by K C West
“I’m not through yet.” The undertone of excited whispering that followed his initial statement ceased.
“With the scrapings I took from the skeletons and from the examination I had performed here, I determined that both women appear to have been in relatively good health, better, I might add, than many young women of their age today. Their battle scars, however, would have caused discomfort and physical pain.”
“As warriors, they would probably have put up with the pain without complaint,” I said, feeling pride in these women who had traveled so far. “It’s not fair.”
PJ looked at me. “What isn’t fair?”
“That they would have come so far just to die in this gawd forsaken desert.”
Murmured agreement filled the tent.
“But think, Kim. You found them.” PJ’s eyes were brimming. “Look at it this way, you brought them out into the light. Their story is yours to tell.”
I was about to respond when Doctor Westermeyer interrupted.
“I took the liberty of going further with the skulls.” He peered at me from beneath bushy eyebrows. “Would you like to know, Kim, what your Amazons looked like?”
My eyes riveted on Westermeyer. The silence in the crowded tent was so profound that I was sure I could hear the collective hearts beating.
“You all know, of course, that archaeology is not an exact science. There are so many unanswered questions, most of which will have to wait for future generations with far more sophisticated equipment than we have at the moment. But, with modern testing procedures such as isotopic analysis we can determine so much more than we could just a few years ago.”
Westermeyer was in his element. The man was a gifted teacher. He held himself in high esteem, a flaw that he had admitted to me on several occasions. He was playing now to my students and they were wide eyed with admiration. I listened attentively, but as a colleague, I was coming from my own knowledge and experience. My credentials matched his in every way. I knew as well as he all the modern methods of ancient identification, but I gave him the stage. I owed him that and sat beside PJ absorbing all he had to say.
He looked around at the assembled crew. Even though he had their complete attention, he punctuated his presentation with dramatic pauses. I loved the man, had the utmost respect for him, perhaps because he reminded me in some ways of myself … a trifle arrogant at times.
“The secrets of the past are being revealed as never before. You’re undoubtedly familiar with computed axial topographic CAT data and how it is being used in archaeology.”
“It’s used to reconstruct facial features,” PJ said. “Basically, pegs placed at key points on a model of the skull reproduce the normal thickness of tissue, then material representing muscle and skin is molded on to the model. There’s a lot more to it than that, of course, but it’s been used successfully in criminal cases to identify remains.”
“Right you are, Doctor Curtis.” Westermeyer scanned the group. “And now, ladies and gentlemen, are you ready to meet face to face the female who was on the bottom?”
James snickered and found himself on the wrong end of a withering look from PJ. For one fleeting moment I felt sorry for him.
Westermeyer was too busy opening the first of the two boxes to express either amusement or annoyance over the exchange.
I was eager to see the features of the women I’d sought for so long. One can learn much from bones, but looking at a face can reveal what the bones cannot, the mirror of personality. I felt it would help me put aside once and for all, the unrest I had felt since the discovery of Site One.
As I stared at the face on the table, I was vaguely aware of the excited buzz of conversation behind me. The reconstruction was as life-like as I had ever seen. She was a beauty with classic Mediterranean features and dark, almond shaped eyes. Westermeyer had dressed her in a wig of long, blue-black hair, matching as closely as he could the hair that still clung to the remains. The eyes seemed alive as they stared back at me.
“Oh, Samuel, you have performed a miracle.” A lump formed in my throat as it became clear that I was in love with the face in front of me. I was feeling all the confusion and delight of young love. I couldn’t tear my eyes away. And although I knew better, I would have sworn she felt the same about me.
I was aware of PJ’s hand on my arm and her asking, “How does it feel, Kim, to see one of your Amazons face to face?”
I was beyond response.
The crew’s excited conversation faded into the background. I was riveted to my chair, just staring at the lovely warrior’s face.
PJ squeezed my arm. “Kim, are you okay?”
I nodded.
“So what do you think?” Westermeyer asked.
PJ looked at me. “Kim, Doctor Westermeyer asked you a question.”
I thought I had answered him but obviously I hadn’t.
“You have only to look at her, Doctor,” PJ said, squeezing my hand. “This has been a life-long journey for her, and to see a likeness of one of the Amazons is for her like the second coming.”
“I can’t even begin to describe my feelings,” I said, pulling myself together.
“May I congratulate you, Doctor Westermeyer,” Sandy said. “I’ve seen this done before, at the University, but this is the first time for a project I’ve been working with … kinda spooky if you ask me.”
There was a murmuring of uneasy mirth and of agreement from the others.
“Thank you, young man. But, you know that as archaeologists, we often disturb ghosts.”
Westermeyer returned his attention to the assembled scholars. “I determined this young woman to have been in her mid to late twenties when she died. She was in her prime, as was her companion-in-death.”
Just like a man, I thought, to say that a woman in her twenties is in her prime. That puts the rest of us on the slippery slope to invisibility.
I returned my momentary lapse to Westermeyer as he broke the seal on the second box.
“The woman I am about to reveal was older, in her early thirties, but I would say that she was a pillar of strength and good health.”
I could have heard a pin drop as everyone’s attention was focused on what Westermeyer was saying. Except mine … I couldn’t get past the way in which the first face had affected me.
“The dead can reveal a lot about themselves,” Doctor Westermeyer said, his eyes scanning his attentive audience. “It’s quite obvious to me that this little lady,” he pointed to the already revealed face, “the one on the bottom…” He smiled at James and winked.
Laughter broke the serious nature of the moment and snapped me back to reality. All eyes turned to James, who I’m sure wished he was someplace else.
“As I was saying, the dead speak to us in many ways. And now …” Westermeyer turned his attention to me, “Doctor Blair … Kim, I need your full attention. What I am about to reveal will, I’m afraid, be disturbing. It was for me and it will be to you, ten fold.”
“Not any more so than that young woman.” I glanced again at the face and the eyes that seemed to draw me in.
“I suggest you take a deep breath.”
PJ covered my hand with hers as Samuel slowly opened the box.
A loud gasp escaped the assembled crew. In a split second of time my heart stopped momentarily, before beating again, erratically.
“No … no … NO!” PJ’s denial was frantic.
I was aware of her nails digging into my hand but I was beyond feeling the pain. I was angry.
One look from me was enough to squelch the excited muttering. I stood up, kicking my chair out of the way.
“As you can see, Doctor Blair, this one is a fair likeness of yourself.”
“Doctor Westermeyer, if this is your idea of a joke … it’s a sick one. I don’t find it the least bit funny.” I could feel all eyes focused on me.
“Kim, you know me better than that.” Westermeyer’s tone was kindly but firm. “I don’t play tricks on people. I cert
ainly wouldn’t do that to you. The second skull was reconstructed by the exact same method used with the first one. This is what she looked like.”
My stomach churned as I stared in fearful amazement at the second Amazon.
“I can’t explain it,” Westermeyer continued, “but what you see is the result of cold, hard science. I know there’s a resemblance—”
“A resemblance! My gawd, man, I could be looking in a mirror.”
Without waiting for further discussion, I turned and left the tent, shoving Dewey who was standing in front of the tent flap, aside. I walked, ran, and scrambled up hill, straight up, and fast until my breath was ragged. When I could go no farther, I dropped to the ground, bowing my head and hugging my knees.
Moments later, PJ found me. She was breathless and sweating after chasing me up hill. She sat down beside me, took me in her arms and rocked me.
“It’s okay, Kim. Everything’s going to be all right… it was a shock, it was to all of us.”
“It was me … he made an image of me.”
Pup was licking my hand. PJ was holding me, rocking me. Despite their comforting presence, I could not immediately respond.
I’ve been involved with these women for too long. I’m ready to believe anything … now this. Am I crazy or what?
“It was the dreams, PJ. I knew it all along.”
PJ placed a tender kiss on my forehead. “Why don’t you tell me about those dreams?”
“I suppose I should, though you’re going to think I’ve lost it.”
“Never! Not after what we’ve seen today.”
I took a deep breath and wiped a grubby hand across my face.
PJ chuckled. “Oh, now you look lovely.”
I didn’t feel like smiling but I couldn’t help it. Oh, PJ, what would I do without you?
“The dreams began with five Amazon warriors, Marna, Leeja, Peli, Shanna, and Solana. They were heading across the desert, that desert.” I pointed toward the vast, empty land that surrounded the City of Phoenix. “It was mid summer and the heat was unbearable. They were making their way, against overwhelming odds, toward a distant mountain range, our mountains, the Superstitions.”
I paused to take a deep breath. Sharing my dreams was like sharing a long forgotten memory … it frightened me.
“Go on.” PJ’s soft voice and the feel of her arms around me were reassuring.
“The band was in bad shape after an encounter with an unknown tribe of dark skinned warriors. Leeja had been severely wounded and was being transported on a litter. They were all concerned for her, but Marna was especially so. They were in love, you see, and Leeja, with bloody puss seeping from her festering wounds, was weakening.”
“Marna was their leader?”
“No, Leeja was, until she was wounded and could no longer carry out her duties. It was then she appointed Solana as her interim lieutenant.”
“Not Mama?”
“Leeja knew she was going to die and that Marna in her grief would not immediately be of sound mind. That would come later. Besides, she knew that Solana would listen to and benefit from Mama’s experience, once Mama moved on beyond her initial grief.”
“Leeja was a wise woman.”
“She was indeed.”
I paused. PJ continuing to hold me, waited.
You’d probably want to kill me, PJ, if I told you this, but you have a strong mothering instinct.
“I could see it all clearly, PJ. Marna and the others survived this far by gathering the few berries that could be found, and killing a rabbit or a snake now and then. It was enough to keep hunger at bay, but not for long. They found water by tapping into the Saguaro.”
PJ drew my head onto her shoulder. “When did the dreams start?”
“When I was in South America.”
“And you said they were repetitive?”
“They were for a while. Then they changed.” I paused. In my mind’s eye I was trudging with my small band across the limitless desert. There were times when I wanted to give up, to just lay down and go to sleep. I had others to consider though. And there was Leeja, my beloved Leeja … I could not, would not leave her.
“There’s more to tell?”
“When they reached the mountains, they found a small canyon, our canyon … it has changed little. They set up camp. It was a good camp. Occasional showers during the night left small pools of water in depressions in the rocks, enough for them to fill their skin flasks. Marna lay beside Leeja and cradled her in her arms. It was like it was happening to…”
“To you.”
“Yes. Soon Leeja’s breathing became even more labored and she slipped quietly away.”
“Oh, Kim, that is so sad.”
“Normally, we would have had a funeral pyre, but wood was scarce. Besides, even if it had been available, we wouldn’t have had the strength to build one. We began without further ado and by the light of the moon and our campfire to place Leeja’s body in a small cave.”
“Kim, are you aware that you’re speaking in first person?”
“PJ, I was there … in my dreams. You think I’m crazy, don’t you?”
“Kim, I … no … I don’t know what to think, but I want to hear the rest of the story, so please go on.”
“Then I’ll try to keep it in perspective and relate it as a viewer and not a participant. They used almost all of their reserves of strength to block the entrance with rocks and stones. When they were about to roll the last boulder in place, I … there I go again. Why do I keep referring to myself?”
“Because you were there, at least in your dreams you were. What are dreams but another reality?”
I shifted, releasing myself from PJ’s comforting embrace.
“Marna crawled through the small opening, ‘one last time,’ she said. She leaned over and kissed Leeja, then without another word, plunged the dagger into her own heart.” I gripped my chest against the searing pain.
“Kim, for gawd’s sake! Are you okay?”
I nodded. “I’m okay. It’s just that whenever I think or dream about that I have severe chest pain. It’s as though the knife has entered my own body, my own heart.”
I leaned back, far enough away from PJ’s face so that I could focus clearly on her expression. “Am I losing it, PJ? Am I going insane?”
“Of course not. What do you expect when you’ve been involved with these women for what… twenty years or more?”
I nodded.
“Sometimes we confuse dreams with reality, especially when one is involved to such a degree. A writer friend of mine once told me that she becomes one with her characters. Is your situation so very different from hers?”
“You sound like you almost believe the story.”
“Given what we know, it makes sense, though I can’t explain where your dreams are coming from.”
“It’s like it happened yesterday, the pain and my … Mama’s blood running off Leeja’s body and pooling in the dirt, her falling across Leeja.”
“Sacred ground in those caves, Kim, we have and will continue to treat them with great reverence.”
“I … she was dead before the others could do anything so they rolled the remaining boulder across the entrance. I was dead, in my dream, and holding Leeja in an eternal embrace, just as the remains were when we found them. Even though I was dead, I could hear the others keening. Shanna’s funeral chant was haunting and in some ways like a beautiful lullaby. It was as if my … as if Mama’s spirit was watching the events after her death. And I saw it all, you see. I knew before Westermeyer’s testing, before the reconstruction of the skulls. I knew as soon as we entered the cave. I knew what had happened and how it had happened, and why it had happened.”
“Oh, Kim.” PJ got to her feet and extended her hands to me. “Come on, let’s go back to camp. Everyone’s concerned about you. I’ll fix us all some tea.”
I got up and brushed myself off. “PJ.”
“Yes.”
“Thank you for sticki
ng with me.”
“Hey, don’t mention it.” She grinned. “But, you owe me … big time.”
I laughed. “I need to go set things right with Samuel.”
“Now you’re sounding more like my boss. I like that.”
Chapter Sixteen
A sharp stone dug into my shoulder and my hips and back complained of stiffness from contact with the hard ground. My sleeping bag kept me warm, but not as comfortable as that luxurious bed at the Casa Grande.
It’s the day before Thanksgiving and I’m up here on the mountain, sleeping a scant few yards from the woman of my dreams. Tomorrow, I’ll be alone with her, sharing a sumptuous turkey dinner in the suite and relaxing afterward with some romantic music, stimulating conversation … and maybe, if I can get up the courage … some serious lip locking.
Oh Gawd.
Excitement and fear wrestled with my nervous system.
Today is the day of Kim’s party, and I haven’t made any progress in advancing our relationship to the next level. I can’t help it. The timing is wrong and it has been since I got back on the mountain. When we’re alone, we’re working or discussing work and when we don’t have work to do, we’re not alone or too exhausted to talk about it. Kim is still obsessed with her Amazon Women and the amazing likeness she shares with one of them. I can’t intrude with my concerns when I know she won’t be able to concentrate.
I pinched the bridge of my nose and held my thumb and forefinger against my closed eyelids, rubbing gently.
Let’s face it; I’ve been too chicken-shit scared to bring up the subject. What could I say to her? ‘Oh, by the way, Kim, I’m not as straight as you think I am? Want to have hot, monkey sex with me sometime, huh?’ Shit. Now, beside my case of nerves, I could add sexual frustration to the mix.
I rolled over in my sleeping bag and propped my head up. The cause of my frustration slept on, one hand curled under her chin, her hair adorably tousled.
Today will be a big one for you, my friend… and for me, if I can ever get you alone long enough. I’ll start to tell you how I feel… I swear I will.
Pup stirred from his spot at Kim’s side. He lifted his head and gave an expansive yawn that ended in a squeak. The effect was comical coming from such a large, ferocious-looking animal. He rose and shook his entire length. When he noticed me watching him, he padded over to greet me. Before I could resist, he was all over me, whining and nuzzling my neck, giving me slobbery kisses.