All The Way

Chapter 18

Later that day….

Julia used the new ladder to climb the shear wall protecting the Anasazi village, stepped over the ledge and stood in the ancient courtyard. The aerial view of the canyon and the freedom from the camp was worth overcoming her fear of heights. A ribbon of green treetops followed the life-giving stream and beyond a red-orange vertical wall marked the perimeter of the canyon. The silence was broken by the murmur of a gentle breeze. Julia tilted her head and suddenly heard voices, women's voices, speaking frantically in another language, coupled with the weeping and screaming of children. Urgently she walked across the courtyard, looked around the corners of dwelling and found no one. An abnormally cold breeze blew against her face, the chill making her skin tingle. She recognized the feeling.

What was it? These feelings were not new; she had had them in the past. Her logical brain rationalized the chill and voices as just her imagination, but an inner voice spoke to her. She had learned to trust her instincts, her inner voice. What was going on? Something had happened here, but what? Julia's eyes narrowed in thought as she carefully navigated the rope grid that ran throughout the site, dividing areas into five-foot quadrants. A wall of polished sandstone arched forming a ceiling over the village. The Anasazis had wisely built their community in the natural alcove providing their group with both shelter as well as protection.

Julia strained to hear the voices again and heard only the sigh of breezes blowing through the adobe structures. Cautiously she followed a path passing through the village and heard voices again, this time familiar ones. Carefully peeking through an open window she found Bridget and Hallie in a far corner of a room delicately excavating pottery. The graduate student was instructing Hallie on the proper use of soft camel brushes to dust sand freeing encased pottery.

The physician turned to the right and gasped. A black rectangular opening yawned from the clay floor. The darkness so complete the bottom was not visible. A wooden ladder stood along one end of the rectangle and descended into nothingness. Stepping closer, Julia smelled mustiness drifting up from below. The odor revived images of the bowels of Collinwood and her confinement in the windowless catacombs. Instinctively, she stepped back from the gaping hole as though it might swallow her.

Calm down, this is an Anasazi village, people lived here, they had families. This was their home not a prison. You can't panic, you're the site physician, you need to be composed at all times. Nervously she looked around and hoped no one had noticed her panic attack. Julia moved through the village trying to regain her composure when she noticed Herbert Osmond, Denis Summerlin and Eric Turpening standing near a dwelling inspecting a site map, their arms moving as they talked. From another direction Richard Carter moved hastily toward her. Oddly Richard had not been interacting with the other men in their group, it was a though he had his own and separate agenda.

"Julia!" he began, walking and talking urgently.

"Hello, Richard."

"What are you doing here?"

"I'm inspecting the site. What are you doing?" she asked casually.

"You need to be in the tent when I arrive. The equipment must be in perfect readiness, we can't be delayed by your ineptness."

Julia's eyebrows arched, gracefully turned and looked behind her. "I beg your pardon, are you speaking to me?"

Carter's eyes widened slightly, not expecting her question or reaction.

"Yes," He replied without hesitation.

Julia took a deep breath and moved near him, lowered her voice. "Richard, what is wrong with you?"

Richard stiffened at her question. "I beg your pardon!"

The physician looked into his red eyes. "Something is either wrong with you or you are the most arrogant ass I've ever meet."

Her words stung like a slap in the face. Julia watched him carefully, noting his appearance and reaction.

Weighing her words she continued. "I'm not some lab assistant to be ordered about, Dr. Carter. I am a medical doctor; I am a highly skilled professional. I am your equal here, do you understand?"

Richard looked upon her with fascination, as though peering through a fog and finally seeing her. Finally her words registered and he nodded.

"Everything is ready, Richard. I am waiting on you to supply the specimens." She stated, her voice taking on a tone of mock kindness.

Carter felt his head whirling, his thoughts spinning. He had lashed out at her earlier. Why did she want his blood? What was going on? Why did she continually ask if he was alright or if something was wrong with him? Why wouldn't he be alright? What kind of game was she playing? Why was she not sleeping with him? Staring into her eyes his thoughts cleared and he remembered their first night. Of all the women who had shared his bed, why was she different? He had knelt before her and felt her arms fold around him, holding him, caressing him and for once he felt at peace.

Carter brought his hands to his face and rubbed his eyes. "I'll find Agustin. We will bring samples to the tent in an hour or so. Please be there." Without further discussion he turned and walked away.

Julia watched him disappear around the corner of a building. Where was he going? Quietly she followed his steps and turned the corner of the dwelling and stopped at the sight of Carter and Herbert Osmond. She couldn't hear their voices, only their body language spoke volumes. Richard stood with his legs spread and his arms folded as Herbert Osmond spoke rapidly, his arms moving as though trying to explain something of importance to his obstinate colleague. Richard began shaking his head, his hands moved to his hips as he leaned forward, his face and lips showing his anger. Suddenly, he jabbed Herb in the chest with his fingertips. Julia could see Osmond's fists clinch. The physician bit her lip, wondering what she should do if they were to come to blows, when suddenly Denis Summerlin and Eric Turpening appeared. Carter threw up his hands and stormed off, leaving the group. Osmund shook his head and walked off, refusing to speak with the other men.

Julia gave a sigh of relief. What was going on? What was wrong with Richard, or was she right, was he the most arrogant ass she had ever met? He was so charming, so attentive when they met and now he was a different man. Slowly, she moved along the path, staying clear of the dark openings in the floor as she walked by. What were these rooms? Why were there so many? Where did they go? They were so dark! Surprisingly the next opening was brightly lit and immediately piqued Julia's curiosity. What was going on down there? Cautiously she moved to the edge and looked into the light. Eliot Stokes briefly moved through her field of vision.

"Eliot!" she called.

"Julia!" she heard him call out to her.

Without hesitation she moved down the ladder, and stepped into the brightly lit room. Her eyes moved around the circular room until she located Eliot Stokes. For a moment she was stunned, her mouth open. The professor stood transfixed and seemed equally surprised. Julia could see the modesty in his eyes while her eyes moved over his bare chest and arms. As a physician she had viewed her share of the male anatomy, but she had never seen her professor bare chested. Eliot gave a furtive glance to his shirt draped over a camera case. The room was quite warm and he was covered with perspiration. Julia smiled finding his modesty endearing. Instead of looking away to ease his discomfort, she enjoyed looking at him, and not with the eyes of a physician. Beneath those three pieces suits he was really a well-built man, his arms strong, and the muscles of his chest well developed.

"I'm sorry, Julia, I didn't expect you. I apologize for my state of undress, the lights make the room quite warm."

"Eliot," she began softly, "I'm a physician. I'm accustomed to seeing patients in various states of undress."

He nodded; then nervously turned to his camera on the tripod. "I'm sorry if I can't stop and chat, but I'm on a schedule, my lamp batteries are weakening and it's dreadfully hot down here."

"I understand. Do you mind if I watch?"

Eliot's hands moved the camera, adjusting the angle to capture the mural that covered the wall.

"Of course not," He answered.

"What are these rooms?"

"There are several rooms like this. The rooms are 'kivas'. This small one is no doubt a 'clan kiva'. They were used by the Anasazi men as meeting rooms." He laughed softly while adjusting the light meter. "You might say they were the earliest 'Men's Club'."

Julia's gave a husky laugh. She was careful not to interfere with the light while walking around the room inspecting the mural. The characters were quite interesting, revealing so much about the life and values of the Anasazi, the importance of rain, the harvest and their spiritual world. The room was about fifteen feet in diameter she estimated. A narrow ledge followed the circumference of the room and in the center, a two-foot round hole.

"What is this hole in the center?"

Eliot clicked away, adjusting the camera for the next shot. "That, Julia, is the 'gateway to and from the spirit world'. That opening is the 'sipapu'. In other terms you might refer to it as 'the center of centers or the navel of navels'. You see the Anasazi believe they were created in the 'spirit world' and ascend and descend from that opening."

Julia gazed with fascination into the dark opening. The warmth of the room caused her blouse to stick to her moist skin and envied Eliot's ability to remove his shirt. She looked back at him as he moved around the camera. He was a robust man with a wrestler's build. Ben Stokes had been a physically strong man. Why did she think Eliot would be any different? Why did she think of Eliot as one-dimensional instead of a man with infinite dimensions? Perhaps all this time she had been too preoccupied to truly notice him.

"I'm surprised Carter hasn't noticed your absence?"

Julia stood near the sipapu, hands on her hips and gave a very audible, "Harrumph."

The physician noticed Eliot's lips pull into a mischievous smile. "I'm really quite amazed," Eliot began, "I can't believe the all-knowing Dr. Carter hasn't discovered what a secretive, strong-willed, opinionated and bullheaded woman you are."

Julia laughed seductively. "Are you trying to flatter me, Eliot?"

The professor chuckled while removing the camera from the tripod and winding the spent film. Julia walked by the ladder and felt a heavenly breeze moving down the ladder as the hot air rose through the opening. The physician sat on a rung and reclined her back against the ladder, enjoying the coolness. The ladder was so comfortable she pulled her left leg to the next rung, and without thinking stretched, extending her arms above her head grabbing the wooden side rails with her fingers. How marvelous it felt to recline on the ladder and feel the cool air flowing over her. Lazily she turned and watched Eliot reload the camera. In her peripheral vision the dark marks on her arm were clearly visible where Richard's hand had roughly grabbed her. Quickly, she pulled her arm down and grabbed the rail at her waist.

Julia closed her eyes and gave a sigh. Thank goodness Eliot had not seen the marks. What would he have done? How would he react to Richard's aggressive behavior toward her?

Stokes closed the back to the camera and began advancing the film, hearing her sigh, he looked up. For a moment his breathing stopped, the camera came to his eye and he clicked, he adjusted the light meter and clicked again. It was as though she had posed just for him. How seductive she looked, stretched and reclining on the ladder, her leg pulled to the next rung causing her hips to turn just right. Her face tilted up, lips parted, and eyes closed in an alluring manner. The lights illuminated the folds of her white blouse and the gap in the blouse exposing the soft flesh of a bare breast, the nipple clinging to the moist fabric. He quickly turned the angle of his camera, adjusted and clicked two more times before placing the camera on the tripod. For a moment he felt guilt for capturing the image on film, but only briefly. Even without the camera capturing Julia's seductive pose, the image was forever stamped in his memory and filed away with all the others.

Julia turned and looked at him, enjoying the view and wishing she had more time to watch him work. Perhaps they could work together in the future. Eliot could photograph their specimens. Photographs would defintely enhance their published paper. At a later time she would discuss the idea with Eliot, with or without Richard's permission.

"Eliot, I'm sorry I must leave, I have work back at the tent. Perhaps I'll see you tonight at supper."

Stokes stopped, looked up and smiled. "Stop by any time, Julia."

Julia turned to move up the ladder and gave the professor another coveted look.

"Ill be sure to do that."

~~~tbc~~~