Secrets of the Anasazi

by Sky Whitehorse

  Roy pointed to the west side. "There's a cave down that way."

  Warren turned to him. "Steer clear of caves. Your aunt and my mom climbed into one of those when they were teenagers and a bat flew into your aunt's hair. It kept scratching and biting her until it freed itself."

  "That's an old wives tale," Roy scoffed. "Bats don't fly into people's hair. She was just yanking your chain, dude."

  "I'm telling you, this one did.” He said it with conviction. “Your grandma believes the bat left a curse on your aunt."

  Roy folded his arms over his chest, unconvinced. Their mother pounded it into them not to believe in superstitions.

  Maya exchanged a glance with Chantal. She would have to ask her later about the curse of the bats when they were alone.

  Mindy and Kira neared the bottom of the canyon. Paris, on the other hand, was only halfway down and frozen in place. She reminded Maya of a spider lowering itself as it dangled on a silk line. She wished they could leave her there. She was even wearing on Warren’s patience.

  "Paris, you're doing great. Keep rappelling," Roy yelled, cupping his hands around his mouth.

  "I can't! Come get me!" she shrieked.

  Drama queen.

  "There's only one way down, and that's to rappel,” Warren said.

  Paris slid a few more feet.

  "Help me!" Paris yelped.

  "Let off the brake a little," Warren said.

  She slid faster, building momentum, and screamed all the way, approaching the bottom at high speed.

  "Pull the brake!" Warren yelled, trying to get himself beneath her as she came closer.

  Paris came to an abrupt stop and bounced as she dangled by the rope a few feet above the ground.

  Warren released her harness and helped her out of it. She smiled and clung to his shoulders, as he struggled to get the ropes off her waist.

  Paris grimaced at Maya. Maya gave her a harsh squint. Where is Roy when she pulls this crap? She turned to see him fiddling with his water bottle, too preoccupied.

  "That was easy," Paris said, wrapping her legs around Warren’s hips.

  Roy put his bottle down and rushed to Paris's side. She let go of Warren and Roy took her hand in his. She gave him an angelic smile.

  "There's a great climbing wall down this way," Warren said, leading the group. "Keep an eye out for rattlesnakes."

  "Wait," Paris said. "We want to swim in the river."

  "We don't have time for swimming,” Warren argued. “It isn't in our agenda."

  "Awe, c'mon Warren," Roy said, clearly being influenced by Paris. "We can fit it in."

  She walked toward the water, pulling Roy by the hand.

  "I've never gotten to swim in it and now that we're here I'm not going to miss it!” Paris said. “We can climb the rock wall some other time." She turned toward Roy and started unbuttoning his shirt, then pulled it off and ran her hand over his six-pack. He stiffened, his mouth open like a goldfish while she looked him up and down with hungry eyes.

  Maya glared at her. How dare she run her hands over my brother that way? She wished Roy would see her the way Maya did, manipulative and self-centered. She noticed Warren narrowing his eyes at them as well and wondered what he was thinking. Maybe he wanted to be with Paris. Of course he did. She was beautiful and rich, and Maya was average. Warren noticed Maya watching him and straightened up, wiping the scowl from his face and pretending none of it bothered him.

  Paris continued to undo the belt on Roy’s shorts and pulled them off. He was wearing swim trunks underneath. He kicked his shorts into the sand.

  Warren arched an eyebrow and looked at Maya. She furrowed her brow. She couldn’t stand the way Paris seemed to have her hand in both cookie jars, sampling a little here and a little there. It was maddening, but there was nothing she could do.

  "Come on, girls," Paris called to Chantal and the girls.

  "Wait! Let me walk ahead,” Warren said. “There could be rattlers."

  "Oh, come on! What are the chances we'll run into a rattlesnake? Please!" Paris rolled her eyes as they walked ahead. "I've lived here all my life and never seen one."

  The Brat Pack shed their shorts and shirts by the rocks to reveal swimming suits underneath. The river was a few yards away. Paris motioned to the group to follow her.

  "It would have been nice of them to mention this to us," Maya said, wishing she had brought a bathing suit. The steel-colored water was inviting in the heat of the morning sun. She was trying her best to hide her feelings about not fitting in with Chantal’s friends, always being the odd one out, but Paris made it difficult, always getting on her last nerve.

  Warren shifted his weight from one foot to the other as he stood by Maya.

  Paris ran to the river, tripped on what appeared to be a long, brown stick, and plunged headfirst into the rushing water.

  The stick coiled immediately. Warren saw the current begin to pull Paris downstream like a rag doll floating face down. He took to his feet, bolting to the riverbed and jumping in after her.

  Maya sprinted to the water’s edge to see if she was all right. Roy and the girls crowded together. Everyone gawked while Roy was clearly upset with himself for not jumping in to rescue her first.

  Warren did the breaststroke downstream a little way, then triumphantly came up for air with Paris in the safety of his arms. She gasped for breath, clinging to Warren’s chest.

  "No one move!" Warren yelled, carrying her back to the river bank and placing her on her feet. "Paris tripped over that rattler.” He pointed at the coiled snake a few feet from where the group was standing. “And she's aggravated it."

  11. Riverbed Rendezvous

  “Don’t make any sudden movements,” Warren said.

  Everyone turned to see the snake coiling a few feet away. It was large and tan with dark brown markings on its back. It held its ugly, diamond-shaped head a foot from the ground and hissed while flicking its tongue.

  Maya tried not to panic while Mindy and Kira let out little whimpers. Roy had a snake when Maya was younger that she was used to handling, but it wasn’t poisonous. Wild snakes could be unpredictable. They could lash out and strike before you could take your next breath. Maya slowly took a step back, and the rest of the group followed her lead. It fixed its gaze on them while Warren snuck up behind it and grabbed it by the thinnest part of its neck, right behind the head. Any flicker of fear she had melted away. From threatening beast to docile creature. It wriggled, whipping its tail on Warren's tank top.

  Paris placed her hand over her mouth.

  "This is a rattler that my father's tribe uses at the snake dance ceremony during the first full moon in August. They gather rattlers from the north, south, east, and west. They calm them by stroking them with feathers. Then they put the snake’s heads in their mouths so they can take their prayers to Spider Woman for peace and prosperity," Warren explained. He hurled the snake to a safe distance.

  The sun was overhead and the heat beat down on them. The rolling river looked inviting. Maya took off her shoes and waded into the cool water. Chantal splashed her. Maya turned and splashed back. They shrieked and laughed, chasing each other.

  The rocks under her feet were round and slippery. The water lapped around her knees.

  Warren and Roy ran in. Warren splashed Roy, who tripped, and plunged backwards as he attempted to run away, splattering the Brat Pack. Soon everyone was waging war against one another.

  Chantal called a huddle with Maya and the Brat Pack. For a moment Maya felt like she belonged. “Ok, each of you grab a limb and drop him on his back,” Chantal directed, referring to Warren. He was too big to be taken down alone.

  He was unsuspecting when the girls surrounded him. Maya helped by grabbing his leg. Chantal took to his other leg while Mindy and Kira grabbed his arms. Paris stood and watched a few feet away while they ganged up on him. The impact of his body hitting the water caused rings of ripples to expand around them.

  Warren regained his composure
and stood, reminding Maya of a gorilla as he pounded his chest. "You wanna mess with the big boys?" he asked jokingly. "It's on!"

  The girls shrieked with laughter as they made a run for it. The boys chased them. Warren caught up to Maya and picked her up. She smiled as she was cradled in his arms, and shrieked as he dropped her in the water. She plunged under, uprighted herself, then he lifted her back up again. She held onto his neck and they both laughed. He was gorgeous with his square jaw and ebony hair. He looked away and smirked at something. Maya followed his gaze to Paris who glared at them. Her wet hair was pulled into the perfect messy bun, and her tan skin against her white bikini made Maya envious.

  Maya couldn’t figure out why Paris would be jealous of her. It was Roy she was after, so why the dirty looks? Maybe she didn’t want Maya to have fun and stand on the sidelines, but instead she had captured Warren’s attention.

  Roy chased the rest of the girls farther down the way. Paris seemed reluctant to follow them, as if she wanted to watch her and Warren, but in the end Paris’s interest in Roy seemed to win. She turned to run after him, leaving Maya and Warren alone to wade through the rocky riverbed; their wet clothes kept them cool in the stifling heat.

  "Do you ever get tired of working all the time?" Maya asked.

  "Not when I'm walking through the river with friends," he said, flashing a charismatic smile at her.

  Maya combed her fingers through her wet locks. "Yeah, but it seems like you don't get time off. You work seven days a week."

  "Well, we have to earn our keep. We eat for free and have a roof over our heads. Your grandma needs someone to feed and care for the horses."

  "Can they hire another hand?"

  "My dad is very particular about who he allows to work for him. He doesn't trust people." Warren opened his water bottle and threw his head back, guzzling it. “Besides, the land is sacred to us.”

  Maya stared at his muscular shoulders, broad chest, and sun-kissed skin. His climbing pants clung to his body, accentuating his perfectly rounded bottom.

  He finished drinking and noticed her looking at him. She looked away.

  "Hmm," she said, breaking the silence, "it just seems like you should have a couple of days off during the week."

  "Well, I guess I never thought about it. I've helped my dad ever since I can remember."

  Maya couldn’t help but feel guilty her grandmother didn’t give them enough time off, but it sounded like that was the way Ahote wanted it if he didn’t trust others enough to work for him. "Do you ever get to enjoy yourself, hang out with friends, or... date?" She winced as she said the word.

  He jerked his head toward her. "Um... not often. If I'm sick, my dad does the work himself. It's a lot, so I don't like him to do that. Plus, during the school year I have homework after I'm done working, so I don't have much time for a social life outside of school."

  Maya felt a warm endearment growing for him. He obviously cared a lot about his father, which made him more attractive.

  He screwed the lid back on the water bottle and his expression turned grim. "Um... anytime I've tried to date they realize I don't have time to go anywhere and I don't have a cellphone, just the phone in my room. And I'm only in my room if I'm sleeping, pretty much... so relationships haven't worked out for me. Not to mention it's hard to trust girls sometimes." He looked in the distance at the rest of the group.

  "Oh, sorry. I don't mean to pry," she replied, letting her eyes travel over the surface of the water. When she looked back she noticed his eyes on her and he jerked his head away. She bit her lip, trying not to smile.

  "Oh, look," he said, "a purple dragonfly."

  It was drifting down the river, struggling to free itself. Warren collected it and blew its wings, trying to dry them. "All creatures are important," he said sincerely, "no matter how small or seemingly insignificant."

  She smiled.

  "What?" his eyes were large, and he was innocent and clueless.

  "Nothing," she laughed.

  “You’re thinking something, or you wouldn’t have laughed.”

  She bit her lip.

  “Just tell me. What?”

  "It’s just… you’re this big guy… with the heart for a dragonfly. It's cute."

  He ignored her comment. The edges of his lips curled up as he looked back to the dragonfly. "Hold on to what is good," he recited, "even if it is a handful of earth. Hold on to what you believe, even if it is a tree which stands by itself. Hold on to what you must do, even if it is a long way from here. Hold on to life, even when it is easier letting go. Hold on to my hand, even when I have gone away from you."

  His words lingered. "That's beautiful,” Maya said.

  "You've never heard that Native American passage?"

  "No. I love it." She took a step toward him.

  "Stick around my father for a while. He's full of them."

  She smiled and nodded.

  "I hope you don't mind my asking this," Warren said, "but is your mother really as sick as Roy says?"

  Maya paused. She looked away, frowning. "I'm not sure what Roy told you, but... we haven't found a doctor that can diagnose her illness. My dad thinks she's going to die if they can't figure it out soon." For the first time, tears slid down her cheeks. It was as if saying out loud made it true.

  "Oh... I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have pried," he said, putting his hands on her shoulders.

  "No... It's ok." She wiped her eyes.

  His powerful arms wrapped around her gracefully, and the feel of his body was firm and delectable. He brushed the hair away, his eyes lingering over her face.

  She stared up at him, wondering what he was thinking.

  He pulled away. "Sorry."

  "Don't be.” She tried to make light of it, looking away as if he hadn’t just made her yearn for his touch. “I like talking to you."

  They continued shuffling down the river.

  "There's this little nook over here," he said, pointing. "If you're quiet enough you can stand and watch the trout swim up."

  They carefully waded over and crouched down in the shade where the water was clear and shallow.

  Moments later, two trout swam up to their feet where they tried to feed off the rocks.

  Maya smiled, stifling a laugh, so as not to scare them away. Before long the fish were darting between their legs in the water.

  A purple dragonfly hovered over the top of the water nearby. The trout jumped after it, eating it and swimming away.

  They both gasped, looked at each other, then laughed hysterically.

  "I wonder if that was the one you saved," she said.

  He shrugged. "That's the circle of life."

  They became quiet.

  "What did you mean when you mentioned to Roy that Grandma believes a bat put a curse onto Aunt Roz?" Maya asked.

  "Well, one of these caves further west of here is rumored to have a large number of bats that roost in it. Our people believe some of the gods, or rather Kachinas, live there."

  Maya's mouth fell open and she arched her brow. "Sorry, what exactly is a Kachina? I mean, I know they're dolls, but..."