He was so near the western mountain he could see the pine trees on its slope. Shafts of light streamed from behind silvery clouds marking a pathway on the mica-spattered sand for Younger Brother to travel on. He no longer questioned. He only sang in the silvery light.
By nightfall he was under the pines. He lay down on the sweet dry leaves of the forest and watched the moon paint with silver light, the forms of rocks and tree trunks and sloping ground. And while he watched, four shadowy figures moved among the trees. The moon with its magic light made them into the shapes of the Deer People.
Younger Brother lay perfectly still as one by one the Deer People walked past him, so close he could smell their pine-scented hoofs. He fell asleep, singing in his heart a song of rainbow land, where bright-plumaged birds built their nests in the antlers of the deer.
CHAPTER XXI
EXIT THE PINTO, ENTER THE FIRE HORSE
N THE morning when Younger Brother awoke, he knew he was in a land of enchantment. A spotted fawn arched its long neck to reach the juicy leaves above its head. It stood knee deep in tender green bracken bordering a running stream where a doe drank from the crystal purity.
Younger Brother had never been in a country of many springs. He was used to the Waterless Mountain. Uncle had told him the legends of the western mountain with its forests and little streams. He knew there was an old stone wall somewhere in the neighborhood, built by the very early clans traveling from the west to the desert country.
Soon after sunrise he started to ride his pony up the mountain trail. By noontime he reached the rocky top. He lay down with his head pointing to the west as the Turquoise Woman had done.
The sun shone warmly on his body. The ground heat and the mirage shimmered in the valley below. He was happy being on top of the world. It was almost as good as being in the clouds. It was just the kind of place to make him feel the queer pain of beauty and the need of sharing his inner secret. He wondered if there were anyone in the whole world who felt as he felt.
He took from a bag the prayer stick he had made. He tied two feathers of the yellow warbler on the stick and placed it under a shelving rock. He spoke these words, “Oh, Bearer of the Day, help me to follow the trail of beauty to the west. Grant that I may reach the wide waters.”
From the little buckskin medicine bag that Uncle had given him he took a pinch of pollen, touched it to his tongue and his head, and threw the rest to the sky. Having made his offering from the summit of the western mountain, he rode back down the trail to camp for the night.
The next morning, after following a path through the pines for a mile or two, he found the wide road leading to the west. He had never seen such a wide smooth road.
Many automobiles whizzed past him, going in both directions. He was confused. Why was everyone riding so fast, some east, some west ? He wondered if they were all going to the wide water or had been there. His pony was as uncomfortable as he. The whizzing cars made him nervous.
Younger Brother watched every machine, hoping that he might see the Big Man. He knew that he often drove in this direction to visit his store at the railroad.
The boy decided to rest from his riding for a while. He threw the reins over his pony’s head and sat down under a scraggly juniper tree a few feet off the road. Car after car rolled by, but one stopped near the juniper tree.
A white person jumped out, carrying a little black box in her hands. Younger Brother did not know that the person was a woman, because she wore no skirts. She was dressed like a man. She pointed the black box at the boy. He heard a clicking noise and the white person looked pleased. She waved to the driver in the car and said something.
Then she moved nearer Younger Brother and pointed to his pony, saying something in a thin voice not like a man’s voice. He wondered what the Pelicano wanted. Again she pointed to the pony. He pointed to the pony. He was confused.
In the meantime another car stopped. Younger Brother had not noticed it but the driver’s keen eyes had recognized the pinto pony and the Navaho boy. The Big Man had arrived. He watched the tourist woman pointing to the pony’s blanket and saying, “How much ?”
In Navaho he spoke to the boy:
“She wants to buy your pony’s saddle blanket. I will tell her it is not for sale.”
Younger Brother jumped to his feet and ran to the Big Man’s car. They shook hands and smiled at each other. When the tourist car drove away, the Big Man asked, “Where are you going ?”
“To the wide water, Grandfather.”
“Well, get on your pony and follow my car to the store, I will go as slowly as I can. It is not far.”
Younger Brother had no trouble keeping the car in sight until the highway reached the little Arizona town where the store was located. Then there were so many things to look out for, and so many new things to observe, he almost lost the car as it turned a corner.
He certainly was relieved when the Big Man parked in front of the store and told him to tie his pony to a hitching post. They walked upstairs to the front door.
Inside Younger Brother saw the biggest room he had ever seen in his life. One end was piled to the ceiling with rugs. There were rugs everywhere, on the floor and the walls.
He didn’t know there were so many weavings in all the world. He thought there were too many. When he and the Big Man sat down on a pile of rugs to talk, he told him what he thought. He said:
“Grandfather, aren’t you afraid to heap so many goods ?”
The Big Man looked at him in astonishment, because he had been thinking he was overstocked, but how could this child of the wilderness know that ?
“I think I have heaped too many rugs,” he answered. “Now tell me what you have been doing.”
“I have been riding to the west on my pony. Cut Finger stole him, but I called him back and he found a big red pot of the Ancients. The Pelicano who came in the black wind took the pot out of its resting place. Then the Sun died and I sang a song of blessing at the hogan of my relative. The Sun was restored in beauty, but the evil serpents sent the storm.
“The flood rose and swept away the sheep of my relative. Her new husband died of no lungs. I do not yet know why he must die. After that I rode to the top of the western mountain. I left my prayer stick there. Now I am here, Grandfather.”
“I am glad you are here, child, for I need you. I too am traveling to the west. I am taking your mother and father and little sister on the train which the fire horse pulls. We go in four days to the place of many hogans to show the Pelicanos how to weave beauty. You shall go with us.”
“Must I ride in the train behind the fire horse, Grandfather?”
“Yes, my child.”
“You will be with me ?”
“Yes, my child.”
“Then I shall go, but what shall I do with my pony ?”
“I will send him back for Uncle to care for while we are away.”
“What shall I do without a pony in the place of many hogans ?”
“You ask questions too fast. Did we not fly together to the clouds ?”
“That is right, Grandfather. With you I doubt nothing. What you do, I shall do. Only this, Grandfather, I must tell you. . .”
The little boy leaned toward his friend and raising his big brown eyes to meet the blue eyes, said:
“My heart sings about the wide water and the floating home of the Turquoise Woman. Always I have wished to follow her trail to the west.”
“We will go, my child, but remember you mustn’t run away again.”
The Sun Bearer and the Turquoise Woman.
“I shall not run away when you go where I wish to go. My Uncle needs water from the western sea. He needs it for his ceremonies.”
Looking around the big store where Indian pottery vied with Indian baskets, Younger Brother’s eyes discovered a conical jar of wicker work, glazed with pine gum.
“We need that Paiute jar, Grandfather. Always my people bring water from the west in such a jar.”
“Very well, we will take the Paiute wicker jar. Now we go to the house of my sister to sleep.”
CHAPTER XXII
BY THE WIDE WATERS OF THE WEST
HE BIG MAN’S sister was in town helping him prepare for the trip to the coast. She took charge of Younger Brother. She made him a beautiful purple velveteen shirt and dark green pantaloons. From the store she borrowed an old belt with eight silver disks strung on rawhide and fastened with a silver buckle of intricate design. When the boy donned his new clothes the Big Man’s sister was well satisfied with her planning. She said, “We will wait for your mother to brush and tie your hair.”
The thought of his mother again brushing his hair was very pleasant to Younger Brother. He was glad his family also was going to the wide water.
When Father and Mother and Sister arrived in the little town, they met the boy in the big store. They had not expected to see him and their surprise filled them with joy. The mother looked at the tall slim figure clad in purple and green and silver. She was secretly proud of him but she said, “Has no one brushed your hair ?”
She immediately untied a flour sack that held her belongings and produced a Navaho hair brush. While she brushed and tied his hair, she told the boy all the news of home.
Uncle was to look after things while she was away. Elder Brother and his wife would care for the sheep. Little Sister had cried when she left the baby.
“I do not care to leave my sheep but the Big Man has asked me to weave for the Pelicanos.”
“He knows what is right, Mother. My father, does he go also ?”
“Yes, he will show his silver work and your sister will be with us. Tell me, son, have you had plenty of food as you traveled ?”
“Yes, but no mutton like yours, Mother.”
“There is no better mutton than mine.”
The mother smiled and her even white teeth gave evidence of good food.
“There, your hair is tied. Did you meet my relative at Beautiful under the Cottonwoods ?”
“Yes, she had much trouble and lost her sheep and her young husband.”
“I did not know of the young husband. What was he like ?”
“I think he was too beautiful. I think that is why he died.”
“It may be so, my son. Things must not be perfect nor overdone.”
“I know, Mother. Do you think the Big Man has heaped too many rugs ?” The boy waved his arm in the direction of the piles of rugs.
“No, he did not weave them himself and he does not keep them. That is all right. What is the noise I hear ?”
“That is the fire horse of the Pelicanos. Tomorrow we ride in the train that the fire horse pulls.”
“I do not like the fire horse.”
Little Sister was frightened by the noise. She clung to her mother’s long full skirt. Father was curious and wanted to see the train but dared not go outside the store.
In the morning the party left on the train. As they rode through miles of wilderness they thought it an easy way to get over the country. When the darkness came they were very tired and sleepy. They dozed in their seats all night and everyone wished he could lie on his sheepskin on the hogan floor.
Crossing the Mojave desert the next day was very tedious, but Younger Brother, looking out of the window, was glad he did not have to ride his pony across so many miles.
When the travelers finally reached the coast, the Big Man took the Navaho family to the home of a very dear friend of his, who lived in a canyon of oak trees not far from the beach.
Late in the afternoon Younger Brother and the Big Man went down to the sea carrying the Paiute jar. They walked across the sands to the sound of breaking waves.
The crash and boom of the breakers rolling in unremitting zeal upon the passive shore terrified the desert-born child. To him there was no surety of the water staying in the sea. It seemed to be making a determined effort to engulf the land. It was like a terrible beast foaming at the mouth and hungering to devour whatever came within its reach.
Although Younger Brother was frightened by the breaking waves, the blue expanse beyond fascinated him. In the hazy distance he could see the dim outline of an island peak whose crest was lost in the clouds.
Standing close to the Big Man, the boy said, with a frightened voice, “That must be where the turquoise house is.”
“It may well be there, my child.”
The breakers left patterns of white foam on the wet sands, and little pools of still water. Younger Brother was filled with awe at the noise of the restless sea. He did not forget that he had often dreamed of this moment and had traveled far to attain it.
Frightened as he was, he walked toward the breaking waves. He took his medicine bag from his pocket and before sprinkling the pollen, said boldly:
“I am not afraid of you, wide water ! Take this to the Turquoise Woman.”
From his buckskin bag he withdrew the turquoise bead that the Big Man had left in the treasure cave, so many years ago. He blew on it. Four times he blew, and tossed it into the water with these words:
“Estsanatlehi ! Changing Woman ! Turquoise Woman ! There is my offering from the Waterless Mountain. Restore all in beauty for my people.”
The offering made, Younger Brother prepared to fill the wicker jar. He did not remove his moccasins and wade into the water. He dug a hole in the sand and let the waves fill it. Then as the water receded he filled his jar from the pool left in the hole.
“Now,” he said, “my uncle will have what Estsanatlehi wishes for her children — water from her western home.”
The two friends sat down on the dry sands to watch the waves roll one after another out of the wide water of the west. The sun was nearing the horizon. It sent warm, loving rays to rest for a moment on the amber-colored hills, turning their dim beauty to burning copper splendor.
The sea unrolled wave after wave of purple, tipped with orange light, until a blue mist rose from its depth. The blue mist moved across the waters and mounted to the sky.
Younger Brother watched intently. The mist mounted in swirling grace, reaching out long turquoise arms to enfold the sun as it neared its western home.
Younger Brother knew that the Sun Bearer had reached the home of the Turquoise Woman, and hung the sun on the turquoise peg in the turquoise wall. He could hear it go, “Tla, tla, da, tla,” as it settled in place.
He could not see the little gasoline fishing-boat on the other side of the wharf, seeking its harbor for the night. Its engine was stilled. The sun was resting and darkness crept over the wide water.
Younger Brother and the Big Man walked back to the house among the oaks. They found Father and Mother and Sister quite at home in front of a big fireplace.
The Big Man’s friend, whom they were visiting, was a curator of the Santa Barbara museum and he was deeply interested in Indian legends. He kept his own precious finds in this room, and Father was much interested in a pair of mountain sheep horns which hung over the fireplace.
Everyone sat on the floor in Navaho fashion and ate a good meal. After that the Big Man asked Younger Brother to tell the story of the western home of the Turquoise Woman.
So while they all sat by the fire watching the particles of soot glowing and dying on the sides of the chimney, Younger Brother spoke in a dreamy voice:
“When Estsanatlehi traveled the trail of beauty to the west, she was thinking all of the way, ‘Will my floating house be beautiful ?’ When she reached the very edge of the water and saw it sparkling from the light of the sun, she knew that her house would fulfill her heart’s desire. She called to the Sun to ask him how she was to cross the water to her island home, and he sent a gorgeous rainbow for her to travel on.
“She walked gladly across the rainbow and found her beautiful house made of all the glistening stones. It was a high, two-story house, and the water came to the very edge of it.
“On the hill which rose above it, cane cactus grew very close together. Great rocks rose back of the cactus ready to
crush any traveler.”
Younger Brother paused in the relation of the story and the Big Man translated for his friend. The curator listened eagerly to every detail. He became more excited every minute as the description of the island was continued.
Finally he said, “This is an amazing narrative. How do Navahos from the inland deserts know about the Channel Islands ?”
The Big Man answered, “The boy is only telling an age-old legend. Let him proceed.”
Younger Brother was gazing intently into the fire. The excitement of having reached the wide water made him imaginative and happy. He turned to the Big Man and said solemnly, “I have seen the wide water of the west. I have made my offering. I have filled my jar for Uncle. My heart sings and I can see light coming from the hearth of the Turquoise Woman.”
He leaned forward, looking into the fire. The pupils of his eyes dilated and his breath came fast as he spoke again, “Blue smoke rises from her fire to the sky hole. Her house glitters and shines in the sunshine. The boiling sands foam about its base.
“I can see the four mountains about the house. The Turquoise Woman has gone to the northern mountain to dance for corn and animals.”
The Big Man listened in wonder. The boy continued, “Now she goes to the western mountain to dance for beautiful plants and trees. I can see the trees, Grandfather, and I can see the flowers in her hands. Grandfather, I can see her !”
Younger Brother looked up at his friend. The expression on the boy’s face was like nothing the Big Man had ever seen. He was awed by the radiance of the smile. He said to the curator,
“Let us not talk any more tonight. The child is overexcited.”
The Sun sent a gorgeous rainbow for her to travel on.
“All right, let him rest. But let me tell you that I have been on that island and I have walked through cactus thickets to get to a certain cave on the western side. The cave can only be entered at low tide, and it is guarded by rough rocks. Most amazing of all, it is lined with rock crystal and glitters above the boiling, foaming waters on its beach. It is a high cave with two floors, and how this Navaho boy knows about it is beyond me.”
Waterless Mountain Page 10