Chapter 3

The morning sun was filtering through the curtains and filling the room with a soft glow. I turned and saw Tammy sleeping quietly. My God she looked beautiful. There was purity and innocence in her face. Funny I should have that thought right then. A few hours before I had taken her maidenhood and initiated her to the world of sexuality. Those lips had been wrapped around my penis. But in the soft morning light she looked like a painting of purity. One of the Pre-Raphaelites could have painted it: The Innocent.

I rolled out of bed and headed in for my morning ablutions. Showered and combed I came back into the room toweling off my hair. Tammy was stretching and opened her eyes.

"You're naked."

"You're beautiful. And under those covers, you're naked."

"No I'm not," she protested. "I'm wearing my top." She dropped the blanket to her waist to show that she still had on the top she had been wearing the night before. I reached down and grabbed to blankets and tugged them off the bottom of the bed exposing her. "Hey," she yelped and grabbed for the retreating blankets. Too late and they wound up in a pile on the floor.

"Now you're naked," I said. She jumped out of bed and ran for the bath. As she went by I wrapped her in my arms and pulled her to me. She looked up struggling half-heartedly and I said, "You're beautiful," and kissed her softly. She returned the kiss.

"But you shouldn't see me naked."

"Why not?" I asked. "We're lovers."

"Are we lovers?" she asked quietly.

Still holding her I said, "Last night we were. Do you want to make love to me again?"

"I think so."

"Until you decide you never want to make love to me again, we're lovers."

"I've never had a lover before. I don't know what to do." She looked concerned.

"First, you take a shower. Then we get some breakfast. After that we can talk about it on the ride north. I want to see those cliff dwellings. Mostly, don't worry about it. It will work out. Love you." I patted her on the bottom and sent her toward the bath.

Heading north I looked over at Tammy. She looked deep in thought. "A penny for your thoughts."

Tammy said, "Mike," and paused.

"Yes?"

"About last night." And paused again.

"Sweetheart, just say it."

She twisted her hair in her fingers while looking at the floor. "I didn't expect that to happen. I mean, I didn't know it was going to happen."

"Me either." I reached over and put my hand on hers. "But I'm very glad it did."

"It was so much better than I imagined. I never felt anything like that before. At the end, when..."

"When you came."

A pause, "When I came, I felt so close to you. I wanted to hold you forever. You were so big but it felt wonderful. I expected it to hurt. It did for just a second. But then it felt, I don't know how to describe it."

"Tammy. What happened between us was very special in many ways. We became lovers, which is a special bond between a man and a woman. I was your first, which is always special. Every one always remembers their first lover, their first time. Thank you for choosing me as your first lover. It was very special for me as well. And you chose an older man as your first lover. It takes years to learn to be a good lover. To learn how to please a woman. To be patient. To build the excitement until both lovers reach fulfillment. You are lucky that your first lover is a man who knows how to make love. Last," I reached over again and took her hand in mine, "something happened between the two of us last night. I felt it. It wasn't just the sex. Something almost spiritual that caused our souls to touch as well as our bodies. That is very rare."

She was silent for some time. "Mike. I think I love you." I looked over and she was apprehensive. Frightened that I was going to reject her. Tell her she was a silly girl or something like that.

I pulled to the side of the road and stopped. She looked worried. I turned in my seat and took her in my arms. "Hold me, beautiful." She hugged me holding on like she would never let go. I kissed her and she kissed me. We gazed at each other and a small tear rolled down her cheek. "There's no reason to cry," I said.

"I'm just so happy. Three days ago everything was so awful. And now it's wonderful."

Another peek into what she was running from. Just as I was running from pain so was she. Too soon, I thought, to pursue that. Let's just be happy.

I pulled back on the highway and again we drove north but this time smiling contentedly and holding hands as we talked about nothing and everything.

Several hours later I saw the signs for Montezuma's Castle and pulled off the highway. The park is down in a small valley. We had gained elevation almost from the time we left Phoenix. At the higher altitudes the scrub bush and occasional trees had replaced the cactus. Here in the valley with a small river running all year, there were trees and bushes. It wasn't lush but it wasn't desert either. We walked along a path and came to a small clearing on the valley floor. The river ran placidly on the left. On the right was a sheer cliff face rising hundreds of feet. Almost at the top was the Castle. The cliff had a natural overhang. Not really a cave but a deep large depression. Built into this was a three-story cliff dwelling. It was the same tan color as the cliff and looked as if the cliff had formed itself into a dwelling. It looked fresh and new and also it looked like part of the cliff that had been there for thousands of years. Actually, it had been there for hundreds of years. The dry air of the desert had preserved it.

"How'd they get up there?" Tammy asked looking wide eyed at the dwelling.

"Ladders."

"Ladders? No way. Look how high that is," she said pointing high up the cliff face.

"Yeah ladders," I responded. "Not all one ladder. But they'd find little ledges part way up. You'd climb from one ladder to the next all the way up. If a raiding tribe came around all you had to do was pull the ladders up behind you. They could just sit up there and thumb their noses at the raiding party."

"God. I couldn't live there. I'd be scared to climb ladders that high."

"Don't forget. The kids were born up there. They grew up looking down that cliff and going up and down it to get to the fields and the river. I bet it felt no different to them than an escalator does to us."

Tammy stood looking at the cliff for awhile. We walked on through the park. I could see how they irrigated these low areas by the river for their crops. Really, it's no different than people live in some places today. We headed back to the van and on toward Flagstaff.

We continued gaining altitude passing through 7,000 feet. I started to see snow on the ground. Snow? In Arizona? Not what I expected. As we neared Flagstaff the terrain changed to mountains and the dry brush was replaced by grass lands and pine trees. In Flagstaff I drove down the main road and found a nice motor court. When I opened the door I nearly froze. "Damn. It's cold." When we left Phoenix it was 80 degrees. Here it was cold enough to snow. Big change in a few hours.

I checked us in and we set out to explore Flagstaff. East of Flagstaff just a few miles is Walnut Canyon. We pulled into the parking lot as snow began to fall. I couldn't believe it. Tammy just looked at me like I was crazy. "It's too cold."

"Just put on an extra shirt." She thought I was nuts but pulled on long pants and three shirts and her boots. We ran into the park station. The building looked out over three narrow and deep canyons. About 75 feet from the top there was a layer of rock about 10 feet high. Scattered all along the canyon walls at this level were dwellings. It must have been a softer rock and people had carved caves into the bare rock. They cut the rock into blocks and put these up as the front wall. Leave a small opening and you have a house.

The snow quit as suddenly as it started and the sun emerged from the clouds. We climbed down stairs to the level of the dwellings. Following along the cliff face we explored many of them. They were three or four feet deep maybe four feet high and ten feet long. Not exactly mansions. There were still black smoke marks on the back walls from the cooking fires. How long had the smoke remained on these walls? How long before the centuries would swallow all traces of these places?