Canyon of Doom by Jodi Lea Stewart

Author:Jodi Lea Stewart
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-1-62652-368-5
Publisher: Two Harbors Press

BIRDIE AND I plopped into kitchen chairs beside Aunt Susan faster than cell division. She sipped delicately from her glass of iced tea. “I don’t know,” she said, putting her head in her hand and leaning onto an elbow, “maybe you’re old enough to know some secrets.”

Aunt Susan was deciding if we were mature enough to hear secrets? That was huge! Birdie and I made big eyes at each other. My feet wanted to dance, but I told them to stop it! and they minded me.

Aunt Susan rose from the table in slow motion.

“Want some help, Mom?”

“Sure.”

Birdie helped her to a recliner by the window. Aunt Susan grimaced as she set her glass in the windowsill on a faded red and blue potholder with roosters on it. Birdie propped a pillow behind her and pulled a handle on the side of the chair. Aunt Susan’s legs rose off the floor.

“Girls, the mystery of Canyon Daacha started a long time ago,” she said.

We sailed onto the floor, nudging each other with elbows a few times while we settled in. Birdie giggled. I shot her a warning look to stop fooling around before we broke into one of our laugh attacks. The truth was, I had the hardest time of the two of us controlling them once they started.

We knew the rules.

Diné didn’t act silly when stories were shared by the elders—that would be shameful. Still, I struggled not to laugh. One line into Aunt Susan’s story, I was as serious as a pimple.

“In the old times, Old Springs Road was called Ancient Trail. Our ancestors and the animals cut the path in the first place. It’s older than, I don’t know, old. Older than the Anasazis. People walked the Ancient Trail on their way north to the Little Colorado to Na’ní’á Hasání or on their way south to Mexico. Lots of places.”

Aunt Susan coughed into a tissue and grimaced. “Broken ribs are no fun, girls. So. Okay. When Ancient Trail brought travelers through Canyon Daacha, it was good. Yeah. The canyon had the natural springs in the bottom. Animals came to drink in that spring. Sometimes the animals blessed the travelers with meat to keep them from starving. Water, game, and shade under those big trees down there were nice for people going a long way on foot or horseback. The bears, deer, rabbits, people—they all loved Canyon Daacha.

“Ancient Trail grew a lot wider when the Spaniards came. Lots of Spanish used to go all through this country.

Some of them were soldiers. Some were treasure hunters. And then, you know, a lot of them were priests. Later on, the Mexicans and Anglos used Ancient Trail a lot too.”

Wow. Our own Canyon Daacha was a place of history! Birdie tapped my foot with hers. I glanced at her for one-fourth of a second. Her glistening eyes said Canyon Daacha was a goldmine of fun stories to use later. Of course, I’d make them up, but we’d both act them out fiercely.

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