While we were having dinner with Jackie, we told her about what we’d done with her scholarship. And, it turned out better than I thought it would. And, later at the hospital, we talked with Charlie about it, and that also went well.

We even called and talked with our parents about my new part-time job and the research fellowship. My dad went crazy when I told them that I’d turned down Los Alamos offer until I explained why.

Early on Sunday morning, we’d taken a walk along the Rio Grande River and our two feathered friends, the Eagles, had shown up. As they left they left us a present, two feathers.

After we were back at the apartment and as we were ready to leave to go and see Charlie, we received a call from Chief Tom. So tonight we were having dinner with Chief Tom and Vickie to discuss some clan business.

We walked over to the hospital, and when we walked into Charlie’s room, he was sitting up in a chair reading a Popular Science. And, Jackie wasn’t there. As we walked in, he looked up, smiled, and said, “Hello you two.”

“Good morning, Charlie.”, Amy said. “It’s good to see you sitting up. And, no IV.”

“They took the IV out earlier this morning and told me that my blood work looked good. And, that as long as my blood work continued to be good, they would only give me antibiotics in pill form.”

“That’s good. So, how are you feeling.”

“My belly is still sore. I figure it’s going to be that way for a while longer.”

“It will.”

We stayed and talked with Charlie for about forty-five minutes, and as we were leaving Jackie walked in carrying flowers. She saw us, smiled, and said, “Good morning.”

“Good morning.”, I replied. “Where did you get the flowers?”

“When I talked to our parents last night and told them about Charlie, they sent them.” Then looking at Charlie, Jackie continued with, “And, everyone back home sends there love. And your mother said that you’d better start listening to me.”

“Is she worried?”, Charlie asked.

“What do you think?”

“Yeah. Your mom is. Just like when we came out here.”

“And, I think she would have come out here with us if it hadn’t been for your brothers and sisters.”

“True. But, my dad needs her more than they do.”

We said so long and that we’d be back when we could. Then we headed back to the apartment.

Just before six in the evening, we were pulling into the driveway of the Etsitty house. And, there were two other cars in the driveway, and I said, “I wonder who else is here?”

“No, clue.”, Amy said.

We parked and walked up to the door. I pushed the doorbell button, and shortly Chief Tom opened it, and said, “Yá’át’ééh alní'íní, Kai Nez dóó Ajie Nez. - (Good evening, Kai Nez and Ajie Nez.)”

Ajie and I replied, “Yá’át’ééh alní'íní, Naat'áanii Tahoma Etsitty. - (Good evening, Chief Tom Etsitty.)”

Chief Tom then said, “I think we can stop being so formal.”

“That’s fine by us.”, I said.

“Come on in and meet everyone.”

“I didn’t know that there would be others?”

“Sure. We’re going to be talking some clan business.”

As we walked into the living room, along with Vickie, there were two other couples. I recognized one of the men. It was Sicheii Uskilith who is the Speaker of the Navajo Nation Council. He was at my meeting with the University’s Board of Regents.

Then Chief Tom said, “Everyone, this is Kai Nez and Ajie Nez.

“Kai and Ajie, I think you know Sicheii Uskilith. Along with being Speaker of the Navajo Nation Council, he is also a member of our clan. And this is his wife, Mosi.

“And this is Toh Yah Tsosie, he and his wife Yanaha are both clan elders.”

As Chief Tom had introduced each of them, Ajie and I had looked at each and smiled. When Chief Tom was finished, I said, “It’s a pleasure to meet all of you. And to see you again Sicheii Uskilith.”

Mrs. Uskilith said, “And, it is an honor to meet you, Kai Nez, and your friend, Ajie.”

“Mrs. Uskilith.”, I said. “We’re all friends here, so it’s just Kai.”

“Kai Nez.”, Mrs. Uskilith said. “We use your full name out of respect. But, as you say, we are friends. So, it’s Mosi and not Mrs. Uskilith.”

I smiled, and said, “Thank you, Mosi.”

The eight of us sat around chatting, as Vickie kept running out to the kitchen to check on dinner. The second time she went out to the kitchen, Ajie followed her to see if she could help.

As we sat down to dinner, Chief Tom asked me to say a prayer. I thought for a few seconds, then remembered the one that Naainish uses at the barbecues. And I said, “We thank the Great Spirit for the resources that made this food possible; we thank the Earth Mother for producing it, and we thank all those who labored to bring it to us. May the wholesomeness of the food before us, bring out the wholeness of the Spirit within us.”

As we were eating, Vickie said, “Kai, I heard a rumor about you.”

“Oh.”, I asked. “What was that?”

“There’s a rumor going around the university that you’re now a part-time instructor.”

“I don’t know.”, I said. “Am I?”

“I also heard that you also received a research fellowship.”, Chief Tom said.

“There’s all kinds of rumors flying around there. It sounds like I need to throw some cold water on them.”

“Are they true, Kai?”, Sicheii Uskilith asked.

“Yes, Sicheii.”, I replied. “They’re true. I’m now a part-time instructor and also have a research fellowship.”

“Then I guess congratulations are in order.”

“Thank you, Sicheii.”

Then everyone else congratulated me.

Chief Tom then said, “I thought you had to have a doctoral to be given a research fellowship?”

“From what I hear you do. And, we can’t figure out why they gave me one.”

I saw Vickie and Ajie whispering back and forth, and there was a little smile on Ajie’s face. So, I looked at them and said, “Do you two know something that I don’t know, and should know?.”

Ajie looked at me and pointed to Vickie. So, I said, “Vickie Etsitty, is there something that you want to tell me?”

“Sure, Kai. Congratulations.”

“Thank you. But, I think that there’s more.”

“Well, I guess there is. A couple of Deans and Dr. Oshie came to me, and asked what they thought it would take to keep you here at the university.”

“I just told them that I knew that you loved finding out how things work and to solve problems. One of the Deans asked if I meant research? And I said yes, in one simple word, research would describe it. I also told them that I thought that the project that you were working on was something that you loved doing.”

“So, some people want me to stay here?”

“Yes, it appears that you have impressed them.”

“So, Dr. Oshie knew about this?”

“Yes.”

“Just wait until I see him.”

We finished dinner, and as we were eating dessert, Dr. Tom said, “Okay. Let's get down to business.”

We spent fifteen or twenty minutes covering a few minor things. Then Dr. Tom said, “As you know many of the clans are having a gathering on November 23 at the high school in Taos. And, it’s being hosted by the Taos Pueblo this year.

“And, we want to be sure that our clan makes a good showing.”

Ajie and I looked at each other, and I said, “Excuse me, Chief Tom. But, what gathering?”

And, Ajie added, “Isn’t that Thanksgiving?”

“Yes, Ajie, it is.”, Chief Tom said. “But, most native people don’t celebrate it for obvious reasons. We have a gathering of the people to celebrate our heritage. There’s dancing, food, and just a good time. And, it lasts all day.”

“We’ve never heard of it.”, I said.

“We do it every year.”

“So, what do we need to do?”

“Everything is taken care of. We need to be sure that our clan has a good turn out.”

Mosi Uskilith told us that the word had been spread among the members of the clan and that she felt that we’d have a good representation at the gathering. Then looking at me, she said, “There is only one other thing that I want to be sure of.”

Since she was looking at me, I asked, “What’s that, Mosi?”

“That you’re there, Kai.”

“Me?”

“Kai.”, Chief Tom said. “You’ve been told many times that you are special to your people. And, you being at the gathering would make it special to many people.”

“I … I guess we could be there. We’re not doing anything special. Are we Ajie?”

“No.”, Ajie said. “We’d probably go up to the resort to see your aunt and uncle for the long weekend. And this gathering sounds like fun.”

“It will be, Ajie.”, Mosi said.

“Kai, maybe we can go to the resort and then to Taos on Thursday. And, I’ll bet that your aunt and uncle would be going to the gathering.”

I looked at Mosi, and said, “We’ll be there.”

Mosi smiled, and said, “I’m glad.”

Chief Tom said, “I’m sorry you two. But, I thought that you knew about the November gathering.”

“No.”, I said. “We’ve never heard of the gathering. But, now we have, and we’ll be there.”

A short time later as the meeting was breaking up, and we were saying hágoónee' - (see you later) to everyone, I said to Chief Tom, “Ajie and I had a pleasant surprise this morning.”

“A surprise?”, Chief Tom asked.

“Remember when, in a way, we were given the two Bald Eagle tail feathers?”

“Of course.”

“This morning we took a walk along the Rio Grande and the two Eagles that we see all the time showed up. We enjoyed each others company for a little while, and when they left they circled us and dropped two flight feathers, and we retrieved them.”

“Kai.”, Sicheii Uskilith, the Speaker of the Navajo Nation Council, said, “You have received Bald Eagle feathers like this?”

“Yes, Sicheii.”, I replied. “Twice.”

“Bald Eagles are rare in this area. And, to see them the way you do is very rare. Most people would be lucky to see a Bald Eagle in the wild once in their lifetime.”

“Yes, I know. But, there may be some history behind the Eagles and us.”

“Oh?”

I went on to tell everyone about the two Eagles at home, and how they may have followed us out here. And the things that have happened with them out here.

I also told them about the young Eagle that we saw when we were back home.

When I finished, Sicheii said, “Kai, if this is true, and I don’t doubt you, you are special. These Eagles are your protectors, as you are theirs. They have blessed you and Ajie. And, you have a connection to the Great Spirit.

“You both should wear your new feathers, both of them, to the gathering, they would look good in a headdress.”

On the way back to the apartment, I said, “It was interesting to learn about the gathering.”

“It was.”, Ajie said. “Though I’m going to miss the turkey and all that stuff.”

“In a way, I will too. But, this could be an interesting experience.”

“You could be right.

Monday things were back to normal, except for a visit to the bookstore to have them order the nine books that I wanted to look over for the new class. And a visit to the hospital to see Charlie. And, Jackie was also there. So, we had a nice visit. Amy read Charlie’s chart and told us that Charlie was progressing and his blood counts were looking good. Just before we were going to leave, Jackie asked, “What are you guys doing for Thanksgiving?”

“Well.”, I said. “Until last night we weren’t doing anything. But, we were asked to attend a clan gathering in Taos on that Thursday. Why?”

“Oh. We’re not doing anything. And I thought that we could get together on Thursday. But, I guess we can’t.”

“Sorry guys.”

“That’s all right.”, Jackie said. “We’ll see if some of the other orphans aren’t doing anything.”

“Orphans?”, Amy asked.

“Other students who aren’t or can’t go home for the holiday.”

“Are there many?”

“I don’t know. But, there should be something posted in the student mail room soon.”

I looked at Amy, and she knew what I was thinking. And I saw a little smile appear on her face. But, I figured that we’d better talk before saying anything to Jackie and Charlie about the gathering. So, I kept my thoughts to myself. For now.

Later as we were walking out of the hospital, I asked, “What do you think about Charlie and Jackie, and the gathering?”

“Well.”, Amy said. “I don’t know. Knowing that the gathering is kind of an anti-thanksgiving thing, I don’t know how Anglos would be accepted.”

“We’re Anglos.”

“Have you looked at yourself recently?”

“I know, and you don’t look much like an Anglo girl anymore.”

“Yeah until my tan fades.”

“Maybe we should talk to someone before we say anything to Jackie and Charlie?”

“Like who?”, I asked.

“Maybe Vickie.”, Amy said. “She’s as much of an Anglo as I am and, I’d bet that she’s been to these gatherings before.”

“Give her a call tonight and see what she says.”

“I’ll do that.”

After dinner, while I was going over tomorrow’s chapter for my class in Electric Circuits, Amy called and talked to Vickie about the gathering. And, just as she hung up with Vickie, I said, “Well, damn!”

“What?”, Amy asked.

“There’s a mistake in this book.”

“No way!”

“Here look.”

Amy looked at what I was pointing at, and asked, “What am I looking at?”

“It’s a schematic of a circuit, and there’s an error in it. They have the symbol of that diode backward.”

“If you say so.”

“I do. I’ve got to call Dr. Joe.”

I grabbed the phone and called Dr. Joe and told him what I’d found, and I asked him what to do. He told me, first to tell my students, and then he and I would write a letter to the author and publisher. I then told him that I’d see him tomorrow at eleven after my graduate level class.

After I hung up, I asked Amy, “So, what did Vickie say?”

Amy replied, “She told me that the first time that she went to one of the gatherings that she was a little nervous. But there was no reason for her to have been. She saw some other Anglos there, and they were enjoying themselves.

“And, when I told her that we were thinking of bringing our friends, Charlie and Jackie, she said that they would probably enjoy themselves. She also told me that they ask people who are not a member of a clan to pay a small fee to cover the cost of food.”

“I’m wondering.”, I said. “With the Taos Pueblo hosting this I’ll bet that Governor Cochiti and Quah Ah will be there?”

“I’d bet that they will be.”

“We’ll bring up going to the gathering to Jackie and Charlie tomorrow.”

I walked Amy to the ER on Tuesday morning and then went to teach my first class. I’d decided to use what I’d found in the schematic as a little test. So, as I stood in front of my class, I said, “Good morning gentlemen. I have a little test for you this morning.”

There was a moan.

I continued with, “Open your book, which I hope you have with you, to page one-hundred and eight. You will see a schematic, and there is an error in it. See if you can find it. I’ll give you a few minutes. Raise your hand when you think you’ve found it.”

I stood there and watched them look at the schematic. I finally saw a hand raised here and there.

After a couple of minutes, I said, “I’ll give you a hint. It’s a diode.”

I saw one hand go down, as he started looking again. I saw more hands go up. I waited another minute, before I said, “Okay. You can put your hands down. Then look at diode D12 in the lower right-hand corner of the schematic. Its symbol is backward.

“How many of you found it?”

I saw about half of the students raise their hands. Then I said, “Don’t worry if you didn’t find it. It was hard to spot, and I just happened to see it when I was reading over your reading assignment for today's class. And, yes, I read your assignment just like you’re supposed to. Now down to business … ”

I did the same thing to my second class with about the same results.

And, when I saw Dr. Joe at eleven, I did the same thing to him. And, when I did, he said, “Kai, I’m not one of your students.”

I looked at Dr. Joe with a sly smile, and replied, “You’re not? I just want to see if you can spot it.”

He gave in to me and started looking. After a minute or so I said, “I gave my students a hint. So, it’s a diode.”

It only took a few seconds after the hint for Dr. Joe to say, “D12’s symbol is backward. How did you catch this!?”

“I was reading the chapter for today’s class, looked over the schematic, and it jumped out at me.

“Oh, and consider this as part of the payback for you not telling me that you were in on the research fellowship thing.”

“Who told?”

“For me to know and for you to find out.” And, with a grin, I added, “But, watch your back. I’m not done.”

We went to the Dean’s office and had Sara type up two letters, one to the author of the book, and one to the publisher. Then we had her make copies of the page of the book with the error so that we could send it with the letter. Both Dr. Joe and I signed the letters, and Sara took care of typing up the envelopes and putting them in the mail for us.

I noticed that Sara was wearing the ring that I’d given her, and said, “That’s a pretty ring, Sara.”

“Thanks, Kai. By the way, Dean Rutherford took Dr. O’Riley down a couple of notches the other day.”

“Good. He needed to be.”

“Yes, he did.”

As we walked out of the Dean’s office, Dr. Joe asked, “What’s with you and Dr. O’Riley?”

“Oh, nothing.”, I replied.

“He tried to pull some of his crap on you didn’t he?”

“Could be.”

“Not going to tell. Are you?”

“Nope.”

I had an hour or so before Amy would be getting off, so instead of going to the apartment, I went to the library and went over some of the new technical publications that the library had just received.

When I picked Amy up at the ER, and we were walking back to the apartment I told her what I did to my students and Dr. Joe. She got a giggle out of Dr. Joe’s reaction.

After we’d had dinner and cleaned up, we walked over to the hospital to see Charlie. When we walked into his room, he was sitting in a chair talking to Jackie, and I also noticed some textbooks on his bed. And, I said, “Charlie, you’re looking better and better.”

“Oh. Hi Kai. Amy.”, Charlie said. “I am feeling much better.”

“That’s great. And I see you’ve gotten your textbooks.”

“Yeah.”, Charlie said sarcastically. “Thanks to you I get to study while I’m here.”

“Better than flunking out.”

“You’re right, Kai. Thank you.”

“No problem. I know that you’ll be out of here by Thanksgiving. And, I also know that it’s going to be boring around here what with most of the students going home for the long weekend. Plus the cafeteria will be closed. So, how would you like to go with us to the clan gathering in Taos?”

“I … I don’t know.”, Charlie said. “What is this gathering thing?”

Amy said, “Jackie. Charlie. Realize that the native people don’t celebrate Thanksgiving. Here we hold a clan gathering where we celebrate our heritage. There’s dancing, food, and other things.

“Our clan, The Big Medicine People clan, has asked us to be there. And, we said yes. And, this will be our first one.”

“Oh.”, Jackie said. “It sounds like it could be fun.”

“I think it will be.”, I said. “And, Charlie I know of a good place for you to recover.”

“Oh. Where?”, Charlie asked.

“The resort.”

“You’re kidding.”

“No. Amy and I were talking about going to the resort for that long weekend and seeing my aunt and uncle. Then we learned about the gathering and figured that we might still go to the resort on Wednesday after classes, then go to the gathering on Thursday. And then spend the rest of the weekend at the resort just relaxing.

“And it would be an ideal place for you to relax and for Charlie to get better. And, maybe go to the clan gathering with us. Plus the thermal pools are said to have healing powers.”

“We couldn’t do that.”, Jackie said. “We’d be imposing on your aunt and uncle’s hospitality.”

“They like you two. Let me call my aunt and see what they say. Okay?”

Jackie looked at Charlie, and then she said, “Kai your aunt and uncle are great people. But, we’ll just stay here.”

“Are you sure?”, Amy asked.

“Yeah.”

With a deep sigh, Amy said, “Okay. We’ll miss you guys.”

“We’ll miss you too.”

As a final enticement, I said, “The Taos Pueblo is hosting the gathering, and I’ll bet that the Governor and Quah Ah, the medicine woman, will be there.”

“Kai.”, Charlie said. “That would be nice, but no.”

I sighed as I said, “Oh well I tried.”

I then changed the subject, and we visited for another half an hour before Amy and I headed back to the apartment. When we were back, I picked up the phone, dialed my aunt’s number, and when she answered, I asked her about the gathering. She told me that they were going, but leaving early the next day for California. I said, “Another vacation?”

“Sure.”, Aunt Ruth said. “We’re so busy during the summer that we never get a chance to go anywhere, so we go for a week in the fall and a week in the winter.”

“We were thinking of spending the weekend of the gathering with you.”

“You’re welcome to the house while we’re gone.”

“Really?”

“Of course. You’re family.”

“Thank you.” I went on to tell Aunt Ruth what had happened to Charlie and that we were trying to talk them into coming to the gathering with us and then relax for a couple of days.

Aunt Ruth then said, “They’re welcome anytime. And, I think your Uncle Paul wants to talk to Charlie.”

“About what?”

“He’s working on the staff for next summer. He’d remembered what you told us about Charlie and his woodworking skills. And, I think he’s thinking of asking Charlie if he’d like to work on the maintenance staff for the summer.”

“He also said he’s good at fixing cars. But, why so early. It isn’t even Christmas.”

“He likes to get an early start so that he grabs the best people.”

“So, a summer job.”

“Yes. We hire some new summer staff every year, and they’re usually college students.”

“Hmm. That’s interesting.”

“Where does the summer staff stay? You’re a long way from anywhere.”

“Some of them are locals, and they drive in, and we have four small apartments out towards the trailer park and campgrounds. They’re not much, but their clean and comfortable, and would work for a couple.”

“Charlie and Jackie are apprehensive about coming up. They feel that they would be imposing.”

“Never. And since we’re going to be gone, there shouldn’t be any problem.”

“Hmm. Let me approach Jackie and Charlie a little differently.”

“So, we’ll be seeing you on Thursday?”

“I thought we’d come up on Wednesday, then go to the gathering.”

“Great. We’ll see you on Wednesday for dinner. And, let me know about Charlie and Jackie.”

As I hung up the phone, Amy asked, “What’s this about a summer job?”

“Uncle Paul remembered what we told him about Charlie’s woodworking skills, and is going to offer him a summer job on the maintenance staff.”, I replied.

“And, the apartment?”, Amy asked.

“They have a couple of apartments out by the trailer park that they use for summer staff.”, I replied.

“Hmm. Now, all we have to do is get Charlie and Jackie to the resort to talk to Uncle Paul.”