Bailey and the Santa Fe Secret (2 page)

“What kinds of mines do you have in New Mexico?” Elizabeth asked.

“Turquoise, copper, gold, silver—there are all kinds of mines here,” Elan said.

“And we own one of the turquoise mines!” Aiyana’s dark eyes gleamed. Her red T-shirt and brown corduroy pants could have been a boy’s outfit, but looked decidedly feminine on the pretty little girl.

“Well, sort of,” Halona corrected. “Legend says our family once owned the Suquosa Mine, which was one of the largest turquoise mines. It is no longer in operation. And the deed to the mine has been lost over the years. We have no proof we own it.”

“What if you found the deed?” Bailey asked. “Could you reopen the mine and use the turquoise?”

Elan jumped in. “If we found it, we’d be rich!”

Halona put her hand on her son’s shoulder. “We are rich in other ways now. But yes, Bailey, it would help us immensely in our work.”

Bailey shot a look at Elizabeth, who smiled and nodded. The two walked around the shop admiring the beautiful pots while Halona took Bailey’s mother to the office to show her the bookkeeping system she’d be helping with.

“I’ve never seen so many kinds of pots,” Elizabeth said. “Some have handles, some are tall, and some are short. Others are painted with bright colors and some earth tones.”

“And I’ve never seen pots with gems embedded in them before,” Bailey added. “Those are my favorite.”

“Do you make the jewelry, too?” Elizabeth asked Elan and Aiyana.

“Some of it,” Elan replied. “We make all the pots ourselves, but we buy some of the jewelry and blankets from other Native Americans.”

“It must take hours and hours to make these things!” Bailey scanned the shop, taking in the variety of items.

“It does,” Aiyana said. “That’s why we need your help during tourist season.”

“Mom feels bad if Aiyana and I have to work too much.” Elan shrugged. “But I don’t mind. I tell her I am not a kid anymore. I’m the man of the family, and it is my duty.”

“What happened to your dad?” Bailey asked gently. “Was he sick?”

“He had cancer and died when Aiyana was only five months old,” Elan replied. “So I’m the man of the house.”

Bailey nodded. Her heart broke for Elan and Aiyana as an image of her own dad filled her mind. She thought about the way he had tossed her in the air when she was a tiny girl and the way he teased her now that she was older. She couldn’t imagine what it would be like to grow up without him.

Elan stepped outside to sweep the front sidewalk, and Elizabeth moved to another shelf full of painted pottery. Bailey followed her until she heard voices yelling outside.

“Look at the boy doing girl’s work!”

“Sweep, little girl. Sweep!”

Bailey glanced out the front window and saw some teenaged boys on bikes taunting Elan. He didn’t look up atthem, but his face reddened as he swept the sidewalk with hard, deliberate strokes.

How can they be so mean? Just because he’s smaller than they are doesn’t mean they should get away with talking to him like that. Don’t they know his dad died and he has to help his mom?

“Beth, come here!” Bailey motioned her to the window.

Elizabeth immediately saw why Bailey had called her over.

“You’ll never be man enough to get married!” one boy jeered.

“Good thing your people don’t perform the ceremonial rite of passage anymore, or you’d never be declared a man. You’d be a little kid forever!”

That did it. Elan dropped his broom and put his hands on his hips. “You want to come over here and say that?”

“Sure, I’ll say it right in your face.” One of the bigger boys hopped off his bike, letting it fall by the road. The other boys straddled their bikes, waiting to see what would happen.

“Should we go out there?” Bailey asked.

The big boy reached Elan, and the two stood facing one another, inches separating them, though Elan stood almost a foot shorter.

“What did you say to me, Paco?” Elan said through gritted teeth.

“I said you’ll
never
be a man.” Paco spat the words slowly and deliberately. Then he shoved Elan.

Bailey burst through the door with Elizabeth and Aiyana close behind. None of the girls spoke, but glared at Paco.

“These your girlfriends, Elan?” Paco teased.

“Bailey’s my cousin, if it’s any of your business.”

“Looks like she’s come to do your fighting for you.”

“We have not!” Bailey said. “Just leave him alone and get out of here.”

“Who’s gonna make me?”

“I am!” Elan pushed Paco so hard he staggered backward.

“Elan!” Aiyana yelled.

“Why you—” Paco steadied himself and grabbed Elan’s shirt collar, flinging him to the sidewalk.

“Stop it!” Elizabeth stepped forward and stood face-to-face with Paco. She was as tall as he was. Bailey and Aiyana moved to Elan’s side and helped him up.

Paco laughed and turned to leave. “Have a nice day—sissy!” He grabbed his bike by the handlebar and hopped on.

“You showed him!” Willy, one of Paco’s friends, said.

“Yeah, he’s such a shrimp you could have eaten him!” said another.

The boys rode away laughing.

“Are you okay, Elan?” Bailey asked.

“I’m fine.” He brushed dirt off his pants.

“Who are those guys?” Elizabeth asked.

“Guys from my tribe who think I’m too small to be of any good.” Fury blazed in Elan’s dark eyes.

“Guess they don’t know the measure of a man is inside him,” Elizabeth said. “God judges the heart, not what a person looks like on the outside.”

“Try telling that to them,” Elan said. “They’ve been pestering me for years.”

“Does your mom know?” Bailey asked.

Elan shrugged. “She did a few years ago. But I haven’t told her it’s still going on.”

“I think we should tell her,” Aiyana said.

“No!” Elan shot back. “Mama isn’t to know anything about this. She has enough on her mind.”

Aiyana lowered her head, her black hair falling around her face like a curtain.

“I’m sorry, Aiyana,” Elan said. “I didn’t mean to yell at you. But I can handle this on my own. I’m practically a man. One day they’ll be sorry they messed with me.”

Elizabeth cleared her throat. “The Bible says, ‘Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against one of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself.’ It’s not easy, but it’s the best way to solve a problem with other people.”

“That may be the way you do things, but things are different in our Native American culture.” Elan frowned.

“Different?” Bailey asked.

“Your Bible also says, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth,’ doesn’t it?” Elan asked.

“Yes, but—” Elizabeth began.

“So that’s how we solve things around here. We believe in peace for a time, but if that doesn’t work, then it’s time to take action.” Elan spoke as if no one could ever change his mind.

Bailey nodded. “We’ll pray for things to work out.”

“Oh, they’ll work out,” Elan said. “I’ll prove to them that I’m a man.”

“You don’t have to prove anything,” Elizabeth said. “They’re the ones with the problem.”

“Yeah, well I’ll show them.” Elan turned and stomped back into the store, ending the conversation.

Bailey glanced at Elizabeth and Aiyana. “You don’t think he’ll do anything crazy, do you?”

“I doubt it,” Elizabeth replied. “He’s just mad.”

“Those boys make him mad all the time,” Aiyana added. “He’s never done anything about it before.”

Bailey inhaled deeply and blew out her breath through her mouth. She hoped Elizabeth and Aiyana were right.

Inside Earth Works, Bailey wandered the aisles looking at the pottery, trying to forget what she’d just seen and heard. Her fury at the boys slowly subsided, though a dull ache remained inside her. Soon her eyes were drawn to a pot sitting on a shelf in a hallway toward the back of the store. She slipped toward it to take a closer look.

The pot was round and full at the bottom, but tapered up to a narrow neck and out again to form a wider lip. Standing only about eight inches tall, it was painted in intricate detail. A sunset desert landscape—complete with prickly pear cacti, mountains, and tiny quail—encircled the wide, round pot belly. The painted sunset blazed in brilliant orange, yellow, and pink just behind the rugged mountain. The pot took Bailey’s breath away. She reached out and touched it. Then she picked it up.

“No!” Aiyana yelled.

Bailey jumped, almost dropping the pot. She quickly set it back on the shelf.

“You can’t touch that.” Aiyana flew to her side, taking Bailey’s hand to pull her an arm’s reach away from the pot.

“I—I’m sorry.” Bailey felt the weight of disappointment descend on her like a heavy Native American blanket. How she wanted to hold that gorgeous pot and examine every inch of its painted picture. “I—I didn’t know.”

Elizabeth went to Bailey. “Is it some kind of special pot?”

“It is a pot that has been handed down from generation to generation in our family.”

“It’s beautiful!” Elizabeth exclaimed.

“We keep it back here so no one bothers it.”

“I could still see it from the main store area,” Bailey said. “You might want to hide it better so no customers try to buy it.”

“We would never sell it even if someone offered us a fortune for it.” Aiyana’s black brown eyes became serious.

“Even if they offered you a million dollars?” Bailey teased.

Aiyana shook her head. “Not even a trillion.”

“Wow. I guess some things are worth more than all the money in the world.” Elizabeth smiled at Aiyana.

Aiyana looked down, studying her small, nervous hands.

“Aiyana? Are you all right?” Bailey asked.

The girl nodded, still not looking at Bailey and Beth.

“You sure?” Elizabeth asked. “Did we say something we shouldn’t have?”

Suddenly Aiyana looked up at the girls, a determined fire in her eyes. “If I tell you a secret, do you promise not to tell anyone?”

Bailey and Elizabeth leaned in to hear what Aiyana would say. “Of course we’ll keep your secret,” Bailey said. “What is it?”

Aiyana stepped closer and said softly, “My grandmother used to say that this old pot held the key to riches.”

“Riches?” Elizabeth sounded surprised. “Do you know what she meant by that?”

“I’m not really sure.” Aiyana scrunched up her face in apology. “Maybe she meant it would remind us of our rich family background.” She paused and scratched her head like she’d never thought about this so much before. “But Mama said
her
grandma always told her that behind the sunset our treasure awaits.”

“Was she talking about this pot?” Bailey asked.

Aiyana nodded.

“‘Behind the sunset our treasure awaits,’” Elizabeth repeated. “I don’t know what that means.”

“Me neither,” Aiyana said.

“That’s totally mysterious. Sort of reminds me of the pot of gold at the end of a rainbow. Maybe they used to keep their money hidden in it.” Bailey looked closely at the pot, being careful not to touch it. She saw more detail every time she studied it. “Is that turquoise going around the bottom rim?”

“Yes,” Aiyana said. “Mama said they were really careful to cut the stones to the perfect diamond shape and size, and they polished them to make them shine. Then they set the turquoise in melted silver and let it harden. When it cooled, they pressed the silver and turquoise band into the clay while it was still soft—or at least that’s what she’s been told. Of course the pot was made before she was born.”

“It’s gorgeous,” Elizabeth said. “Your family does awesome work.”

“I’m just learning to embed stones in the pots I make, but I’ve been making pottery without stones for a few years now.”

“Do you still cut and polish the stones yourself?”

“We don’t, but there are people in our pueblo who do it for us.”

“Is turquoise the most popular stone to use?” Bailey asked.

“It is around here.” Aiyana nodded. “Around here Native Americans like my family are practically famous for their turquoise work because our ancestors lived near turquoise mines. But a long time ago, there was no rain for almost two years, and they had to move closer to the cities.”

“Wow,” Bailey said. “Two years with no rain is hard to imagine. We hardly go a week without rain in Illinois!”

“The drought was hard on my family back then. They were experts at using turquoise in their jewelry and pottery, but they had to move away from the mines. They just couldn’t survive out there without water.” Aiyana looked around to be sure no one else was listening. “Remember that mine I told you my family owned?”

Bailey and Elizabeth nodded.

“It had the most turquoise of any mine in the area. And they say the turquoise was more beautiful than the stones in all the other mines.”

Bailey shook her head. “Too bad the deed got lost over the years.”

“That’s for sure.” Aiyana said sadly. “We’d have the biggest and best turquoise mine around.”

Elizabeth’s face brightened. “Maybe we can help you find it while we’re here.”

“How could you do that?” Aiyana asked. “It’s been lost for hundreds of years.”

“I don’t know how we’ll do it, but I promise we’ll try.” Elizabeth patted the girl’s hand.