After a thunderstorm had rolled through and we’d been visited by a bear, Amy and I had taken a hike. The hike that had proven fruitful, we think we found the trailhead of the trail that might, just might, take us to the sacred place that Naainish had told us about.

This morning, Tuesday, we were up earlier than yesterday morning. I only opened the shutters in the kitchen area. And we used the kitchen stove instead of the fireplace to warm up the cabin. We were going hiking again, and we were leaving soon after breakfast.

As Amy put together breakfast, I put some things in the small backpack that my uncle had given us. I put in the box with the remaining ammunition for the rifles, a few candy bars and other snacks, extra socks for both of us, an extra canteen full of water, and extra film for Amy’s camera.

As we were eating, Amy asked, “Would you mind if I cut up one of your t-shirts?”

A little puzzled, I asked, “Why?”

“Since we don’t know where we’re hiking. I thought we could take some strips of cloth to mark our trail so that we can find our way back.”

“Oh. Good idea. Cutaway.”

She retrieved one of my t-shirts from our room and made some strips out of it.

I asked her, “Do you think you have enough?”

“I don’t know.”, she said. “Do I?”

“It might not hurt to have a few more.”

I lost another t-shirt to her tearing it up.

At about eight-thirty, we started our hike. We decided to wear long pants since we didn’t know what we’d run in to. Of course, it was the wool socks and hiking boots, shirts, and hiking staffs. We both did our hair in ponytails. I carried the backpack, map, and compass. Each of us carried a rifle.

We headed up the trail from the cabin to the main trail and then headed east. We talked to make noise. And just over a mile later we came to the intersecting trail that we were interested in. We walked over to the tree that Amy had found, and she took a picture of the arrow cut into the tree.

We then started down the trail watching for any intersecting trails or markers along the tail. Because of the thick tree cover, we couldn’t see any landmarks from this trail, so I couldn’t see where we were on the map.

I figured that we’d gone a little over a mile before we saw our first intersecting trail. This trail cut across our trail and looked more like an animal trail than a hiking trail. We carefully looked around for a marker of some kind. We finally decided that this wasn’t the trail we wanted. And we headed further north on the original trail.

About another half a mile down the original trail we came to another trail that intersected only from the right or east. Again we hunted around for a marker of some kind. We were about to give up looking and were standing at the intersection of the trails. I was looking in the direction that the intersecting trail was going, and I spotted something. I pointed, and said, “I’ve never seen a tree like that before.”

Amy looked, and said, “Me either.”

We walked over to it, and Amy said, “It looks like it has been on fire.”

“Yeah.”, I said. “It looks like lightning might have hit it.”

“It’s bent like it’s pointing at something?”

“I think it might be pointing the way. Like the limb on that first tree pointed down to the arrow. It’s back from the trail intersection, so it wasn't easy to see.”

“The trail seems to go the way the tree is pointing.”

“It does. Let's try it.”

Amy started marking our trail. About half a mile past the first tree we found a second marker tree. It was bigger and easier to see. So, I took a compass bearing, and we went in the direction that the tree pointed. The farther we walked, the less trail we had, and the thicker the forest became. And finally, the trail disappeared.

We kept walking on the compass bearing for about another mile, and I was getting worried, I hadn’t seen any trail marker in a long time. Then Amy pointed to one just off to our left. I had been concentrating on what was in front of us instead of what was around us. Without a trail to follow you had to have a compass.

As we walked over to that tree, I asked Amy, “You’ve been marking the trail. Haven’t you?”

“You’d better believe it, lover.”, she replied.

At the tree, I looked in the direction that it was pointing, and I saw another bent tree about two-hundred yards off. This tree was easy to see even in the thick forest. We walked to that tree and then sighted at what it was pointing at, and it was rocks. Big rocks. The thick forest had hidden the rocks until now.

Maybe this is the rock outcropping that we saw from the fire lookout tower?

Amy saw the rocks too, and asked, “Is that the rock outcropping?”

“Maybe.”, I said.

We hiked towards the rocks, and when we got there, we found an arrow carved into the rock that pointed to the right. There was a hole in the rock above the arrow. We walked in the direction that the arrow pointed, looking for other markings.

We walked around the base of the rock formation until we found another arrow carved in the stone that pointed up. I looked around and found a somewhat steep path up through the rocks. Amy and I carefully hiked up that trail. I didn’t want either of us getting hurt out here. Help was a long way away.

We followed the trail and the farther we went up, the easier it became. We reached a ledge, and the trail went to the right, and we followed it. We finally came to a spot where I started feeling something. I stopped, and said, “Honey, stay here.”

“Why?”, she asked.

“Just stay here.”

“Okay.”

I walked a short distance and saw a rock in an alcove. A rock with some symbols carved on it. There was a flat area in front of the rock. Not knowing why, I sat and started chanting. Chanting something that I’ve never heard before.

At the end of the chant, I said, “Ajie, join me.”

I sensed her walk up next to me, I raised my hand up to her, and said, “Sit with me.”

Without a word, Ajie took my hand and sat next to me. As we sat I held her hand in mine.

I had a vision, a vision of a native girl in a white dress sitting by a lake with a wolf lying next to her.

I don’t know how long we sat there in silence, but it was for more than a few minutes. Then I got up, I helped Ajie stand, and we hiked the trail down off the rocks in silence.

When we reached the ground, Ajie asked, “Who was doing the chanting?”

“I was.”, I replied.

“What were you chanting?”

“I don’t know.”

“Do you remember the chant?”

“I think.”

“Are you all right. ”

“Yes. Are you?”

“I think, but I felt something. And I don’t know what it was.”

“I felt powerful medicine there.”

“Why did you call me to sit with you?’

“I felt that I needed to.”

We started hiking back the way we’d come. As we reached the arrow on the rock with the hole above it, I took a rock out of the hole, and said, “Ajie, take a rock out of the hole. But only take one.”

As Ajie took one, she said, “This small rock is heavy for its size.”

I said, “So is mine.”

As we stood there, we ate a candy bar. Then I looked at my watch, and said, “We were up there for more than an hour.”

“That long?”, Amy said.

“Yeah.”

“It sure didn’t seem like it.”

“I know. I had a vision as we sat together.”

“Oh. What kind of vision?”

“It was a native girl in a white dress sitting by a lake with a wolf lying next to her.”

“I wonder if that has any meaning.”

I do know that after I saw her that I felt better about some things.

“Like what?”

“Us.”

“Us? You had problems with us?”

“No. I’ve never had problems with us. But now I feel even better about us, our relationship, and where things are going with us.”

“What else?”

“The Nádleeh thing. I feel a lot better about being someone that has a female-spirit and a male-spirit. It’s like it’s normal for me. Like it’s as it should be.”

“You know Tommy. I feel better about us too. And like you, I’ve never had a problem with our relationship.

“And your two spirit thing is something that means a lot to me. More than it did before. You are special. Special to me. Special to our parents. And special to your, our, people.

“I had a vision too. It was a native girl, and she was dressed in a white Biil dress, with a lot of silver jewelry. And she was dancing.

“Do you think we were brought here, to this sacred place, to learn these things.”

“I think it’s entirely possible. And you know. I wonder if Naainish even knows why we were shown this place?”

As we followed Amy’s markers back to the first trail that we’d taken off the main trail, she was singing again. Was she an angel? She sure sounded like one. And of course, as we walked we picked up all of the markers.

The walk back to the main trail was faster than our walk in, and when we got to the main trail, we started heading west towards the cabin. As we were hiking, we ran into two backpackers going the other way. As we met, the first thing I noticed was that one of them was carrying a sidearm. We exchanged hellos, and then one of them, pointing towards the rock outcropping, asked, “Do you know if there’s a trail that will take us to the rock outcropping that’s over that way?”

“We just tried using the first cross trail that you’ll come to, but it didn’t.”, I said. “It leads towards it then turns to the west. There is another trail about a half a mile beyond that one that we haven’t tried yet.”

“We’re hoping to camp at the rocks tonight.”

“There is at least one bear in the area. We saw him yesterday.”

As the one guy slapped this holster, he said, “We’re ready for ‘em.”

As we walked away, I said, “Good luck finding the outcrop.”

Once we were out of earshot of the two guys, Amy asked, “How did you feel about those guys?”

“Okay.”, I replied. “They’re all right.”

“Why didn’t you tell them about the real trail?”

“I felt that I shouldn’t. It leads close to the sacred place.”

“That’s what I thought.”

Amy started singing again. So it was a pleasant hike back to the cabin.

When we were back at the cabin, it was almost dinner time. And since we’d only had two candy bars each since breakfast, we made an early dinner.

At dinner, Amy asked, “Why did we take those two stones from that hole?”

“I’m not sure. But it’s something I felt we needed to do.”

“A few things happened today that at the time didn’t make sense.”

“Like my chanting?”

“That was one. Me feeling things while we sat there. And then the stones.”

“I know. Naainish may know more about all of this.”

“I was thinking that.”

We had cleaned up the dinner dishes and were just sitting down on the western side of the porch to watch the Sunset when we head someone from behind the cabin yell, “Hello. Hello. Is anyone here? I need help!”

I looked at Amy, and said, “Who the heck could that be.”

We got up, walked behind the cabin and saw what I thought was one of the backpackers running down the path towards the cabin. As he got closer, he yelled, “Do you have a phone?”

“No.”, I yelled. “What’s wrong?”

He was out of breath and between pants, he said, “We … we … found the rock outcropping. … And went climbing. … Andy fell … he fell and broke his arm and leg. I’ve got to get him some help.”

“Okay. Relax. We’ll get him some help. But we’ll have to go to the fire lookout tower.”

“I’ll go back with him and see if I can help.”, Amy said.

“No!”, I said. “I can’t have the two of you getting lost in the woods in the middle of the night. Let's do this right.”

“Amy. You stay here. And … what’s your name?”

“John.”, the guy replied. “John Bradley.”

“John. I’m Tom, and this is Amy. You and I are going to run up to the fire lookout tower and have Paul call for help.”

“I could go help him.”, Amy said.

“Honey, I know. But if you got lost in the woods at night then we’d have to find you too. We need John to lead whoever back to his friend.”

“Yeah. You’re right. I’ll stay here.”

“Good girl.”

I gave her a quick kiss, and John and I left Amy at the cabin and ran to the fire lookout tower. When we got there, John looked up the tower, and said, “Up there?”

“Yep.”, I said. “It’s a climb.”

As we almost ran up the steps, I started yelling for Paul. As we reached the floor with the gate, Paul was opening the trap door, and came down, asking, “What’s wrong. What happened?”

A little out of breath, I said, “John here and his friend Andy were at the rock outcropping and climbing. Andy fell and broke his arm and leg.”

“Okay. Stay here and let me get some help on the way.”

“Have them come to the cabin. They can access the trail from there.”

“Okay.”

Paul ran back up the stairs, and we heard him talk on the radio. He was quickly back down and unlocked the gate. We went back up with him, and he had John point out where he thought they were. Paul set his fire spotting tool and had John look through it, then Paul asked, “Is that were you were?”

“Yes.”, John said. “I think so.”

Paul wrote down the readings off the spotting tool, went to the radio, and reported the readings.

Then Paul said, “There’s a Forest Service camp about an hour away from here by road. And there will be a backcountry rescue crew here shortly. Go back to the cabin and wait for them.”

“Will do, Paul.”, I said.

“Hey Tom, any luck today?”, Paul asked.

“We’ll stop by on our way out tomorrow and fill you in.”

“Good.”

John and I talked as we walked back to the cabin. John said, “It was sure lucky that I found you guys. I wasn’t too sure what I was going to do. I knew I could get to a road from this cabin. But when I saw lights I hoped that I’d found help.”

“Those fire lookout towers are always manned, at least during the summer fire season.”

“I’ll remember that.”

“You and Andy do much backpacking?”

“Yeah. We spend a couple of weeks a year backpacking in the parks. But this is the first time in a National Forest. And I’ve never seen a fire lookout tower before.”

“Sounds like fun.”

“It is. Until something like this happens.”

When we got back to the cabin, Amy was waiting. Thank the Great Spirit. And I told her that there was a backcountry rescue team on the way and they were coming to the cabin.

We sat on the porch, talked, and waited. John was nervous, and every once in a while would get up, pace in front of the cabin, and say, “I wish they’d hurry up.”

About a half-an-hour, after we’d gotten back, we heard a siren and saw flashing lights coming up the drive. And shortly a sheriff's car pulled into the cabin.

The deputy got out of the car and walked towards us. He looked familiar. He came up on the porch and introduced himself, then told us the rescue team should be here in about a half an hour. He then started taking information from John. But he kept looking at Amy.

When he finished with John, he looked at Amy, and said, “Don’t I know you?”

I saw a little smile on Amy’s face, as she said, “Could be.”

“I never forget a face, but I’m having problems remembering where.”

“Could it have been at the mineral springs resort?”

“Yes! There was an altercation of some kind, and you were with the Nádleeh.”

Then Amy said in Navajo, “Yes. And he’s sitting next to me.”

The deputy looked at me and at first, didn’t say anything. Then he said, “I know you two don’t own this cabin. So what are you doing here?”

I explained that my uncle, Mr. Biakeddy, takes care of it for the owner and that he can let certain people use it, and that we were there for three nights and going back to the resort tomorrow.

He said that he knew my uncle. Then I asked, “Aren’t you out of your jurisdiction?”

“Yes.”, the deputy replied. “But in situations like this the closest officer responds, and that was me.”

Shortly we heard more sirens, and a short time later two Forest Service trucks pulled up to the cabin. John, the deputy, and I walked down to meet them.

I listened as John explained what had happened and where they were. I asked John if they had taken the trail that we had told them about, and he said that they had. I told the guys from the backcountry rescue team that the trail crossed the main one about a mile and a half down the trail from here. Then John told them that he’d left something there so he could find it.

The rescue guys loaded up their equipment in a wire stretcher, and I led them to the trail at the back of the cabin and walked with them to the main trail. I stood there, with the deputy and one of the rescue crew guys that was going to stay here with a radio. We watched until the rescue crew was out of sight, then we went back to the cabin.

The deputy, the rescue crew guy, Amy, and I sat at the kitchen table. I told them that the only thing that I could offer them was water. And everyone was fine with that.

We kept getting information from the rescue crew on the radio. They had finally gotten to Andy, and he was doing okay. And that as soon as they got him packaged up, they would be on their way back. Amy went into the living room and curled up on a couch and went to sleep. The rescue crew guy, the deputy, and I sat and talked. We then heard that they were on their way back.

As we talked, we found out that all three of us were Navajo, and when the deputy mentioned that I was a Nádleeh. The rescue crew guy looked at me, and asked, “Where you the one that was in the paper last year?”

“Yes.”

He smiled and said, “I’m a native singer, and I was there when they made you a member of the Nation. But you were a girl.”

“Yes. I feel better being a native girl out here. It just seems natural. At home, I’m a man and sometimes a woman. The reason I’m Tom now is that I feel more comfortable driving as a man and especially hiking in the woods.”

“Your name was … was … something Nez.”

“It is Kai Nez.”

The three of us continued chatting until the radio squawked, and the rescue team told us that they were on the main trail. I woke Amy up and told her that they were almost back here with Andy. And the four of us walked up to the main trail and waited. I took along one of the lanterns.

Not long afterward we saw the lights from the crew walking up the trail. When they got to us, I led them down the trail to the back of the cabin. The guy from the rescue crew told the crew leader that Amy was an Emergency Room nurse. I heard Amy correct him by saying, “Student nurse.”

They had Amy check out Andy, and she said, “He’s a little shocky and probably should have an IV started. How long will it be until he is somewhere where he can be taken care of?”

The crew leader said, “Once the helicopter gets here it won’t be long.”

“How long until it gets here?”

“Maybe a half an hour and they’ll take him to Albuquerque.”

"He should have an IV started."

"We have them with us. But no one on this crew knows how to use them, and we have to have an okay from a doctor.”

“Get the okay, and I’ll start it.”

The crew leader got on the radio and had the person on the other end call the doctor. Then the crew leader had Amy talk to the person on the other end who passed on the information about Andy and herself on to the doctor. Then the guy on the radio told Amy that the doctor wanted to know how many IVs she had started.

I saw Amy scowl as she told them that she had started a hundred or more.

The doctor told her to go ahead with the IV.

I asked Amy, “Have you really started more than a hundred IVs.”

“I don’t know.”, Amy replied. “Maybe less. Maybe more. I never counted them. It was a stupid question for that doctor to ask.”

The crew leader got Amy the IV stuff that they had. Amy looked it over and took what she needed. She hooked up the tubing to the IV bottle, and handed the bottle to me while saying, “Hold this.”

I held the IV bottle and watched while Amy quickly found a vein, inserted the needle into Andy’s arm, taped it in place, and started the IV dripping. As she finished, she looked at Andy, and said, “Andy, this will help you feel better.”

Right after Amy finished starting the IV, we heard a helicopter. The rescue crew guys spread out behind the cabin and using their flashlights marked a landing zone.

The helicopter flew in, it was a Bell ‘Huey’, and it used its spotlight to light up the area behind the cabin. The rescue crew guys pulled their goggles down over their eyes, and the crew leader told Amy, the sheriff's deputy, and me to turn out backs until the helicopter landed and the engine stopped.

It got really noisy, then the wind picked up, and the dust flew. We heard the helicopter land, and the engine starts to slow down. Finally, the crew leader told us that it was okay.

We watched as they loaded Andy into the helicopter. Then John walked up to us, thanked us, and then walked over and climbed into the helicopter. As the helicopter engine started, Amy and I turned our backs. It got louder, and the helicopter lifted off. Once the dust settled, the crew leader told us that if Andy had been any worse that they would have had the helicopter pick him up from the accident site with a winch, but they preferred doing it as we did it. Especially at night.

The crew leader thanked us. Then they all piled into the two trucks and left. The sheriff’s deputy also thanked us and left. I didn’t have my watch on, but I knew that it was o dark thirty.

I took Amy’s hand, led her back to the cabin, then I took her by the shoulders, looked into those gorgeous blue eyes of hers, and said, “Amylin, I don’t know if I’ve told you this today. But I love you so much.”

“Tommy.”, Amy said. “I love you too. I love you more and more every day.”

We kissed again, then I handed her a rifle and flashlight, and said, “Come on Amy Oakley. Take your gun and protect me from the bears.”

She smiled, and said, “Sure thing, Buffalo Tom.”

We finished closing up the cabin for the night and went to bed.