By the time we arrived in the little clearing in front of Sakari's hooghan, both horses were huffing, and I swung off Star's back as soon as she came to a stop. Chayton dropped his reins to the ground, and I followed suit knowing the horses would stay pretty close to where they were. Besides, the lush grass was a perfect snack.

Sakari resembled her sister quite closely except she was a little bigger boned. Toned muscles spoke of an active lifestyle, and she beckoned to us.

"Aunty, where's Uncle Simi?" Chayton didn't bother to introduce me, and I smiled. He was truly on a mission.

"In the stable." She put her fingers to her lips and the piercing whistle brought the kids out of a small building to the north of their Aunt's home.

Kaya took one look at Star and picked up the reins. "I'll walk her for a bit to cool her down. And on second thought, I'll take Bingo too." She scooped up the stallion's reins as well. "There's a small corral behind the stables. We all learned to ride up here. Aunty is a great instructor."

"Thanks, Kaya. I appreciated your help. I need to go talk to Uncle," Chayton said. "I'll be right back."

"That's odd. He hasn't said two words to my husband since Simi came back." His Aunt turned to follow him.

"Sakari?" I called after her.

She turned her head over her shoulder at my call.

"It's going to be alright. Chayton isn't angry at him anymore. But he needs to talk to his uncle. We went to the Chidi's rock a month or so ago and said goodbye properly. He's let go of a lot of pain."

"Chidi's rock?" Sakari's voice trembled ever so slightly.

"We were able to get the arch named after him. Chayton made sure of it. I have pictures," I explained. "We left his tools there for him and built a memorial cairn."

"Naayééneizgháni is good to us once more," she said.

"Indeed, the great Black God gave Chayton a way to heal," I agreed.

"No, he brought you to my angry nephew. You must be Alyana. Aponi told me about you when she called earlier." She opened her arms and engulfed me in a hug.

"Do you want to see the pictures?" I asked when she released me after a long embrace.

"I do. And then I want a print. A big one. It will go across from the front door of our home as a reminder that our son walks in peace now." She sounded so much like her sister; it was eerie.

"Come inside. The twins are off to climb a little higher. There's an eagle's nest on the cliffs, and Atsa wants some feathers. I'm pretty sure the pair of golden eagles up there are molting, and they should find what they are looking for. We'll let the men talk." Sakari went across a small cobblestone terrace and pushed the door there open, waving me in.

Inside, the basic eight sided dwelling was comfortably furnished. A fireplace dominated one of the walls to the right of the door, and a couple of archways went into other rooms.

"We've built into the hillside. It makes it much easier to heat and cool."

"I didn't even notice."

She laughed. "I'm not surprised. The kitchen is that way." She pointed to the door on the left, "and there's a small bathroom back there as well. The other door goes back into the bedrooms and to the stairs to the lower level. That's where our heat pump is and the laundry as well as our garage. The road down requires a four-wheel-drive vehicle, especially if it rains."

Sakari went through the archway to the right, and I followed her. It was a simple arrangement of antique appliances, except for the fridge which had a water and ice dispenser built into one of the doors. On closer inspection, I realized the antique stove was upgraded with some pretty spiffy electronics including induction burners. She had a farmer's sink exactly like my Grandmother's.

"Do you want something to drink?"

"Please. Water is fine." I stood by the only window looking out at the stables, hoping things were going well for Chayton and his Uncle.

"Give them time. Tell me about your work." She patted the chair beside her at the table. "We might as well get to know each other."

I pulled my phone out of my pocket. "First the pictures. Do you have a printer?"

"I do, but better yet, email the files to me. I'll take the one I want into town the next time we go down."

"Or we can go online and find a service which will do it for you. I've had enough of my photographs printed to know where to go," I volunteered.

She opened a cupboard and pulled down two huge glass mugs handing me one and adding ice to hers before filling it with water.

"We'll take our water with us. The office is below the garage level. We only put it in last year when Simi started writing the legends."

I followed her down the stairs and then out a door to a small balcony overlooking the road down from their property. She wasn't kidding about needing a four-wheel-drive. It went down in switchbacks and I stopped to take in the view.

"This is amazing!" The vista was spectacular.

"The eagle's nest is up there." Sakari pointed up and to the left. "There's a mesa up there and the boys will likely find their feathers there. They know better than to disturb the fledglings and their parents."

We went down a flight of stairs, and into what must have been a cave at some point. A door was fitted into a glass wall cleverly fitted into the irregular opening. Inside it was cool, and I noted the air conditioning duct in the ceiling.

"How?" I think my jaw dropped as I thought about the painstaking work that went into keeping the natural stone walls looking like they were never touched.

"Simi is handy, and we had some help from Julio Garcia and his team."

I nodded. "He's doing some work for my sister and me right now."

"Then you have chosen well."

There were two desks. I noticed the computers under them and huge curved monitors for each. A printer stood on a side table and a filing cabinet was the only other piece of office furniture other than two seriously ergonomic chairs.

"Sit, I'll just power my workstation up."

My phone rang as we finished up the order for a thirty-six by thirty-six inch print with frame. Delivery would be to the UPS store in town to be picked up in approximately two weeks.

Sakari found Chidi's arch from the GPS coordinates I gave her, and said, "We'll go there on the anniversary of his death. We can find it, and we'll hike in. We're still pretty fit."

I thumbed in on the second ring and said, "It's Chayton."

"I should have left a note on the white board. Tell him we'll be right up."

I did exactly as she said, as she shut down the computer and went over to pick up the photo we printed.

Chayton's Aunt took the stairs two at a time, and we burst into the living room within a couple of minutes.

"So, we understand each other?" Simi said. Tall and thin, he had half a head on Chayton's six foot three inch height.

"We do. Grief is as unique as every individual on this earth. I'm sorry I've been such an idiot about this," his nephew admitted.

"Not an idiot. Chidi was your brother as much as your cousin. The pain was great, and his innocence was never a question in your mind or ours. The way he chose to go, was a shock, but he was never the same after he lost Haloke."

His wife went over to stand beside him, and Simi's arm went around her waist pulling her to his side.

"Then you will be happy to know I was able to request another autopsy for her," Chayton told them. "I'm awaiting the results."

"They never did one in the first place," Sakari said.

"I know. A gross oversight," I said. "I studied the case records. Sloppy work."

Simi stepped across to where I was standing and framed my face with his hands. Stooping, he placed a quiet kiss on my forehead and said, "Thank you for believing in my son's innocence, and for what you have done for my nephew."

"Untangling the truth will be a challenge. It's been over a decade," I cautioned.

"Doesn't matter. It is a step in the right direction," Sakari said. "Let's see about some lunch. Here come's Kaya. The boys took theirs with them."