Bailey and the Santa Fe Secret (5 page)

“Okay, be home for supper.”

“We will. We have our phones if you need us.” Bailey patted the pocket holding her phone.

“Have fun!” Mrs. Chang called.

The screen door slammed behind them as they started out. Every time she went outside, Bailey marveled that her cousin’s house was so far in the middle of nowhere. A few other homes spotted the barren landscape, but Bailey noticed there weren’t any stores like she was so used to in Peoria, Illinois.

Elan led the way through the dry terrain. “We have to walk this direction awhile, then you’ll see the cliff dwellings.” A lizard sunning itself on a rock scurried to safety under a creosote bush.

“Is this a desert?” Bailey asked.

“Not really. But it’s typical of the southwest with its dry, hard dirt and gravel and tall, dry grass. Lots of scrubby bushes and big rocks, too. We have some cacti like prickly pear, but not the tall saguaros with arms you see in some deserts. Southern New Mexico has part of the Chihuahuan Desert in it, but Santa Fe’s in the northern part of the state.”

“We won’t run across any snakes, will we?” Elizabeth asked.

“Probably not.” Elan kept walking. “But you never can tell.”

Bailey saw Beth’s wide hazel green eyes scanning the desert for any sign of movement.

“If a rattlesnake was around, we’d know before we got too close,” Elan said. “That’s what the rattler is for—to warn people and tell them to get away.”

Bailey saw the worry in Elizabeth’s eyes. “Don’t worry, Beth. Elan grew up out here. He’ll take good care of us.”

Elizabeth nodded but kept scanning the area.

“Are we near the cliff dwellings yet?” Bailey asked.

“A little farther,” Elan said. “Up around those big rocks, then a little bit past that.”

Bailey stopped and sipped her water. The sun was beating down without mercy. Only scraggly bushes and tall desert plants grew here with an occasional desert willow tree, which didn’t provide much shade.

“We should have put on sunscreen,” Elizabeth said. “I’ll be burnt to a crisp.”

Elan said, “Here. Why don’t you wear my hat? At least that will shade your face.” He whipped off his hat and tossed it to Elizabeth.

Beth looked at the floppy hat and laughed. “This will be a new look for me.” She shoved it on and struck a pose. “How do I look?”

Bailey laughed. “Like a cross between a fashion model and a desert rat.”

“I think you look great!” Elan said. “At least you won’t look like a lobster when we get back.”

“Not my face anyway.” Elizabeth held her arms out and inspected them as they walked. “My arms, maybe. We’ll have to try to take cover under some of the trees or tall rock formations.”

“What time is it?” Elan asked.

Bailey checked her cell phone. “Three thirty-five.”

“At least we’re not in the most damaging rays. They’re usually the worst between ten and two o’clock.”

“Good point,” Elizabeth said. “But then again I’ve heard the hottest part of the day is usually around five or six o’clock, just before the sun goes down.”

“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.”