by Sable Hunter
A wall of rock stood behind him.
“Whoa, boy.” He patted Traveler’s neck as he dismounted. Taking a few steps, he ran his hand over the solid surface, trying to determine what had just transpired. Only moments before, he’d come through an opening and now that opening was no longer here. How was this possible? Gazing around, he searched for answers, his mind racing. When he lifted his head to gaze into the heavens, Reno found himself staring at two blinking lights traveling fast across the sky among the stars. “What in the hell is that?”
Journey
Out of breath, Journey stopped near a mesquite tree to rest for a few moments. She listened to shouts and footfalls, trying to determine if they’d figured out her path. Glancing around, she could see Enchanted Rock in the distance – the grand, granite mountain dark against the sky. As she gazed at it, Journey marveled at the green glow that suddenly appeared. She knew there was some scientific explanation for the phenomenon, but for now she would consider it to be a sign of hope. Assured of the direction she needed to go; Journey took off again. If she could make it to the ranch, she felt she had a chance. Myra kept a key on a magnet behind the shutter that covered the kitchen window. If she could get in the house, there was a gun in her aunt’s closet.
Could she shoot someone? Journey didn’t know. If she didn’t, what would they do to her? Rape her? Kill her?
“Hey, bi-i-i-tch! Can you hear me? Isn’t this fun?”
Fresh horror sent a cold chill running over every part of her body.
They were coming for her.
“Help me. Please help me!” she cried as loudly as she could, having no earthly idea where help might come from.
* * *
“Help me!”
Instantly, Reno’s attention was jerked away from the mystery lights overhead to a woman’s frantic voice drifting to him on wings of wind.
“Please help me!”
Climbing swiftly into the saddle, he rode toward the desperate sound. Reno still didn’t understand what had happened to him, but there would be time to solve that puzzle later. Right now, someone needed him.
“No!” Journey stumbled, barely catching herself before she hit the ground. The men were coming closer; she could hear them. Taunting. Laughing. Journey trembled in fear. She couldn’t let them catch her. They were crazy. There was no telling what they’d do to her.
“Hey! What’s your hurry, pretty girl? We only want to play.”
Play? Terror ripped up her spine like the blade of a knife. She dashed madly into the shadows, trying to find a place to hide in the shelter of the rocks. If she could calm her breathing and stop the tears, maybe she could be silent and still long enough to avoid detection.
After a dozen or more yards, she stopped, leaning against a huge boulder. Journey placed a hand over her mouth to quiet the panicked pants. She just needed a few seconds to rest – then if she had to run farther – she would run.
“Boo! There you are!”
A scream burst from her lips as a large, cruel hand snatched at her hair. “Stop! Let me go!” she screamed, tearing herself away to bolt blindly into the night. The boulder field surrounding her was a playground of light and shadow. A maze she ran through like a mouse chased by a cat. Journey thought her heart might fail her as she fled for her life. “Oh, please God. I need help. Please.”
Suddenly, she heard a noise. A new noise. Not her breathing. Not the footfalls of the men who terrorized her – no…
Hoofbeats?
In a moment of incredible chaos, a dark horse came alongside her, and a man’s deep, gentle voice spoke to her. “I’m here to save you. Give me your hand.”
As one accepts a lifeline to keep from drowning, she grasped the stranger’s hand. An incredulous gasp slipped from her lips as he lifted her up into the saddle before him. Journey trembled as a strong arm wrapped around her waist, holding her tightly. Immediate and instantaneous relief flooded her soul. She felt safer than ever she’d felt before.
Instead of carrying her away, the rider stopped, waiting for the men who chased her to catch up. “What are we doing? Those men…”
“Don’t understand who they’re up against.”
His voice flowed over her soul like warm rays of sunshine on an icy day.
The two men came dashing up wearing what looked to be hunting goggles. Journey realized at that moment how much of a disadvantage she’d been operating under. With their night vision equipment, they were truly playing with her. She’d never had a chance – until the cowboy came along.
“Where’d he come from?” one asked, surprised.
“Why can’t you leave me alone?” Journey’s voice broke with emotion.
“Why should we? We aren’t afraid of this cowpoke!” Russ declared.
Journey gasped when the greasy redhead pulled a knife. “Watch out!” she managed to say just before the cowboy swung his rifle and hit the man so hard in the head that he collapsed like a felled tree, the knife he’d been holding flying to one side. The other man, Russ, kept coming and was met with the same fate. Her cowboy wielded his rifle by the barrel and struck Russ in the head with the heavy stock. A mighty blow.
Once he was finished, neither of them moved.
“Oh, thank you. Thank you.” Journey was weak with relief. “I am so grateful.”
“Where to, my lady?” he asked in that same soft, sultry drawl.
She’d left her car at the neighbors, but that could wait. At the moment, she just wanted to be somewhere safe and familiar. “My place is not far. Right outside the park, just over the rise.”
“Very well.” He placed a hand on her shoulder. “Relax. Just lean back. I’ve got you.”
Journey didn’t think it was possible, but she did relax. “I can’t believe you came along when you did.” He’d appeared at just the right moment.
“A fortunate coincidence,” he spoke softly, his breath warm near her ear. “Like you, I was eluding evil men.”
“Oh?” She tried to glance over her shoulder, but she couldn’t see him clearly. “Where are they?”
He chuckled; a sound so compelling that Journey shivered. “I don’t know. I seemed to have lost them.”
After riding a few feet, he stopped. “Hmmm, my sense of direction feels off. If I didn’t know better, I’d think I was retracing my path.” He looked up. “Yes. See the stars? We’re headed due north, the direction I came from earlier.”
“I’m not sure. I was so frightened; I can’t think straight.” She let out a long breath, rubbing her arms. Her muscles felt weak. “Anyway, I’m glad you eluded them and I’m very grateful you came along when you did.”
“I am thankful also.” Reno noticed what she was doing. “What’s wrong? Are you injured?” he asked, his hand following in the same path as hers. “Are you cold?”
As if on cue, Journey shivered. “A bit. I feel achy. I was tense and stiff with fright.”
“Understandable. Why were those men after you?”
“Sport, I think. I attracted their attention at the store and they just decided to harass me.”
“Hooligans,” he muttered disdainfully.
“Exactly. Why were you being pursued?”
“They were under the assumption I was carrying gold they wanted to steal.”
“Why did they think that?”
The man chuckled. “Because I wanted them to believe it. I led them away to give my friends a chance to escape.”
“You’re a hero.”
“I wouldn’t say that. No.”
As they continued on their journey, his hand kept moving on her arm. She found herself leaning into his touch. She shouldn’t feel like this. She didn’t know this man. Why, she hadn’t even gotten a good look at him yet.
“This material?” he asked. “I’ve never felt anything like it. So smooth. Is it silk?”
“Uh. No.” Journey had to look down to see what she was wearing. Just a pink top with long sleeves. “Rayon, I think.”
“Rayon.”
He repeated the word like he’d never heard it before. “And you have on britches.”
“Jeans.” She said the word slowly, wondering at the man’s odd questions. “Just casual clothes.” Wanting to change the subject from her attire, she stated the obvious. “I’ll call the Fredericksburg cops when I get home. Those guys were wanted for a hit and run.”
“A what?”
“A hit and run.” She repeated, then raised her hand to point. “That’s the fence bordering our land. There should be a gate somewhere close.”
“All right.” He guided the horse to walk next to the fence line.
Journey couldn’t help but look back to where they’d come from. Listening for any sound of someone approaching. “Do you think they followed us?”
“No. They’re out cold.”
“I hope they stay that way until the cops get here to arrest them.” She laid a hand on his strong, muscled thigh, giving it a light squeeze. When she did, he jerked behind her. “Sorry. There’s the gate.”
The man cleared his throat, riding near enough that he could lean down and release the latch without dismounting. “Got it.” Once they were through, he shut the gate in the same manner. “Now where?”
“The house is straight ahead a few hundred yards. Big stone house. You can’t miss it.”
“I thought I knew all the homesteads nearby. How long has your family occupied this land?”
“Oh…about a hundred and fifty years, give or take a decade.”
The cowboy didn’t say anything, just a rumble of sound like he was processing the information she’d given.
“There’s the house,” she announced, then struggled as to what to say next. Was it safe to ask him in? After all, she’d just escaped two madmen. Still, every instinct Journey possessed told her she could trust this guy. “Would you come in while I call the police?”
“Call? Do they live nearby?” When she didn’t answer right away, he continued. “I need to leave soon. I was about to ride to Waco to catch the stagecoach, but I feel I need to return and check on the safety of my friends before I do.” As he spoke, he helped her to the ground, then jumped down to walk beside her.
Journey was sort of stuck on the idea of him catching a stagecoach. “What are you talking about? Some type of reenactment? I know they celebrated the 150th year anniversary of the Chisholm Trail a few months ago. An honest to goodness cattle drive came right up through the middle of Round Rock.”
“No, not a reenactment. I’m not sure what you’re saying.”
“Never mind. There’s the barn. Let’s make your horse comfortable before we go inside. He might be thirsty.”
“Good idea.”
Once inside the barn, the other horses whinnied a greeting. They put the stallion into one of the stalls, giving him food and water. “Thanks. He’s had a rough day.”
“Haven’t we all.”
Reno followed her to the window where she retrieved the hidden key.
Climbing the steps, she unlocked the back door. “Come on in. Do you want some water or something?”
“Yes, that would be good. Shall I draw some from the well?”
Journey giggled. “No, I have some bottled water in the refrigerator.” As she stepped into the kitchen, she flipped on the light.
“What’s a refrigerator?” he asked as the two dogs came bounding up, barking their heads off.
“Hey, guys. It’s okay. This is a nice man,” she muttered as she turned to face him.
And when she did – the world stopped turning and the ground moved beneath her feet, then everything went dark.
Journey fainted, dead away.
“Whoa. Whoa.” Reno caught the girl just before she hit the floor, ignoring the two strange looking pups. “Easy, fellows. I’m harmless. I know I must look affright. I think I scared this poor girl to death.” Truly, this wasn’t the way he normally affected the opposite sex. Shifting her in his arms, he looked around for some place to lie her down. As he did, he took in his surroundings for the first time. “What in the world?” There were things in this room that he’d never seen before. Light poured from some type of chandelier overhead, but there were no candles, no kerosene, or whale oil that he could see. King bought Fancy a newfangled stove and had it shipped all the way from St. Louis, but the one he was looking at now was far stranger. And there were dozens of other items around him that he couldn’t identify at all.
In his perusal, he spotted a sofa in the adjoining room. Moving carefully by the barking dogs, he carried the woman over and placed her gently on the cushions. Despite his confusion, he couldn’t help but notice her beauty. All that lovely dark hair. Plump pink lips. His eyes began to rove down her body, but he stopped himself. After barely escaping those two miscreants, she deserved respect. The least he could do was be a gentleman.
Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, Reno forced himself to move away from her to find water. Walking by the stove, he ran his hand over the cool surface. Metal of some kind. He continued on, noting the counters were made of stone. On the counters were all manners of…containers with lids and raised places with words on them. One tall apparatus had several words, LOW, HIGH, and OFF. He pressed the HIGH word and an awful ripping noise erupted from it. “What in God’s name?” Jumping back, Reno thought he was being attacked. When nothing more happened but the infernal grinding noise, he pressed the OFF button and the racket ceased. The sudden quiet was disconcerting. Reno chuckled. “At least it scared off those yapping little dogs.” He noticed there were two or three other shiny outfits sitting around, but he chose not to mess with them.
Next, he came to a double basin built into the counter with what looked to be a water pump curved over them. With one finger, he lifted the pump handle and smiled when water poured out and down the drain. “Ha! Eureka! I didn’t even have to prime it.” He dabbled his hand in the stream and lifted his fingers to his lips. Cool clear water. Inside one of the basins was a glass. He picked it up and filled it, then pushed the pump handle down. When the water ceased to flow, he smiled, pleased with his accomplishment.
A soft moan from the woman sent him hurrying over. Along the way, he sloshed a bit of water on the tiled floor. “Dang,” he muttered. Kneeling next to her, he ran an arm under her shoulders to lift her head, holding the glass to her lips. “Drink, ma’am.”
Without opening her eyes, she did so. “Thanks.” After taking a deep, steadying breath Journey looked the man straight in the face and her heart almost stopped. “You.” she breathed softly, her hand coming up to touch his cheek. “How?” Amazement and unbridled joy bubbled up inside of her as she looked into a face as familiar to Journey as her own. Sitting up, she covered her eyes, then bowed to lay her head on her knees. “This can’t be real. I’m dead, aren’t I? Or dreaming?” She pinched her leg hard.
“Ow.” Reno was the one who yelped at the sight. “Don’t do that!” He took her hand and held it. “Things are a little strange, I’ll admit. I find I’m not familiar with some of the contraptions in this house.” He held out the glass. “More water?”
“No.” She sat up and ventured another look at him. “This can’t be happening. It’s impossible. There must be some explanation.”
“This has been a strange day, but you are fine. Safe.” He stood and drained the remainder of water from the glass, drinking thirstily. When he was finished, he placed it on the small table near the sofa. “I thank you for quenching my thirst, ma’am.” Taking off his hat, he gave a slight, courtly bow. “You mentioned something about letting the law know about those men.”
Afraid to take her eyes off him lest he disappear, she stood, walking backward to the house phone on the bar. Raising a hand, she pointed to a chair. “Sit down. This won’t take long. I have…questions.”
Reno watched as she walked to the counter and picked up a rectangular…something. She touched the surface a couple of times, then held it up to her ear. “Yes, this is Journey Stanton.”
She heard Reno’s sharp int
ake of breath, but she kept speaking. “I filed a complaint earlier about the two gentleman who committed the hit-and-run in the HEB parking lot.” She paused to listen. “Yes, that’s right. They were harassing me. Well…they followed me home. They tried to hurt me.” Glancing at Reno, she held his confused gaze. “No, they didn’t. Uh…a friend came to my aid. He knocked them out. As far as I know, they’re lying unconscious on the north side of Enchanted Rock State Park. Their truck is parked at my neighbor’s.” She gave the dispatcher the address. “Yes. Please let me know. I…uh…live alone and I’m frightened.”
Reno stepped closer, as if to shield her from any danger.
She noticed his actions and a warm feeling washed over her. Just being near him made Journey’s heart race. “No. As far as I know they don’t know where I live.” She cleared her throat. “Is there someone I can stay with? No. No. I don’t have anyone.” She nodded. “Yes, I’d appreciate you letting me know. Goodbye.”
As soon as she replaced the receiver, he spoke up. “I won’t leave you until it’s safe to do so.”
His words made her tremble. “Thank you. I appreciate your offer.” His kindness didn’t surprise her one bit. Journey glanced toward him; grateful he was still standing there. She kept expecting him to vanish at any moment.
“How is it that you are alone? Unprotected?”
“I’m not married. I live by myself in Austin. This is my great-aunt’s home. She’s visiting her brother. I’m housesitting for her.”
Reno seemed to digest what she told him. “You shouldn’t be alone. It’s not safe.” Rising, he paced across the room. “I would stay and protect you…but I cannot. I have to catch the next stagecoach.”
