CHAPTER 34
"We have no reason to fear him." Anoki puts her hand on Walpi's spear and lowers it with a gentle press.
Kiowa's long raven hair splashes around his broad shoulders and dances off his muscular back. Each bow and rock of Night Wind impresses Anoki with the black mustang's rippling chest muscles and Kiowa's flexed arms and legs. Though it has been only one winter, Kiowa's stature has dramatically increased since last she saw him. His broad beaming smile displays winter's growth on a sharp manly jaw.
His charging stallion excites her. Anoki can feel the earth shake under her feet. She gasps and swallow a river of excitement. "See there, Brother. It is not so bad for a Hopi girl to have hope."
"This is what you want? A wild savage man running up to you?"
Anoki's eyes soften. She smiles and nods.
The powerful mustang comes to an abrupt halt. A dust cloud catches up and engulfs the rider. Night Wind rears up on his bulging hindquarters and crow hops his front legs.
Neither of them says a word. Kiowa's gaze is so intense, its source cannot be mistaken. When their eyes lock, Anoki melts. She blushes and looks down bashfully. Electric emotions charge the space between them and make Walpi feel uncomfortable.
"My protector returns." Anoki looks up with gushing eyes. Her shyness demands she look away. Instead, her courage forces her to hold his gaze. She feels her rosebud lips tremble as she nervously smiles. Sage, dust, and horse offend her sense of smell. But her face doesn't show it.
Kiowa's confidence overwhelms her when he doesn't say anything. Instead, he leans down and reaches for her.
She spots a red paint line from his wrist to the center of his chest, where it meets a circle of bright yellow paint over his heart. A series of characters are smeared from his sweat. Is this war paint? she wonders before hesitantly taking his hand. If it is, then am I at war? Not wanting to be rude, she rests her palpitating hand in his. Her pulse races. Surely he must know I'm nervous.
It doesn't seem to matter what she is. With one swift motion, she feels his effortless strength lift her up onto his horse and draw her to him like metal to a magnet.
Swinging her leg over Night Wind's bare back, she wraps her slender arms around his waist and presses her chest against his back. Her heart beats so fast that she begs it to slow down. Please do not leap out of my chest and run away! Why are you so nervous, Anoki? This is what I wanted! This is the man who makes me feel like I am floating. Or flying?
"Okay, then. I guess I'm going home?" Walpi says sulkily, waving good-bye as Kiowa steals his sister away. "I could have killed him if I wanted to. Luck was with you this time, big strong Kiowa warrior man." He twirls his spear and drops it.
Kiowa and Anoki sprint across the desert floor. She releases her grip and unties her hair. Her braids quickly unfold and catch in the wind. Kiowa's long strands whip around and tickle her face. She inhales. So that is what sunlight smells like. She leans back and extends her arms, then looks up at the vast blue sky. Warm summer wind passes through her fingers and whooshes against her face as they blaze across the desert plains. The hot sun scorches her already blushing cheeks. Night Wind's full sprint rhythmically shakes her entire body. She beams with pure joy, then squints her eyes shut and thinks, I was wrong, Walpi. To love is to fly.
Kiowa kicks at Night Wind's side, making the mustang do what he does best, run as fast as the wind.
Where do we race to? Anoki thinks. Oh, I can not know this. I care only that it is a secret place! This makes her joy beam even brighter. She sneaks a few kicks of her own.
After half a day's journey through flat desert lands, the distant horizon grows steep with jagged red cliffs. The cliffs shoot up through the ground and have strong streaks of brown. As they get closer to the towering walls, they find themselves enclosed in a narrowing canyon. About halfway in, the canyon widens. Leafy green foliage splashes up against the red clay cliffs. Eventually, they arrive at a murky blue-green stream. Night Wind slows to a steady trot. His heavy breathing echoes.
Upstream, thick bushy palm trees hide an oasis where a spring rests at the foot of the tallest mountain.
"Is this your secret place?" Anoki asks Kiowa.
"My uncle told me to bring you here. He said you would like it."
"He is wise. Do you know what this place is called?"
Kiowa shakes his head.
"Havasupai. These are sacred falls."
"Ah-hoe, so this is a sacred—not a secret—place?"
"Yes. It is a sacred place."
When he dismounts, he places his hands on her hips.
She rests her hands on his shoulders. So this is what it a bird feels like to land, she thinks as she gently slides down.
He can't help but stare at the yellow square bead patterns on her deerskin dress.
"I like these blue beads, but what are these yellow beads in a square?"
She looks down at the pattern and drags her fingers across them. "It is the sun. I have four suns in my blue sky. My father, whom you saved. My mother, whom I hope to save. My sister, whom I also hope to save. My brother, Walpi, who cannot be saved."
She looks up, tilts her head to the side, and sighs.
Kiowa lightly chuckles at her words.
Without much effort at all, she forms the most inviting expression. Her lips beg him to kiss her, right here and now, but for some reason he resists.
Am I mistaken? Anoki panics and feels sweat bead on her forehead.
Kiowa slides his hand into hers and dismisses her doubts.
She releases a breath she didn't even know she was holding. I am not. See there, he holds my hand and I am thrilled that I can feel it.
Kiowa leads her to a wide flowing turquoise stream. He can hear the falls rushing. I wonder how far it is to the falls. Maybe I should kiss her now…
Anoki looks away and points. "We are not that far away. Follow me! Follow me!" She surprises him by tugging his hand. They slip their moccasins off and leave them at the bank. When his feet hit the cool water, Kiowa is startled. I'm confused by this conflicting temperature. The desert is an unbearable heat, whereas the river is freezing cold.
"This is where Tawa, the creator, formed the first world out of Tokpella. Tawa formed the first humans out of clay and used his magic wind to blow breath into our nostrils. If you look just below your nose, you will still see the trail. Tawa took sun drops from the sky, turned them into corn seeds, and placed them in their hands. This is where the first Indians grew the first golden ears of corn. Most Indians have forgotten this place and their growing ways. The Hopi will always remember. That is why we are still growers and still the first Indians."
"Why do your people build cliff dwellings?"
"That is because Tawa does not like us to hurt one another. Would you like your children hurting each other? No, I don't think so. Rather than fight wars, we hide in our cliff homes."
"How long do you have to hide?"
"Until the Navajo get hungry and find someone else to raid."
"Why not just kill the Navajo, take their scalps, and teach them a lesson?"
Anoki gasps, and her face turns a pale shade. "Ah ha…we could not do that. We would not even know how to."
Sunlight cascades and exposes wild corn that grows all along the lush stream's banks. Water skippers hop on the pond's surface and glide away. Cattails stand tall out of the blue topaz water. Seeds try their hardest to hold intact to their mother stalk. No matter how hard Mother tries, her children slip off the stalk and float away. Water grass below the surface waves at Kiowa and Anoki, inviting them in.
"This is why it is our sacred place. We come back here once a year and show thanks by sacrificing the seeds from our first crop. Our sacrifices bring us back to Maawa, back to center."
"Why would you want to be center?"
"We are all looking for center Kiowa. It is home. It is happiness. You know, it is center."
"Center is home?" Kiowa repeats.
Kiowa isn't prepared for what he finds when he gets to the falls. The stream leads to a lavish wide aquamarine pond. The turquoise pond at the center looks more like the beads in Anoki's dress than actual water.
"It is a pretty fine jewel!" Kiowa sighs.
Anoki smiles. "I am happy to be the first to bring you here."
A tall white flowing waterfall spills and roars over towering red clay cliffs. Patches of green trees line the banks. Puffy white clouds begin to sail overhead. One looks like it has lost its place in the sky where the falls meet the pond.
Kiowa stands in awe. "It is as though clouds have turned into strands of hair and blow forever. I believe you. The gods must have made this place. No doubt the first Indian man and woman were made here, too. But I believe it was Naukolahe who made it."
"Don't look at me. Spin around!" she orders him.
He obeys frantically.
She slips out of her deerskin dress. She gasps and squeals as she steps on tiny pebbles. Her svelte nude figure eases into the turquoise pool.
Author's thoughts: Aint love grand? The barriers between men and women's thoughts are antaomically similar. But the face projects the thoughts of the mind. Oh how much we say to each other without words. I haven't even begun to capture it. Tell me what you think, I really want to know your thoughts.