I’m wise. Wise beyond my years? Dr. Joe seems to think so. He also says that I’m not only book smart but street smart.

During a walk along the river, Amy tells me that she has decided to use her seminar as the basis of her doctoral thesis. Then, I told her what Dr. Joe had said about me being wise beyond my years. And, she agreed with him.

Friday afternoon was interesting. We took the ‘57 Chevy in to tune it up for the change in altitude, and we met the owner of the dealership. And, we talked about taking his souped-up ‘57 and my stock ‘57 to a car show.

During breakfast on Saturday morning, I asked Amy, “Do you still want to go hiking on the east slope this morning?”

“Sure.”, Amy replied. “But isn’t it cold?”

“Right now, yes. But, by the time we get there, the Sun will be up, and with the blue sky, it will feel warmer. We'll just dress for it, and we’ll be fine.”

A little while later we were pulling into the parking area on the east slope of the Sandia Crest for the trailhead that we’d hiked when they’d closed out favorite trail because of the bear attack.

As we got out of the car, we went to the trunk and opened it. We took the holsters for the .45 pistols out of the trunk and strapped them on. Then we took the .45 pistols and a box of ammunition out of the backpack. We each loaded our pistols and put them in the holsters after being sure the safety was on. Then we took the rifles out of the trunk and a box of ammunition for them out of the backpack, and we each loaded one of the two rifles but didn’t put a round in the chamber. We put the boxes of ammunition back into the backpack. So, along with the boxes of ammunition, there were two water bottles, a first aid kit, and the blanket in the backpack.

I put on the backpack, and we locked up the car. Then we each slung one of the rifles over our right shoulder.

We walked over to the information board, and there wasn’t much on it. Then we opened the trail log, looked at it, and no one had logged in for over a week. So, I signed us in. And we headed down the trail.

The trail wasn’t bad, a little muddy in places, but what do you expect for early spring. As usual, we talked as we hiked, we didn’t want to surprise a bear. And, if we weren’t talking, Amy was singing.

It was nice being out on a mountain trail again, even though this trail was relatively flat. About a mile out on this trail is a small clearing.

As was approached the clearing, Amy was leading us, and she was singing. Just as we got to the clearing, Amy stopped dead in her tracks. I saw her hand go to her holster, unsnap it, and pull the gun out. And what I saw had me take the rifle off my shoulder and put a round in the chamber.

We were looking at a brown bear, a large brown bear, about forty yards in front of us. And, to make it a little more dangerous, there were two cubs with her. The big bear then stood up on its hind legs and looked at us. I started quietly talking to the bear, and Amy kept singing. I didn’t want to shoot one of the Mountain People.

The bear growled, and the cubs ran for the nearest tree and started climbing it. It would have been cute watching the cubs climb the tree, except for the danger that we were in with the bigger bear.

“Kai, what do we do?”, Amy whispered between the lines of her song.

“We need to try and back out of here without taking our eyes off the bear.”, I replied.

“Are you feeling anything from the bear?”

“She doesn’t want us here. But, I’m not feeling any … ”

Just then the bear dropped down on all fours and charged us, but stopped after about ten yards. She was bluffing. I hope. But, both Amy and I were ready to shoot.

After the bear had stopped, somehow Amy was still singing. I lowered the rifle, put my left hand on Amy’s right shoulder, and whispered, “I’ll guide you as we back away. You keep your eyes on the bear, and I’ll watch the trail.”

And we did just that. We slowly backed away from the bear, and the bear stood back up on its hind legs and watched us. After we were about sixty yards from the bear, it went back to where her cubs were, and we kept backing away.

Finally, when we were out of sight of the bear, we stopped, Amy turned to me, wrapped her arms around me, and said, “God, that was intense.”

“I’ll second that.”, I said as I held her.

“But, the two cubs were cute.”

“You would say that.”

“Well, they were.”

“Yes, and they sure could climb.”

We held each other for a minute or so, and then we hiked back to the parking area. We unloaded the rifles and pistols. Laid the rifles in the trunk, and put the pistols in the side-pockets of the backpack and laid that in the trunk. After we’d closed the trunk, we got in the car. Then we looked at each other, and Amy said, “Kai, I don’t know if I’ve told you this today. But I love you so much.”

She kissed me, and when she let me, I said, “I love you too, sweetheart.”

We walked over to the trail log and signed off the trail. And we left a note that said: ’Encountered bears in the clearing at about the 1-mile point. Mom bear and two cubs. It was intense.’

As we got in the car, Amy asked, “Did you feel anything from the bear?”

“Yes.”, I replied. “I could feel her wanting to protect the cubs. And, she wasn’t interested in hurting us.”

As we were driving back towards Albuquerque, we came on the parking area for our favorite east slope hiking trail, and I turned in. Amy asked, “Why are we stopping here?”

“I thought we’d check the information board there and maybe check the trail conditions.”, I replied.

“Okay.”

As we pulled into the parking area, there was no one else there. We got out of the car and walked up to the information board. There was nothing about bears or trail conditions. Then we looked at the trail log, and in the last few days, people mentioned that the trail was muddy in places and that there was still some snow in the higher elevation areas.

As we were walking back to the car, a rangers truck pulled in and parked next to us. There were two rangers in the truck, and they both got out. One of them was the ranger that we’d run into several times, Ranger Carter. He saw us and said, “Hello, you two. Out for a morning hike?”

“Hello, Ranger Carter.”, I replied. “Yes, out with the Mountain People.”

I saw a puzzled look on the other ranger’s face, a girl. I looked at her and said, “It’s what the Navajo people call bears.”

She smiled and nodded, yes. Then Ranger Carter said, “I’m sorry this is Mary Wilson. She’s a ranger trainee. And, Mary this is … Ah, girls, I’m sorry, but I don’t remember your names.”

I smiled at Ranger Carter, and said, “I’m Kai Nez, and this is my cousin Ajie Nez.”

We exchanged pleasantries. Then Mary Wilson asked, “Are you Indians?”

“Yes.”, I replied. “We’re members of the Navajo Nation.”

Ranger Carter asked, “Did you see any bears?”

“Yes. Three of them. An adult female with two cubs.”

“On this trail?”

“No, they were on that trail on the other side of the road and a little north of here.”

“The lower loop trail?”

“Yeah. I think that’s the name. They were about a mile up the trail in a clearing.”

“How did you handle it?”, Ranger Carter asked.

I went on to tell them what we did. When I finished, Ranger Carter said, “You handled that the best way you could. Just never get between a female bear and her cubs. She’ll go to extremes to protect her cubs. And, that charge of hers was a bluff charge.”

“I felt that it was her way of telling us to leave.”, I said.

Then Ranger Mary Wilson asked, “Why didn’t you shoot the bear when she charged you?”

“I felt that she didn’t mean us any harm and just wanted to keep us away from her cubs.”

“You trusted your feelings when a bear was charging you?”

“Yes. I didn’t want to shoot her. If I had, her two cubs would have been orphaned.”

“Mary.”, Ranger Carter said. “Realize that the native peoples have a special relationship with the wild animals.”

“But, a charging bear is so scary.”

“It is.”, Amy said. “But, I trust Kai. She can feel things about people and some animals. Besides, I had a .45 in my hand and a finger on the trigger and Kai had her rifle. If Kai would have shot, then I would have too.”

“That’s right.”, Ranger Carter said. “You do carry some serious firepower with you when you hike.”

“Yes.”, I replied. “.45 pistols and .45-70 Government cartridge rifles.”

“Well, Mary, I guess we need to put up some bear signs.”

We said so long to the two rangers and headed for Albuquerque. As we drove, I asked Amy, “What do you want to do?”

“Well.”, Amy replied. “I’m all caught up on my things for class. I’m not working today. So, I’m open for anything.”

“Want to go for a ride after lunch?”

“Where?”

“Well, if it was a little warmer we could put the top down on the ‘57 and go somewhere.”

“It might be warmer after lunch.”

“True.”, I replied. “Where do you want to go?”

“I do have that list of houses that were for sale.”

“What if they’ve been sold?”, I asked,

“Does it matter.”, Amy said. “We’re just looking to see what style we like.”

“I guess it doesn’t matter. But bring the camera.”

After we were back at the apartment and had everything put away, we ate lunch and worked on the list of houses and finding them on a map of the Albuquerque area. After we’d finished lunch, we changed into better clothes for our drive and set off to explore.

We stopped at Charlie and Jackie’s apartment to tell them that we were taking the ‘57 Chevy. But, no one was home. So we walked over to the garage door. I unlocked and opened the door, then Amy and I put the top down on the ‘57 Chevy, and we headed out looking at houses.

Most of the houses we wanted to look at were in the northern part of the city. And, some of those were in the northeast part of town near the Sandia Crest, the Cibola National Forest, and the Sandia Pueblo. You couldn’t build in those areas. So, if your house backed on to one or more of those areas you wouldn’t have to worry about neighbors.

We spent a couple of hours driving around looking at the houses that had been listed for sale and the homes around them. All the ones that we’d picked were built out of adobe. And, some of the ones that we chose were, to say the least, high-end homes and they looked like it. But, we did see some that were interesting. And, Amy took a bunch of pictures.

By the time we were finished looking at houses and talking to the police, it was going on dinner time. Yes, we were stopped by the Albuquerque Police.

As we were pulling away from one of the houses that we’d stopped to look at, a police car pulled up behind us with their red lights on. So, I pulled over to the curb, stopped, and turned off the car. Two officers walked up to the car, one on my side and the other on Amy’s side.

I said to the one on my side, “Good afternoon officer. Is there something wrong.”

“I hope not, Miss.”, the officer said. “Can I see some identification from both of you and the registration on the car.”

“Yes, sir.”

I picked up my purse, took out my wallet, removed my driver's license and university identification from it, and handed them to the officer. Amy did the same thing with the officer on her side of the car. Then I said, “The registration is in the glove box.”

“Can I see it please.”

I looked at Amy, and said, “Amy, would you grab the registration out of the glove box.”

“Sure, Kai.”, Amy replied.

Amy found the registration in the glove box, handed it to me, and I handed it to the officer. He looked at it and said, “This is a fairly new registration.”

“Yes.”, I said. “I bought this car during my senior year in high school, and I just brought it out here. And, since we’re going to be staying out here for a while, I registered and licensed it out here.”

“Where was high school?”

“Columbus, Ohio.”

“I see. Nice car by the way.”

“Thanks. It’s never been out in the winter.”

“I don’t blame you.”

“So, what’s the problem, officer?”

“We’ve had reports of two Indian girls driving around taking pictures of houses.”

I smiled, as I said, “We’re looking at buying a house soon and were just looking at various houses getting some ideas.”

“Some people thought that you might be casing house for a robbery.”

“Officer.”

“So, you’re on the faculty of the University of New Mexico?”

“Yes. After we graduated from college, we came out here to work on our graduate degrees. Amy is a nurse, teaches as a graduate assistant in the school of nursing, and works in the hospital’s emergency room.”

“I’m an instructor in the engineering college, do research, and am working on my doctorate.”

“I see.”, the officer said. Then looking at the other officer, he said, “Well, Steve, what do you think?”

“I think they're okay.”, the other officer said. “And, we’ll have their information just encase something happens.”

They wrote down our information, including our phone number, and handed back our identifications. Then, as they walked away, the one officer said, “Have a good day, ladies.”

And, I replied, “Thank you. Be safe.”

And, now it was dinner time, and Amy asked, “How far are we from Santa Fe?”

“Less than an hour. Why?”, I asked.

“Want to go there for dinner?”

We put the top up on the ‘57, and in less than an hour, we were pulling into the Pink Adobe. As I parked the car, Amy said, “This has been a really interesting day, first the bear and then the Albuquerque police. You know that things happen in threes.”

“Don’t jinx us.”, I said.

“Those were two good things. At least I look at them that way because of how they turned out. So, if there’s a third, it should be good.”

“I hope that you’re right.”

We walked into the Pink Adobe and looked around, and who do we see standing there, my Aunt Ruth and Uncle Paul. It appeared that they’d just gotten here. We walked up behind them and just stood there not saying anything.

The hostess walked up to my aunt and uncle, and asked, “How many for dinner?”

My uncle said, “Two.”

I added, “Why not make it four.”

My aunt and uncle turned and looked, and my aunt said, “Kai. Ajie. What are you doing here?”

“The same thing that you are. Eating dinner.”, I replied. “Can we join you?”

“Of course you can.”, my uncle said. Then he turned to the hostess, and said, “Make that four for dinner.”

The hostess took us to a table for four. We sat, and the hostess left us with four menus. A server showed up and introduced herself and took our drink orders — no sangria for me. I’m driving. But, Aunt Ruth and Ajie ordered a pitcher of sangria to share. Uncle Paul chose water. And I went with Coke.

As we looked at the menus, Aunt Ruth asked, “So, what have you two been up to?”

“Why don’t we wait until after we order and then we’ll tell you.”, I said.

“Kai, are you in trouble again?”, Uncle Paul asked.

“Uncle Paul, no. It’s just been an interesting day.”

My uncle gave me a look and said, “Okay. We’ll wait.”

A short time later, our waitress brought our drinks, a bowl of corn chips, and a bowl of triple layer salsa dip. And we gave her our orders.

Then my uncle looked at me and said, “Okay, Kai. What made today so interesting?”

“What do you mean, Uncle Paul?”, I said with a sly smile.

“Kai. Quit messing around.”

“Okay, Uncle Paul. But, the ‘57 Chevy is in the parking lot.”

“Now I know you’re messing with me.”

“No, sir. It’s out there.”

“She’s not kidding.”, Ajie said. “We needed to take it out for a ride.”

I looked at Uncle Paul and nodded, yes.

“Kai.”, Uncle Paul said. “Do your aunt and I get a ride?”

“Of course.”, I replied. “I thought before we headed back that we’d stop and see grandma and grandpa.”

“That would be nice.”, Aunt Ruth said. “So, what else happened?”

“Well, Ajie and I went for a spring hike this morning, and ran across a bear and her two cubs.”

“What!?”, Uncle Paul said.

“Yes, and what you taught us got us out of hot water.”

“So, what did you do?”

“We had our guns ready, but we slowly backed away while I quietly talked to her and Ajie sang. She charged us, but it was a bluff. Once we were out of sight, she went back to the cubs.”

“So, you didn’t shoot her when she charged you?”

“No, I felt that it was a bluff.”

“You felt that.”

“Uh, huh.”

“You took quite a chance.”

“No, she was just trying to chase us away.”

“Kai, please be careful around the Mountain People.”

“Uncle Paul, we are. We listened to everything that you’ve taught us about them.”

“Anything else?”

“Since we couldn’t hike, we decided to go and look at the houses that were for sale in Albuquerque that were like what we’re interested in.”

“See anything of interest?”

“One or two.”

“And, then we met two of Albuquerque’s finest.”

“The police?”

“Yeah. Someone reported two Indian girls taking pictures of houses and they thought that we were planning to rob them.”

“You two rob someone. No way.”

“That’s what we told them, and they believed us.”

“Good. It sounds like an interesting day.”

“It was.”, Ajie said. “But, running into the two of you was the icing on the cake.”

They brought our food, and we had a great meal with fried ice cream for dessert. As we walked out of the restaurant, Aunt Ruth asked, “Are we still going to the cemetery?”

“I’d love to.”, I said.

“Can we ride with you?”

“Sure. Uncle Paul, can you leave your car here?”

“It shouldn’t be a problem.”, Uncle Paul replied.

The four of us walked to where we’d parked the ‘57 Chevy. And, when Uncle Paul saw the car, he said, “Kai, what you’ve said about this car didn’t do it justice.”

“Thanks, Uncle Paul.”, I said. “Is it too cold to put the top down?”

Uncle Paul looked at Aunt Ruth, and said, “Ruth is it too cold to ride to the cemetery with the top down?”

“I don’t think so.”, Aunt Ruth said.

“Okay, Uncle Paul.”, I said. “Help me put the top down.”

Uncle Paul and I put the top down, then the four of us got into the car. And, after everyone fastened their seat belts, I started the car. Uncle Paul said, “Kai, what’s under the hood?”

“A Chevy 283-cubic-inch fuel-injected V8 engine into a four-speed manual transmission.”, I replied.

“You can just feel the power.”

I followed Uncle Paul’s directions to the National Cemetery and to where Grandma and Grandpa Devereux graves are. We parked the car and got out. The four of us walked to the grave, and they had added grandma’s date of death to the headstone. Ajie and I stood there hand in hand, and I started a quiet chant, and Ajie joined in. We probably stood there for about ten minutes.

As we walked back to the car, I noticed that Ajie was crying. I stopped, looked at her, and said, “I know that you miss her, and so do I. Remember that showing grief isn’t done. It can cause trouble for the person’s spirit.”

“I’m sorry.”, Ajie said. “I know about the spirits. It’s that I just that I miss her so much.”

“I know sweetheart. I miss her too. Everyone that knew her misses her.”

When we were back at the car, I handed the keys to the ‘57 Chevy to Uncle Paul. He looked at me and said, “I can drive?”

“Sure.”, I said.

“Thanks, Kai.”

Ajie and I climbed into the backseat, and Aunt Ruth and Uncle Paul climbed into the front seat. As Uncle Paul started the car, I said, “Be careful, it’s easy to peel the tires in first.”

“Okay, Kai.”, Uncle Paul said as he put it in first, let out the clutch, gave it some gas, and peeled the tires. Then Uncle Paul said, “Oops! I see what you mean.”

“You’ll get Uncle Paul.”

“This does have some power. Doesn’t it?”

“Yes, it does.”

Uncle Paul did get the hang of it and only slightly peeled the tires once more. I told him to drive around a little if he wanted to before we went back to the restaurant. And, he did.

Back at the restaurant, Uncle Paul pulled up to where he was parked, turned off the car, turned, looked at Ajie and me, and said, “Very nice car, Kai. Thanks for letting me drive it.”

“No, problem Uncle Paul.”, I said. “We’ll have to take it out on the open road one day.”

“That would be fun.”

Then, Aunt Ruth said, “Paul, are you going to tell them.”

“Tell us what?”, I asked.

“We weren’t going to tell you about this until we were one-hundred percent sure. But, sometime in the next month or so, there may be a house coming on the market. And, it might be just what you’re looking for.”

“Oh.”, I said.

“This house belonged to a Navajo couple. The man started a company that built adobe houses and buildings. And, his company built most of the resorts newer buildings, some of the building at the University of New Mexico, and a number of houses and other buildings. Two of their sons now run his company. And this house is only seven years old. The man passed away a little over a year ago, and his widow lived in it until just recently. She’s now in a nursing home. And, the family doesn’t want to keep the house.

“The house is typical adobe construction with open beam construction, has 20” thick walls, and all the floors are ceramic tile. There’s a walled-in entrance courtyard with an iron gate. And two massive wooden front doors that open into an entry hall. There’s also a walled-in courtyard with a gate at the back of the house with an open fire pit. The master bedroom, the dining room, and the big room all access the courtyard through sliding doors.

“There are four bedrooms, three of them with a Kiva fireplace with a raised hearth. And the three of them share a large bathroom. The master suite has a large walk-in closet, an en suite bathroom, and a beautiful Kiva fireplace with a raised hearth. There’s also a power room off the main room.

“The kitchen is large, with a sit-down breakfast bar. And there’s a big dining room right off the kitchen. There’s a large main room in the middle of the house that serves all the various spaces, and it has a large fireplace.”

“Uncle Paul.”, I said. “You sound like a real estate agent.”

“No, Kai. I’m just trying to draw you a picture. And, there’s more.”

“More? It already sounds like it’s too much for us.”

“This has almost everything that you said that you were looking for.”

“Okay. Go on.”

“Okay, the house has a three car garage, and one of the bays is two cars deep.

“And, it sits at the end of a cul-de-sac with three other houses. Each of the houses sits on a large lot.

“The front door of the house opens to the east, and you see the Cibola National Forest and the Sandia Crest from the front door. To the west, you see the desert. To the north are the mountains leading to Colorado.”

When Uncle Paul finished, Ajie and I just looked at each other. Then back at Uncle Paul. Then Ajie said, “Uncle Paul, talk about overload.”

“Sorry, kids.”, Uncle Paul said. “But I had a lot of information to give you.”

“Have you seen this house?”

“Yes. I’ve even been in it.”

“That sounds like a heck of a house, and I’ll bet at a heck of a price.”

“I don’t know about a price yet. But, I know that they want to move it quickly. And, if they can bypass a realtor, they might let it go below the market price.”

“Uncle Paul.”, I said. “I know nothing of housing prices, but knowing what the prices of the houses that we were looking at today, this one sounds like something in sixty to seventy thousand dollar range.”, I said. “But it sounds very interesting.”

As Uncle Paul took a piece of paper out of his pocket and handed it to me, he said, “Here’s the address. Go and take a look.”

“We will, Uncle Paul.”, Ajie said. “And soon.”

“Uncle Paul.”, Ajie asked. “Did the man die in the house?”

“No, Ajie.”, Uncle Paul said. “He passed in the hospital.”

“Worried about the spirits, Ajie?”, Aunt Ruth asked.

“No, just curious.”

I think that the three of us knew the reason that Ajie asked that question. It was because she’s heard the stories of the Navajo belief on death.

On our drive back to Albuquerque, it was quiet. I think we were both thinking about what Uncle Paul had told us. When we pulled the car into Charley and Jackie’s garage, they came out to talk. It was late, and Amy was working seven to three tomorrow, so we gave them the short version of our hike, the bears, and our house looking and the police. We left out what Uncle Paul had told us about the one house.

Charlie and Jackie were shocked by what we did with the bears and laughed about us being stopped by the police. Then we said good night. And went into our apartment, checking the mailbox on the way, and there was one piece of mail, that appeared to a card, addressed to both of us.

Once we were inside, I said, “You asked about the man’s death because of the stories that you’ve heard. Didn’t you?”

“No.”, Amy said. “Not really.”

“Amylin.”

She gave me a sheepish grin and said, “Yeah. I guess I did.”

“Don’t worry. Once Naainish blesses whatever house we buy. If we do buy a house. Everything will be fine.”

“You think?”

“I know.”

As I handed the envelope to Amy, I said, “Here. This is for both of us.”

Amy took the envelope, looked at it, and said, “It’s from Larry and Kelly.”

She opened it, took out what looked like a greeting card, and read it. Then she said, “It’s an invitation for Lawrence Randall Thomas’s christening. We have to go.”

“Cool.”, I said. “When is it?”

“Sunday, April 7th. Can we make it.”

“We’d better. We’re the godparents.”

“I know. This will be interesting. Will it be Kai or Tommy?”

“We’ll need to talk to Larry and Kelly about it.”

“And soon.”

For some reason, that night, Amy and I didn’t talk about the house. But, other things happened between the Queen and her Prince.

Sunday morning, I walked Amy to the hospital, and as we were saying so hágoónee' - (see you later), Amy said, “You know. Let’s go see where that house is?”

“Okay.”, I said.

“I’ll come home, change, then we can go, and stop for dinner someplace.”

“Sounds good to me.”

I went back to the apartment, and did some housework, read ahead on the classes that I’m teaching. Then I found out where the house that Uncle Paul had told us about was. And, it was just outside of the northeast Albuquerque city limits snuggled against the Cibola National Forest.

We didn’t have time to dust off the Chevy when we put it away last night, so after lunch, I went over to the garage at Charlie and Jackie’s apartment and opened the garage door. Charlie heard me and came out into the garage and said, “What’s up, Kai.”

“Just going to dust off the Chevy.”, I replied.

“Want some help?”

“Sure.”

Charlie and I dusted off the Chevy, and as we did, I told him more about the bears, and he just shook his head, and said, “I’d have probably run away.”

“That’s the wrong thing to do.”, I said. “That would trigger the bear's flight response, and it would run you down.”

“They’re that fast?”

“They can probably run twice as fast as you can, and can climb a tree like a lumberjack.”

“Oh!”

“What Amy and I did was the way to do it.”

“That took guts.”

“I guess.”

Then we started talking about looking at the houses and the police, and in the middle of this, Jackie came out and joined us. She just listened as I talked about the houses and the police. Then Jackie said, “You’re going to do this. Aren’t you?”

“I think so.”, I said. “It’s scary. But, I think it’s the next step for us. But I don’t know if I want a big house.”

“Did any of the ones that you looked at fit what you and Amy want?”

“Not really. But, my Uncle Paul may have found something. And, I hate to say this, but it appears that it has everything that Amy and I want.”

“Oh?”, Charlie said.

“Yeah. Four bedrooms, big kitchen, big garage, made of adobe, backs on to a national forest, is out of town, and sits on a big lot.”

“Kind of your dream house?”

“Yeah. But, for someone our age, it’s one hell of a big step.”

“Kai.”, Jackie said. “For someone your age, you and Amy are very level headed. We’ve seen you do things that many people twice your age would have problems taking care of.”

“She’s right, Kai.”, Charlie said. “Look at what you’ve accomplished out here. It’s amazing.”

“Kai, if you and Amy are going to stay out here, you should have your dream house.”

I looked at Jackie and thought, ‘Just like with Billy, out of the mouth of babes.’ Then I asked, “What are you two doing later this afternoon?”

“Not much.”, Charlie said. “Why?”

“After Amy gets off work, we’re going to take a drive and look at this house. Want to go along?”

“Sure. What time?”

“Amy gets off at three. By the time she gets here and changes it’ll be around four. So, let's say four. And, we’ll stop someplace for dinner.”

At four o’clock the four of us, Jackie, Charlie, Amy, and I were headed to the northeast part of Albuquerque in the ‘67 Chevy. Amy looking at the map, directed me towards the house. Sandia Crest was just off to our right, so this house is close to the Crest.

Finally, we drove down this road that ended in a cul-de-sac. I looked at the mailboxes and found one that had the right numbers on it. I stopped and said, “Should we drive down there?”

“Kai, we’re here.”, Amy said. “So, yes.”

I slowly turned down the driveway that went through some trees. As we came out of the trees, the driveway curved to the left, and we saw the house. I stopped maybe a hundred feet from the house, and we just looked. There was a car out front.

Shortly a man walked out through the iron gate in the walled courtyard and saw us. We watched as he locked the gate, and then he walked towards us. He looked to be Navajo. As he walked up, he asked, “Can I help you?”

“My uncle told us about this house.”, I replied.

“Why would your uncle tell you about this house.”

“We’re looking for a house, and he said that it would be going on the market soon.”

“Who’s your uncle?”

“Paul Biakeddy.”

“Oh, Yiska. You must be his nieces. He said that you might be looking for a house.”

“Yes, I’m Kai Nez. This is Amy Young or as the Navajo call her Ajie Nez. And these are our friends Jackie and Charlie.”

“Nice to meet all of you. Kai, I’ve heard a lot about you, and that scholarship that you set up was amazing.”

“Thank you. But, Ajie had as much to do with it as I did.”

“Well, then Ajie, the two of you did something wonderful.”

“Thank you.”, Ajie said. “And you are.”

“I’m sorry. I’m Sani Tl'izilani. But, everyone calls me Sam. This is my parent’s house.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Sam.”

“I wish I had time to show you around, but I’m already late for an appointment. But, feel free to take a look around outside.”

“Thank you.”, I said. “We’ll do that.”

“I’ve got to run, tell your uncle that I said hello.”

“Will do, Sam.”

We shook hands, and Sam left us to look around. The first thing I noticed was the landscaping, and it was very nice — typical southwestern flora.

We walked around the house with Amy taking pictures of the outside. We looked in through the iron gate at the front courtyard and saw the plantings and the heavy wooden front doors. Then we walked clockwise around the house. Most of the windows had curtains on them, and we couldn’t see in. At the back of the house, we loved the view, one way was the desert, and the other way was the mountains. Then we looked over the wooden gate that was in the wall around the courtyard at the back of the house. You could see the fire pit and some of the plantings, and you could also see into the main room of the house and the fireplace on the far wall.

As we continued our walk around the house, we came to the attached garage, and you could look in through the windows. There were cars in there, four cars. And two of the cars were classics. Like Uncle Paul said one of the bays was a double deep bay and you could see that there was room for a workbench at the end.

As we finished our walk around, we went back to the car and stood there looking at the house. I looked at Amy and said, “Wow!”

“Kai, I’ll second your wow.”, Amy said.

“Guys.”, Charlie said. “I’ve never seen anything like this house except at the Taos Pueblo. And, that amazed me. But, seeing this house is amazing. I want to know how they’re made.”

“I’d like to come back here when it’s dark out to see what it’s like.”, I said.

“So, would I.”, Charlie said.

“We’d probably meet the local police.”

“You’re good at talking to them.”, Amy said.

“Yes, too good.”, I said.

“Why don’t we go grab something to eat, and then come back. We don’t have to come back here. We could drive to this area and see what it’s like after dark.”

“Okay. Charlie, are you and Jackie okay with this?”

“Sure.”, Charlie said. “I like meeting the police.”

“Charlie!”, I said.

“Sorry.”

We left the house and drove towards the Interstate looking for a place to eat. It was just about Sunset when we found a drive-in where I-25 meets Route 423. We took our time eating. The food was okay but not as good as our favorite place.

By the time we left the drive-in, it had gotten dark. Now, all we had to do was find our way back to the house. We didn’t have to find the house, but just the area. But, with Amy navigating, we found the house again.

We pulled into the driveway of the house, got out, and there was no light pollution from Albuquerque. And there were a lot of stars. Amy was holding my hand and squeezed it.

We didn’t stay long, and as we were leaving the area, a police car passed us going the other way, and I said, “I wonder where they’re going?”

Charlie said. “My guess is back where we just came from.”

“I’ll bet you’re right.”

We continued to the apartment, and as I pulled into the driveway, I said, “That only took twenty minutes.”

“That’s not bad.”, Amy said.

We said goodnight to Charlie and Jackie. And as Amy and I walk into our apartment, Amy asked, “So, what do you think.”

“To be honest.”, I said. “This whole thing scares me. It’s a big step.”

“It is a big step, and it is scary. It’s something we really need to soul search on.”

“I really appreciate Uncle Paul doing this, but I’m feeling a little pushed. I know that we may have to decide in the next month on this house.”

“I know. Are we really ready for this step in our lives? I know that we want something like this. But, there’s a lot of other things to consider. Taxes, insurance, upkeep, utilities, and other things.”

“I know. Plus, what if we don’t stay here. And I don’t want to see it cause us any problems.”

“Honey. Do you think that we’re not going to stay out here?”

“Honestly.”, I replied. “I think we’re here to stay.”

“You know we are. We’re both happy here. We have a lot of friends and family out here. But, like you, I miss the crew from back home.

“And, if we’re staying out here we would need our own place. Maybe not as big as the house that Uncle Paul told us about. But, something in an area like where that one is.”

“But, you know what?”, I asked.

“What?”, Amy replied.

“I’d really like to see the inside of that house.”