Today, Wednesday, we were heading back to the resort.

Even though we were up late last night, we were up with the sun this morning. Well, at least I was. Amy was still sound asleep but cuddled up tight to me keeping warm. I carefully tried to work my way out of bed, trying not to wake her. I wasn’t successful.

As I sat on the edge of the bed, I heard Amy say, “Morin’ lover.”

I turned, looked at her, smiled, and said, “Morning love.”

“Do we really have to go back to the resort today?”

“Yeah. If we don’t Uncle Paul is going to come looking for us.”

“Let ‘em. I want to stay.”

“I wouldn’t mind staying here either.”

“But, … “

“But we need to go back home. School starts soon.”

“I know.”

“And, we’ll be seniors.”

“Yeah. And I’ll have another exam to take if I graduate.”

“There’s no if to that. What test is that?”

“It’s so I can be a licensed registered nurse.”

“Is it hard?”

“It can be. And it’s going to take some time prepping for it. And you can help me.

“And then I’ve got a couple of years work on my masters, and I’ll be working at the same time.”

“Maybe I’ll do my masters too.”

We both got up, dressed, and went downstairs. I started a fire to take the chill off, went outside, opened a few shutters, got the breakfast out of the cooler, Amy made us breakfast, and we ate. Then we started cleaning up the cabin. And we were in no hurry. I don’t think either of us wanted to leave. We weren’t messy, so it didn’t take long, except for carrying the ashes, some still hot, out using a shovel and ash bucket. I restocked the firewood from the pile of wood outside.

I also looked around to be sure that the helicopter, last night, didn’t do any damage. And it appeared that it hadn’t.

We rechecked the cabin from top to bottom, closed and locked the shutters. Then we pulled the coolers out of the outside storage and put them in the car. We then double checked the shutters, and then locked the back door. After locking the front door, the last thing we did was to put the trash from the bear-proof trash container into the car.

We headed up to the fire lookout tower to say so long to Paul. As we pulled up, Paul was putting his trash in a big bear-proof trash container, and as we got out of the car, Paul said, “If you’ve got any trash you want to get rid of you can put it in here. They'll be emptying it on Friday.”

“Thanks, Paul.”, I said. “We don’t have much.”

I took our trash out of the car and tossed it in his trash container.

Paul then asked, “How was the guy that they had to rescue.”

I looked at Amy and said, “Go on Nurse Amy. You know more than I do.”

Looking at Amy, Paul said, “So you’re the nurse they were talking about on the radio last night?”

“I guess.”, Amy said. “The guy was lucky that he didn’t have any compound fractures. That could have been a real problem. His fractures weren’t bad, and he should be fine.

“And they were talking about me on the radio?”

“The radio is like a party line. We’re all on the same frequency unless there’s a major fire, so we all heard the radio traffic from the rescue.”

“Ah.”, I said. “Nurse Amy has her own radio show.”

“Oh. Shut up.”, Amy said.

“So did you two find that place you were looking for?”, Paul asked.

I thought for a second, then said, “We got to the rock outcropping and searched it. But couldn’t find anything.”

“Sorry to hear that.”

“We weren’t sure that we were going to find anything, so it’s no loss. But we did have a good hike, and that’s always a good thing.”

“You two have a couple of minutes?”

“Sure.”, I said.

“Come on back up to the cab with me. I have something to show you.”

We followed Paul back up the tower and into the cab, and he closed the trap door. He walked over to the fire finder and said have a look through there.

Amy and I walked over, and I looked at where Paul had it pointing. And I said, “I see some smoke.”

“Yes.”, Paul said. “Remember that I said that we plot all the lightning strikes?”

“Yes.”

“When that storm came through two days ago, I plotted some strikes, and I’ve checked on them on a regular basis. And this morning I noticed smoke from this one.”

“Anyone there fighting it.”, Amy asked.

“Not yet. But there should be a hotshot crew there very soon.”

“Hotshot crew?”

“It’s twenty guys who go in quickly and try to put out a fire before it gets too big. Luckily there is a road not far from the fire, or they might have had to call in the smokejumpers.”

We thanked Paul, said so long to him, and told him that we hoped to see him again sometime.

As we were driving down the road from the fire lookout tower and past the cabin, Amy asked, “Why didn’t you tell Paul that we found the sacred place?”

“I felt that I shouldn’t. I felt that it was between us, and the Great Spirit. And maybe Naainish.”

“Maybe Naainish?”

“We’ll see how I feel about it when we see him.”

“Why?”

“Since he couldn’t find it. Or said he didn’t. Maybe he isn’t meant to.”

“Oh.”

As we drove, Amy navigated using the map my uncle had given us. And she was a good navigator. We didn’t get lost.

As we pulled into the resort and up to my aunt and uncle’s house, there was a pickup truck parked there. I looked at it and said, “Naainish.”

“You think?”, Amy said.

“Yes. That’s his pickup.”

As we walked into the kitchen, we heard voices coming from the living room. We stuck our heads in, and I said, “Hi. Were back. We need showers and will be back after we get them. And, no Uncle Paul we didn’t burn down the cabin.”

Before anyone could say anything, I took Amy’s hand, and led her to our bedroom. When we got to our room, Amy asked, “Why didn’t you want to talk to them?”

“Two reasons. We need showers, and I need to do something.”, I replied.

“Become Kai?”

“How did you know?”

“Honey, I can feel your need to become Kai. In fact, I could feel it after we were at the sacred place.”

I just looked at her, shook my head, and said, “You can read me like a book. When we were at the cabin after visiting the sacred place, I wished that we’d brought some of Kai’s things with us to the cabin.”

She just smiled, and said, “I know.” Then she walked over to the dresser, picked up my black wig, and slipped it on.

Then I said, “You need to be Ajie and look like a native girl. Don’t you?”

“Yeah.”, she replied. She had that cute smile on her cute face.

Then I said, “I get the shower first.”

“Brat!”

No, we didn’t take a shower together.

As we undressed, we both took that little stone that we had removed from the hole in the rock and placed it on the dresser. I let Amy take her shower first. Then as I was showering Amy got dressed.

When I got out of the shower, I saw Amy with black hair. She’d taken the braid out of the black wig and brushed it into a straight look and added one of the braided leather hairbands. I looked at her, smiled, and said, “Dye your hair black. It’s easier.”

“I’m thinking about it.”, she replied.

We both dressed in fancy blouses, long skirts, and moccasins. Amy added a pair of the silver feather earrings, and I went with a pair of beaded earrings. I put my hair into a long flat look and added a headband. I used the braided leather one with the feathers at the back.

I looked at her, smiled, and said, “Hi, Ajie.”

She smiled back, and said, “Hi, Kai.”

We walked together into the living room. My aunt was the first to see us, she smiled, and said, “Hello girls.”

My uncle and Naainish turned to look at us.

I said, “Yá'át'ééh! Amáyázhí Sahkyo, Abízhí Yiska, Naainish. Nizhonigó íiná aadóó hozhónahasdlíí. - (Hello! Aunt Ruth, Uncle Paul, Naainish. It is good, and all is harmony around us.)

And I got back an “Yá'át'ééh! Kai, dóó Ajie. Nizhonigó íiná aadóó hozhónahasdlíí.” – (Hello! Kai, and Ajie. It is good, and all is harmony around us.) from Naainish. My aunt and uncle just smiled.

Then Naainish asked, “Kai, is everything really good and in harmony?”

“Yes.”, I replied. “Shouldn’t it be?”

“Yes, it should. Do you each have a small pebble?”

“Yes.” How did he know?

“May I see?”

We went back to our room and got the stones, and Ajie asked, “How did he know about the stones?”

“I’m wondering that myself.”, I said.

We walked back into the living room, and each showed Naainish the small stone that we’d taken from the hole in the rock. Naainish smiled, nodded, and said, “Yes. All is good.”

“You knew that we found the sacred place. Didn’t you?”

“No, Kai. I didn’t know. But knowing you, I knew that you would if you could. And the stones tell me that you did.”

“If we could?”, I asked.

“If you didn’t need to find it, you wouldn’t have found it.”

“Oh?”

“It’s there only for certain things.”

“Why were we there?”

“I have taught you as much as I can about your spirits. You needed to go there to see what they were for yourself. To see who you are. To see how you and Ajie are intertwined.”

Then looking at Ajie, Naainish added, “And for Ajie to see her spirit.”

Ajie smiled, nodded yes, and said, “I did have a vision while at the sacred place.”

“A vision?”

“Yes. A vision of a native girl dressed in a white Biil dress and she was dancing.”

“I see. Like you, I see that she is pure of heart and enjoys fun. She is your spirit.”

Ajie just smiled.

Then Naainish looked at me, and asked, “Kai, did you also have a vision?”

“Yes. Mine was also of a native girl, she was dressed in a white dress with fringe and wearing white wrap moccasins. Her hair was long and she was wearing a headband with one feather hanging by her right ear.”

“What was she doing?”

“She was sitting under a pine tree near a lake with the setting Sun behind her.”

“I feel that she is your female spirit, and like with Ajie’s spirit, she is pure of heart.”

“There was also a wolf.”

“A wolf! What was he doing?”

“He was lying next to her.”

“So he was at ease with her.”

“I felt that he was very at ease with her.”

“That is good. But remember that the Navajo word for wolf is mai-coh. And that mai-coh also means witch. But we have ceremonies, healing ceremonies, and in some of those we call on the powers of the wolf to bring peace and harmony to people who are ill.

“You are not a medicine man, like I am, but you will, in time, be able to use the power of the wolf to bring harmony and peace to the ill. It may not be everyone, but those that are special to you.

“But always remember that bringing harmony and peace to the ill, doesn’t always mean curing them. It may be their time, and you will bring this harmony and peace in their time of passing.”

“Naainish, you just placed a heavy weight on my shoulders.”, I said.

“You are stronger than you realize and will be able to bear that weight.

“The wolf will help you. In your visions just remember, if the wolf is, like he was in your first vision, lying next to you, everything is in harmony. If he’s standing, he is protecting you. But, if he’s standing away from you showing his teeth, there is trouble.”

“Who will protect Ajie?”

“You will. But, like you, she is strong and can defend herself in many ways.”

Ajie and I walked over to the couch and sat, and I asked, “Naainish, you knew where the sacred place was. Didn’t you?”

“Kai and Ajie, let me tell you a story.

“When I was your age, I was troubled by my two spirits. I didn’t understand them. The medicine man at that time took me to the area where the cabin is, it wasn't there then.

“He told me that there was a sacred place. And that if I needed help that I’d find it. He walked with me, and like you, I found what I needed to find. I followed the markers as you did. I found the sacred place. I sat and meditated. And, like you, I found myself. And like you I knew to take a small rock from the hole in the rock.

“A few years ago, I thought I needed help. I went back to that place and camped at the fire tower. I searched for three days, and could not locate the markers. I finally came to the realization that I wasn’t troubled like I thought I was and left.”

“Naainish.”, I said, “That’s an interesting story.”

Then I looked at my Uncle Paul, and said, “Uncle Paul, thank you for those few days at the cabin, they were wonderful.”

“So what did you do?”, my aunt asked.

I told them about the first day and meeting, Paul, the fire watcher at the tower. And about the thunderstorm. And hiking the trail looking for trails off of it that might lead to the sacred place. Then Ajie mentioned about the bear.

Naainish said, “So you met one of the Mountain People.”

“Mountain People?”, Ajie asked.

“Yes, to the Navajo people bears are known as Mountain People. We believe that they are spiritual guides. But like the wolf, they are also associated with witchcraft. But the bear also has great healing power. Did you interact with the bear?”

“No, we stayed in the cabin the whole time he was around.”

“That is good.”

“We did clean up the scat that he left us.”, I said.

“Oh. What did you use?”

“A shovel.”

“What did you do with it?”

“Put it in the fire pit and buried under the ashes from the fireplace and the stove. Why?”

“Our people believe that some things that involve bears can lead to bear sickness. But I feel that the way you handled it was good.”

“I hope.”

I went on to tell them about our hike to the sacred place on the second day, but, and I don’t know why, I never mentioned how we found it. It was like I knew that I shouldn’t say anything about the bent trees or the arrows on the rocks. Not even to my aunt and uncle.

I mentioned that while I was sitting at the sacred place that I was chanting. Naainish looked at me, and said, “You were chanting?”

“Yes.”, I replied. “When I was sitting by myself before Ajie joined me. It was a short chant.”

“Do you know what you were chanting?”

“No, it just came into my head when while I was sitting there, and I just chanted it. I don’t remember ever hearing it before. I did remember part of it for a while, but now I’ve forgotten it.”

Then we told them the story about the hiker that was hurt, what we did to help him, and the helicopter.

Naainish asked, “Where was the hiker when he was hurt?”

“Somewhere on the rock outcropping.”, I answered.

“Do you know if it was close the sacred place?”

“No, I don’t. Why?”

“It may have been protecting itself.”

“It would do that?”

“Yes.”

“Naainish.”, Ajie said. “Why was I permitted to be there. I’m not a Navajo. And as far as I know, I have no Indian blood in me. One set of my grandparents came here from England. The other from Scotland.”

“Ajie.”, Naainish said. “Remember that your name means, my heart. You were given that name because we knew that you feel the spirits that are in Kai’s heart more so than anyone else. And the more we see of you two, the more we know that we were correct in giving you that name.

“And the spirit of the sacred place must have felt that too. Or you wouldn’t have found it.”

“You know, after sitting there with Kai, I even feel closer to her than before. And closer to the Navajo people than before.”

“As you should. Your spirit is more intertwined with Kai’s spirits. And by being close to him, you are closer to his people. Your people.”

“So, Naainish, there is nothing more that you can teach me about my spirits?”, I asked.

“No, Kai Nez.”, Naainish replied. “There is more for you to learn, but that will come with time.”

“What about my ability to see things about my relatives, and sense the people who may cause trouble.”

“That will continue to improve over time. And there maybe others that you will sense things about, but that will be rare.”

“Like I have with Dee, the dancer?”

“Yes. I think you sensed something very special in her.”

We chatted a little more, then as Naainish was leaving, he said, “Take your stones to my uncle, Sike Yazzie, in Taos. He will set them in a necklace for you.”

After Naainish left, Ajie said, “I’m hungry.”

“You know.”, I said. “We haven’t eaten since breakfast. Let's fix something.”

“Kids.”, my uncle said. “If you can wait until the restaurant opens for dinner, I’ll buy.”

“You don’t have to do that Uncle Paul.”, Ajie said.

“I’d like to.”

“Okay. I think I can wait.”

“Me too.”, I said.

Then my aunt said, “You two had a very interesting few days.”

“Yes, Aunt Ruth, we did.”, Ajie said. “Actually they were wonderful days and we didn’t want it to end.”

A little over an hour later the four of us were sitting down to a nice dinner, and as we ate we talked. At one point, my aunt asked, “Are you two planning on going to the bonfire tonight?”

“Yes.”, I said. “I think we’ll hike up and watch a sunset, then come to the bonfire. After the past few days, I feel that I need to meditate.”

“So do I.”, Ajie said.

As we were sitting and enjoying a light dessert, I asked, “Uncle Paul, who owns that cabin? The fire watcher guy wouldn’t tell us.”

My uncle took a notepad from his pocket, tore off a sheet, wrote something on it, and handed it to me. I looked at what he wrote, looked at him, and said, “Really?”

“Yes.”, my uncle replied.

I showed the piece of paper to Ajie. She didn’t say anything for a minute, then she said, “I guess money and position can get you anything. What’s he use it for?”

“It was built as a hunting lodge. But I don’t think it’s ever been used that way. I’ve taken the trash away from the place after they’d been there for a weekend, and there was a lot of beer bottles and liquor bottles. I think he and his cronies get together to play cards and drink.”

“At least he wasn’t out shooting the poor animals.”

My uncle took the piece of paper back from Ajie, put it into his pocket, and said, “I didn’t tell you.”

“Tell us what, Uncle Paul?”, I asked.

He smiled at me.

A little while later Ajie and I were walking up the cliff trail in moccasins. I’ll never learn, moccasins aren’t the best thing for hiking this trail, but we survived. We ended up being two of about thirty people on the cliff watching the Sunset. And it didn’t disappoint. It was a very colorful Sunset. One of the nicest ones we’ve seen.

Of course, while we were up there we talked to some people. We talked about the Sunsets, the area, the resort, and other things.

As we walked down off the cliff, we saw the bonfire, and there were already people there. As we walked up to the bonfire, we saw my aunt was standing near where we liked to sit. She had something draped over her arm. As we walked over to her, she smiled, and as she handed me a woven rug, she said, “I thought that you’d like to have this.”

“Thank you, Aunt Ruth.”, I said. “I’m glad someone was thinking tonight.”

“Honey, I just know that you don’t like getting your clothes dirty.”

“Speaking of that. Where can I take our Biil dresses to be cleaned? We want to wear them to the barbecue on Friday and the dance competition on Saturday.”

“I’ll take them and see what I can do.”

“Aunt Ruth, we can do it.”

“I know. But one of the women that works for us does special cleaning for wool clothing. Especially the things that are woven out of hand-spun wool, like both of the Biil dresses. And she does an excellent job.”

“Okay. You know best.”

Ajie and I walked over to where I usually sit by the bonfire. I laid the rug on the ground, and Ajie and I sat. I saw my uncle over by the main group of guests, and I guessed he was telling them why we were sitting there.

I felt the spirit of the fire. I felt my spirits, both of them. I think I even felt Ajie’s spirit. I heard that chant again, the chant that I’d heard at the sacred place. It was in my head. I started chanting very quietly. I think that Ajie was the only one that could hear me.

When I finished the chant, I looked at Ajie, she looked at me, and said, “I felt the spirit of the fire.”

“I did too.”, I replied. “And I also felt yours.”

“I think I felt your spirit too. Your feminine spirit. And the chant was interesting. I’ve never heard most of the words before.”

We stood up, I picked up the blanket, and we walked over to where my aunt and uncle were talking with some of the guests. As we walked up to them, my aunt said, “Hello, girls.”

“Hi, Aunt Ruth.”, Ajie said.

“I’d like you to meet Mr. and Mrs. Fairbrother, they are from Michigan and are members of the Ojibwe Tribe.”

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

They both smiled, and Mrs. Fairbrother said, “We know what yá’át’ééh means but not alní'íní.”

“I’m sorry.”, I said. “Yá’át’ééh alní'íní, is Navajo for good evening.”

“Well good evening to you too, girls.”

My aunt then said, “Mr. and Mrs. Fairbrother these are my nieces Kai Nez and Ajie Nez.”

“It’s nice to meet you.”, Mrs. Fairbrother said.

“And it’s nice to meet you.”, I replied.

“We understand that one of you is a Niizh Manidoowag?”

“I’m sorry.”, I said. “Now you have me. What is a Niizh Manidoowag?”

“It’s my turn to apologize. Niizh Manidoowag is a term for a two spirit person in the Ojibwe language.”

“We say Nádleeh, meaning one is changing.”

“Yes, that we knew.

“We’re here for the dance competition on Saturday. And we’d heard that The Diné had a young two spirit person and that she might be here at the resort.”

“You came this far for the dance competition?”

“Yes. We travel, and judge native American dancing. And this is a big competition.”

“Oh. I didn’t realize that it was that big.”

“It is. And we were hoping to meet you. Or whichever one of you that is a two spirit person.”

“That would be me. And you’ve heard of me in Michigan?”

“No. We always ask about people with two spirits when we come to a place that we haven’t been for a while. And we were told that there might be one here. And we would love to sit with you for a bit and talk. If you have time?”

“I would have time tomorrow morning. But why?”

“We’re trying to put together a history of people like you, and we would like to hear your story.”

“Okay. I guess we could do that.”

“Could we meet for breakfast in the restaurant tomorrow?”

“Sure. We’re up early, and hike the cliff trail to watch the Sunrise, then usually have breakfast with my aunt and uncle. But we could meet for breakfast.”

“We’ll be up early too. And a Sunrise out here can be beautiful. We just might see you up there.

“Could we take your picture tonight before the bonfire dies down? You’re so pretty, and sitting like you were by the fire would be wonderful.”

I looked at Ajie, and she just smiled. Then I said, “That would be fine.”

The four of us walked over to where Ajie and I had been sitting. I put the rug back down, and Mr. Fairbrother took a couple of pictures of me with the fire in the background.

We then said goodnight to them, and Ajie and I headed back to my aunt and uncle’s house. As we walked, Ajie said, “You know, Mr. Fairbrother never said a word.”

“I know.”, I replied. “Maybe he’s the strong, silent type.”

“How did you feel about them?”

“It was okay. If it hadn’t been, I wouldn’t have agreed to meet with them.”

“Mr. Fairbrother being that quiet bothered me a little.”

“I noticed.”

“It’ll be interesting to see what kind of questions they ask.”

“Yes, it will.”

“Should I go as Ajie or Amy?”

With a smile, I said, “Should I go as Kai or Tom?”

We were still up when my aunt came home, and as we were saying goodnight, Amy asked my aunt, “Aunt Ruth, Mrs. Fairbrother said that they had heard that the Diné had a young two spirit person. I’ve seen the word Diné and heard it a couple of times. What does it mean?”

“What’s the Navajo name of your clan?”, Aunt Ruth asked.

“Azee'tsoh dine'é.”, Amy replied.

“Can you translate it?”

“I think it’s the Big Medicine People.

“Oh. I see. Dine'é means people.”

Good.”, my aunt said, “Our people prefer to be called Diné, which means ‘The People’ or ‘Children of the Holy People.’ The Spanish many many Moons ago gave us the name Navajo. And using Diné takes us back to our ancestors.”

“Interesting. There is a lot to learn about this area, and it’s people.”

“Your people, Ajie.”

“My people?”

“Honey, you may not have Navajo, or Diné, blood. But we know that your heart is strong with love for us. Your people. We love you too.”

I saw tears in Ajie’s eyes. She walked over and hugged my, our, aunt.

As Amy and I were getting into bed, Amy said, “You know. The more time I spend out here the closer I feel to the people and the land.”

“I know what you mean.”, I said. “The more we come out here and the more time we spend out here, the harder it’s to go back home.”

“Is this home?”