It appears that the Golden Eagle may have abandoned his nest site in our backyard. Maybe it was just too close to the house, so he was uncomfortable.

We went up to the resort and took along the jewelry that Grandpa Tse had made. We were planning on going to Santa Fe and showing our find to Mr. Niyol Hatathli, who is a silversmith. We talked with my aunt and uncle about wanting to try and trade something of Grandpa Kilchii’s work for a piece of Grandpa Tse’s work that Mr. Hatathli had. But I didn’t have anything of Grandpa Kilchii’s work that was a duplicate to trade. Aunt Ruth came up with two rings that were almost duplicates, except one was older than the other. So the trip that Ajie and I took to Santa Fe to see Mr. Hatathli was fruitful. We traded one of Grandpa Kilchii’s rings for one of Grandpa Tse’s rings, and that went into the display case in the hotel.

Sunday, Charlie and Jackie had been up for dinner. And Ajie and Jackie had talked about the adoption and what would happen if it didn’t happen. To be honest, it’s the one thing that scares me. But after listening to Ajie and Jackie talk, it appears that Ajie is prepared no matter what happens. If we are given the twins, she would be happy, as would I. If we weren’t given the twins, it appears that Ajie would take it in stride. Could I? I don’t know.

After Charlie and Jackie had left, we got ready for bed. I was lying in bed, looking at the ceiling and counting lath strips, waiting for Ajie to come out of the bathroom. When she finally came out, she crawled into bed next to me, looked at me with a questioning look, and asked, “Something is bothering you. Care to tell?”

“No, it’s nothing.”, I replied.

“Lover, I watched your face when Jackie and I were talking. And I could tell that something was bothering you. Talk to me.”

“Well, when you and Jackie were talking about the things that could happen to the adoptions, it really bothered me. That’s one subject that worries me. It would break my heart if something happened to stop the adoptions.”

“Honey, it would break my heart too. But I know that there’s a possibility that it could happen. We could have the twins for a while, and the judge could put a stop to it when we have the adoption hearing.”

“Why would a judge do that?”

“Honey, I don’t know. But, when I call Mrs. Biakeddy to check on the girl and the twins, I’ll ask her about the judge. I don’t know if it would be a judge here in Bernalilo County or a tribal judge. But, I’m going to find that out too.”

“But, you were talking to Jackie just like it wouldn’t bother you.”

“Honey, you know I don’t wear my heart on my sleeve with everything.”, Ajie said. “And this is the one thing that I can’t. If I did, I’d be a nervous wreck. But I do have the same worries that you do.

“And like you, I’d love those two children no end. I’d love any child.”

“I know sweetheart.”, I said. “It just bothered me that you were so matter-of-fact when you were talking to Jackie.”

“Honey, it’s the mindset that I have to have right now. You just wait until they’re here.”

I kissed her, then said, “Your big heart is one of the many reasons that I love you.”

She smiled and said, “And that’s one reason that I married you. You also have a big heart.”

“I do?”

“Oh, yes. Think of some of the things we’d done. Think of the times that you’ve gone out of your way to talk to children. Think about the times that you’ve held our friend's babies. You’ve loved it.”

“I have loved it.”

She kissed me, and that turned into more. Much more.

Monday morning, it was back to the university and classes for both Ajie and me. And then on to the project for me.

After my classes and a stop at the student union to pick up something for lunch, it was back to the office and working on the project. As I started reverse engineering a schematic on this circuit, I was glad that I could read the color codes on a resistor like a second language. And it was easy to figure out what the four common integrated circuits did.

The more I worked on the schematic, the more I saw what this circuit might do. We shall see.

After I’d worked on the schematic for a couple of hours, I decided to take a break and see if I could find and information on the two integrated circuits that had Cyrillic part numbers. So, I sat down at the desk and started digging through the technical journals that Dr. Joe receives on integrated circuits. Two hours later and nothing. I decided to call it a day.

I locked everything up and walked out of the office door. As I was locking the door, I sensed someone walking towards me, I looked, and it was Dr. Joe. As he walked up, he said, “Good, I caught you before you left.”

“What’s up?”, I asked.

As he handed me a package, Dr. Joe said, “These came in today's mail.”

“What’s this?”

“Updates to the integrated circuit technical manuals.”

“Oh, great. Just what I wanted to do, take those home and go through ‘em,”

“It sounds like you’ve been doing that.”

“For the last two hours.”

“Why don’t you just put them in the office and forget about them until tomorrow.”

“I could easily do that.”

“Is Ajie home tonight?”

“Yes. Okay, that made up my mind for me.”

I unlocked the office, reset the alarm, tossed the package on the work table, set the alarm, and locked the door. Then Dr. Joe and I walked down the hall to his temporary office. He got his things, and we walked to the faculty parking lot.

As we walked, Dr. Joe asked, “Are you and Ajie just going up to the gathering on the day that it’s held?”

“No.”, I replied. “We’ll go up the Wednesday before, spend the night at my aunt and uncles, and go to the gathering from there.”

“Are Charlie and Jackie going with you?”

“Yes, and we’ll stay until Sunday.”

“Taking the long weekend?”, Dr. Joe asked.

“Of course.”, I replied. “And by then, I’ll need it after working on this project. And I think Chief Tom and Vickie are going to the gathering too.”

“That’ll be great. The eight of us together.”

“Yes, it will. It’s always fun when we’re together.”

We walked to Dr. Joe’s car. And as we were saying good night, I asked, “What do you know about Cyrillic?”

“You mean, Russian?”

“Russian!?”

“Uh huh.”

“Forget that I asked that question.”

“Why?”, Dr. Joe asked.

“Just forget I asked.”, I said.

“Asked what?”

“Good boy. I’ll see you tomorrow, Dr. Joe.”

“See you tomorrow, Kai.”

Later, when I was home and pulling into the garage, Ajie met me at the car, and almost before I could get out of the car, she wrapped her arms around my neck and gave me a deep kiss. When we finally broke the kiss, she said, “I love you so much.”

“I love you too.”, I said. “Why so happy?”

“I talked to the people from the Navajo Children and Family Services today.”

“Mrs. Biakeddy?”

“Yes.”

“As happy as you are, it must have been good. Let’s go inside, and you can tell me all about it.”

We went into the house and to the master suite so that I could change. As I started undressing, I said, “So, tell me.”

“Mrs. Biakeddy told me that everything is going good with the girl and the babies.”, Ajie said. “I was right upfront with her about our worries of something happening to the adoption.”

“And she said what?”

“That we shouldn’t worry. The girl and her parents, since she’s a minor, have signed the papers giving the babies up to the Navajo Children and Family Services. The only thing that could happen is the judge.”

“The judge?”

“After we’ve had the children for about four to six months, there’s a final adoption hearing before a judge. Then he approves or doesn’t approve the final adoption decree.”

“So we could have the twins for six months, and the judge could end it.”

“Yes, but Mrs. Biakeddy told me that the judge uses the reports on us from the Navajo Children and Family Services to base his decision on. And she said from what they’ve seen so far. There shouldn’t be a problem.”

“And I imagine that we’ll have several visitations from Mrs. Biakeddy over those six months?”, I asked.

“Yes.”, Ajie said. “She said they would stop in, unannounced, every so often just to see how things were going.”

“I guess that’s only fair. If things weren’t going well, they need to know.”

“That’s true. She also told me that everything is on track with the girl to deliver the first two weeks of December. And she will call us as soon as they’re born.”

“So, we should have them for Christmas?”

“Yes, I guess the babies will stay in the hospital for up to a week, and then they’ll bring them to us.”

“Will they be at the university’s hospital.”, I asked.

“No.”, Ajie replied. “It’ll be in the hospital in Taos or Santa Fe unless there are complications.”

“Complications?”

“Don’t worry. It’s the nurse in me. I always think of things like that. Would I be happier if she was here in Albuquerque? Yes. But, the hospitals up there are good. And her obstetrician is up there, and he knows her.”

“Okay. I’ll bow to your expertise.”

“I also gave her the names that we’ve chosen, and she was surprised about us having three sets. One set for two boys, one set for two girls, and one set for a boy and a girl.”

“Did you tell her why?”

“Yeah. She’s a Navajo and understands things like dreams and visions.”

“I figured that she would.”, I replied.

“She also told me that they’ve told the girl and her parents that they had found a couple that was ideal to adopt the twins.”, Ajie said.

“What all did they tell them about us?”

“I don’t know, but I’d expect that it wasn’t much.”

I finished changing, and then I helped Ajie with dinner. And as we sat at the table eating, Ajie said, “I also talked to Chief Clah today.”

“Why?”, I asked.

“I wanted to feel him out on the judge that might be making the final adoption decree.”

“What did he say?”

“Since we’re doing this through the Navajo Children and Family Services, we’ll be seeing a tribal judge, and he knows all of them, and he will be with us when we have the hearing.”

“That’ll be good.”

“It will. He also told me something else.”

“What was that?”

“He told me that the next meeting of the local Corvette club is this Saturday afternoon at one, and they would like us to come.”

“It would be nice, but I was thinking of going to the resort this weekend.”

“We’ll be up there for five days the following weekend.”

“I know, but Aunt Ruth and Uncle Paul will be leaving on Friday morning.”

“We’ll see them on Wednesday afternoon and Thursday.”

“True. Okay, let Chief Clah know that we’ll be there.”

“I already told him that we were coming.”

“You knew that I’d go.”, I said. “Didn’t you?”

With a sly smile, Ajie said, “Uh huh. And he said to bring the things from the car show.”

“What the trophy, ribbons, and stuff?”

“I guess.”

“Where is this meeting?”

“The same city park that the Albuquerque car club meeting was at.”

“At least we know where we’re going.”

After we’d cleaned up the dinner dishes, we retired to the back courtyard with a nice glass of Ajie's sangria. Since the Sun had set, it was a little chilly, so as I laid and lit a fire in the fire pit, Ajie went back into the house and brought out a blanket. Between the fire, the blanket, and cuddling together, we were warm.

We just sat there and enjoyed the sounds we were hearing. The sounds of Mother Earth. No city noises. And, since tomorrow was the new Moon, the stars were brilliant. It was like we could see millions of them. Also, it was the time of the Leonids meteor shower, we were seeing them, and Ajie was excited. As we sat there, she was having fun counting meteorites, and it looked like there were ten to twelve an hour. She was having so much fun looking for them that I had problems getting her into bed at bedtime. But I promised her something.

As she got up off the couch, she said, “Hurry up and lock up the house. And I’ll be awaiting you, my prince.”

“Yes, your Majesty. Your wish is my command.”

As we were waking up on Tuesday morning, Ajie rolled over, kissed me, and said, “Thanks for the wonderful foot massage last night, lover.”

“It was my pleasure, my Queen.”, I replied.

Later as we were eating breakfast, I asked, “Why didn’t you tell me that Cyrillic is Russian?”

“I thought you knew?”, Ajie replied. “Actually Cyrillic is more than Russian, it’s used in a lot of languages of Eastern Europe and Western Asia.”

“I know now.”

“Is it a problem?”

“Not really. But, I’m going to approach what I’m working on a little differently.”

“How so?”

“I can’t tell you.”

“I understand.”

Later, when I was in the office, I dug everything out of the file cabinet and placed it on the worktable. I looked at the printed circuit board, and it’s six integrated circuits. Four of the integrated circuits I knew what they did. The other two, I knew nothing about other than one, appeared to feed the output, and the other one was the main part of this circuit board.

I glanced at the package of technical information on integrated circuits that Dr. Joe had given me yesterday and thought that I’d start by trying to figure out what these two integrated circuits are.

I’d been going through all of the technical information for about two hours, when I said out loud, “Gotcha!”

I’d found the information on the integrated circuit that fed the output. Now I could continue working on reverse-engineering the schematic. And that’s what I did for the rest of the day. I know boring, but that’s the life of a researcher.

And Ajie was working in the ER from ten till six, so I’d be home before her. And because I was, I had a nice dinner ready when she was home and out of the shower. And yes, we went and watched some more of the Leonids meteor shower.

On Wednesday, I was back at it, looking for the technical information on the last integrated circuit. I spent the day looking through the older technical publications that Dr. Joe had. And nothing. I left the last loose-leaf book that I was looking through lying open on the work table, so I’d know where to start tomorrow.

When I was home, so was Ajie. She’d come home right after she’d taught her classes and had a lovely salmon dinner ready when I got home.

As we sat in the big room, Ajie said, “You seem a little down.”

“It’s this project.”, I said. “I can’t find anything on one of the parts, and I’m getting a little frustrated.”

“Don’t let it get to you.”

“I won’t.”

Thursday, after I’d taught my classes, I went to the office. I reluctantly unlocked and opened the door. As to turned off the alarm, I looked at the work table and saw the loose-leaf binder laying there. I turned on the lights, walked over to the work table, and set the drink that I’d gotten at the student union down. My purse I hung over the back of the chair, and my briefcase went on the floor.

I sat in the chair, looked at the loose-leaf binder, and turned to the next integrated circuit in the binder. I looked at the picture of the integrated circuit, and it looked like the one I was searching for. The information on it in the picture was in Cyrillic or Russian. But the number listed in the write up was different than the one I had off of the one on the circuit board. I read the initial information on the circuit, and it sounds like what I was looking for.

I went and retrieved the circuit board from the file cabinet and compared the one on the board that I been researching to the one in the picture. And they were the same down to the last period. I then compared the information on the photo to the one I had. It was identical. But the part number in the write-up, which I figured had been interpreted from the information on the picture of the integrated circuit, was different than what I’d interpreted from the actual thing. Did I goof?

I took the English-Cyrillic dictionary out of my briefcase and carefully redid my translation of the part number on the integrated circuit that’s on the circuit board. And apparently, I was right.

Then I redid the translation of the part number from the picture and came up with the same as the one I had for the one on the circuit board. Then I did a translation of the part number printed in English in the write up into Cyrillic. And it was different. Different by two characters. Hmm.

I removed the technical information from the binder, walked over, and sat in the chair behind the desk. I leaned back, put my feet up on the desk, and started reading. As I read, I hoped that they’d done a good job translating the original technical information into English. I need to write to the people who publish these technical papers that they need to correct their error.

I sat there and read until the ringing of the phone brought me back to reality. I picked up the phone and said, “Hello, Dr. Oshie and Miss Nez’s office.”

And I heard, “Honey, when are you coming home?” It was Ajie.

“What time is it?”, I asked.

“Just a little before six.”, she replied.

“Oh! Geez. I’m sorry. I got to reading and lost track of time.”

“You must have found something.”

“I did. Why don’t I pick you up and we’ll go to Nunzio's for dinner.”

“Sounds good. I’ll see you in half an hour. Ayóó' áníínísh'ní. - (I love you.) Hágoónee'. - (See you later.)”

“Ayóó' áníínísh'ní aldo’. - (I love you too.) Hágoónee'. - (See you later.)”

It was about seven when Ajie and I made it to Nunzio's, and even for a Thursday night, there was a short line out the door. It took us about half an hour to get inside and be seated at a table.

We enjoyed a pizza and a bottle of wine. And since I was driving, I went easy on the wine—only one glass.

On the way home, Ajie wondered if we could have our friends over for dinner on Sunday. I had no problem with it. I thought that it would be fun getting together with them.

Once I was in the office on Friday, things with the project moved right along. I finished reading the technical information and then went back to work on drawing the reverse-engineered schematic. And things were fitting together. But what is this thing?

I was out of the office at five. After all, it is Friday. And as I walked down the hall, Dr. Joe came out of his office, and I said, “Yá’át’ééh, Dr. Joe. - (It is good, Dr. Joe.)”

“You sound happy, Kai.”, Dr. Joe replied.

“I am. I had a breakthrough on the project.”

“That’s good to hear.”

“And it also feels good.”

“I hear that we’re coming to your place for dinner on Sunday.”

“You sure are. And so are Chief Tom, Vickie, Charlie, and Jackie.”

“That’s a good group.”

We walked to the faculty parking lot together, and both headed home.

When I was home, Ajie picked up om me being in a good mood, and I told her that I’d had a breakthrough on the project. Then after dinner, Ajie and I gave the Corvette a good going over. It didn’t need gas. So, it was ready to go to the meeting tomorrow. We’d just have to dust off the car and wipe off the tires after we get there.

Late Saturday morning after doing some household chores, I pulled the ‘57 Chevy out of the garage, then I pulled the Corvette out of the garage and put the ‘57 Chevy back in. I wanted to look at the Corvette in the Sunlight. Ajie came out and joined me and asked, “Well, is the car ready for the meeting?”

“It looks like it to me.”, I replied. 

“Are we taking the trophy and ribbons.”

“I don’t think so. Maybe we’ll just take the sign that they made for us and maybe attach the rating certificate to it.”

“That trophy and ribbons don’t mean much to you. Do they?”

“Not really. It means more to me that we have a couple of nice classic cars, and it’s fun to take them out for a ride.”

“Me too.”

Right after lunch, I fastened the rating certificate to the sign describing the car, and there was just enough room behind the seat to stash it. Ajie and I were both dressed in long skirts, fancy blouses, wrap moccasin, and a little bit of jewelry. We both had our hair done in a single braid, and we both wore the braided leather headbands with the feather hanging from it.

Since the weather was a little chilly, we had the top up on the car as we drove to the park. And the cool weather was also the reason for the wrap moccasins.

As we pulled into the parking lot for the park, there were a couple of guys standing there checking in cars. There were three cars, of course, they were all Corvettes, in front of us. When we got to the two guys, I rolled the driver's side window down, and one of the guys said, “This is the ‘53. Right?”

“Yes, sir.”, I replied. “It’s a ‘53.”

“Okay. You have reserved spot right in front of the pavilion. When you get there, just move the reserved sign and park there.”

“Thank you.”

As we pulled away from the two guys, we heard one of the guys say, “Sweet car.”

Just like the last time we were here for the Albuquerque car club meeting. They had every other parking spot blocked off so that there was plenty of room on either side of your car. We drove up in front of the pavilion and found the reserved parking spot. Ajie jumped out of the car and removed the reserved sign. Then I backed the Vet into the spot. When I got out of the car, Ajie helped me put the top down. I then got the sign out from behind the seat and set it in front of the car.

Then I looked towards the pavilion to see if I could spot anyone that I knew, like Chief Clah. Then I saw a small group of five men, including Chief Clah, walk towards us. When they got to us, Chief Clah introduced us. The men were the officers of the Corvette club, and I can’t remember their names. But I do remember seeing a couple of them before. And I wasn’t feeling anything bad from them.

We talked, and they looked over the car. Yes, I had to open the hood. And I had to answer many questions.

Then Chief Clah asked, “Kai, did you bring the trophy and ribbons?”

“No.”, I replied.

“Why?”

“We just didn’t.”

Ajie whispered to me, “They’re in the trunk.”

I just looked at her, and she gave me that cute smile of hers, and added, “I snuck them in there just in case.”

I looked at Chief Clah and said, “Well, Chief, I’ve just been informed that they’re in the trunk.”

I looked back at Ajie and said, “Well, go get ‘em.”

Ajie walked to the back of the car, opened the trunk, and took out the trophy, a soft cloth, and the ribbons. Then she brought them to the front of the car and set them up. She placed the soft cloth on the hood and the trophy on the soft cloth. Then she attached the four ribbons to the sign that was leaning against the front of the car.

Chief Clah smiled and said, “That’s better.”

I just shook my head.

Then the Chief asked, “Aren’t you proud of them, Kai?”

“The ribbons, yes.”, I replied.

“We don’t like the mayor, so the mayor’s trophy doesn’t mean much to us.”, Ajie added.

I caught one of the other men that were there smile when Ajie said what she did. I looked at him, and he said, “So, you don’t like the mayor?”

“Not really.”, I replied.

“Atsa didn’t tell you what I do when he introduced us, did he?”

“No, sir. He didn’t.”

“I’m a city councilman and the president of the city council. And will be running against Mayor Rodrìguez next fall.”

“Oh. What was your name again?”

“Robert Clinesmith.”

“Well, Mr. Robert Clinesmith, it is a real pleasure to meet you!” I’ll remember this name.

“Thank you, Miss Nez.”

We then started walking towards the pavilion. Mr. Clinesmith walked with Ajie and me. And he asked, “So you don’t like the mayor. Can I ask why?”

“I guess it wouldn’t hurt to tell you.”, I replied. “It’s his attitude towards women and, in particular, his attitude towards women in technical positions, like doctors, scientists, and such.”

Ajie, Mr. Clinesmith, and I stopped walking, and Mr. Clinesmith said, “That’s interesting. Where did you hear this about him?”

“It was directly from him. We were at a New Years Day party, and we met him there. He found out that my cousin and I started a scholarship for the Navajo children and that the first one was given to a girl that wants to be a doctor. And he spouted off on how women can’t do technical jobs. Then I hit him with my thoughts on the subject, and he wasn't happy with me.”

“That scholarship. It has something to do with a Navajo Chief. Doesn’t it.”

“Yes, a friend that passed too soon.”

“And you put this scholarship together?”

“My cousin Ajie and I did. And we chose the first recipient of it. Dibe Bylilly.”

“I know the name Bylilly from somewhere?”, Mr. Clinesmith said.

“Her father is the editor of the Navajo Times.”, I replied.

“Wait a minute. Atsa Clah told me about two girls that came out here from back east and did something like this. Is that you?”

“Yes, sir. My cousin Ajie and I.”

“I’ve heard nothing but good things about the two of you.”

“Thank you, sir.”, I said.

“No, thank you for doing what you’ve done for your people.”, Mr. Clinesmith said.

“The only thing I hope is that you don’t hold the same thoughts about women that he does and that you beat him this fall.”

“Believe me. I know that women are smart. I’m married to one that has a Ph.D.”

“After talking with you, I feel good things. I just hope that you beat Rodrìguez next fall.”

“Wouldn’t want to help me, would you?”

“Sorry. But we try to stay out of politics. Besides, we live just outside the Albuquerque city limits. So I couldn't even vote for you.”

“We could annex where you live into Albuquerque.”, Mr. Clinesmith said with a grin.

“Then I’d have to hate you. We moved out there to be away from the city lights and noise.”

“Just joking, Miss Nez.”

“I know.”, I said with a smile.

“So, you don’t back any party?”

“No, sir. My cousin and I feel that it’s more important in what the person believes in than what the party believes in.”, I replied.

“Interesting thoughts, Miss Nez.”

“It’s just Kai.”

We finished the walk to the pavilion where they had hot drinks and some excellent snacks. Mr. Clinesmith excused himself and went to talk to others. Chief Clah walked up to Ajie and me, and said, “It looks like you and Mr. Clinesmith had a nice talk.”

“Yes.”, I said. “I think we just met the next mayor of Albuquerque. And he wants us to work on his campaign for mayor.”

“Wouldn’t do it, would you?”

“Nope. Don’t like politics. If we lived in Albuquerque, I’d back Mr. Clinesmith. So I guess that we’ll just have to back State Senator Tso as the next U.S. Senator from New Mexico..”

“Why him?”

“I know that you, as we did, met him when we bought the house. And we’ve talked with him and his wife. And we like them. Even if he’s in the same party as the mayor.”

“I like him too.”, Ajie added.

“I also like him.”, Chief Clah said. “But I’ll tell you something. I would like to see Bob Clinesmith as mayor.”

“I could go along with that.”, I said.

After we finished with our hot chocolate, Ajie and I started walking around, looking at the other Corvettes that were there. And there were some really nice ones. We finally wandered over to where our Corvette was, and there was a group of four men standing there looking at it.

As we walked up, one of the men asked, “Do you know who owns this car?”

“Maybe.”, I replied.

“I’d like to talk to them.”

“And you are?”

“I’m Mr. Miller, and I own Downtown Chevrolet.”

“I thought Mr. Rodrigues owned that dealership.”

“He did.”

“What happened to him?”, I asked.

“He decided to retire.”, Mr. Miller said.

“That’s why he wasn’t at the car show.”

“Probably. I was, and I saw this Corvette there, and I’m happy to see it here. Are you the owner?”

“Yes.”

“And you are?”

“I’m Kai Nez, and this is my cousin Ajie Nez.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet the two of you.”

“Thank you. It’s a pleasure also to meet you.”

“You wouldn’t want to sell this car. Would you?”, Mr. Miller asked.

“No, sir.”

“Not even if I offered you seventeen-thousand dollars?”, Mr. Miller asked.

“No, sir.”

“Eighteen?”

“No, sir. It’s not for sale.”

“You know, Miss Nez. I don’t blame you. This is a wonderful car.”

“It is that, sir. I love my Chevys.”

“I figure that you don’t drive this every day, so you have other Chevys?”

“Yes, sir. We’re a Chevy family. We have two newer ones, plus another classic.”

“Another classic?”, Mr. Miller asked.

“Yes, sir.”, I replied. “Do you still have the ‘57 Bel Air in the showroom.”

“Yes. Don’t tell me that you have one of those?”

“The twin to it, except that ours is stock.”

“It’s interesting meeting a girl that loves cars as you do.”

“I’ve been told that.”

“Well, Miss Nez, if you ever decide to sell either this car or the ‘57 Bel Air, please keep me in mind.”

“I will.”

“It’s been a pleasure meeting Miss Nez and seeing this wonderful car of yours.”

“It’s been a pleasure meeting you too, Mr. Miller.”

With that, the four men walked away. And Ajie said, “At least he wasn’t pushy in trying to buy the Vet.”

“I’m glad.”, I replied. “And I didn’t feel anything bad from him. I think he was just testing us to see if we’d sell it. Plus, he wasn’t offering what it’s worth.”

“Do you know what it’s worth?”

“Somewhere around twenty-thousand.”

As Ajie and I were packing up the car, Chief Clah walked over and said, “I see you also met Mr. Miller.”

“Yes, we did.”, I replied.

“Did he try to buy the Vet?”

“Yes, but he wasn’t pushy.”

“That’s good.”

“So, when’s the club meeting?”

“Oh, this was just a get together before winter arrives.”

“Let me know when they have a regular meeting, and we might come.”, I said.

“I’ll do that, Kai.”, Chief Clah replied.

When Ajie and I were back at the house and had the cars put away, we walked out into the backyard, and I brought the binoculars with me. We stood there for a few minutes looking at the tree where the Eagle had been building a nest. I used the binoculars to take a closer look, and I said, “Well, I’m afraid that the Eagle is gone.”

“I wonder what chased him away?”, Ajie asked.

“Who knows. Maybe he decided that it was too close to people. Or maybe that it was too much in the open.”

“I’ll miss him.”

“Me too.”

We then put together dinner, and after we’d cleaned up, I build a fire in the fireplace in the big room, and then we just cuddled together and watched the fire.