Secrets of the Anasazi

by Sky Whitehorse

  Maya had just gotten back to room 111 after riding with Warren when she continued trying to unlock the puzzle box. Sadly, she hadn’t made any progress since Chantal had been with her. She felt pressured as time grew nearer for her to head back to Colorado. She felt helpless as Grandma and Ahote told her it was a puzzle she had to solve on her own.

  She started a new painting project she hoped Chantal would like as much as she did. In it, Chantal sat on Ancient Orange, Ahote on Hototo, Maya on Fearless, and Roy and Warren holding shovels in front of the stables. Lance stood on the fence. She only worked on the project when Chantal wasn’t in their room. It was going to be a surprise before she left that Chantal would be able to put on her bare wall. Maya had already grown attached to it, knowing this was a memoir of their summer together. Every person in it had grown to mean something to her, even the horses.

  Summer was passing quickly and school would be starting soon. Mason had called to talk to Maya and Roy about their mother, whose condition had not improved, though she was still fighting whatever disease she had. They would be leaving in about a week's time to return to their home in Colorado. This would be right before Maya planned the journey with Chantal into the western canyons to find the door to the underworld and bring back the cure for her mother. The thought of it made her nervous, not knowing where to start, but she trusted in Chantal’s abilities as a navigator.

  The night of Paris's party had arrived, and she had not forgotten one of her biggest reasons for going- to find the dream catcher. Paris was the only suspect; an admitted thief who got enjoyment out of stealing, and had also asked to buy it from Maya. When she found it hanging in her bedroom window she would be able to expose her to Chantal as the person who had broken everything precious to her. After this Chantal wouldn’t want to be friends with her. Maybe she would tell her never to come to the hotel again.

  Maya finished the final stroke on the surprise painting just as she heard someone at the door, which could only be Chantal. Maya grabbed it off the easel and stuck it into the closet, then replaced it with the other painting of the woman she had finished in its place.

  “Hey,” Chantal said, as she entered. “We need to start getting ready. The invitation says it’s a pirate theme this year. She always has the biggest parties," Chantal grinned. "Everyone from our high school is invited. She can’t stop talking about Roy.”

  Maya rolled her eyes. "I know, she's like a dog in heat when it comes to him."

  "Well, you'll be able to slow dance with Warren, so you won’t have anything to complain about."

  "Touché," Maya said, sitting on the bed.

  Chantal pulled a couple of costumes out of a box her mother had ordered. Each had a ruffled white shirt with crisscrossed laces up the front and a velvet vest that came up and under the breast and over the shoulders. The long, poufy skirts were knee length. Chantal's vest was red wine and Maya's emerald green. They pulled their hair on the top of their heads and curled it into ringlets, laughing at themselves in the mirror.

  "We look so medieval, mate," Maya said, mimicking a wench’s accent.

  Chantal brushed the finishing touch of blush onto Maya's cheeks and gave her a squirt of perfume.

  "How will we get to the party?" Maya asked.

  "Roy can drive us in the sports car. I can see the look on their faces when we pull up in it." Chantal smiled.

  "Our car only fits two passengers," Maya dryly reminded her.

  "Oh, yeah. Well, there is only one other vehicle we have... Ahote's old car."

  She tilted her head and paused. "I've never seen him in a car."

  "He prefers his horse."

  "Well, it's time to get going," Maya said, looking at her watch. "Let's go see if the boys are ready."

  They went to the lobby where the boys were waiting for them. Warren wore black shorts that cut off at the knee, a white shirt and a black vest, and a bandanna around his head. Roy had brown pants with a white button-up shirt and a blue colonial vest. They both had tall black boots.

  "Hey, sunshine," Warren said to Maya when he saw her.

  She wanted to throw her arms around his neck, but she held back in front of Roy, trying to play like they were only good friends. "You look fantastic as a pirate!"

  Roy cast a suspicious look at Maya.

  "You look great too," she said to Roy.

  Roy rolled his eyes. "Let's go, bro."

  They walked out the front doors and followed Warren. Behind the hotel was a rusty, old two-door car with a small backseat. The front windshield was cracked and the body had large dents on every side. The windows were rolled down and the interior had chunks of foam missing from the seats.

  Maya had been in her fair share of old cars, but this was worse than anything she had ever seen. She didn't say anything, so as not to offend Warren. It didn’t matter anyway, as long as she was with him.

  "Hey, bro," Roy said, "does it even run?"

  "Ha-ha. Funny. It runs, all right?" Warren replied sarcastically.

  Roy tried pulling the latch on the door, but it wouldn't open.

  "It's rusted shut," Warren said. "You have to climb through the windows."

  "Seriously, bud?" Roy said, gaping at him.

  "Not everyone can afford a fancy sports car," Warren said.

  Maya and Roy exchanged looks. For a moment, she considered squishing into the sports car, but with how big the boys were, she knew that wouldn't work.

  "What if Chantal and I take the sports car and you two follow behind?" Roy asked.

  "That's not fair," Chantal said. "We should all go together."

  Roy let out a breath. "Fine." He grabbed the metal roof of the car and swung himself through the open window.

  Maya swung in next, taking care not to snag her dress, and crawled into the backseat with Roy. Chantal climbed in and sat in the passenger's seat.

  Warren climbed into the driver's side and put the key into the ignition. The car's engine made a loud boom-crack-boom. The car backfired and then the engine died. He started it a second time and it made a churning sound. He pressed his foot on the gas and the engine roared to life. A large cloud of black smoke engulfed the car.

  The four of them coughed for a long while.

  Warren took it out of park and it lurched forward up the road. Right before they got to the top of the hill, it stalled out and rolled back slightly. Warren had to restart the engine again, going through the process once more. He put it in drive and they were off.

  "Let's listen to the radio, man," Roy said, trying to reach over the seat to the knob.

  "It's broken," came Warren's reply.

  Roy slunk back into his seat.

  Before long, they were pulling up a dirt driveway. Maya hadn't seen any cactuses since they arrived, until now—several saguaros neatly aligned the driveway to an enormous, brown stucco house made to look like adobe. A golf course with green grass and sand traps stretched behind it.

  To Maya and Chantal's horror, the Brat Pack and several other guests stood outside, watching them pull up. All were wearing medieval clothes. Everyone stopped to gawk as the car slowed, backfired, and then the engine died with a cloud of black smoke to boot.

  "Well, I guess we are going to park right here," Roy said.

  Chantal and Maya climbed out the window, being careful of their dresses.

  Kira said with a loud laugh, "And I was embarrassed to come here with my grandma."

  "Where did you get that?" Paris asked Warren with her resting bitch face. "Did you have to push it here?" She looked inside and was surprised to see who was in the backseat. Her voice became sugar sweet and she batted her eyes. "Oh, hi, Roy!"

  "Hey, baby." He got out and grabbed the back of her head as they started making out.

  Maya wanted to puke. Warren looked away.

  Paris wrinkled her nose. "I hope we won't have to call a tow truck. The fee would be more than the car. I don’t think you could even give that car away." She held Roy’s hand, leading him inside Brown Mano
r. Kira and Mindy ran after her like puppy dogs.

  Maya was already fuming before they got to the door. Why did Paris insist on humiliating them? She tried putting it out of her mind. She wasn’t going to let Paris ruin her time with Warren.

  23 Wild in Love

  As the group funneled into Brown Mansion, Maya gaped at its supreme architecture; it had arched doorways, columns, and vaulted ceilings in the foyer. It was unlike any house she had ever seen. The windows were two stories tall, and the curtains were gold, dark purple, and green—which matched the pillows on the couches, the rugs, and the paintings.

  Warren held Maya's hand, gently guiding her. The simple gesture made her swoon. It was the first time the had been in public as a couple. Roy still didn’t know, but it was so close to their departure that Maya didn’t care if he found out their feelings for each other.

  A parrot with blue and yellow feathers perched on the branches of a dead tree in a flower pot. "Arrr, me hearties," he squawked.

  Maya laughed. "How cute." She reached to pet the bird but pulled her hand away as it opened its beak to bite her. Her jaw dropped.

  "You almost pulled back a nub," Warren said. They laughed.

  They continued through an archway leading to the living room, which was large enough to be a dance floor. Wallflowers were on the balcony overlooking the room of two hundred guests. Red, blue, and yellow lights were flashing. The room was transformed into a world of pirates. Half of a ship with a mermaid carved into the mast protruded out of the wall as if it had crashed into the room. The deck was a stage for a live band and a climbable net hung over the side. Shish kabobs were being served next to wooden barrels stacked on top of one another that looked like kegs of rum. A boy filled a goblet with what appeared to be red punch from the drum. Treasure chests full of king-sized candy bars were set next to them and bottles of beer chilled in a bucket of ice.

  Maya leaned in to whisper in Warren's ear, "This is amazing!"

  "You should have seen it last year. They had a Hawaiian theme with hula dancers." He eyed the stage. "I wonder why the band hasn't started yet. Stay here, I'm going to get us some punch."

  Chantal bumped into Maya, giving her a hug from behind. "It looks like the band is missing a guitar player."

  On stage, a high school boy with a black curly wig, a patch over his eye, a hook for a left hand, and some blackened teeth spoke into the mic from the stage. "Sorry, we're going to have to cancel tonight. Our bass guitar player hasn't shown up."

  A loud roar came from the crowd. "Suck my dick!" a deep voice roared.

  Maya shared the feelings of disappointment with the crowd around her. She had planned on dancing with Warren. It couldn’t be spoiled over a bass player. There had to be another way the band could play, and suddenly she had a crazy idea. She casually approached Chantal, “can you play bass?"

  Chantal cast an are-you-crazy look in her direction. "No, piano is my instrument. I've dabbled here and there in the band room at school- flute… drums... bass guitar is totally different."

  "I don't get it..." Maya pinched her lips together.

  She placed one hand on her hip. "What?"

  "With your gift, I'm surprised you've never tried.”

  Chantal looked Maya up and down. “Look at you! I don’t see you whipping up every kind of art in existence. I have a life outside of being a shaman just the way you do.”

  She sighed. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to offend. What I mean to say is that you are capable of doing anything." Maya looked back at the stage where the band members started to put their instruments back into their cases.

  Chantal smirked and looked at the ceiling as if looking for an excuse. "It's not really part of my gift to play bass. The Anasazi never had fancy twenty-first-century instruments."

  Maya frowned. "I’m not convinced. You’re selling yourself short. You could do this."

  Chantal shook her head.

  “You know, the only thing that has kept me believing in this whole idea that we are shaman is you. I didn’t want to admit this, but I’ve had my doubts about the truth behind it. The creation story, Grandma being able to read minds…”

  "What are you saying?" Chantal shook her head, furrowed her brow, and raised her voice. "That the legend is fictitious?"

  Maya tried to backpedal, rubbing the back of her neck and looking around the room before settling her gaze back on her cousin. She whispered, "What I'm saying is... make a true believer out of me. If it's a gift, it will come to you."

  Chantal narrowed her eyes and stared at her a few moments, then threw her hands in the air and turned on her heel. "Fine. I'll do it." She looked back. "I'm so confident I can do it that when I prove this to you, you have to do laundry by yourself for the rest of the week." By the way she paused as she spoke, she didn't seem as confident in her ability as she suggested.

  Maya raised her chin. "Fine."

  She rolled her eyes and wandered through the crowd, and soon she was climbing the gigantic fish net with starfish and seashells intertwined in it that hung from the stage, which was also the dock of the ship. She approached the drummer, singer, and lead guitarist as they were packing up to leave.

  "Hey," Warren said, handing Maya a cup and taking a sip from his own.

  She forced a smile, feeling salty after the conversation. "Hey."

  He gave her a hard stare. "Is something wrong?"

  She shook her head even though it was a lie, and looked at her cup.

  "Are you sure?"

  She met his gaze. He could see through her feelings like a transparent veil. She swallowed. "It's a bit awkward..."

  He tilted his head, knowingly. "I know it's my ex-girlfriend's house, but when you said you would go with me I thought–" He sighed. "I should have known.” He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “We can go somewhere else." He seemed less sure of himself, almost like the time when he had mentioned his mother had never come back.

  "No, seriously, it's ok." Maya caught a glimpse of Paris through the crowd. She was standing with a large group, laughing. One of her hands was snaked around Roy's back and the other was placed on his abdomen. Their eyes met and Paris turned to kiss Roy, all while watching her. She felt bile rise in her throat. She turned to Warren to ignore them, getting close enough to smell his cologne. "I was hoping I might get the chance to–" she almost mentioned searching for the dream catcher but changed her mind, "to make this a night I will never forget. I know Roy and I will be headed back home soon and…" Her throat had a knot in it. "And... I don't know what it will be like when we get back." What she really meant was she didn't know what her mother would be like when they got back.

  He looked into her eyes and pulled her to him. "It's going to be alright."

  His arms were like a fortress, as if all her problems existed only outside of their embrace. She glanced up to the stage where she saw Chantal with a bass guitar slung over her shoulder. She was holding her hand over a sheet of music while she closed her eyes, the same way Lance had read Ahote's note.

  The band members were taking their places on stage. "Ready?" the lead singer asked into the mic as he looked back at Chantal. She opened her eyes, put the music down, and nodded. He pointed a fake gun into the air and pulled the trigger. Two loud sparks shot out to get the attention of the booing crowd. "We're gonna try a song."