Xander felt more than a little like Goldilocks, chasing after Yzzie, on Aunt Alice's bicycle. Yzzie's old bike had been too small to ride comfortably, while Uncle Bart's had been far too big. But Aunt Alice's well-used baby blue, woman's bike had been just the right size for the gangly boy. Yzzie rode the shiny new eighteen-speed mountain bike she'd gotten for Christmas. Its fat knobby tires handled the gravel roads much better than the skinnier half-worn ones on the older bike. Better tires, multiple gears and stronger legs, all proved to be a big advantage going uphill. Xander sucked wind as he struggled to keep up with Yzzie over the three miles of hills between the Anderson ranch and town. His face was beet-red from effort, by the time he guided the woman's bike into the rack in front of the library.

"I'll be back to meet you right here at four o'clock," Yzzie told him. She sounded more than a little like a parent giving instructions to a six year old. "That's when the library closes."

"Okay, I'll see you later." Xander tried to keep the sarcasm out of his voice as he turned towards the entrance. Yzzie pushed her bike off the sidewalk, onto the street. She almost rode off, but stopped and looked back at him.

"Xander," Yzzie said, looking unsure of the best way to approach an awkward subject, "you won't mention 'Martians' or 'little green men' to anyone will you?"

I never said anything about seeing little green men. Xander had had enough of being ridiculed for reporting what he saw the night his life took as sharp a turn as the UFO he'd witnessed. "I only described the strange light that I'm sure wasn't a plane or helicopter or anything else man-made, and that's all." He noticed the confusion on his cousin's face. "Oh, you meant my 'We are not alone!' poster..."

"I'm sorry Xander," Yzzie apologized. "I didn't mean anything... Forget it."

"It's okay," he told her. "I guess I'm still a little touchy about, well, everything that happened. Don't worry about it. I won't talk about Martians or anything else that might embarrass you."

"Thank you," she gratefully responded. "It's just that stories and rumors spread fast here in Sedona."

"I get it," Xander said. "Believe me, I do."

"Okay then, I'll see you right here at four." She reminded him.

"Right here at four." He confirmed. "Go have some fun Yzzie. I'll be fine. Libraries are like a second home to me. I love the quiet comradery and peaceful atmosphere."

"Enjoy your peace and quiet," Yzzie said, peddling briskly away. Xander checked his watch, it was one fifteen, then entered the building.

Inside, Xander found the library under siege by a hoard of kindergarten and preschool aged kids. It was utter chaos, children yelling and running amok. A harried looking older woman tried, without much success, to herd them into the children's story area.

Xander hadn't quite gotten his bearings yet, when the woman spotted him and marched over. 'Miss Tuttle' was written on the rectangular brass broach perched at the top of her white lace sweater.

"Young man you have some explaining to do!" The librarian snapped at him. "Do you know what time it is?"

Having just looked at his watch only seconds earlier, Xander opened his mouth to tell her.

"One o'clock means one o'clock." She started steering him to the children's area. "Hurry, hurry, we must get started right away!"

Now, totally bewildered, Xander tried to explain to the librarian that there must be some sort of misunderstanding.

"But, I'm not..." He started out, confusion muddled his thoughts. "I... I... just came here to... to... Um... My name is Xander..."

"Xander, that's a good name for a magician," Miss Tuttle cut him off, still moving him along. "Call yourself David Copperfield or Houdini... I don't care, as long as these kids get a magic show. "Let's get things rolling, shall we, before these blessed children scatter again!" She continued, her hands now firmly on his shoulders.

"No!" Xander planted his feet just short of the small stage she practically pushed him onto. "Just wait a minute, I'm not..."

At that instant, a comical 'honk, honk' noise sounded at the front entrance. Everyone turned to look in the direction of the startling and funny sound. A teenaged boy dressed as a clown rushed in. The clown gave the surprised Miss Tuttle an embarrassed shrug as he hurried past, onto the stage.

"Hi kiddies," he hollered, "Who's ready for a magic show?"

The kids shouted a loud approval. An expression of understanding spread across the faces of both Miss Tuttle and Xander.

"Oh my, oh my," the librarian gasped as she removed her hands from Xander's shoulders. "I'm sorry, Dearie. I seem to have made a dreadful mistake..."

"It's okay," Xander assured her. "Things were pretty wild in here."

Most of the kids had already settled down and were focused on the clown and his little box of tricks. Miss Tuttle nodded and took in a slow soothing breath.

"If you're not the new magician, young man..." She said, with a questioning look.

"My name really is Xander..." He paused, considering what to tell her. He hadn't exactly thought through how he would explain the reason for being in Sedona without his parents. "I'm staying with the Andersons for a while." He opted for a simple explanation. "Yzzie Anderson is my cousin."

"Lovely young girl," Miss Tuttle replied, indicating that she knew Yzzie.

"I came to the library to do some research." Xander said. And more importantly, he added to himself, so that Yzzie could get some time with her friends.

"Perhaps I can be of some assistance then." She said, eager to make up for the earlier mistaken identity.

"It is my understanding that there are some local native legends about 'Sky Gods', as well as, a few other unexplained mysteries in the surrounding mountains." Xander said.

"Oh goodness yes," Miss Tuttle responded enthusiastically. "There are native legends going back hundreds, perhaps even thousands of years." This time, without a single push or shove, the portly librarian guided him towards a table in the adult book section of the library. "There are several legends about Sky Gods, Star People, even flying villages and all sorts of odd creatures that once lived in the mountains around us." Miss Tuttle reported. "Have a seat here and I'll set you up with some reading material."

Xander watched as she scurried off and began pulling books from various shelves. The librarian wasted no time searching, she simply walked from area to area and added volume after volume to her collection. He wondered if the woman knew every book in the building. From the look of things, he decided that she more than likely did. As Miss Tuttle returned, she stopped, backtracked down one last aisle and added one more book to the tall stack she already had.

"These should get you started," she announced setting them down on the table top. "I decided to add this one, it's a little different, but I thought the story might be of interest to you." She lifted up the top book and passed it to Xander. It was entitled, 'The Snoopy Rock Mystery'. "This is the most recent unexplained event in the area and my personal favorite. It's the story of the 'Miracle Baby' from about a dozen or so years ago." Miss Tuttle closed her eyes for a second and began telling him some of the details. "Yes, it was near the end of December ..."

"Was the baby born with two heads?" Xander asked in a patronizing voice, maybe still just a little bitter from his earlier treatment, and absolutely certain that this was not the type of information he was looking for.

"No, nothing like that whatsoever." She smiled, oblivious to his sarcasm. "A young couple and their one month old baby flew to Sedona to visit with relatives at Christmas. The father was a pilot and they owned their own plane. A few mornings later when they left for home the sky was as clear as a bell. However, within minutes of takeoff a terrible and unexpected blizzard swept in over the mountains."

The mention of planes and flying piqued Xander's interest somewhat. He'd wanted to be a pilot as long as he could remember. In his mind's eye he could see dark clouds spilling over the red mountain range. A small single engine plane was rocked by strong winds as it became engulfed by the storm.

"It was the worst snow storm in these parts in the past fifty years," she continued. "The pilot only managed to send out one Mayday before they crashed at the northern base of Snoopy Rock. You've probably seen Snoopy Rock, it's quite popular with the younger tourists." Xander shook his head. "It is just northeast of town." Miss Tuttle explained, then emphasized the next tidbit of information. "Both parents were killed instantly, but the baby somehow survived."

"The baby sounds incredibly lucky, but this doesn't sound like a miracle." Xander stated, knowing from experience that sometimes a miracle could just be plain old dumb luck.

"The deep snow and bitter cold temperatures impeded the search. No one knew exactly where the plane went down. It took ten days to find the wreckage." Miss Tuttle had a smug look on her face as she dropped another shocking bit of information, "Wolves found the crashed plane long before the rescue party."

"But, how could a baby survive for ten days?" He asked, trying to shake away the image of a wolf running off with the screaming infant.

"There was not a scratch on her." Miss Tuttle confirmed. "Those evil vermin fed on her parents. God rest their souls." She made the sign of the cross and closed her eyes for a second before continuing. "But the wolves did not harm the baby, thank the heavens above."

"What about hunger, frostbite and hypothermia?" He questioned. This story was beginning to sound a little more miraculous than his own.

"None of the above," she reported. "As a matter of fact, the baby was in perfect condition when the rescue party found her."

"That's impossible," Xander argued. "A baby can't survive for ten days in the freezing cold without food."

"That's the miracle part of this story," Miss Tuttle pointed out. "Some folks believe that a mother wolf took pity on the baby and kept her warm and fed. There were even rumors that it was a UFO and not the storm that caused the crash; that perhaps the aliens abducted the baby for experiments and such, before returning her."

"Why would anyone think that?" The mention of UFOs and aliens had Xander fully invested in this story.

"Well, young man, there was a strange hole in the side of the plane." She explained further, "officially, the result of a lightning strike, but I heard that the hole is a near perfect circle, like the kind that could have been made by a laser."

"Or a particle beam," Xander said. He'd just read about them a few days before.

"Yes, I suppose so." Miss Tuttle hadn't heard of such things but agreed anyway.

"Are there any pictures?" Xander inquired.

"Of the baby?" the librarian asked, pleased at the boy's growing interest in the story.

"No, of that hole in the plane," he said, much more interested in the particle beam possibility, than the baby.

"I don't think so." She answered, as the boy flipped through the pages of the book. "But, as far as I know, the wreckage is still out there at the base of the mountain." The librarian was about to explain what became of the baby.

"Miss Tuttle," There was a loud whisper from the checkout counter.

"Excuse me," Miss Tuttle said to Xander, "I need to get back to my station."

"Thank you," Xander told her sincerely, "for all your help."

"I'm right over there," she pointed, "if you need any more assistance, Dearie."

Xander began pouring over the eye-witness accounts of the wreckage and rescue as Miss Tuttle tottered away from his table.