Bailey and the Santa Fe Secret

by Linda McQuinn Carlblom

  “Hopefully we can get back before that,” Bailey said.

  “Yeah, I feel like I’m being barbecued.” Elizabeth wipedsweat from her forehead.

  Elan stopped and looked around.

  “What’s wrong?” Bailey scanned the area, looking for signs of trouble.

  “Nothing.” Elan looked the other way.

  “E-laan,” Bailey said, drawing out his name. “Tell me what’s the matter.”

  “Nothing! I just thought the cliff dwellings were right over there, but they’re not. We must have gotten turned around when we stopped to take a drink or when I gave Beth my hat.”

  “How could we have gotten turned around?” Elizabeth said. “We barely even stopped.”

  “I don’t know, but something’s not right.” Elan walked ahead, and the girls followed. “I think we need to go this way.”

  “Are you telling me we’re lost?” Elizabeth said.

  “Not lost,” Elan replied. “Just turned around. We need to go toward those rocks over there.”

  Bailey followed Elan’s finger to the rocks and saw them in the distance. “Clear over there? I thought you said the cliff dwellings weren’t far?”

  “They aren’t if you take the direct route!” Elan’s voice rose. “But when you’re traveling with two complaining girls, it’s easy to get turned around.” Then he mocked them. “I’m hot. I’m getting sunburned. I need a drink. Are we almost there?” Then back to his own voice. “No wonder it’s taking so long!”

  “It’s not our fault if it’s taking longer than usual,” Bailey shot back. “We’ve kept up with you step for step.”

  Elan stomped toward the distant rocks. Elizabeth and Bailey hurried behind him, determined to keep up with his faster pace. Bailey wiped the sweat from her face with her T-shirt sleeve. Elan was now ten feet ahead of them.

  “Elan, slow down!” Elizabeth called.

  But he continued, angry, toward his destination.

  “Bailey, we’ll never be able to keep up this pace.” Elizabeth’s face was red with heat.

  “Let’s stop and rest.” Bailey sat on a rock and opened her water bottle, gulping the lukewarm water that filled her mouth.

  “He’ll wait for us when he sees how far behind we are.” Elizabeth took a drink and sat beside Bailey. She put both feet on the rock and rested her head on her knees.

  Suddenly, the girls heard a rattle. They looked at each other and froze in fear. “A snake!” Bailey whispered.

  Elizabeth nodded, her face paling.

  “We have to step away from this rock so he knows we won’t hurt him,” Bailey said. She slowly stood and took a giant step. “Come on, Beth!”

  Elizabeth opened her mouth, but nothing came out.

  “You can do it, I know you can!”

  “I can’t move!” Elizabeth finally squeaked.

  “Yes, you can.” Bailey held her hand to her friend. “First you have to stand.”

  “I’m afraid to put my feet on the ground. The snake may strike me!”

  Bailey spoke in a calm, soothing voice. “No, he won’t. I was sitting next to you when I got up, and he didn’t strike me. You can do this.”

  The snake’s rattle continued.

  “You know snakes are one of my worst fears, Bales.”

  Bailey saw tears run down Beth’s cheeks. “I know, but you can do everything through Him who gives you strength! We learned that verse at camp, remember? Philippians 4:13. It applies to situations we think are too hard for us. You can do anything with God’s help. Even this.”

  Elizabeth closed her eyes and pointed her face skyward as if praying silently. She wiped the tears from her face, then inched her feet down the rock until her toes touched the ground.

  “Good girl!” Bailey cheered quietly. “If that snake wanted to hurt you, he would have already done it. Now stand and take a step toward me.”

  Beth steadied herself against the rock as she slowly stood. Then she practically ran to Bailey’s waiting arms.

  “You did it!” Bailey hugged her friend.

  “More like God did it,” Beth said. “I couldn’t have done that without His help.”

  “You are living proof of the verse we learned.”

  “That’s for sure.”

  Bailey grew silent, and then she heard the rattle again. She saw the snake’s head poke out from behind the rock, its tongue flicking the air. “Let’s get out of here!”

  Both girls took off running in the direction Elan had gone. They saw he had turned around and was coming back in their direction. When they started running, he ran to meet them.

  “What’s the matter?” he yelled.

  “A rattlesnake!” Bailey screamed.

  As they got closer, they slowed to an exhausted trudge.

  “Why did you leave us?” Elizabeth scolded when they were close enough to talk. “We were practically bitten by a rattlesnake!”

  “Because you were blaming me for getting us lost!” Elan looked away. “I’m sorry. I should have stayed with you. Are you all right?”

  “We are now,” Bailey said. “But the snake was hiding under the rock where we stopped to rest. Way too close for comfort.”

  “I’ve never been so scared in all my life.” Beth shuddered.

  “I’m sorry.” Elan tugged at his ponytail. “I really am. But I do have some good news.”

  “You do?” Bailey said.

  “The Puye Cliff dwellings are right past these boulders. We’re practically there!”

  “Finally!” Elizabeth said. “I don’t know how much farther I could have walked.”

  “Yeah, we’ve been walking an hour in this heat already.” Bailey lifted her hair off her neck, wishing it were long enough to pull in a ponytail.

  “Come on.” Elan extended his hand to show them the way. “Follow me. Some trees up here can shade us so it won’t be as hot. I promise it’s not far.”

  The trio hiked another ten minutes and just past the boulders, they saw the cliff dwellings. Some of the ruins were on the ground, remains of an ancient civilization. Handmade stone walls stood only about three feet high, but the three could still see the shape of rooms and buildings that had once stood there.

  “Wow!” Bailey said. “This is amazing!”

  “The Puye Cliffs were home to around 1500 Pueblo Indians in the late 1100s to around 1580,” Elan explained. “Then the drought forced them to move to the Rio Grande River valley.”

  “Oh, yeah. Aiyana told us about the drought,” Bailey said. “Are you a Pueblo Indian?” she asked Elan.

  “Yes and no. The Pueblo Indians split into eight different pueblos when they had to move. We’re known as Santa Clara Pueblo Indians,” Elan replied.

  “Look up there.” Elizabeth pointed to the side of the cliff.

  “Cliff dwellings!” Bailey said. “How did they ever build them on such a sheer hill?”

  “I’m not sure,” Elan said. “It’s even more amazing when you realize they didn’t have modern equipment to help them.”

  “It looks like it has two levels.” Elizabeth pulled out her phone and took a picture.

  “It does,” Elan said. “The people used ladders to go from one level to the next.”

  “It’s like an ancient apartment complex!” Bailey laughed.

  Elan pointed to the solid rock wall to the right of the cliff dwellings. “During the rite of passage, the boys would climb this side of the cliff without ropes or tools of any kind.” He eyed the rock with awe.

  Elizabeth shook her head. “I can’t imagine how anyone ever did that.”

  “It wouldn’t be that hard,” Elan said. “I bet I could do it. You can see the handholds when you get up close.”

  “You’d do it or die trying,” Bailey said. “How could any parent let a kid do that?”

  “That’s the point,” Elan said. “They’re not children anymore. They’re becoming adults in the rite of passage.”

  “Seems like a silly tradition to me,” Elizabeth said. “No
reason to have to grow up overnight, especially by doing something so dangerous.”

  “Our traditions mean a lot to our people.” Elan sounded offended.

  “I’m sure you have many traditions that are worth keeping, but I’m glad this one fell by the wayside.” Bailey patted Elan on the back. “I’d hate to see my cousin up there!”

  Bailey and Elizabeth took more pictures of the ancient dwellings.

  “What’s that?” Bailey pointed to a mountain area not far from the cliff dwellings.

  “That’s where some of the old turquoise mines used to be.” Elan shaded his eyes with his hand. “They’re not open anymore. They were closed when the drought hit, too.”

  “It’s sad what a lack of rain can do.” Elizabeth looked around again. “Very cool, Elan, but we’d better get back now.”

  Elan looked at his watch. “Yeah, we’ve been gone almost two hours. It will be time for supper when we get home.”

  “I’m already getting hungry from all this walking.” Bailey pulled out her bag of trail mix to munch on.

  “Hopefully it won’t take as long to get home as it did to get here,” Elan said. “We’ll try to stay on track this time.”

  “They should build roads to the cliff dwellings,” Elizabeth said.

  “They have, but they’re on the other side going toward Santa Fe. None of them lead back to the reservation.” Elan laughed. “I guess they figured Santa Fe tourists wouldn’t want to hike all the way out there.”

  “Probably a good guess. It was far enough coming from your house.” Bailey pulled her cotton candy flavored lip balm out of her pocket and smeared some on her parched lips. “Anyone else need some?”

  “I’ll take some.” Elizabeth applied the lip balm. “Mmm. This makes me think food!”

  “Thanks for taking us to see the cliff dwellings, Elan,” Bailey said. “They’re really neat.”

  “Yeah, and I even got to meet a rattlesnake!” Elizabeth laughed. “Not that I want to ever do it again!”

  “I’m glad you got to see them.” Elan gulped down a drink. “I go there fairly often. It doesn’t seem that far to me, but I guess it is for people who don’t hike that much.”

  “If I were you, I wouldn’t take that hike alone, Elan,” Beth said.

  “What if something happened?” Bailey added. “You’d be stuck out there with no one to help.”

  Elan waved the mother hens off with his hand. “I’ve hiked alone plenty of times. I’ve even hiked up some of the cliff dwellings.”

  Bailey stopped and planted her hands on her hips. “Your mom would have a fit if she knew that.”

  “Well, she doesn’t, and if she finds out, I’ll know who to blame.”

  “Well, I hope you won’t do it again,” Elizabeth said. “That is totally dangerous.”

  Elan shook his head. “We’ll see about that.”

  Disaster!

  “We need to leave!” Halona called to the others the next morning.

  “Where’s Elan?” Bailey asked as she climbed into the Suburban.

  “He’s not feeling well,” Halona explained. “He’s staying home to rest.”

  “Maybe that hike yesterday was harder on him than he thought,” Elizabeth said as she buckled her seat belt.

  When they arrived at Earth Works, Bailey took over Elan’s job of sweeping the front sidewalk while Elizabeth dusted the shelves and pottery inside. Before long Bailey heard the familiar voices of Paco and the other boys who teased Elan.

  “Oh, look!” Paco taunted. “Elan has a girl doing his work for him. Must have been too hard for him.”

  “It just so happens Elan is sick today.” Bailey was immediately sorry she had given them the satisfaction of an answer.

  “Aw. Isn’t that too bad.” Paco used his best baby voice. “Hope the delicate little thing gets better soon so we can pound him into the ground!” The baby voice morphed into a growl.

  The other boys laughed. Bailey shot poisonous darts from her eyes. She was steaming mad but didn’t say anything else. The boys rode off, still laughing.

  As soon as Bailey finished sweeping, she went back into the store and pulled Elizabeth into the back hallway. “I’m going to give that dorko a shocko if he’s not careful.”

  “Huh?” Elizabeth frowned.

  “That mean guy, Paco, came back on his bike while I was sweeping.”

  Elizabeth laughed. “Paco the Dorko? That’s pretty funny. Not nice, but funny.”

  “Well he’s not too nice. I can see why he gets Elan mad.”

  “Just let it go,” Elizabeth advised. “They’re gone now anyway.”

  Bailey nodded. “While we’re here, we should study that ancient pot again,” she said. “I keep thinking after our hike yesterday that maybe some of the landscape on the pot will look familiar.”

  The girls went to the shelf in the hall to look again.

  “I know what you mean.” Elizabeth leaned so close to the pot her nose almost touched it. “But there were way more trees and dry, scrubby bushes where we hiked than there are on this pot. It can’t possibly be the same area.”

  “But the place on the pot has to be close,” Bailey said. “This is where the Tses’ ancestors are from. They didn’t move that far away when the drought hit. They only moved closer into town.”

  “It just looks so different.”

  “I wonder if Kate found anything else out about the pot since she printed the pictures we sent.” Bailey scratched her head.

  “I hope so, or I’m afraid we may have run into a dead end.” Elizabeth turned when she heard the bell on the front door ring. “Sounds like Halona’s got customers.”

  Bailey looked at the pot on the shelf once more, twisting her neck to see as far around the side of it as she could. “It’s no use. I can’t see enough of it without picking it up.”

  “Bailey?” Halona called. “Could you girls please come and wrap these purchases while I ring them up?”

  “Sure thing,” Bailey answered.

  Bailey and Elizabeth joined Halona behind the counter and pulled out a stack of white paper squares from underneath.

  “Pastor John, I’d like you to meet my cousin’s daughter, Bailey, from Illinois. And this is Elizabeth, Bailey’s friend from Texas. Girls, this is John Whitcomb, pastor of the church down the street.”

  Bailey shook the pastor’s hand. “Nice to meet you, sir. This is a beautiful vase you’re buying.”

  “You can call me Pastor John. The vase is a birthday present for my wife, Lelana.” Pastor John smiled broadly, but then put his finger to his lips. “So no telling if she comes in here.”

  “Our lips are sealed.” Bailey giggled.

  Halona bagged the wrapped vase. “Here you go,” she said as she handed the bag to Pastor John.

  “Thanks, Halona.” Then to the girls, “If you’re still in town on Sunday, come on over to the church and visit us. Bible classes are at 9:30, and services start at 10:30.”

  Bailey’s shoulders sagged. “I wish we could come, but we leave on Thursday.”

  “Well, next time you visit then.” Pastor John smiled pleasantly. “It was nice meeting you.”

  Bailey’s phone vibrated as she waved good-bye. She pulled it from her pocket. “Hello?” Bailey strolled to the back of the store, her phone pressed to her ear. “Hi, Kate!”

  Elizabeth followed Bailey to the studio where they’d taken their first pottery lesson.

  “Okay, we’ll hang on.” Bailey whispered to Elizabeth, “She’s going to conference all the girls in, so get ready to answer your phone.”

  Elizabeth pulled her phone from her jeans pocket and it rang in her hand seconds later. “Yes, I’m here. Can you hear us?”

  “I think we’ve got everyone,” Kate said. “Bailey?”

  “Check.”

  “Alex?”

  “Check.”

  “Sydney?”

  “Check.”

  “McKenzie?”

  “I’m here.”

&nbs
p; “Elizabeth?”

  “I’m here, too.”

  “Good,” Kate said. “What’s going on with you guys? Anything new?”

  Bailey sighed. “‘Fraid not. We went on a hike yesterday with Elan to the Puye Cliff dwellings. We thought some of the area might resemble the scenery on the ancient pot, but nothing looked familiar.”

  “We’re starting to feel this may be one mystery we aren’t going to be able to solve,” Elizabeth said.

  “Don’t give up yet!” Kate said. “I have good news and bad news. Which do you want first?”

  “The bad news,” Bailey said.

  “Okay. Remember I told you I was going to print out the pictures you sent me so I could study them better?”

  “Yes.” Bailey looked nervously at Elizabeth.

  “Well, I did print them out, and they looked great. So I laid them out on the floor to examine them. Biscuit came running into the room and got her muddy paws all over them.”

  “Oh no!” Alex said. “Are you going to have to reprint them?”

  “I’m not sure.” Kate cleared her throat. “Here’s where the good news comes in. Or at least it may be good news. I’m not sure.”

  “Let’s hear it!” Sydney said.

  “Well, the funny thing about the muddy paw prints on the picture is that it almost looks like trees painted onto the scenery.”

  “I don’t see where you’re going with this,” McKenzie said. “How could that be good news?”

  “I think I see where she’s going,” Sydney said. “Think about it. The Santa Fe landscape had to have changed over the last few hundred years or so since that pot was made.”

  “Oh, I get what you’re saying.” Elizabeth’s eyes sparkled at Bailey. “Trees and bushes and cactus plants would have grown in since then, so it may look entirely different than the pot’s picture.”

  “Bingo!” Kate said. “And that’s exactly what the picture looks like to me with the muddy paw prints on it.”

  “Why don’t you send us photos so we can see them with Biscuit’s paw prints? Then we’ll get a better idea of what the area might look like now.”

  “I already did.” Kate giggled. “Check your e-mail.”

  The girls burst out laughing.

  “You’re really on top of this!” Bailey said.