was only seven days away. She would fly to California on the eighteenth, and would spend the twentieth through the twenty-third at the Grand Canyon. She would fly back to Baltimore in time to spend Christmas with her parents.
When Mara finally fell asleep, she had a very strange dream. She was standing in a canyon, and she saw a beautiful young woman dressed in a deerskin dress and moccasins. She looked very sad and when Mara asked her why, the girl pointed to the wall of the canyon.
At first, Mara did not understand, but then, she saw a flashback to a scene in the same canyon many years earlier. There was a cave in the wall of the wall of the canyon. There was a Native American ceremony and somehow, Mara understood that an Indian maiden who was about fourteen, was being put in the cave with other items to appease the gods and ensure a mild winter.
The rest of the tribe began to seal up the entrance of the cave with rocks and adobe bricks, and then caved in sandstone to hide the entrance to the cave. That was why the young girl was so sad. She had been buried alive in the cave. From the way the Indians were dressed, Mara guessed that it had happened hundreds of years earlier.
Mara felt the loneliness that the young girl had felt, being separated from her family and her tribe.
The next morning, when Mara woke up, she began doing research on the history of the Grand Canyon, as well as the history of the Native American tribes that were in that area of the country. From pictures of how scientists believed the natives to be dressed in early centuries, Mara guessed that the girl in her dream was a member of the Anasazi tribe, the ancestors of the modern day Hopi Indians.
A few nights later, Mara had another dream about a cave, but this time it was her recurrent nightmare about herself being in a cave when the ceiling began to fall on her. As before, Mara woke up just before the rocks landed on top of her.
Mara tried to put the second dream out of her mind, but she could not help worrying that the Grand Canyon was where her dream might finally come true in real life.
On Saturday, December eighteenth, Mara hugged her parents, goodbye at the airport and one hour later, she was on her way to Los Angeles. With the time change, it was three o’clock in the afternoon when she arrived in L.A.
When Mara walked into the terminal, she saw two teenage girls holding up a sign that read “Welcome, Mara!” Mara walked over to them and Mr. Carter introduced himself and his wife; Dr. Ruth Greathouse (She had kept her maiden name), and their three children; Heidi, Beth and Nick. After Mara claimed her luggage, the six of them got into a van and headed towards the freeway.
That was when Mr. Carter told Mara that his family had a surprise for her. He told her that they were going to take Mara somewhere special before going to their home. He would not give her any hints about the surprise.
Thirty minutes later, they pulled up in front of a very fancy restaurant and while a valet parked the van, Mara and the Carter family walked into the restaurant. As soon as Mara entered the restaurant, she saw Ryan and Jason Davis, who walked over to welcome her to a Hollywood Christmas party. Mara hugged both of them and as she looked around the room, she saw that it was filled with stars and staff of several teleision shows.
Mr. Fisher welcomed Mara to the party and then escorted her around the room, introducing her to everybody that she did not already know. Mara had a great time at the party. It was after nine o’clock when Mara got another surprise. She was talking to Beth and Heidi, when she heard a familiar voice call her name. When Mara turned around, she saw Mrs. Carter standing there. She looked the same as she did when Mara last saw her, accept she was standing instead of lying in a hospital bed.
When Mrs. Carter saw Mara, her eyes lit up and she looked a lot younger than eighty-five. Mara got a chair for her and helped her to sit down. The two of them talked for quite a while. It was after midnight, when Mara and the Carter family left the restaurant. Mara said goodbye to everyone and Ryan and Jason kissed her goodnight.
Over the next two days, Mara became very friendly with Beth, Heidi and Nick, who acted as tour guides as Mr. Carter, his wife, and his mother took Mara around to see all of the sights.
On Monday afternoon, December twentieth, Mara and the Carter family drove to the airport. After they all received their boarding passes, they escorted Mrs. Carter to her boarding gate and waited until she boarded the plane that would take her back to Florida. Mara gave Mrs. Carter a big hug and told her that it was great to see her again.
After the plane took off, they proceeded to the boarding gate for the plane that would take them to Flagstaff, Arizona. When they landed in Flagstaff, they rented an SUV to take them to the Grand Canyon.
On the flight, as well as on the road, Mara asked Dr. Greathouse many questions about the history of the Grand Canyon, as well as information about the various Native American tribes from that area. Dr. Greathouse was impressed with Mara’s knowledge and her insatiable curiosity.
When they arrived at the motel near the canyon, it was late and they were all exhausted from the long day. They ate a late dinner and then they all went to bed, as they had a long day ahead of them on Tuesday.
That night, Mara had another dream about the Anasazi maiden. Mara asked her many questions and though the girl did not speak English, Mara found that through mental telepathy, they could communicate.
The Grand Canyon usually had a lot of snow during the winter, but fortunately for the Carter family and Mara, there had been very little snowfall and no more was expected for a week or so.
The six of them and their tour guide would be riding donkeys on the winding trail that led to the bottom of the canyon. Before they started their descent, Mara asked Dr. Greathouse if she had her camera with a lot of film.
“I have my digital camera, and several empty memory cards. Why do you ask?” Dr. Greathouse asked Mara. “I have a hunch that we will make a very important discovery in the canyon today,” said Mara.
Dr. Greathouse and Mara let the others go ahead of them and when they were alone, Mara explained her dream. “I have dreams and visions that have almost always come true. Twice now, I have dreamed of a concealed cave in the side of the canyon wall, where Native American maiden, an Anasazi, I believe, was sacrificed and was buried alive, hundreds of years ago, to guarantee a mild winter for her tribe. I don’t think that her spirit is at peace.”
“Do you think that you could locate the cave?” asked Dr. Greathouse.
“I think so,” said Mara.
Mara and Dr. Greathouse rejoined the group and when they were on the floor of the canyon, Dr. Greathouse spoke with the tour guide and he agreed to let Mara and Dr. Greathouse lead the group. After an hour of riding, Mara suddenly had a vision of the maiden standing by the wall, pointing to a certain spot on the canyon wall.
“That is the spot,” said Mara. “The hidden cave is there.” Everybody stopped and Mara explained about her dreams. Dr. Greathouse took two whiskbrooms out of her backpack and handed one to Mara. They both began sweeping sand off the wall of the canyon at the spot that the maiden had pointed to. Within twenty minutes, they began finding loose rocks, and then adobe bricks that been used to seal up the cave.
Dr. Greathouse realized that they had found something important. Since she was from Los Angeles, and had no jurisdiction in Arizona, she called an old friend of hers who worked at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff. She explained everything to him and asked if he could bring an archaeological team to the canyon. She gave him their exact location.
Two hours later, the archaeological expedition arrived by helicopter, and landed on the floor of the canyon. After taking a number of photographs, the team began carefully dismantling the wall that blocked the entrance to the cave.
When the wall was completely removed, Mara insisted that she be allowed to go in first, to make sure it was safe. Dr. Greathouse gave Mara a strange look, but agreed to her request.
Mara took a flashlight and cautiously entered the cave.
The cave turned at a right angle and when Mara was inside the cave, she studied the ceiling of the cave. It looked solid, and it did not look like the ceiling in her dreams, the dreams where the ceiling collapsed on her. She felt more relaxed and began exploring the cave. As she aimed the light at the walls, and she saw, many drawings and symbols painted on them.
As Mara went further into the cave, she saw the remains of the Anasazi girl from her dreams, lying on the ground. Beyond the body, were dozens of woven baskets, painted clay pots with lids, tools and other artifacts, as well as piles of animal furs.
Mara returned to the entrance of the cave and invited the team into the cave. “Dr. Greathouse, I think that you will be very surprised at what you find in this cave”.
Moments later, a couple of battery operated lanterns lit up the entire cave. The team of archaeologists was speechless, when they saw the walls, the skeleton and the treasure trove of artifacts.
As the team began to investigate, they found that the baskets and clay pots were filled with all kinds of seeds, including wheat, corn, squash, sunflowers, beans, pumpkins and several other types of seeds.
Mara saw the maiden’s spirit pointing to another room off the main cave, that