rude. Pleased to meet you," he said as he stood up. "Jirra's told me so much about you."

"Likewise, I've wanted to meet you for a while, Barrett," said Alexis.

"Have you started to dig out the bath yet?" asked Jirra.

Dan shook his head. "Not yet, we're waiting to get some equipment in first. I want to see what exactly we have there before we dig it out. Don't worry, Jirra, I have your e-mail and will keep you up to date on any discoveries."

"Did you show her the sign yet?" asked Barrett.

"No, I forgot. We'll see it when we leave," he said.

"What sign?" asked Jirra.

"Trust me, you'll love it," said Barrett.

Dan showed them some more of the canyon and the archeological progress before they headed back to the base camp.

There were four large tents at the base camp site now. Two were for sleeping, one for meals, and the other served as office and supply storage.

The tents were now larger, and you could actually stand up in them. There were cots inside for sleeping. It was looking very civilized. There was also a small tent that served as the outhouse.

"Very nice," noted Jirra. "Where's the sign you were referring to?"

Barrett pointed to a detailed carved wooden sign, hanging above the mess tent. It had a cartoon kangaroo drinking a cup of coffee. "One of the other grad students carved it in your honor and mine for discovering the site."

"I love it," said Jirra as she took out her camera.

"Let me get a photo of you and Barrett with it," said Alexis. "Then you can take the photos for Rick."

After the photos were taken, Dan talked to Rick and Sean and gave them their instructions for the next few days.

On the way back down, Jirra and Alexis talked to Barrett while riding in the back of the jeep.

"Are you going to stick around for the movie tonight?" asked Jirra.

"No, I need to see the family. They miss me, and it's been a few weeks since I went home," he replied.

The conversation then turned back to the site.

"I would have thought you'd have more people up here," said Alexis.

"We will in the next few weeks. Doc is bringing up a team of ten to work for the summer. He'd bring up more, but it's so hard to get supplies up here," replied Barrett. "One of the first things we're going to do when the funding starts is to improve the trail up here."

"Will you be up here?" asked Jirra.

Barrett nodded. "Oh yes. I love it up here. This is why I wanted to study archeology."

"Wouldn't it save time if you slept in the canyon?" asked Alexis.

Barrett shook his head. "We tried that."

"What happened?" asked Jirra.

He smiled. "You may think I'm crazy, but it was made clear to us that we could study the site, but we weren't welcome to sleep there."

"By whom?" asked Jirra as she sat up.

"Them," replied Barrett.

"Them?" You mean the Anasazi?" asked Alexis.

"Maybe. I just know that we camped in there one night, and we all woke up after what seemed like the same vivid nightmare. We hiked out that night and have never tried it again."

"A nightmare scared you off?" asked Jirra.

"Maybe a nightmare isn't the best description of what we had, Jirra. It had the texture and reality of a vision quest more than a nightmare or a dream. I just know that we're welcome to study it, but that's it."

"When you say ‘we' you mean that other people had the same dream?" asked Alexis.

Barrett nodded. "Two other grad students had nearly the identical dream. So we accept the rules and sleep outside the canyon. Hey, I don't know if it's real or not, but when we told the doc about it, he didn't disagree with us. I have noticed that he has no problem with sleeping outside the canyon."

"I knew it was a special place," said Jirra.

"I agree. I think we're going to make some cool discoveries there," said Barrett.

"So tell us more about the dream," asked Jirra.

Chapter 139

Saturday morning Judy made the announcement concerning the movie to the rest of the staff and the guests. As expected, the announcement caused a great buzz of excitement throughout the spa.

Right after Judy made the announcement, a delivery truck pulled up to the main hall and a large crate was unloaded.

"What's that?" asked Jirra, as she watched the crate being moved inside.

"Can't watch a movie without popcorn," remarked Jen with a smile.

The crate was opened and what looked like a circus popcorn wagon was unloaded.

"Oh, Jen, it's wonderful," said Hannah.

"Well, I know its overkill, but it makes great popcorn," replied Jen.

Lindsey was already reading the manual. "It even has a butter warmer built in."

"You have to use real butter, not that butter flavored motor oil they use in theaters," said Jen. "The salesperson said that it's pretty easy to clean too."

"That's the most important feature," said Hannah as she read over Lindsey's shoulder.

Seeing that Lindsey was lost in figuring out how the popcorn machine worked Jirra headed off to find Alexis. She found her soaking in one of the mud kettles.

"Enjoying yourself?" asked Jirra.

Alexis just moaned what sounded like a yes.

"I take it you're too busy to talk right now?" asked Jirra.

Alexis moaned again.

"I won't disturb you then. I'll see you later," said Jirra.

"Hmmm," replied Alexis.

Jirra walked over to her office and finished up the latest newsletter. She would miss doing this and wondered who would take over for her when she left for college. Suddenly, she was overcome by thoughts of all the problems associated with going to college.

It was strange, she thought. For months she had been looking forward to leaving, and now that she was getting closer to that date she was almost dreading leaving. Life was becoming more complicated, and she now had many new worries.

Jirra sat down and thought about how she would tell Celeste the truth about her own gender situation. She knew that she would do it as soon as she could, as she didn't feel right about lying; besides, the secret would eventually come out. Celeste would eventually know that she wasn't really a post-op TS, and then what would happen? thought Jirra.

Then there was school itself; who was she kidding? She wasn't ready for Penn; she would fail out in just a semester and end up at community college.

Jirra took a deep breath and let it out. "You're letting all your fears take over," she said to herself. "It's not that bad."

A moment later, Judy stuck her head inside Jirra's office and looked around. "You okay?"

Jirra nodded. "Sorry, just having a pre-college anxiety attack."

"Oh? Is that all?" asked Judy with a smile.

"I guess it just hit me that I'll be leaving soon. Moving never really bothered me before; why should it now?"

Judy sat down across from her. "Maybe it's because you always moved with your family. This is your first step away from that."

"That sounds reasonable. Did you feel this way when you went away to college?"

"Oh yes. I was a nervous wreck; that is, until I arrived at college, and then I lost myself in that world. You'll do fine, Jirra."

"I wish I had your confidence," replied Jirra. "There are so many things that could go wrong…."

"Don't worry about those right now, focus on what can go right," interrupted Judy.

"Okay, I'll try," replied Jirra.

"Look, you've earned this opportunity, and considering all that you've overcome in the past year, freshman year at college will be a breeze. On the plus side, you've got a much larger family supporting you now."

Jirra let out a sigh. "Would it be okay if I hugged you right now?"

"It would be inappropriate if you didn't," replied Judy

Chapter 140

The main hall was packed with staff and guests for Jen's movie party. The popcorn popper was working overtime to meet the demands of the crowd. Jirra, her heart and mind much lighter now, was sitting next to Alexis, a large bowl of popcorn sat on their laps.

Jen made a short speech before the start of the movie. She explained why the movie was getting its première at the spa. She then said that if the movie did well, the sequel would be filmed at the spa. This was met by a round of applause.

"Well, enough of me; it's time for you to get the first look at my new movie, I hope you enjoy it," said Jen.

With that the lights dimmed and the movie started on the TV.

It was soon evident that the movie was destined to be hit. The crowd loved the combination of adventure and humor. Jen sat nervously next to Judy, torn between watching the movie and gauging the crowd's reaction, occasionally burying her face in her hands.

When the credits appeared at the end of the movie, the crowd stood up and applauded wildly. A few people started shouting about playing it again.

Jen stood up and accepted the accolades of the crowd.

"I'm sorry, -the studio will only let me show it once, but it will be out nationwide soon," she said. "I'll be glad to answer any questions you might have."

There weren't a lot of questions; rather, most people wanted to say how much they enjoyed the movie.

"I just want to say that it was refreshing to see a movie that was actually fun to watch," said one of the guests, a man from Chicago.

Jirra and Alexis sat back and watched Jen work the crowd.

"I'm so happy for her. The movie was great," said Jirra.

"I know, it should do great. I just hope my movie is half as good," replied Alexis.

"I wouldn't worry about that; Richard Thorn always puts out an entertaining movie, even when the critics hate it."

"That's true," replied Alexis.

"Did I hear her right about her making her sequel here?" asked Jirra.

"It's true. She was very impressed with your story; looks like you may get a movie credit before you finish your first year of college."

"I'll settle for making it through the first year of college."

"If you don't, I'll put you over my knee and spank you," whispered Alexis.

"You wouldn't dare!"

Alexis smiled. "No, maybe I'll tie you down and tickle you. Hell, I just might do that for fun tonight."

Jirra began to giggle. "You're wicked."

Alexis leaned over and kissed her quickly on the cheek. "You have no idea."

Chapter 141

The movie was long over and everything had been cleaned up and put away. A fire was burning in the firepit out in the yard. A small crowd of people was sitting around the fire. There were Judy, Jen, Cari, Tara, Hannah, Lindsey, Cody, Liz, Dan, Alexis, and, of course, Jirra.

The conversation shifted from the movie to the site and then to Jirra's choice of a car for college.

"I think she should get a Hummer. I love mine, and it's so safe," remarked Jen.

"A Hummer in the streets of Philly? She'd never find a parking spot," said Alexis.

"I've never had a problem," countered Jen.

"Yes, but Hollywood is far from the real world," rebutted Alexis.

Jen laughed. "Point taken."

"How about a small SUV," suggested Dan, who was sitting next to Liz.

"I was thinking of a Mini Cooper," said Jirra.

"I wouldn't get one of those, someone would just come along and pick it up and steal it," said Cody with a laugh. "You want a disposable car, something that will get you through school and who cares if it has a few dents and rust on it. You know like some Dodge or Buick."

"Ugh! Dad, she's going to an Ivy League school, she can't drive a beater," said Lindsey with a disgusted tone.

"How about a hybrid?" suggested Cari. "I know they're not cheap, but they're great for the environment."

"That's a good idea; they're getting more reliable. If not one of those, maybe a Honda or a VW," suggested Tara.

"Are you going to drive it there?" asked Dan.

"We haven't decided yet," said Jirra.

"Just remember you'll need something with heat and that can get through snow," said Alexis.

Jirra let out a big sigh. "I'm just happy that I don't have to make a decision this evening."

"A Hummer?" said Alexis with a grin as she nudged Jen, who playfully nudged her back.

"If we decide to wait until we get there, I have an old friend who runs a Mercedes dealership in South Jersey," said Liz. "I think we could get a nice pre-owned sedan."

"I could live with a Mercedes," said Jirra.

"They are nice cars," added Cari.

The conversation then shifted to the merits of German cars.

Jirra just sat back and smiled. Judy was right; she now had a whole family at the spa. It wouldn't make leaving any easier, but it was nice to know that she had so many people who cared about her. She rested her head on Alexis's shoulder.

"You okay?" asked Alexis.

Jirra nodded and smiled contently. "I couldn't be better."

Chapter 142

Alexis and Jirra spent the night together and most of the following day, until it was time for her flight out. They were walking along one of the paths along the spa's grounds.

"I wish you could stay longer," bemoaned Jirra.

"Me too, but I've got to be in makeup at five tomorrow morning," said Alexis. "Don't worry; I'll come down to Philly often."

"I can't wait."

"When will you be moving there?"

"I need to be there by the end of August for orientation. We're thinking of going out the end of July."

"Okay, that should work out well for me. I can help you pick out your furniture at Ikea. I don't want you to make a mistake and get the wrong size bed; you should have a queen size," said Alexis with a wink.

"We did okay in a twin last night," replied Jirra.

"True, but we can do so much better than just okay," said Alexis. "Seriously, feel free to call me anytime. I'll get back to you as soon as I can."

Jirra nodded. "I will. I just want you to know that you've really helped me survive my transformation. I mean, I know I have a lot of people on my side who are supportive, but with you it's different. I can't really put it in words."

"I know what you mean, Roo; you don't have to try and explain it," replied Alexis. "I think you're doing wonderfully, and that you're making wonderful progress in accepting your new life. I don't know if you'll ever fully accept the fact that you're a woman, but I give you credit for trying, even when you don't always want to."

"It's silly isn't it, I mean my resistance to the obvious?" said Jirra.

"No, it's not silly, it's only human. If I woke up as male tomorrow, I doubt I would just accept it all and move on."

"I wish I could be like Jen, but part of me wants to hang on to the old me," said Jirra.

"Jen's special, I think she's accepted her circumstances because of the public nature of her change. I guess she decided that she couldn't fight everything and put her efforts into being accepted and successful. At least you have your privacy."

"I guess that's a fair tradeoff."

Alexis looked at her watch. "Looks like it's time." She then pulled Jirra close and they kissed.

"That was nice," said Jirra.

"Yes, it was," replied Alexis. She took Jirra's hand, and they walked back up to the spa.

Chapter 143

It was a week later, and Jirra was preparing for another vision quest. She had wanted to do it at the site, but there were too many people there now, so she settled for the yoga room at the spa. While not exactly a spiritual place, it did give her privacy.

She focused on seeing Killara and drifted off from the conscious world. She wasn't sure if she would reach him, but it was worth the try.

"I give you credit, Roo, I half expected you to try to see me several months ago."

The voice was familiar and Jirra smiled as she opened her eyes. She found herself outside, sitting in the canyon where the Anasazi site was located. She looked around for Killara and noticed that the building looked almost new.

"Where are you, Killara?" she called out.

"Turn around, Roo."

Jirra turned around and saw the kangaroo rat sitting on a boulder ten feet in front of her.

"I was hoping you'd bring me back here," she said.

"I didn't bring you here, you brought me here."

Jirra was about to ask what he meant, but let it pass. She wanted to stay focused. "Is my transformation connected to this place, Killara?"

"Everything is a connection, one way or another," he replied.

Jirra rolled her eyes. "Come on; please give me a straight answer for once."

Killara scratched his left ear with his hind foot. "Yes, this site and your change are connected. However, it wasn't planned."

Jirra nodded. Earlier he had told her that her change had really been accidental.

He noticed that she seemed to sag slightly. "Just because something isn't planned doesn't mean that it's without purpose."

Jirra tried to absorb what he had just said. "So this change does have a meaning, a purpose?"

"Yes, but I can't tell you what it is; you're not ready," he replied.

"You mean because I'm still struggling with the change?"

"That's part of it. You also have much to learn before you're ready to know your purpose. You've changed in ways you haven't begun to comprehend."

"Is my transformation related to what happened to my friend Jen?"

"Yes, but there are significant differences too. She is a good role model for you, and you can learn much from her."

"Wait a second, back to the previous answer, what other ways have I changed besides the obvious?"

"You're not ready for those answers right now. Don't worry, Roo, the changes are for the good, and you will do great things with them. You will also soon have some new friends in your life; they will help you grow and discover your new inner strength."

Jirra signed. "I'm more confused now than when I sought you out."

"Then I've done my job," he replied.

Jirra laughed. "I know this place was special, but what was it used for? It had to be more than just a place for fertility rites, right?"

"That is correct. It was used every spring for fertility ceremonies, but it had a greater purpose. Once every ten years, it helped them find a new shaman."

"How?" asked Jirra.

"You'll recognize it when the time is right," said Killara. "And before we part, I want you to know that you and Jen aren't alone."

Jirra's eyes opened up. "What? You can't leave me without telling me more than that."

"All in due time, little one. The important thing is that you found the site and it will be protected as will the spa, you did a good job, Roo," he said.

Jirra then opened her eyes and found herself back in the yoga room. "Damn it," she exclaimed. She fought off her frustration and opened up her notebook to record her observations while they were fresh in her mind.

She returned to her cottage and found that her mom was already up. She told her what happened.

"Sounds like he left you with more questions than answers," said Liz as she squeezed some orange juice.

"I think he does it just to annoy me," said Jirra. "However, it is exciting to know that Jen and I aren't alone. I just wonder how we'll meet the others."

"I suppose it'll happen in the way that you met Jen."

"I suppose so," said Jirra. "Thanks again for putting up with me."

Liz smiled. "I don't mind, Roo. It's part of being a parent."

"Still, what I've been through isn't exactly something you expected," said Jirra.

"That's true, but I love you all the same," replied Liz. "In some ways it's made the bond between us even greater."

Jirra smiled and then hugged Liz.

Chapter 144

Up in the canyon, the archeologists were hard at work. Dan was taking photos of the canyon walls near the bath area. He was using a special camera that could detect any marking on the walls. The photos would then be enhanced using a computer. It had been used in many other sites around the world to detect hidden or faded markings.

It wasn't until later in the afternoon that the photos were downloaded into the computer. The photos could be viewed separately or together.

Dan looked at the images and could see that there were what appeared to be pictographs on one wall. The images were very faded, and it took several hours to enhance them sufficiently to view them.

He stared at the images and tried to figure out what they meant. The problem with looking at images like these was that he wasn't sure if they were meant to be seen as real or figuratively; maybe they were part of some mythology.

"What do you see Barrett?" he asked.

Barrett looked at the screen.

"Don't try to over analyze them; just tell me what you see," continued Dan.

"Well, this figure on the right looks like a man, he's then immersed in this pool or tub, and it looks like he's struck by lightning."

Dan nodded. "What do you make of this figure?"

"It looks like a woman. However those lines around her make it look as if she's glowing, almost as if she has some powers, like they were trying to show her strength, said Barrett. "Is that what you see?"

"Yes. I suppose it could be a story of their gods. It doesn't make sense otherwise."

"I guess you're right; it's not like they had a way to change the gender of their people."

"Well, it's another riddle we'll have to try to solve," said Dan.

Barrett looked at the images and wondered if Jirra would be interested in seeing them the next time she came up here.

The End

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