The Lost Tribe Pt. 03

This is the story of an amateur historian and his search for evidence of the existence of a lost tribe; he's not prepared for what he finds.

Part 3

Chapter 1 - The Planning Begins

Jason sat at his desk. In front of him was the latest sketch of the floor plan that he had in mind. The house was approximately 2,500 square feet including the attached garage. It had three bedrooms, including a master bedroom suite; an eat-in-kitchen and a large living room and a dining room; all in an open floor plan; and a full guest bathroom, all on one floor. He was pleased with the design; it was a good-sized house, but was not overwhelming. They would be overwhelmed as it was. The cost to construct the house based upon what he was told was a well constructed home would be $150 per square foot or $375,000.

He put that sketch aside and pulled out his next design. This plan entailed a cluster of six of the houses, forming a circle around a common backyard. Each house would be connected to the house next to it by a solid block wall with an access gate and a walkway leading into the enclosed backyard.

'That will be a grass lawn; there will be plenty of space for kids to play or parents to relax on. In addition, it will be relatively secure. The only time anyone other than the residents will have access to the area is when the maintenance company is there.'

He put that sketch aside as well and pulled out his final design. It was the master plan for the entire development. He looked over the plan; 'it's really good' he thought to himself.

Jason sat back in his chair; the plan was coming together; now he just had to make it become reality. His thoughts were interrupted by knocking on the frame of the doorway. Maria and Carlita stood in the doorway.

"Are you going to be done soon?" Maria asked. "We're getting hungry and you said you were going to take us out to eat tonight." Carlita chimed in.

"Before we go; come here and take a look."

They stood on either side of his, looking down at the master plan.

"The community center will be in the middle facing the entrance. It will be flanked on each side by three clusters of six homes. There will be a road that circles the entire project providing access to all the houses and to the delivery entrance to the community center. There will be a large swimming pool, with a children's side and an adult side with a hot tube. We will have large canvass tarps suspended over both sides of the pool providing shade. The community center will be big enough to have a spa, a fitness center, a café, and a large leisure area that opens onto a patio allowing people to gather either inside or outdoors. It will have a banquet hall, with a full kitchen so we can have meals together as a group if we desire. There will also be several rooms for a small school so we can educate our children here. The idea is to build something that will serve our immediate needs and still be useful to our people far into the future. So, what do you think?"

"Jason, it looks really great. But I can just imagine how overwhelmed they will be when they first get here."

"I know, but we'll have to work through that. It will take time for them to get used to it, but once they do, I want this place to feel like a home to them and their kids and grandkids. I have an appointment Monday morning with an architectural firm in Phoenix. Do either of you want to go with me?"

"I'll go, said Carlita, "I want to hear what they have to say about how it will look."

"Me, too."

"Then it's settled on Monday morning we'll leave here about ten o'clock, my meeting is scheduled for eleven. Now let's go; I'm staved. You pick the place, my treat."

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The meeting went better than Jason had anticipated. The architect liked his concept, suggested some minor changes, and agreed to act as the general contractor if awarded the job. His firm had worked on several large residential projects in the area, which he gave them directions to so they could evaluate his company's work.

Each one was much larger than what they were going to need, but they were all impressed with the overall appearance and feel of each of them; especially the community centers.

"Jason, any one of these would be just perfect for us. We could have a gym, a spa, an indoor lap pool, a school, and a medical clinic. We could be totally self-sufficient and isolated from the rest of the reservation until we felt that the tribe was ready to go out into the world."

Three weeks later, they were presented with a formal set of drawings, a projection of the costs involved, and a timeframe for the construction.

"Our only issue will be water." The architect explained. "I've worked on the reservation before. You are going to have to show that there is sufficient water available for the project for the next fifty years. For that, we are going to have to get a geologist's report and a well drilling company. Fortunately, because of the size of the project, we won't have to find a major source of water."

It took another month of surveying and drilling exploratory wells, but in the end, they found their water and a week after that the Reservation Council approved their plans and construction began.

__________________________

Six months later, Jason, regaled in his construction boots and hardhat, walked the circular street that surrounded the project with the construction supervisor. The curbing for the road had already been poured; the six-foot high wall that surrounded the project was already complete, the concrete pads for all the houses were complete and the ironwork for the three-story community center had been erected. Things were going faster than he could have imaged.

"We'll be ready to pour the floor of the community center next week. We will also begin the framing of the houses as well. Because they are all the same, they should all be framed and weather tight by the end of next month."

"How's the water reclamation system coming along?

"The recovery pipes from each cluster are in place, as is the piping from the community center, all we have to do is put in the equipment, the underground storage tanks and the distribution system. When we are done, all of the landscaping will be irrigated using the non-potable water. The waterfall at the entrance to the complex will also use the non-potable water as well."

"Great, we want to be good stewards of the environment; here in the desert, water is a terrible thing to waste."

Chapter 2 -- The Talk

Jason sat on the other side of the large circular table. Jenny and Becky were celebrating their fifteenth birthdays with several of their classmates and Maria and Carlita.

'They're getting so big, so mature for their age; they're young ladies now. Where did the time go; it seemed like only yesterday that I was playing 'hide and seek' with them. T Growing up, they had never given us any problems. There was some mischief, for sure; they weren't perfect, but never anything serious.' All of this flashed through his mind.

'Even their teachers, the principal, and their classmates had long ago accepted their unusual family structure. So, why am I worrying about this? Maybe I should just allow it to take its own course.'

However, he knew the answer to that question as well. This was something that he had to do and now was the time to do it, before he had to do it.

After dinner, after they had dropped off the other girls, they returned home. The girls got ready for bed and retired to their rooms for the evening, while Jason, Maria and Carlita sat in the family room watching the end of the local news.

"I think it's time we told them." Jason said as he shut the television.

"Tell them what?" Carlita replied.

"Everything; the tribe, Anna and Summer Rain, us; tell them everything. No more secrets." Jason countered.

"Why now, why so soon, they're only fifteen?" Maria responded.

"Because I have a really bad feeling that we are running out of time. I want to tell them, now, before we have to tell them; and I want to be the one to do it."

"How would you do it?"

"I'll just tell them the whole story. I will let them form their own opinions and questions; but I won't be the one who'll answer them; you two will, one on one with your child. Then they can compare notes if they want; and finally, as a family, we'll discuss this if that is what they want."

"I'm worried about what they'll think of us." Carlita said.

"It will be better than letting them form opinions without knowing all the facts."

The three of them sat in silent contemplation for what seemed like an eternity and then Maria looked over at Carlita, who gave her an almost undetectable nod.

"Okay, we'll go for a hike up the trail tomorrow at eleven. We will be gone about two hours, which should give you plenty of time. After we return, you will do the same. Let's hope that our dinner conversation tomorrow will be pleasant; I know it will be lively."

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The next morning after breakfast, Maria and Carlita announced that they were going for a hike. Jenny and Becky looked like they wanted to join them but as they were about to leave the table, Jason said, "Not you girls, I want to have a talk with you; see me in the office in five minutes."

The girls looked at each other as if to say, "What did we do?" and left the kitchen.

When Jason entered the office five minutes later, they were both sitting with their hands folded in their laps, with a worried look on their faces.

"We're not in any trouble are we dad?"

Jason laughed, "No you're not in any trouble; is there anything that I should know about that would make you think that you were?" He let them off the hook a few moments later with a hardy laugh. "Relax girls, I just want to talk to you about something very important, and I wanted to be sure I had your undivided attention."

The girls both visibly relaxed and asked, "What do you want to talk about?"

Jason took a deep breath to settle himself and then began to speak.

"First of all, I just want to let you know that I love you both very much. In addition, that I love your mothers just as much. You know I have been doing a lot of research and writing and that your mothers have been helping me. In the past, we have told you that I have been planning to write a book, a history of the Arizona Territory before it became a state. Well, that was not quite true. What we have actually been doing since before you were born, is researching and looking for evidence of a tribe of female warriors known as the Amazonians who were said to have lived in the Superstition Mountains dating back to at least the early 1200's AD.

"That's so cool; did you find any evidence?"

"Please, no questions right now, let me finish first. However, I will answer that one. Yes, we found a whole lot more than evidence that they existed; we found the remnants of the tribe themselves."

"Let me start back before you were born. I was a college graduate, doing research for my own pleasure, looking through the Arizona State Archives, when I stumbled upon a series of letters between several historians, one of which was adamant that the tribe did exist. I worked hard following the trail of documents, but after a time I needed a break, so I took a weeks' vacation in Acapulco; that is where I met your mothers. During a conversation with Maria, I told her what I was looking for. She said that she was researching the same thing at the University of Arizona and asked for my address so she could send me some information that I might find helpful.

Several weeks later, she sent me a letter telling me to look for a specific journal. It was the break that I was looking for; that journal gave me a general location to look in. Shortly thereafter, I hiked into the mountains expecting to spend a couple of days looking for artifacts left by the tribe. What I found, or more accurately, what found me, were the living members of the tribe. I was taken captive and brought before the tribe's High Priestess, Souring Eagle or her white man's name, Anna. There were seventeen members of the tribe; all were female, thirteen young warriors about my age, three in their mid-forties and one in her sixties. I lived with them for nearly four months before I completed the task that I was held there to do. They used me to impregnate all the members of the tribe that were able to have children."

He watched the girls' faces flush as they realized just what he was saying.

"During that time, I lived with Anna, and fell hopelessly in love with her. She told me that she had spent the first thirteen years of her life living on the Gila River Reservation, going to school until the age of thirteen and that she had two sisters, identical twins that she loved very much. She found out later, after she was brought back to the tribe, that she and her sisters had been part of the tribe and that she was brought back to become the tribe's high priestess, but the twins had been banished from the tribe at birth.

I wanted to stay with Anna, but was told that that was not possible. There was only one way for me to leave the valley that they lived in, alive; I had to agree to live for the rest of my life being watched over by my two keepers."

He paused his narrative again, until they fully grasped what he had just told them.

"Our mothers are your keepers!"

"Yes, you have to remember that they were actually members of the tribe, but because the tribe is very superstitious and have been very isolated, they did not understand and had never experienced the birth of twins before. I think it was commendable of your mothers to remain loyal to the tribe and to take on the role of being remote members.

"I remember the first night we spent together here. I was very hurt and I missed Anna, I considered her my wife, and I was very upset and wanted nothing to do with Maria and Carlita. However, very quickly, they made me realize that we all were in this together; that if we did not get along, we would be living a very celibate and lonely life. It didn't take long before we began to become romantically involved with one another. If we did not, at some point, they might have decided to return me to the valley so that they could live a more normal life here. However, to their credit, they knew what that would mean for me. They held my life in their hands.

"And then we had the two of you. That was a conscious decision on our part. Your mothers had given up so much already, they wanted to have a child, they needed that, so we had the two of you. You have made our lives complete. By the way, you have a half-sister back in the valley; actually, now that I think about it, you have fourteen half-sisters."

The girls sat in stunned silence. Jason could tell that they both wanted to ask questions; but he continued.

"Now, there's a problem in the valley and Anna doesn't know what to do about it. Today's modern age is slowly but surely inflicting itself upon life in the valley. It is partly our fault, over the last twenty years we have been bringing bits and pieces of our technology, of our life style, into the valley. They can see for themselves, how differently we live our lives then they do theirs. They hear and see the jets that fly overhead; they see the cars and trucks that we drive, they see the houses we live in, and they see us, how we seem to live our lives without having to work for everything we have, the clothes on our backs, and the shoes on our feet, and the food in our bellies. They probably don't even realize how much we are affecting them, but we are, and sooner, rather than later, they are going to want what we have and that that will be the end of the tribe as they know it."

"We know it's going to happen, and we know that it will happen in my life time. It has been foreseen by one of my ancestors, who had a vision of the future, and provided the knowledge and the resources that will allow us to help them. We just do not know exactly when.

"I wanted you to know about all of this before it was actually happening, because I don't think that when it is happening that we'll have time to cope with them and the two of you, and I don't want you to think that we are abandoning you in any way.

"I know you have a lot of questions. I want you to hold them for now. Your moms will be home in a little while. Go to your rooms now and wait for them; they will tell you anything you want to know. Just remember that we will always love you. Now go."

The girls slowly got out of their chairs and walked towards the door. As they came even with the painting of Anna and her child, Jason called out to them.

"That's Anna." He said pointing to her image on the wall. "She's holding your sister, Summer Rain", and that's the entrance to their cave, their home. What you see all around you are the images of life in the village as Carlita remembered it from her visits there. She painted them just before you were born so you could grow up experiencing life in the village, the life that she and Maria weren't allowed to experience, and for me, a small piece of the life that I longed for."

As he was talking, their eyes traveled around the room, they were truly experiencing, for the first time, what the whole meaning was of the murals that they had grown up seeing.

___________________________

Jason waited in the kitchen. Over a cup of coffee, he sat, reviewing in his mind how the conversation had gone. He knew he had only scratched the surface with them. Maybe he should have said more he thought, or he could have said some things differently; but in the end, he knew his girls, they were smart and mature enough to know what he was trying to tell them. And where he was vague about some things, Maria and Carlita could fill in the blanks.

He was staring into his empty cup as his wives entered the room.

"How'd it go?"

"I think it went well. They are up in their rooms waiting for you. You should probably get up there as soon as possible before they burst at the seams. I know they will have a lot of questions for you. Do not hold anything back from them; they have a right to know. I'll see you in a couple of hours."

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Upon his return, he found the four of them busy in the kitchen. Maria and Carlita were preparing dinner, while the girls were busy setting the table.

"Go get cleaned up, dinner will be ready in a few minutes."

As Jason left the kitchen, he turned to see his daughters watching him. 'Were they checking him out, as the kids say?' Just as quickly as the thought came to him, he dismissed it as just his imagination. 'They're good kids, far too young to be thinking about boys, right?'

When he returned, everyone was already sitting at the table. There were large bowls of beef stew on each place setting, and in the center of the table, a large plate stacked high with squares of corn bread.

"In honor of those still in the valley, we thought we'd have a meal just like what they are probably eating." Maria said, as she reached for a piece of corn bread.

"I hope you like it," chimed in Carlita, "I couldn't find any mystery meat at the grocery, so you'll have to settle for cubed chuck."

All broke into laughter; putting Jason at ease. Their conversations came easy, with many references to life in the valley.

"Mom told us all about the valley, the hidden caves, and the kitchen, where you ate your meals, the public bath, the toilet room, and the fertility cave." Becky blushed as she ended her sentence with a little more enthusiasm than she had intended.