Later as we were getting ready for bed Ajie and I talked more. We talked about some of the things that I’d done for people, like the Governor of the Taos Pueblo, Max’s mom when Max was killed in Vietnam, and Max’s girlfriend, Christine. And others. She got me to see that I needed to accept who I am. And, I think we both felt il hózho´ - (the emotion of being happy) at that point.

The next morning we took the long way home past the Four Corners Area to show it to Charlie and Jackie. This time, we were the only ones there.

Then we stopped to visit the Eagles, the two couples from Colorado who we’d seen before were there, and this time we found them on restricted Pueblo land and a little too close to the nest site. And, we had a nasty talk with them, they left. But, in leaving one of the men went to hit me with his shoulder and I put him on the ground. After they left, we went to the nest site and did visit with the Eagles, and we found another feather.

As we were getting back into the car, we were visited by a Santa Ana Pueblo police officer. It appeared that the Colorado people had made a complaint about us attacking them. Luckily, I mentioned that we knew Iz and his wife, Nita, who happens to be the Pueblo’s Governor. So, Iz showed up and fixed everything.

After we were home and had dinner, I’d noticed that we had a message. The message was from Amy’s friend, Kathy Benallie, who is an ICU nurse. It appears that the girl, Shideezhi “Dee” Hatayhli, who had had the horseback riding accident had recovered from the brain injury. And, Kathy wanted to talk to me. I wasn’t too sure about this.
That night I’d had a dream about the Yei spirits. It's believed that among other things that the male and female Yei spirits have healing powers. Was I was a conduit for them to Dee? So, I guess we’ll meet with Kathy.

Then I found out that the Dean and Dr. Joe had put together a flier on the new class that I’m teaching without me. Am I happy? No!

Then there was the letter from our financial advisor back in Ohio. Amy will find this interesting.

After I’d finished reading all the information that our financial advisor had sent, I went grocery shopping to replenish the pantry and refrigerator. And, put something together for a late dinner when Amy and I got back at eight.

Then just before six I walked into the ER, stopped at the triage desk, and asked for Amy. The nurse at the desk said, “We’ve been swamped, and I don’t think she’ll have time. But, let me check.”

The nurse got up and went into the ER. When she came back out, she asked, “You’re Kai. Right?”

“Yes.”, I said. “I’m Kai.”

“Amy told me to tell you, that she’s sorry and she won’t be able to meet Kathy with you. But, that you should go on up to ICU and see Kathy.”

I said, “Okay thanks.”

As I walked through the hospital to the elevators that would take me to the Intensive Care Unit, I thought, ‘Do I want to do this by myself?’ I answered myself, with a whispered, “No.”

When I reached the elevators, I just stood there and looked at them. Finally, one of the hospital staff walked up, and asked, “Miss, can I help you?”

I looked at her, and said, “Oh! No, I was just thinking.”

“Can I help you find something?”

“No, thank you. I’m going up to the ICU.”

“That’s on the third floor.”

“Yes, thank you.”

I pressed the up button and waited for an elevator. When the doors opened, I waited for everyone to get off, and then I walked on with two other people. The elevator operator asked, “What floor?”

The two people that had gotten on with me said, “Two.”

I hesitated and finally said, “Three, please.”

When we reached the third floor, as the elevator operator opened the door, she said, “Third floor.”

I walked off the elevator, and I knew that the ICU was to the right, but I went left to make it take longer until I had to see Kathy. But, I couldn’t go very far. A short distance down the hall were doors across the hallway that were closed and had a sign on them that said, Surgery. Authorized personnel only.

So, I had to turn around. As I walked back past the elevators and towards the ICU, I resigned myself to getting this over with. Whatever this was. So, I walked up to the ICU’s nurse’s desk, and asked, “Is Kathy Benallie here?”

“Yes, Miss.”, one of the nurses replied. “She’s in the office. Would you like me to get her for you?”

“Yes. I’m meeting her at six. Could you tell her that Kai Nez is here.”

“Yes, Miss Nez. I’ll be right back.”

The nurse got up and went to a glass-enclosed cubical, and I saw Kathy there sitting behind a desk. The nurse said something to her, Kathy looked up and towards where I was standing, and smiled. That was a good thing. Then Kathy said something to the nurse, and the nurse walked back out to me, and said, “Kathy said to go on back.”

“Thank you.”, I said as I started to walk towards where Kathy was.

As I walked up to the open door, Kathy looked at me, smiled again, and said, “Kai, I’m glad you made it.”

“Thanks, Kathy.”, I replied.

“I thought Amy was coming with you.”

“So did I. But, I guess the ER is swamped.”

“That means that we may be swamped too.”

“I hope not for the patient's sake and yours.”

“Thanks. Have a seat.”

I closed the door, and as I sat, I asked. “What did you want to talk about?”

“Like I told Amy, the Hatayhli girl.”, Kathy replied.

“I don’t know what I can tell you.”

“Kai, I’m asking this because as a Navajo I’m curious as to how you helped her. It has the doctors puzzled.”

“You didn’t say anything to them about me. Did you?”

“No, Kai, I didn’t. I know that you are a private person. And, I know that explaining things like this to people who are not Diné - (Navajo) would be hard if not impossible.

“What happened when you were with the girl?”

“Everything that we talk about is between you and me. Right?”

“Yes.”, Kathy said.

“What happened.”, I replied. “Nothing. I sat with her, held her hand, and chanted.”

“One of the nurses did say that she heard you softly singing in a strange language. I told her that it was probably Navajo.”

“It was a chant. One that I’d never heard before. It just came to me.”

“And nothing else?”

“Well, to be honest with you, if I hadn’t had the dream last night I wouldn’t be here. I wasn’t sure that I could talk to you or anyone about this. But, what I dreamed about, made it easier.”

“A dream?”

“Yes, and if I hadn’t had that dream and was feel as good about you as I do, I wouldn’t be here. The dream showed me what happened.”

“And, how do you feel about me?”

“I feel good about you, and did when I first met you. I can usually sense when someone is going to cause me trouble and you aren’t one of those”

“I’m glad to hear that. So, what did the dream tell you?”, Kathy asked.

“Do you know what the Yei spirits are?”

“I’ve heard of them. But, I don’t know much about them.”

“There is a male Yei spirit and a female Yei spirit. And, it’s believed that the Yei spirits control the natural elements, the Sun, the Moon, rain, snow, and so on. It’s also believed that they may have healing powers. And, the Yei spirits may also meditate things between the Great Spirit and us.

“Kathy, remember that I’ve been told more than once by Naainish that I’m not a medicine man or a healer. But, that I am special, but supposedly only to a few people. Like my relatives, and people that I’m close to like close friends.

“The first things that I noticed with people, I didn’t know what I was feeling. Like with my dad, he had a brain aneurysm. I felt that something was wrong, but I didn’t know what. But, I asked the right questions, Amy picked up on it, and he had surgery that night. Did I save his life? Probably, but I think Amy did more by picking up on it.”

“So, you couldn’t do what you did for the Hatayhli girl for everyone?”

“I think that they’d have to believe in the spirits. And, that something special needs to happen.

“And, the dream I had, showed me that I was not responsible for Dee’s recovery. But, I’d helped provide a path for the healing powers of the Yei.”

“Why would they choose the Hatayhli girl to help?”

“I have no idea. Maybe there’s something big planned for her, and it wasn’t her time to pass over.”

“Kai.”, Kathy said, “I think I understand this a little more. And, if I weren’t a Navajo, I’d think that you were crazy.”

With a smile, I said, “If you’d ask Amy. She’d tell you that I am crazy.”

“Kai, I was afraid that you wouldn’t come. But, I’m so glad that you did. You opened my eyes up to some of the fundamental beliefs that I haven't heard for a long time.

“Being a nurse, I’m a scientific type and believe in scientific answers. But, I saw something that the doctors couldn’t explain. And, what you told me is between the two of us.”

“Kathy, Amy is also a scientific type, but she understands this whole thing better than I do.”

Then as I stood, I said, “Kathy, I’m glad I came too. Seeing a member of the Nation learn more about their heritage makes me feel good. Hágoónee', Oolijee. - (See you later, Kathy.)”

Kathy smiled, as she said, “Thanks again, Kai. Say hello to Amy for me. Hágoónee', Kai.”

As I left the ICU, I looked at the clock, and it would be a little while before Amy's shift was over in the ER. So, I needed to kill some time. I took the elevator down to the first floor and walked to the cafeteria. I got something to drink and sat at one of the many empty tables. As I sipped my drink, I thought about things. I thought about everything that’s happened to me. Everything from finding Amy, to her moving away, to her coming back and us getting married. To visiting grandma in New Mexico and learning about two spirit people. And, to now having something to do with the Hatayhli girl getting better. There had been some bad things and some really good things. And, in the long run, they had all helped in me be who I am. But, there were some things I could have done without.

I’d been sitting there for a while when I sensed someone walk up to me. I didn’t look at them. Then, I heard a male voice say, “Excuse me. Would you mind if I joined you.”

I looked up, and it was a young doctor. Then I looked around, and there were many empty tables. And, I asked, “Why here? There’s plenty of empty tables.”

“Well. I’ve seen you around, and … ”

“If you’re trying to chat me up. I’m not interested.”

“No, I’m not chatting you up. I stopped in the ICU the other day to check on one of my patients, and I saw you with her. I watched you for a while, and was wondering what I saw you doing.”

“You saw me? And, how do you know it was me?”

“Miss, you are not hard to recognize. Your hairstyle and the way you dress.”

“There’s others around that dress this way.”

“Not many. And, I know it was you sitting with the girl that had a horseback riding accident. You were holding her hand, and saying something to her very quietly in a foreign language.”

“I was praying with her.”

“She was in a drug-induced coma.”

“She could still hear what I was saying.”

“I don’t think so.”

“I do.”

“Are you a medicine man or something?”

“No. Are you a Navajo or a native American?”

“No.”

“Then you wouldn’t understand what I was doing, and I don’t have the time right now to explain it to you Dr. … What’s your name?”

“Dr. Mason.”

“Dr. Mason, I understand that there is a seminar that is part of a weekend training conference that addresses working with the native Americans using their beliefs. Since many patients in this hospital are native Americas, it might be good for you to attend that seminar.”

“I’ve heard about that. Miss … And, what is your name?”

“Kai Nez.”, I replied.

“Well, Miss Nez.”, Dr. Mason said. “Like I was saying, I’ve heard about this seminar. Another doctor here, Dr. Black, said something about having an Indian patient with a dislocated shoulder that healed very quickly, and the patient attributed it to thermal waters and spirits.

“And, he said that in talking with her and her friend, he learned somethings about the native people. And, he suggested to the staff of the medical school that they look into doing something about teaching the staff how to work better with the native people.”

As I stood to leave, I smiled, and said, “The friend is her cousin, and that cousin is an ER nurse. And, believe what he said. My shoulder did heal quickly.” And, I moved my arm around a little and walked away.

It was just about eight when I walked into the ER’s waiting room. And, there were a lot of people here. So, they were busy. I found a seat and waited for Amy.

It was almost eight-thirty when Amy finally walked out of the ER and looked for me. I saw her before she saw me, and I walked over to her, and said, “You look tired.”

“Oh. Hi, Kai.”, Amy replied. “I am. It’s been crazy. Let’s go home.”

As we walked to the apartment, I filled her in on my day. She was happy that my talk with Kathy went so well. And, said, “I figured that all she wanted to do was find out how her Navajo heritage figured into what happened.”

“As I talked to Kathy.”, I said. “I figured that out too.

“Then, I was too early to pick you up and went to the hospital cafeteria to get something to drink. As I was sitting by myself at a table, a doctor walked up to me and asked if he could sit down.

“I looked around the room, and there were a large number of empty tables. And, I told him that I didn’t want to be hit on. He told me that he saw me in the ICU with one of his patients, Dee Hatayhli. I told him that I was praying with her.

“He said that she was in a drug-induced coma and probably didn’t hear me. And, I said that she probably did hear me. Then we talked about the native people. I said something about a seminar being part of that weekend thing. He told me that he’d heard about it from a friend, Dr. Black. And, that Dr. Black had told him about a native patient that he had that recovered quicker than usual. But, Dr. Mason said that he couldn’t believe it.

“As I left him, I moved my arm around, smiled, and told him that I had recovered very quickly.”

“You did say Dr. Mason?”, Amy asked.

“Yes.”, I replied.

“There are two Dr. Masons. Was he old or young?”

“Young.”

“He’s one of the neurosurgeons. And, if I know you, you didn’t pull any punches.”

“I didn’t feel anything bad, so I was nice to him. I felt, like with Kathy, that he was trying to find out what I was doing.”

As we walked into the apartment, I told Amy to take a shower and that I’d fix us supper. When Amy came downstairs after her shower, she was dressed only in her robe. I’d put together a nice meal for us, and as we ate, I said, “We received an interesting letter from our financial advisor back in Ohio.”

“Oh. What did he say?”, Amy asked.

I slid the letter over to her and said, “Here. The first page is a summary of the scholarship account, and the rest of it is our investments.”

I watched as Amy read the first page about the scholarship account. She smiled, and said, “If I’m reading this correctly, it looks like we can add two more scholarships next year.”

“You’re reading it correctly.”, I replied. “It looks like between the investments and donations that the scholarship fund is doing very well.

“I’ll contact our financial advisor tomorrow to be sure that we’re reading it correctly. Then I’ll contact the scholarship people and tell them.”

“Sounds good.”

Amy set the letter down, and I asked, “Aren’t you going to read the rest?”

“Oh yeah. I told you that I was tired.”

She picked the letter back up and started looking at the remaining pages. As she read, she’d look at me every once in a while, and then she’d go back to reading. When she got to the last page, she said, “Are you kidding me! Six figures.”

“No. No kidding.”, I said.

“You’re worth this much.”

“No, my dear. Read the names on the account. It has both of our names on it. So, WE are worth that much.”

“Wow!”

“Plus what we’ve been able to save here. Not to mention the silver.”

“This is kind of scary.”, Amy said. “Being this young and having this much money.”

“I know.”, I said. “Want to drop everything and travel?”

“Do you?”

“No. Just doing nothing would drive me crazy.”

“Honestly. It would drive me crazy too.”

“You know that house that we’ve been talking about?”, I asked.

“Yeah.”, Amy replied.

“Well, I hear that investing in real estate is a good thing to do.”

“So, are you saying that we should start looking?”

“Could be.”

“Where?”

“If we’re going to stay at the university, and I think we are. The house should be away from town, so that the light pollution won’t bother us, but not too far from the university.”

“I’ll buy that. How big of a house do you think?”

“I don’t know. We should have room for company to stay.”

“Uh huh. And, maybe room for children.”

I looked at Amy, smiled, and said, “Thinking about a family?”

“Yeah. In the not too distant future.”

“We may need to talk with Uncle Gaagii.”

“About a family? Why Uncle Gaagii!?”

“No, not about a family, silly.”, I said. “But, I think we should have a hogan out back for guests, and we need to find out who built his.”

“You’re crazy.”

“Didn’t you enjoy staying in the hogan?”, I asked.

“Yeah. You know I did.”, Amy replied. “And, I think Charlie and Jackie did too.”

“You know. We need to keep this quiet.”

“What, the house or starting a family?”

“No, the money.”

“Yeah.”, Amy said. “We should keep that quiet.”

“I know that several people know about our ‘trust fund’, which is no longer a trust fund.”, I added. “But, they don’t know what it’s worth.”

“So, let’s just not mention it.”

“I guess just keep being our crazy selves.”

“That won’t be hard for you, Kai.”

Not much later as we were getting ready for bed, I said, “You know, I’d like to go to Taos and the resort this weekend.”

“You want to show the two papers and Grandpa Tse’s bracelet to Mr. Yazzie don’t you.”

“That, and I want to see if Aunt Ruth found anything using the tracing.”

“Have you sent your mother her tracing yet?”

“No, I was going to do it tomorrow after my classes.”

“I should be back here after my classes too. So, if you want me to type a letter I can.”

Amy is the best typist of the two of us. I’m a hunt and peck typist, and Amy is a touch-typist and can accurately type 65 words per minute.

“Okay. Then we can probably put it in the mailbox before the postman gets here in the afternoon. Do we have some 5¢ stamps?”

“Yes, in the desk in the small room.”

On Tuesday when Amy and I were back at the apartment after our classes and had lunch, we typed up a letter to my mother and told her about the tracing that we were enclosing, and then about how we were seriously thinking of buying a house before they came out. After Amy had typed up an envelope, I put a 5¢ stamp on it, put the letter and tracing in it, sealed it, and took it out to the mailbox. As luck would have it, just as I was walking out the front door, the mailman was walking onto to the porch. We said hello, I handed him the envelope, and he handed me our mail — one bill.

Then I called our financial advisor in Ohio and talked to him about what he’d sent us. He told me that we’d read it correctly. Then I asked him about buying a house. And, he agreed that it could be a good investment if we got a good piece of real estate at a reasonable price.

“So, what did he have to say?”, Amy asked.

“We did read everything correctly.”, I replied. “He also agreed that the scholarship fund could easily handle two more scholarships. And, that real estate could also be a good investment. He suggested we keep the cost to about forty to fifty thousand.”

“Can we do that?”

“Yes. I think so.”

I also called my Aunt Ruth. She said that she’d checked her silver, and did have a piece that Tse Nez had made. And, it was a silver box. And, as usual, they would be happy to see us on Friday.

The next two days were just the next two days. The only thing that I was wondering about was why I hadn’t heard anything from Los Alamos. Dr. Joe told me that he hadn’t either and that the wheels of government grind slowly. I said, “I thought it was, the wheels of justice turn slowly?”

“Them too.”, Dr. Joe replied. “But, the wheels of government grind slower. Unless you owe them money.”

Amy and I did work on fine-tuning some things. She worked on the seminar that she was putting on as part of a weekend training conference for the medical school. And, I worked on putting some finishing touches of the computer design course that I was teaching in the spring.

I was going to ask Charlie and Jackie to go with usto the resort on Friday, but there had been a small fire in one of the laboratories at the university and part of the university's maintenance crew was working the weekend to repair the damage, and that included Charlie. That would be some good money for him since the university even paid their student help overtime for special work.

So, after a quick lunch on Friday we headed north to Taos. We figured that we’d go to Taos first and that would give us all day Saturday at the resort.

When we reached Taos, we drove to Mr. Yazzie’s shop and parked almost in front. I retrieved the camera bag from the trunk, and we walked the few feet to the shop. As we walked in the door, the little bell over the door tinkled. Mr. Yazzie was with a customer. He looked at us, smiled, and said, “Kai! Ajie! It’s good to see you.”

“Hello, Mr. Yazzie.”, I replied.

“I’ll be with you shortly.”

“No rush.”

We waited while Mr. Yazzie finished up with the customer. Then we shared a proper greeting as Mr. Yazzie said, “Yá’át’ééh, Kai dóó Ajie. - (It is good, Kai and Ajie.)”

“Yá’át’ééh, Sike Yazzie.”, Ajie and I returned.

Then I said, “We have something interesting to show you.”

“What’s that?”, he asked.

“Do you remember the choker that we found that had two maker’s marks on it. One was Kilchii Nez’s mark and the other we couldn’t figure out who’s it was?”

“Of course.”

I took the folder that had the paper about Tse Nez in it out of the camera bag, set it on the counter, and opened it.

Mr. Yazzie looked at the paper in the folder, and said, “That’s old.”

“It is.”, I replied. “And, this maker’s mark is the unknown maker’s mark. And, it belongs, as this paper testifies, to Tse Nez.”

“Tse Nez. I’ve never heard of him.”

“We hadn’t either until we received these papers.”

“Who gave them to you?”

As I pulled the other folder, with Kilchii’s paper in it, out of the camera bag, I said, “I’ll tell you in a minute. But, first, look at this.”

I opened the folder with Kilchii’s paper in it and set it in front of Mr. Yazzie. And, after he read it, he looked at me and said, “Kai, this is amazing. This Tse was Kilchii’s father and teacher.”

“Yes.”

“Now, where did you get these?”

I said, “One more thing.”

“Kai!”, Mr. Yazzie said.

I took the bracelet, that was wrapped in a cloth, out of the camera case and set it on the counter, and unwrapped it.

Mr. Yazzie looked at it, then he picked it up, and looked at it very carefully. Then he looked at me, and said, “I thought Kilchii was an old master. And, he is. But, this Tse Nez is also an old master. Now, tell me before I have a stroke, where did you get these?”

“Does the name Atsa Clah mean anything to you?”

“I’ve heard the name. But, I’m not sure who he is.”

“He’s a collector of Navajo silver, and along with that he’s the War Chief of the Navajo Nation.”

“Kai, who don’t you know? Where did you meet him?”

“We were together at the resort, he saw the display of Kilchii’s things in the hotel lobby, we got to talking, and we showed him the choker with the two maker’s marks. When he was back home, he looked at some of the things that he had and found the two papers. We met up with him, he gave us the papers and sold us the bracelet. It was one of two bracelets made by Tse that he had.”

“Can I ask what you paid for the bracelet?”

“For the bracelet, we paid seventy dollars. And, the Chief didn’t have anything of Kilchii's work, so we gave him a Concho that Kilchii had made as thanks for the two documents.”

“You both did well. And, the most important thing is you found out who Kilchii’s father was.”

“How true, Mr. Yazzie.”

We talked a little longer, then said hágoónee' - (see you later) to Mr. Yazzie, and headed south to the resort. When we got to the resort, the door to my aunt and uncle’s house was locked, so using my key to open the door. We found a note on the kitchen table, that told us that my aunt and uncle had gone to Santa Fe and would be back for dinner and that we’d go to the restaurant for dinner.

Ajie and I brought everything in from the car. One of the things that we brought in was a bag that I hadn’t seen Ajie put in the car, so I asked, “What’s in the bag?”

“Some things for the first aid kits.”, Ajie replied.

“Oh. Okay. Do you think that we should surprise them and make dinner?”

“I think they want to take us to dinner tonight. Maybe we can make dinner tomorrow.”

“Sounds like a plan.”, I said. “What to go for a walk?”

We changed into our hiking gear and headed out after locking up the house and car. We walked through the hotel and noticed several people checking in. Ajie said, “I wonder if they're having some kind of meeting here this weekend?”

“There might be.”, I replied.

We walked out of the hotel and followed the cliff trail to the top. We stopped and listened to the coyotes talking. Then we headed over to where the little tree is, and it looked to be in good shape. Then we picked up the P’osi Loop Trail and followed it past the ruins of the pueblo and back to the hotel. And, then we went to my aunt and uncle’s house. The door was unlocked, and we walked in. Aunt Ruth and Uncle Paul were sitting at the kitchen table. When they saw us, they said, “Hi kids.”

“Hi, Aunt Ruth. Hi Uncle Paul.”, we both said.

Then I asked, “Are you having a convention or something this weekend.”

“It’s one of the companies in Albuquerque that comes up here every year for management team training of some kind.”, Uncle Paul replied.

“We’re eating dinner in the restaurant. Won’t the restaurant be busy?”

“Probably. But, I pulled some strings and got a reservation for us at seven.”

“Don’t let him pull your leg, Kai.”, Aunt Ruth said. “We’re always invited to eat with this group when they’re here.”

I put my hands on my hips, and said, “Uncle Paul!”

“Hey, I can try to mess with you.”, Uncle Paul said. “Can’t I?”

“No! So, we have till six to start getting ready?”

“Sure. Going for a soak?”, Aunt Ruth asked.

“We’d like to, but it’s too close to dinner. Maybe afterward. Now, Aunt Ruth did you find anything of Grandfather Tses’?

Aunt Ruth, as she got up, smiled, and said, “Yes, Kai. I did. And, I’ll be right back.”

She walked out of the kitchen and back to the bedrooms, and she was back with us in a few minutes carrying something. She sat back down at the table. Set the item on the table, and unwrapped it. We were looking at a small silver box with an oval turquoise piece in the middle of the top. The tooling on the top and sides of the box was downright gorgeous, and I said so. The box was actually two pieces, there was a bottom, and the top slipped down over it. I asked, “Can I look at it, Aunt Ruth?”

“Of course, Kai.”, Aunt Ruth said.

I picked up the box and took a close look at it. Then I carefully removed the top and looked closely at it. And, I found Tse Nez’s maker’s mark hand engraved on the inside. I handed the top to Ajie. Then I picked up the bottom and gave it a close look, and the maker’s mark was on the bottom, and it was also was hand engraved.

Then I said, “I think that this is one of Tse’s early pieces. Both of his maker’s marks are hand engraved.”

“I was wondering about that.”, Aunt Ruth said.

“Grandpa Tse probably didn’t have his maker’s marking tool when he made this piece. I know he eventually had one, and I’d sure love to find it.”

“That would probably be impossible.”, Ajie said.