Bailey and the Santa Fe Secret

by Linda McQuinn Carlblom

  © 2011 by Barbour Publishing, Inc.

  Edited by Jeanette Littleton.

  Print ISBN 978-1-60260-404-9

  eBook Editions:

  Adobe Digital Edition (.epub) 978-1-60742-416-1

  Kindle and MobiPocket Edition (.prc) 978-1-60742-418-5

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted for commercial purposes, except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without written permission of the publisher.

  Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. niv®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any similarity to actual people, organizations, and/or events is purely coincidental.

  Cover design: Thinkpen Design

  Published by Barbour Publishing, Inc., P.O. Box 719, Uhrichsville, Ohio 44683, www.barbourbooks.com

  Our mission is to publish and distribute inspirational products offering exceptional value and biblical encouragement to the masses.

  Printed in the United States of America.

  Dickinson Press Inc., Grand Rapids, MI 49512; February 2011; D10002688

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Teaser Chapter

  Strangers in a New Land

  “What was that?”

  Nine-year-old Bailey Chang jumped at the snort she heard behind her and twirled around.

  Elizabeth Anderson, her fourteen-year-old friend from Amarillo, Texas, grabbed her hand. Sweat beaded on her pale forehead. “I don’t know.”

  They inched toward a clump of dried bushes in the New Mexico desert. The pungent odor of livestock grew stronger as they approached the bushes. The hot August sun beat down on their sleeveless arms and necks, and a trickle of sweat rolled down Bailey’s back.

  “Smells like my grandma’s farm!” Elizabeth held her nose.

  Bailey covered her nose and mouth with her hand. “

  Maybe even worse than a farm.” She saw the brown bush move. “Something’s in there.” Her slight frame trembled like a bowl of jelly.

  Suddenly, with a squeal and a grunt, a bristly gray javelina charged stiff-legged at them from behind the bushand ran across the landscape. The girls screamed and bolted in the opposite direction, just as terrified as the wild pig. They didn’t stop running until they got to Halona Tse’s home, nearly a half-mile away. Halona was a distant cousin to Bailey and her mom.

  “Whoa, what’s the matter?” Halona said as they burst through the door.

  Bailey, her mom, and Elizabeth had come to help Halona with her pottery shop just that morning, and the girls had gone out exploring the barren territory around her house. It was so different from Peoria, Illinois, where Bailey lived, or Amarillo, Texas, where Elizabeth lived.

  “We came face to face with a fanged pig!” Wheezing, Bailey pulled her inhaler from her jeans pocket and breathed in the medicine to open her airway.

  Halona laughed. “Sounds like you saw a javelina.”

  “He was so ugly.” Elizabeth shuddered. “Gray and black bristly hair, little stiff legs, and an underbite like he needed braces!”

  Bailey let out the breath she’d been holding since using her inhaler. “Yeah, he was a real beauty.” She giggled. “But boy, could he move fast!”

  “I’m just glad he didn’t chase us, or I would have freaked out,” Elizabeth said.

  “You weren’t freaked out?” Elan, Halona’s thirteen-year-old son, smirked at Elizabeth. His build was small, but he had a handsome face and a winning smile. His long black hair was pulled back into a short ponytail that reached just beyond his shoulders. “You could have fooled me.”

  “Well, maybe just a little,” Elizabeth admitted with a smile.

  “We’re used to seeing javelinas,” Elan’s younger sister, Aiyana, said. “We’ve grown up around them.” Her black eyes sparkled, and her soft, black curls fell like a waterfall down her back. At eight years old, she stood nearly as tall as her brother.

  “But you still have to be careful,” reminded her mother. “Wild boars are not to be taken lightly any more than rattlesnakes are.”

  The color drained from Elizabeth’s cheeks. “Rattlesnakes? I’m petrified of snakes.”

  “They’re all over the place, but we don’t see much of them.” Elan acted like it was no big deal. Though he didn’t stand much taller than Aiyana, he behaved as if he were ten feet tall. “But they’re hiding out there. It’s part of their defense mechanism.”

  Bailey’s mom chimed in. “I’m sure you won’t see one while we’re here, Beth. I’ve never spotted one yet in all the times I’ve visited.”

  “Why don’t you live closer to town?” Bailey asked, sitting next to Elizabeth on the couch. “Then you wouldn’t have to worry about those things as much.”

  “We Native Americans have our own land to live on. It’s called a reservation. We even have our own government completely separate from the United States. We’re a nation of people living among your nation, but our land is our own. We like to live out here where it’s peaceful and quiet. Some of us work in town, though. My pottery shop is in Santa Fe.”

  “I can’t wait to see it.” Bailey looked around the Tses’ small home. It was sparsely furnished and clean. Family pictures hung on the wall, but little else. The green plaid couch reminded Bailey of furniture she’d seen at secondhand stores, but she liked how soft it was and the way she sank down into it when she sat. Pottery lined a display shelf and sat on tables. “You have a lot of pottery here, too.”

  “We’ve made pottery for generations. It’s one of our native crafts.”

  Elizabeth gazed at a brown pot with black swirls painted around it that sat on the coffee table. “This one is beautiful. Did you make it?”

  “No, my mother made that one.” Halona’s eyes misted, and she smoothed her blue cotton dress. Her long black hair was pulled back into a bun at the back of her head. Streaks of gray made it sparkle like icicles on a Christmas tree. “She was a master at the pottery wheel. The best I’ve ever seen. I’m trying to keep the shop going now that she’s gone, but it’s so hard to keep up with everything during the heavy tourist season.”

  Halona’s eyes got a faraway look. “My husband died when Aiyana was just a baby, and I didn’t think I could go on. But my mother helped me keep the shop going. With her help, we somehow made it. Then when she passed away, I thought I could never do it alone. We’ve managed until now, the busy season. I can’t thank you enough for coming to help us.”

  Bailey felt a stab in her heart. It must be awful to lose your mother, even if you’re already grown up, she thought.

  “How long has it been since your mother died?” she asked.

  “Six months, though it seems only yesterday.” Halona smiled weakly and looked at her children. “But I have good help. Elan is almost a man at thirteen. And my Aiyana does so much for me even though she is only eight. She lives up to the meaning of her name, ‘ever blooming.’ I never hear a word of complaint from her.”

  “It’s a beautiful name,” Elizabeth said.

  “Names are very important in the Native American culture,” Halona said. “We give great thought to what they mean. Elan’s name means ‘friendly,’ and mine mean
s ‘of happy fortune.’ I keep reminding myself of that when times are tough and I struggle to pay my bills.”

  “That’s cool,” Bailey said. “Mom, what does my name mean?”

  Bailey’s mom shook her head. “I’m sorry, but I don’t know. We just liked the way it sounds.”

  Bailey sighed. “I’ll have to look it up sometime, I guess.”

  “I know what my name means,” Elizabeth said. “I was named after Elizabeth in the Bible, John the Baptist’s mother. It means ‘God-directed.’ But sometimes people call me Beth, for short.”

  “Wow.” Aiyana’s eyes shone. “That’s a beautiful name, too.”

  “Yes, it is,” Bailey’s mom said. “Halona, hopefully we can be of some help to you while we’re here so it won’t be so hard for you to live up to your name.”

  “So when can we see your shop?” Bailey asked.

  Halona laughed. “Right now, if you’d like. We didn’t open it up for the day yet since you were coming, but now that you’re here, you can help us.”

  “All right! Let’s go!” Bailey jumped up off the couch.

  The group piled into Halona’s big white Suburban and buckled up. It was an older vehicle, with windows you had to crank up and down. The dark blue backseat upholstery was torn on the passenger side. Aiyana rode in the front seat with Halona and Bailey’s mom, and Bailey sat between Elan and Elizabeth in back.

  Dust flew as they rode down the dirt road from the reservation to the paved main road. Bailey was awed by the rugged majesty of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains that ranalongside them. Prickly pear cacti dotted the desert as they zoomed toward Santa Fe. Soon they were on the freeway and arrived in Santa Fe minutes later.

  “It’s amazing how different it is here from on the reservation.” Bailey stared at all the specialty shops around her. People roamed the streets popping into the small stores to look at handmade jewelry, pots, and art.

  Halona parked in front of a store bearing a terra cotta sign with blue lettering that said EARTH WORKS on it. “Here we are!” she said.

  “Earth Works,” Bailey said. “I like it!”

  “We take clay, which comes from the earth, and make it into pottery,” Elan explained.

  “But we use much more than clay in our pottery.” Halona unlocked the shop door. “We use precious stones and minerals from the mines, and even ropes, which are made from plants. So much of what we use in our work comes from the earth.”

  The musky aroma of incense greeted the girls as they followed Halona into the store. Elan went to the counter and lit a short incense stick that looked as if it was left over from the day before.

  “What kinds of mines do you have in New Mexico?” Elizabeth asked.

  “Turquoise, copper, gold, silver—there are all kinds of mines here,” Elan said.

  “And we own one of the turquoise mines!” Aiyana’s dark eyes gleamed. Her red T-shirt and brown corduroy pants could have been a boy’s outfit, but looked decidedly feminine on the pretty little girl.

  “Well, sort of,” Halona corrected. “Legend says our family once owned the Suquosa Mine, which was one of the largest turquoise mines. It is no longer in operation. And the deed to the mine has been lost over the years. We have no proof we own it.”

  “What if you found the deed?” Bailey asked. “Could you reopen the mine and use the turquoise?”

  Elan jumped in. “If we found it, we’d be rich!”

  Halona put her hand on her son’s shoulder. “We are rich in other ways now. But yes, Bailey, it would help us immensely in our work.”

  Bailey shot a look at Elizabeth, who smiled and nodded. The two walked around the shop admiring the beautiful pots while Halona took Bailey’s mother to the office to show her the bookkeeping system she’d be helping with.

  “I’ve never seen so many kinds of pots,” Elizabeth said. “Some have handles, some are tall, and some are short. Others are painted with bright colors and some earth tones.”

  “And I’ve never seen pots with gems embedded in them before,” Bailey added. “Those are my favorite.”

  “Do you make the jewelry, too?” Elizabeth asked Elan and Aiyana.

  “Some of it,” Elan replied. “We make all the pots ourselves, but we buy some of the jewelry and blankets from other Native Americans.”

  “It must take hours and hours to make these things!” Bailey scanned the shop, taking in the variety of items.

  “It does,” Aiyana said. “That’s why we need your help during tourist season.”

  “Mom feels bad if Aiyana and I have to work too much.” Elan shrugged. “But I don’t mind. I tell her I am not a kid anymore. I’m the man of the family, and it is my duty.”

  “What happened to your dad?” Bailey asked gently. “Was he sick?”

  “He had cancer and died when Aiyana was only five months old,” Elan replied. “So I’m the man of the house.”

  Bailey nodded. Her heart broke for Elan and Aiyana as an image of her own dad filled her mind. She thought about the way he had tossed her in the air when she was a tiny girl and the way he teased her now that she was older. She couldn’t imagine what it would be like to grow up without him.

  Elan stepped outside to sweep the front sidewalk, and Elizabeth moved to another shelf full of painted pottery. Bailey followed her until she heard voices yelling outside.

  “Look at the boy doing girl’s work!”

  “Sweep, little girl. Sweep!”

  Bailey glanced out the front window and saw some teenaged boys on bikes taunting Elan. He didn’t look up atthem, but his face reddened as he swept the sidewalk with hard, deliberate strokes.

  How can they be so mean? Just because he’s smaller than they are doesn’t mean they should get away with talking to him like that. Don’t they know his dad died and he has to help his mom?

  “Beth, come here!” Bailey motioned her to the window.

  Elizabeth immediately saw why Bailey had called her over.

  “You’ll never be man enough to get married!” one boy jeered.

  “Good thing your people don’t perform the ceremonial rite of passage anymore, or you’d never be declared a man. You’d be a little kid forever!”

  That did it. Elan dropped his broom and put his hands on his hips. “You want to come over here and say that?”

  “Sure, I’ll say it right in your face.” One of the bigger boys hopped off his bike, letting it fall by the road. The other boys straddled their bikes, waiting to see what would happen.

  “Should we go out there?” Bailey asked.

  The big boy reached Elan, and the two stood facing one another, inches separating them, though Elan stood almost a foot shorter.

  “What did you say to me, Paco?” Elan said through gritted teeth.

  “I said you’ll never be a man.” Paco spat the words slowly and deliberately. Then he shoved Elan.

  Bailey burst through the door with Elizabeth and Aiyana close behind. None of the girls spoke, but glared at Paco.

  “These your girlfriends, Elan?” Paco teased.

  “Bailey’s my cousin, if it’s any of your business.”

  “Looks like she’s come to do your fighting for you.”

  “We have not!” Bailey said. “Just leave him alone and get out of here.”

  “Who’s gonna make me?”

  “I am!” Elan pushed Paco so hard he staggered backward.

  “Elan!” Aiyana yelled.

  “Why you—” Paco steadied himself and grabbed Elan’s shirt collar, flinging him to the sidewalk.

  “Stop it!” Elizabeth stepped forward and stood face-to-face with Paco. She was as tall as he was. Bailey and Aiyana moved to Elan’s side and helped him up.

  Paco laughed and turned to leave. “Have a nice day—sissy!” He grabbed his bike by the handlebar and hopped on.

  “You showed him!” Willy, one of Paco’s friends, said.

  “Yeah, he’s such a shrimp you could have eaten him!” said another.

  The boys rod
e away laughing.

  “Are you okay, Elan?” Bailey asked.

  “I’m fine.” He brushed dirt off his pants.

  “Who are those guys?” Elizabeth asked.

  “Guys from my tribe who think I’m too small to be of any good.” Fury blazed in Elan’s dark eyes.

  “Guess they don’t know the measure of a man is inside him,” Elizabeth said. “God judges the heart, not what a person looks like on the outside.”

  “Try telling that to them,” Elan said. “They’ve been pestering me for years.”

  “Does your mom know?” Bailey asked.

  Elan shrugged. “She did a few years ago. But I haven’t told her it’s still going on.”

  “I think we should tell her,” Aiyana said.

  “No!” Elan shot back. “Mama isn’t to know anything about this. She has enough on her mind.”

  Aiyana lowered her head, her black hair falling around her face like a curtain.

  “I’m sorry, Aiyana,” Elan said. “I didn’t mean to yell at you. But I can handle this on my own. I’m practically a man. One day they’ll be sorry they messed with me.”

  Elizabeth cleared her throat. “The Bible says, ‘Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against one of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself.’ It’s not easy, but it’s the best way to solve a problem with other people.”

  “That may be the way you do things, but things are different in our Native American culture.” Elan frowned.

  “Different?” Bailey asked.

  “Your Bible also says, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth,’ doesn’t it?” Elan asked.

  “Yes, but—” Elizabeth began.

  “So that’s how we solve things around here. We believe in peace for a time, but if that doesn’t work, then it’s time to take action.” Elan spoke as if no one could ever change his mind.

  Bailey nodded. “We’ll pray for things to work out.”

  “Oh, they’ll work out,” Elan said. “I’ll prove to them that I’m a man.”

  “You don’t have to prove anything,” Elizabeth said. “They’re the ones with the problem.”

  “Yeah, well I’ll show them.” Elan turned and stomped back into the store, ending the conversation.