Free Sky People by Ardy Sixkiller Clarke Page A

emanating from the craft. After several weeks, the sightings had set the community on edge and the people spent much of their time in church.
    “Was it during this time that the Stone Woman appeared?” I asked.
    “Yes. From the first time she was spotted, the elders talked about a strange flying machine that circled the sky.”
    “But the first recorded sighting was in the late 1800s. Did those stories originate in the 1800s?” I asked.
    “As long as I remember, the elders have said the Stone Woman comes from the sky. She is a Sky Woman or the Star Woman.”
    “What can you tell me about the most recent event?” I asked.
    “It was a Sunday morning,” Albert said. “People were headed for church when a craft came over the village at a very slow speed. It was low, so low that I could almost jump and touch it.”
    “Was there any detail you noticed about the craft?” I asked.
    “It was a dull gray. Round. I saw no windows, no wings.”
    “Did you see the woman, the one called the Stone Woman of legend?” I asked.
    “I saw a woman. She was magnificent. She glowed like a star. She was beautiful. I saw her descend from the craft on a beam of light. She stood at the entrance of the pyramid and walkedinside the cave. When she emerged, she climbed to the top of Castillo, a beam of light came down, and she entered the craft just as she emerged from it.”
    “Were you the only witness?” I asked.
    “There were several others, but some of them said she walked inside the pyramid and disappeared. I did not see that. But I avoided her eyes.”
    “Why did you avoid her eyes?”
    “She has red, glowing eyes. If you look into them, she has power over you and makes you see what she wants you to see. I didn’t look at her eyes and that’s when I saw her disappear on a beam of light, and the craft flew away in a blink of the eye.”
    “What do you think about this event?” I asked.
    “For years, there have been sightings. Before my time, my father and grandfather told stories of this beautiful glowing woman. They said she came from the stars, but over the years, people did not tell that part of the story. Some people believed she was a ghost. A few thought she was an angel. Others believed she was the Virgin Mary. I always believed what the elders told me. She was a woman from the stars and finally I know the truth. She was from the stars.”
    “How do you explain that the majority of the sightings of the woman report that she was a stone woman?”
    “Two things. I thinks she casts a spell on those who look into her eyes. Then I think perhaps she transfixes men with her beauty and they believe no mortal woman could be so beautiful.”
    “Are you saying you do not believe the original story that she was a woman of stone?” I asked.
    “I don’t believe so. I think the young hunter who first saw her was so dazzled by her beauty that he thought she was a woman of stone. The people from the stars have great powers. More than those of us on Earth. I believe she was a living, breathing star goddess who cast a spell on those who saw her and made them believe she was a stone woman until she was able to carry out her business on Earth.”
    “What kind of business?”
    “That’s a good question. I have never been able to learn the answer. I have gone into the cavern many times, but have never discovered anything extraordinary, and yet she returns to the same spot every time.”
    “Can you describe to me the woman you saw?” I asked.
    “She was taller than our women,” he said. “She had black hair that flowed down to the back of her waist. She wore a long white dress with embroidery. I was not close enough to recognize the designs of her embroidery. Her eyes glowed red. She showed no emotion. No anger, no smile, but she was the most beautiful woman I have ever seen.”
    “Is there a possibility she cast a spell on you?” I asked.
    “Perhaps,” he replied, “but I don’t think so. I am convinced her eyes give her