Bailey and the Santa Fe Secret Read Free Page A

careful not to touch it. She saw more detail every time she studied it. “Is that turquoise going around the bottom rim?”
    “Yes,” Aiyana said. “Mama said they were really careful to cut the stones to the perfect diamond shape and size, and they polished them to make them shine. Then they set the turquoise in melted silver and let it harden. When it cooled, they pressed the silver and turquoise band into the clay while it was still soft—or at least that’s what she’s been told. Of course the pot was made before she was born.”
    “It’s gorgeous,” Elizabeth said. “Your family does awesome work.”
    “I’m just learning to embed stones in the pots I make, but I’ve been making pottery without stones for a few years now.”
    “Do you still cut and polish the stones yourself?”
    “We don’t, but there are people in our pueblo who do it for us.”
    “Is turquoise the most popular stone to use?” Bailey asked.
    “It is around here.” Aiyana nodded. “Around here Native Americans like my family are practically famous for their turquoise work because our ancestors lived near turquoise mines. But a long time ago, there was no rain for almost two years, and they had to move closer to the cities.”
    “Wow,” Bailey said. “Two years with no rain is hard to imagine. We hardly go a week without rain in Illinois!”
    “The drought was hard on my family back then. They were experts at using turquoise in their jewelry and pottery, but they had to move away from the mines. They just couldn’t survive out there without water.” Aiyana looked around to be sure no one else was listening. “Remember that mine I told you my family owned?”
    Bailey and Elizabeth nodded.
    “It had the most turquoise of any mine in the area. And they say the turquoise was more beautiful than the stones in all the other mines.”
    Bailey shook her head. “Too bad the deed got lost over the years.”
    “That’s for sure.” Aiyana said sadly. “We’d have the biggest and best turquoise mine around.”
    Elizabeth’s face brightened. “Maybe we can help you find it while we’re here.”
    “How could you do that?” Aiyana asked. “It’s been lost for hundreds of years.”
    “I don’t know how we’ll do it, but I promise we’ll try.” Elizabeth patted the girl’s hand.
    “Elizabeth and I are great at solving mysteries,” Bailey told her. “We’re even in a mystery-solving club called Camp Club Girls.”
    “You are?” Aiyana’s eyes widened. “Have you solved any mysteries yet?”
    Bailey laughed. “We’ve solved lots of them! We were all in the same cabin at Camp Discovery, and we solved our first one at the camp. We found lost treasure. Since then we’ve solved more than a dozen mysteries together!”
    “Then maybe you’ll be able to solve this one, too!” Aiyana’s smile was filled with hope. “It would help my family so much if we could prove we own the old mine. We could reopen it and not have to pay other people for their turquoise. We’d get stones from our own mine and use them for free!”
    “That would sure save your mom a lot of money,” Elizabeth agreed. “Plus, she could sell turquoise to other people to use in their crafts, too.”
    “Aiyana, would you mind if we told the other Camp Club Girls the secret about the pot so they could help us solve the mystery?”
    Aiyana hesitated. “I guess that would be okay. We don’t tell many people, because we are afraid someone may try to steal the ancient pot from us. But I know you wouldn’t do that.”
    “That’s for sure,” Beth said. “And neither would our friends. Besides, they don’t even live in New Mexico.”
    “Do you know where the mine was located?” Bailey asked.
    Aiyana’s face fell, and she shook her head. “That’s the other problem. We don’t even know for sure which land is supposed to be ours, much less where the mine is.”
    “Hmm.” Elizabeth screwed her mouth up. “That is a problem.”
    “Well, we’ll