The letter from the Board of Regents had arrived on Friday, and Amy and I had met with the lawyer on Saturday. And, we discussed our game plan for next Wednesday.

We then decided to take a walk along the Rio Grands River. We took Jackie and Charlie along and met up with the two rangers from the City Parks in hopes that the Eagles would show up. And they did. Then some knucklehead took a shot at them. And I went running after the two guys, with the Rangers right on my heels. Then the guys made a mistake of confronting me, and I put both of them on the ground. The two guys were off to jail, and the four of us were off for milkshakes.

Later that night I was on the bed with my hands behind my head staring at the ceiling. Amy rolled over, looked at me, and asked, “Honey, what are you thinking about?”

“The two Eagles.”, I said.

“Worried about them. Aren't you?”

“Of course. Aren’t you? We came close, to close, to losing one of them tonight.”

“I know. That was scary.”

“And, it was all because they came to see us.”

“Honey, don’t blame yourself.”

“I have to. The Eagles are important. They're more important than what’s going on with the University.”

“I know. They're important. You want to do something. Don’t you?”, Amy asked.

“You know I do. I think we should go to the Eagles.”

“But, we don’t know where they are.”

“Remember.”, I said. “That Lieutenant Zimmerman said that there’s a reservoir north of here not far off the river, and he’d bet that the Eagles would be there.”

“Yeah. But where’s the reservoir?”

“I’ll bet if we stop by the outdoor store that they’d know.”

“You know, I’ll bet that you’re right.”, Amy said.

“Are you working at the ER tomorrow?”, I asked.

“No. But, don’t you have some studying to do? I do.”

“I think we can spend a little time looking for our friends.”

Sunday morning after an excellent breakfast, yes we made a frybread taco breakfast, we drove over to the outdoor shop. And they thought that the park ranger might have been talking about the Jemez Canyon Reservoir. But, that the reservoir was built for flood control, and that at this time of year the water level was low. And, that access to it was limited except for a short overlook trail with a picnic area.

“Why the limited access?”, I asked.

The guy at the outdoor shop said, “The reservoir is inside the Santa Ana Pueblo Indian Reservation.”

“Oh well. I guess we could hit the overlook trail.”

“Why the interest?”

I didn’t want to mention the Eagles, so I said, “We’ve been exploring the area and got talking with a park ranger about interesting things in the area, and the Jemez Canyon Reservoir was mentioned.”

The guy pulled out a map and showed us where the overlook trail was. I also picked up a good pair of binoculars. They were 10x42mm, and the guy said that they were good for birding and watching wild animals.

As we got back into the car, Amy asked, “Do you think we need to take a gun?”

“I don’t think so.”, I said. “But we could stop at the apartment and pick one up if it would make you feel better.”

“No. I think it’ll be okay.”

The drive to the overlook trail took about forty-five minutes, and we hiked the loop trail trying to get as close as we could to the reservoir. We spent over a half an hour scanning the trees around the high water mark of the reservoir. And we didn’t spot the Eagles or their nest. But we couldn’t see all of the areas around the reservoir.

As we were walking back to the car, someone was walking towards us on the trail, as he got closer, I could tell he was an Indian, an older Indian. And he was wearing a uniform of some kind. When we met, he said, “Hello.”

I returned his, “Hello.”

“I’ve never seen you here before. And we don’t see many strangers.”

“We’re students at the University of New Mexico and are just exploring the area, and a park ranger in Albuquerque told us about this place.” Then I took a chance, and I said, “He also told us that he’d heard that there might have been a pair of Bald Eagles spotted in the area.”

“Oh, he did?”

“Yes, they would come and visit us when we hiked the Rio Grande trail. And when they left, they flew back up this way.”

“That so?”

“Yes.”

“Why would they visit you?”

I went on to tell him the story of the two Eagles back home and then a pair showing up out here. Then I said, “My name is Kai Nez, and this is my cousin Amy Young.”

“I’m Izusa Yupanqui, and I’m the whole Santa Ana Pueblo’s Parks Department. And that was an interesting story about the Eagles.”

“Nice to meet you, Mr. Yupanqui.”

“No one calls me Mr. Yupanqui. They just call me Iz.”

“It’s still nice to meet you, Iz.”, I said.

“So you're interested in a pair of Bald Eagles?”

“Yes, sir.”

“I don’t know why I’m doing this.”, Iz said. “But, for some reason, I feel good about the two of you. So, come with me.”

We followed Iz back down the trail that we’d just walked up. Then we turned down a side trail, and shortly we came to a gate in a fence. There was a sign on the gate that said, ‘No Trespassing – Property of the Santa Ana Pueblo.’

Iz opened the gate, we walked through it, and he closed it. Then we followed him further down the trail. Maybe a half or three-quarters of a mile. Then we took a side trail that led down towards the reservoir for about a hundred yards.

Iz stopped, and whispered, “We noticed the Eagles building a nest here in late July, and we kept a watch on them.” Then he pointed, and said, “It’s right over there. It’s hard to see if you don’t know where to look. And at high water in the reservoir, the roots of the tree will be under water.”

We looked to where he was pointing, and there was the Eagle’s nest. It was big and built of sticks. And one of the Eagles was sitting in it, I smiled and said, “This is so great!”

“Oh yes!”, Ajie said.

The one Eagle that was sitting on the nest just looked at us. Then Iz said, “That’s strange. Every time that I’ve come here they’ve left. Now this one is staying.”

Just then the other Eagle showed up with a fish and landed on the nest. Then both of the Eagles just looked at us.

Then I said, “Iz, we feel that these two Eagles are friends. They come and find us when we hike along the Rio Grande. They’ll land on a dead tree across the river from where we like to sit, and we’ll sit and look at each other for a while. We even have two tail feathers from them.”

“Two feathers! That’s interesting. And, if they come and find you, why did you come here?’, Iz asked.

I told him what had happened yesterday, and that we were afraid for the two Eagles. So we figured that we’d come and find them and that the ranger from the Albuquerque Park’s Department that we know had thought that they might be here.

Iz was disgusted by what had happened, but happy that we’d caught the guys.

Then Iz said, “You know. I think there’s something between the Eagles and the two of you. And, I wouldn't have a problem if you wanted to come to visit them any time that you wanted to.”

“Thank you, Iz.”, I said. “That’s wonderful.”

“We want to keep it quiet that the Eagles are here. But, you can even bring your ranger friend if you like.”

“We want to keep it quiet too, and we will.”

Just then the Eagles took off, circled us a couple of times, then flew off. And I said, “We’ve been told that when an Eagle circles you that they’re blessing you.”

“I’ve heard that too.”, Iz said.

Before we left the site of the Eagle’s nest, I spotted something. I walked over to the base of the dead tree that the Eagles had built their nest in, stooped down, and said, “Come over here you two.”

Ajie and Iz walked over, and Iz asked, “What did you find?”

I stood up, showed them a large feather, and said, “Just this.”

The feather was a dark gray-brown with a white tuft at the base and looked to be about twenty inches long.

Ajie asked, “Is that an Eagle feather?”

“I think so.”, I said. “It’s big, and it’s right by the nest.”

“I think your right, Kai.”, Iz said. “I’ve seen a few, and they looked like that. And I think by the size of that one it’s a primary flight feather.”

“What do you think we should do with it?”, I asked.

“You found it, so it’s yours.”

“Do you have one, Iz?”

“No.”

As I handed him the feather, I said, “I want you to have it.”

“But, you found it.”, Iz said.

“I know, but we each have two.”

He slowly took the feather out of my hand, and said, “Thank you very much.”

“You’re very welcome. Just remember, that it should be displayed.”

“It will be.”, Iz said. “I’ll put it with military medals.”

“World War II or Korea?”

“Both.”

“Thank you for serving.”

He just smiled.

The three of us headed back to the parking lot, and when we got there, I noticed that Iz’s truck had an emblem on the door with the lettering ‘Santa Ana Pueblo – Parks Department’ under it.

I asked Iz, “Do your people believe in two spirit people?”

“Yes.”, Iz said. “We feel that they’re special.”

“I think the Eagles feel the same way. And, I think that’s why they find us when we hike along the river and also why they stayed when we showed up at their nest.”

“Are you saying that one of you is a two spirit person?”

I smiled, and said, “Guilty as charged.”

“I should have known. There’s just something about you. And there’s something between you and the Eagles.”

“It’s really between the two of us and the Eagles.”

We said so long to Iz and headed back to the apartment. On the way, we stopped at a drive-in, not our favorite one, for lunch. And the food was nowhere as good as at our favorite place.

When we were back at the apartment, we spent the afternoon studying and working on our presentations for the classes that we’re teaching. After a late dinner, we relaxed on the patio and looked at the stars that we could see. Then it was bedtime.

Monday was normal. I had my two classes to teach, and one to take. And Amy had her two classes to teach. After I’d attended my grad-level class, I went to the lab, and Dr. Joe was there. We went over all the requirements for the circuit, and all the outputs were within the specifications. Then we started working on a design for a printed circuit board, that all the components would be mounted on. It would have to be a two-sided circuit board, which complicated it a bit.

Later in the afternoon when I was back at the apartment, I found Amy working on dinner, and I helped her finish. I noticed that she was quiet. Something was bothering her, and I knew better than to ask. She’d tell me when she was ready. And, she did.

After dinner, we went out on the patio to sit and enjoy the evening. As we sat there, I asked Amy, “How were classes today?”

“Strange.”, she replied.

“Oh.”, I said.

“Yeah. It was strange not having Jackie in class anymore.”

“I bet.”

“She was always challenging me with her questions. And they were always good questions.”

“You’ll get over it. And, I’ll bet that Jackie will come to you with some of those questions.”

“You’re right. Jackie probably will.”

Tuesday was Tuesday. I taught my two classes and took my one grad-level class. And, Amy worked at the ER from seven to three. I was also was with Dr. Joe in the afternoon working on the research project. And I was starting to get anxious about tomorrow. That night Amy pickup up my nervousness, and took care of it in bed that night.

Wednesday was just Wednesday. NOT!

Amy and I both had classes to teach this morning. And knowing Amy she was just fine with her's, and I’d bet that everyone in my classes noticed my nervousness. Right after my ten o’clock class was over, I headed to the apartment.

When I walked in the door, Amy met me, kissed me, and said, “Honey, everything will be fine.”

“Yeah. I guess.”, I said. “But how often do you meet with the people who run the place, and then try to put one over on them.”

“Honey, you’ll have a lot of support there. And you know, up front, that they're planning to confront you. And you know that they have nothing to support there point of view other than an unsigned letter.”

“True. But I’m still scared.”

“Honey, I’d be worried about you if you weren’t scared. You do your best under pressure. You thrive on the pressure. It’s like it builds your confidence.”

As I hugged her, I said, “Amylin, you are so special.”

“No more than you are, sweetheart. Want some lunch.”

“No, I don’t think I can eat right now.”

“Okay. Try to relax.”

Amy was dressed in a long fancy skirt, fancy blouse, moccasins, Concho belt, silver and turquoises bracelet, and a couple of rings. She was also wearing the silver feather earrings. No necklace or choker, other than the meteorite necklace. She put her hair into a single braid, and she was wearing the braided leather headband with the Eagle feather.

I looked at Amy, and said, “Amy, you are so pretty, there are no words that can describe you.”

“Kai.”, she said. “The smile on your face is all I need. I’ve laid out your clothes on the bed.”

I ran upstairs, and I went with the same look, long velvet skirt, fancy blouse, and wrap moccasins. This look requires a Concho belt, so it was the one that my grandfather had made. I also wore bracelets, one on each wrist, a few rings, and no choker. But my ever-present meteorite necklace.

Amy quickly braided my hair into two braids but didn’t add anything fancy. And I also went with the leather headband with the Eagle feather. For earrings, I went with the pair that we’d found in the box with my Grandfather Kilchii Nez’s tools. They each had three small gold feathers hanging from a dime sized round.

Amy stood back, looked at me, and said, “Kai. Love. You are going to make a statement when you walk into that room.”

“No.”, I said. “We are going to make a statement. You and me.”

A little after Noon, Amy and I walked into the room where we were to meet, and I was shocked as to the number of people who were there. As we walked in, everyone became quiet, and I said, “Yá’át’ééh, t'áá ájíltso.” (It is good, everyone.)

I heard many people return a, “Yá’át’ééh, t'áá ájíltso.”

Then I said, “It is wonderful to see so many people here.”

Mrs. Harman, our lawyer, walked up to Amy and me, and said, “Kai, I can't believe your support base.”

“I can’t either, Mrs. Harman.”, I replied.

Chief Kinlicheeny was standing by us and overheard what we said, and he said, “Kai Nez, believe it. The people know who you are, and that you needed their support. So, they’re here.”

I just shook my head.

Then I said, “Everyone can I have your attention for a minute. I want to thank you for coming today. I’m overwhelmed with the support that I’m seeing. Thank you.”

I looked around, and I recognized some of the people that were here, they had been at the first meeting. But there were others that I'd never seen before. I was startled to see Sike Yazzie, our silversmith friend. My two cousins, Sani, and Hok'ee, where here. I saw Tribal Governor Cochiti of the Taos Pueblo, and I figured that the woman with him must be Quah Ah, the medicine woman. And there were others.

Then I saw my aunts and uncles, and my Uncle Gaagii had on his police uniform. Why?

Amy and I talked with Mrs. Harman for a few minutes to be sure that we had everything straight. She described the room where the Board of Regents meets to us. It was a small auditorium, with a raised stage, and about one-hundred seats for an audience. And the Board would be sitting on the stage.

I looked around again and didn’t see some people who I thought would be here. So I asked Mrs. Harman, “Where are the Deans, and Dr. Etsitty, and Dr. Oshie?”

“Oh, they’ll be here.”, Mrs. Harman said.

Just before one, Mrs. Harman asked, “Kai, are you ready?”

I looked at her, and just said, “Yes.”

Then Mrs. Harman said, “Everyone. Can I have your attention? We’re about ready to put our plan in place. Remember when we go into the room, file in and take a seat. And leave six empty seats in the middle of the front row.”

I thought, ‘Why six empty seats?’

Then Mrs. Harman continued with, “So if you will follow Miss Nez, Miss Young, and myself we’ll get this show on the road.”

Mrs. Harman opened the door, and Amy and I followed her out of the room. And everyone else followed us. Everyone else in the hallway as we walked, looked at us, and moved out of our way. I guess we looked like a war party.

As we walked to the room where we were meeting the Board of Regents we stopped just outside, and Mrs. Harman said, “Kai, be my guest.”

I took a deep breath, looked at Amy, and said, “Are you ready.”

Amy smiled, and said, “As always. I’m with you all the way.”

I opened the door, and, playing the game we’d planned, I timidly looked inside. As Mrs. Harman had told us, the only people there were the seven members of the Board of Regents. I walked in, and one of the men asked, “Miss Nez?”

“Yes. … Yes, sir. I’m ... I’m Miss Nez.”, I said.

“Please come in. I’m Dr. Cox, Chairman of the Board of Regents.”

And I thought, ‘Yeah. Come in the spider said to the fly.’

Amy and I walked all the way in, and I looked around. Three of the men sitting on the stage were the three men that Dr. Joe and I had over heard in the faculty dining room. Then I said, “I … I thought that this was a regular meeting of the Board of Regents. Where is everyone?”

“No, Miss Nez. We wanted to have a special meeting with just you.”

“A special meeting?” I looked at Amy, and said, “I guess what we heard was true.”

“Who is this?”, the man asked.

“This is my cousin, Amy Young.”

“She’ll have to leave.”

“No, she won’t. And I think we also need more people here.”

Dr. Cox stood up, and said, “Miss Nez, this is our meeting, and we’ll run it as we see fit.”

Looking at the nameplate in front of him, I said, “Let’s see, it’s Dr. Cox. Right, sir?”

He sat down, and said, “Yes, Miss Nez. It’s Dr. Cox. What’s going on here?”

“Sir, first I’d like an audience for this. Amy if you’d do the honors.”

As I stared at the Board, Amy opened the door. Then as everyone was filing in and was taking seats, I walked up on the stage.

When everyone was in and seated, Dr. Cox looked at me, and said, “This meeting is over.”

“No sir, it is not over.”, I said. “You have a letter, an unsigned letter, about me. And you had planned to have my inquisition here. You’d planned to have me in here alone with no prior knowledge and make my life hell.”

As he started to get up again, Dr. Cox yelled, “No, it’s over.”

Then we heard a voice from the door say, “Cox, it’s not over. So, sit down!”

I looked at the door and was shocked as Dr. Lingham, the President of the University walked into the room accompanied by Dean Milford, dean of the nursing school, Dean Rutherford, dean of the engineering college, and another man that I didn’t know, but later I found out that he is the Universities Legal Counsel. Dr. Vickie Etsitty and Dr. Joe Oshie accompanied them. They walked over to the open seats in the front row, and all but Dr. Lingham sat.

Then looking at me, Dr. Lingham said, “Miss Nez, it appears that you have many people here in support of you.”

“Yes, sir. I do.”

“Would you care to introduce them.”

“I would be happy to.”, I said. “But, first so they know who you are. Everyone, the people who just walked in are from the University. The gentleman that just spoke is Dr. Lingham, the President of the University. There are also three deans of various colleges within the University, and Dr. Oshie, who is my preceptor for my master degree, a fellow researcher, and a friend.

“Dr. Lingham.”, I said. “I’d introduce everyone here, but it would take too long.

“But, sitting behind you is a friend of yours and mine, Chief Kinlicheeny, who is the Chief of the Navajo Nation. Sitting next to him is Hashkeh Naabah Descheenie who is the Vice-President of the Navajo Nation. Then we have, Sicheii Uskilith who is the Speaker of the Navajo Nation Council. Also here are Tribal Governor Cochiti of the Taos Pueblo, and Chief Sháhita of the Pueblo of Zuni, and then Chief Jlin-Litzoque of the Mescalero Apache.

“Also, we have Naainish Yazzie, a Navajo medicine man, Quah Ah, a Pueblo medicine woman. And there are also many other members of those various tribes here.

Then looking at Dr. Cox, I added, “And, last but not least, we have Mr. Bylilly. Mr. Bylilly is the Editor of the Navajo Times.”

Dr. Cox looked like he wanted to run.

“Thank you, Miss Nez.”, Dr. Lingham said. “You do have a lot of support. And it looks like that there are a lot of important people here.”

“Yes, sir. There is a lot of important people here, and I’m pleasantly surprised to see so many of my people here.”

“What is this all about!”, Dr. Cox said.

“Cox.”, Dr. Lingham said. “Miss Nez has the floor right now. So, be quiet.”

“Lingham.”, Dr. Cox said. “This is my meeting.”

I turned and looked at Dr. Cox, and said, “Sir, if this is your meeting. Why don’t you tell us what it’s about.”

“I … I … “

“Isn’t it about a letter that you received about me?”

“I guess.”

“Well, is it or isn’t it!?”

“It … It is.”

“Is this letter signed?”

“No.”

“So, it’s an anonymous letter. A letter sent by someone who is afraid to confront me. And, you were bringing me in here because of a rumor that you haven’t even tried to prove or disprove. It this true?”

“I … I guess.”

“You guess! You guess! Sir, that’s all you do is guess. You were going to try and ruin my life on a guess. And, I can’t let you do that.

“Sir! There’s no guessing on this. You’ve done this to other people before this, and were trying to do it again. You act on rumors without proof. And this time you picked on the wrong person. I’m not afraid to defend myself.

“I will not let anyone attack me in any way without defending myself. I’m glad I found out ahead of time that you were doing this, and it gave me a chance to prepare my defense. And you see most of it sitting in front of you, my people, my friends, my family. They give me the strength to stand up to someone like you.

“And, wasn’t your plan to subject me to an inquisition without notifying me ahead of time. Not allowing me to get representation, or providing me with proof of the accusations against me. And not obtaining any corroborating evidence. That was your plan. Wasn’t it, sir?”

Dr. Cox just looked at me.

Then I said, “Well! Sir, are you going to answer me?”

Still no answer.

Dr. Lingham stood up, and said, “Cox, answer the young lady.”

Still no answer.

“Miss Nez.”, Dr. Lingham said, “To me, you’ve proven your case. Cox hasn’t established one thing here.

“And, Cox, from what I know of this young lady she is an outstanding instructor and an excellent researcher. And we don’t want to lose her because of your unfounded, foolish, ridiculous actions.

“You were going to try and chase her away from this University on hearsay evidence. As she said, you’ve done this before. And in doing so, you have succeeded in pushing some excellent people away from here.

“And, I’m going to put a stop to this foolishness of yours. I spoke with the Governor about you this morning, and he is going to be looking into the matter along with the Universities Legal Council.”

Then, Mrs. Harman, my lawyer, stood up, and said, “Dr. Lingham, may I have a minute?”

“Of course, Mrs. Harman.”, Dr. Lingham said. “You have the floor.”

“Thank you, sir. Dr. Cox, before Miss Nez, calls an end to your farce of a meeting. I have one more thing. I’m her attorney of record. And, I know that you know who I am, and how I feel about you.”

Mrs. Harman then held up a paper, and said, “Officer Haskie would you serve Dr. Cox with this paper.”

I looked over at my uncle as he got up. He walked over to Mrs. Harman, and took the paper from her, stepped up on the stage, walked over to Dr. Cox, and said, “Dr. Cox, this is a search warrant for the letter that you received in regards to Miss Nez. Please turn over the letter.”

“You have no jurisdiction on this campus.”, Dr. Cox, almost in tears, said.

“Dr. Cox.”, Mrs. Harman said. “Along with being the retired Chief of the Navajo Nation Police Department, he is a special officer for them, and also a special officer for the New Mexico State Police. So, he does have jurisdiction on this campus.”

I watched as Dr. Cox reached down, picked up his briefcase, set it on the table in front of him, and undid the locks. Then as he opened it, I noticed my uncle’s hand go to his gun, and I heard him say, “Slowly.”

Dr. Cox, slowly reached into his briefcase and took out the letter and handed it to my uncle. My uncle took the letter and gave Cox the warrant.

Then my uncle walked off the stage, over to Mrs. Harman, and handed her the letter. She took it, looked at it, and nodded yes.

Then Dr. Lingham said, “Miss Nez would you care to end this farce.”

“It would be my great pleasure, Dr. Lingham.”, I said. “But first, Dr. Cox, you and your colleagues may leave. Now!”

I watched as the members of the Board of Regents got up and started walking off the stage. In doing so, they had to walk past me. The first four, which included Dr. Cox, didn’t make eye contact. The last three, including the student member, all whispered, “Thanks.” And the last one even shook my hand.

After the Board of Regent’s members had left the room. I looked at everyone that was there, and with tears in my eyes, I said, “Everyone, thank you again for your support. It means the world to me. And to see the members of the Universities faculty here also means a lot to me. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.”