by Sable Hunter
“Of course.” Reno wrapped the food up tightly and deposited it where she asked. “Do you want me to drive?”
“No. I’ll be fine. I don’t want you spending your last few days here in jail.”
On the road again, the miles seemed to go by faster. Reno felt like a magnet was pulling him forward. When they drew near to Knoxville, he hungrily looked in every direction. “This is so frustrating. I see nothing of the past. Buildings. Road. Concrete. Is this progress?”
“Some would say so.” She checked the GPS. “Where we’re going is part of the Knoxville Urban Wilderness. They’re doing what they can to preserve nature and the past.”
“I hope so.” Alert, he kept his eyes focused ahead. “Although, I can’t imagine anything from before surviving such growth.”
When they came to the park entrance, Journey paid their fee, and found a parking spot. Reno slowly left the car to survey his surroundings. She couldn’t imagine how he must feel. “There are three different hiking trails. I’ll get a map and you can pick the direction you want to go.”
He nodded. “Okay.” His eyes were following a woman with a stroller and a man leading a dog. “I just didn’t expect there to be people here.”
“People are enjoying the nice weather. Besides, this is a beautiful place.” She pointed to a bench. “Wait here and I’ll be right back.”
“Do you feel okay? If you don’t, we can leave.”
Journey knew he was worried about her, but she also felt he might be getting cold feet. “I’m good. The fresh air will make me feel even better.”
“If you’re sure.” He watched her head to a building with brightly colored signs advertising upcoming events to be held in the park. “This is wild.” Of all the crazy things he’d seen and done, nothing felt more upside down than being in the place where he’d spent his childhood and recognizing nothing. Reno felt like he’d never been here before.
“Okay. Got it.” Journey waved the map as she plopped down next to him. “See what you think.”
He studied the map which showed the river, a boardwalk, three hiking trails, a quarry lake, and a cemetery. “Odd.”
“What is?”
Chuckling, Reno pointed at the drawing. “All of it. There wasn’t a quarry here before. I guess someone dug up the marble. Probably took everything I knew with it.”
“Don’t be discouraged. Let’s walk around and enjoy the scenery.” She gazed at the gorgeous greenery. “You have to admit, this is a little piece of paradise sitting right in the middle of the city.”
“It used to be even more beautiful, believe me.”
“I’m sure you’re right.” She stood and offered her hand. “Shall we?”
“We shall.” He stood with her, his head lifting to the darkening sky. “We shouldn’t waste any time. I think it might rain.”
Over the next little while, Journey and Reno walked along narrow trails flanked by large trees and thick undergrowth. When they came to the edge of the river, he released her hand and moved forward to survey the panoramic beauty. “The curve of the river here, this looks familiar.” He looked around, then jogged a few yards on down the trail. “Yes, I think our cabin used to sit right about…” Reno looked at the trees. Obviously, they weren’t virgin. “Oh, there’s no telling what trees have been cut down or died. It’s hard to pinpoint a landmark.”
“The trees might be new, but the ground they’re rooted in is the same. Just close your eyes and let your instincts take over.”
Reno did as she asked, shutting his eyes, breathing deeply as the breeze caressed his face. When he opened his eyes, he glanced to the right, then moved a few feet off the beaten trail. “This is it. I wasn’t too far off. See that high rock on the bluff across the river. I could see it from our front door.” He walked in a circle, studying the ground. “It’s like I’m looking for footprints that aren’t here anymore.” Cocking his head, he listened. “Seems like I should be able to hear Cole’s voice. Or Clay’s.” Taking a few more steps deeper into the forest, he held out his hand as if touching log walls long leveled. “I remember the last day Mother was here. She spent the morning doing the wash. There’s no telling how many buckets of water I carted up that hill.”
“You were a good son.”
“I could have been better.” He knelt and ran his hands over the grass. “I didn’t appreciate the moments. I let them all race by, days just slipped through my fingers. If I could go back, I’d tell her I loved her every day.”
Journey’s heart went out to him. “I know exactly how you feel. The day I lost my parents, the main thought on my mind was that my Mom asked if I wanted to take a walk with her and I was too busy playing with my dolls.” She folded her arms around her waist. “I never played with my dolls again.”
Rising, Reno continued to scan the ground and the trees. “Funny, I thought I’d feel her presence. I don’t.”
“That doesn’t mean she isn’t with you.”
He didn’t respond, he just grabbed her hand and started walking down the winding path. When it split into two, he took the path to the left. “I buried her away from the river on a high hill.” Soon, he could spot water through the trees. “Oh, no. The quarry. What if they took her grave when the quarry was excavated?”
Journey hoped not, to have come all the way for such disappointment would be devastating for him. “Keep going. Have faith.”
A few dozen yards later, Reno’s steps slowed. He stared at a wooden sign with disbelieving eyes. Journey came alongside him, as mesmerized by the sign as Reno.
“Stanton Cemetery. How could this be?” He reverently stepped into the midst of weathered tombstones, searching the names.
Journey started looking too, her heartbeat accelerating. Finally, a name caught her eye. “Tess Stanton Morris. Reno, these graves belong to Tess’s family. She listened to your stories and came home. This land was as close to you as she could get.” Journey didn’t know how she knew, she just did.
Reno came to Tess’s grave, squatting to touch the faded carving of her name. “She only lived to be sixty-five, Journey.”
“A ripe old age for the time, remember.”
“She was the sweetest thing.” He stood and wiped his eyes. “I didn’t tell her I loved her enough.”
“You can tell her. When we go back, Tess will still be a little girl.”
“That’s right.” He smiled, lifting his head to keep searching.
Journey knew what he was looking for and she hoped to God he found it.
Hope battled fear as Reno moved farther into the little graveyard. How he wished he could have provided his mother with a stone. All he had left to mark her resting place was a cross he formed and engraved himself. He knew there was little chance the grave marker still stood today. But maybe it had stood long enough, long enough for Tess to come and find what remained.
As if drawn by a magnet, he moved toward the corner – and there it was. A marble marker engraved with the name SOJOURNER BLACK, BELOVED MOTHER. The dates of her birth and death were obscured if they’d ever been there to start with. Reno couldn’t remember if he’d ever told the children the dates or if he’d even carved them on the cross to begin with. “It doesn’t matter. Here you are and here I am.”
Journey cried as she watched the man who she loved more than life itself mourn for his long-dead mother. While he wept, the sky began to weep with him as a soft rain began to fall. Neither of them moved, a little downpour couldn’t dampen the importance of this reunion.
Once he’d prayed for God to keep her soul, he spoke to his mother in whispers. Reno told her all he’d been through, the mystery and the miracle of traveling through time, of finding Journey, and of his necessary return to save his brother, her son’s, life. He asked for her blessing and begged for her help. “I know your guiding hand will always be with me.”
By the time he was finished, the rain was gone, and the sun was peeping through the clouds. When he stood to his feet with hat in hand, he felt lik
e a burden had been lifted. “I didn’t feel like she was here before, I do now.” With one last long look at her name carved in stone, he turned to face Journey. And when he did, the confirmation of his mother’s love was written across the sky. A beautiful rainbow arced across the clouds and once more, the band of many colors seemed to end right over Journey’s shoulder. “Give me your phone,” he held out his hand. “Quickly.”
“Sure.” She lifted it from her purse and handed it to him.
He fumbled for a moment, then lifted it to snap a photo. “I wanted you to see what I saw.” With a smile, he returned the cell. “Modern technology has its merits.”
When Journey looked down, she didn’t see just a photo, she recognized the rainbow for what it was and what it always would be – a sign of promise.
All would be well.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
They’d lingered at his homeplace, walking the trail between the cabin and the cemetery several times. He’d shown Journey where their garden used to be and where he and Clay would fish on the river. He even led her to the spot on the river where his mother loved to stroll in the evenings. “The waters would sing to her, telling their secrets. She always knew the end from the beginning. Yet, she chose to walk a crooked path to give life and love to me and Cole.”
“I wish I could’ve known her, and I’m honored to wear her name.”
“She would’ve loved you. I think she already did.”
This made Journey happy.
When it was time for them to go, she asked Reno what he wanted to do next.
“I just want to get back as soon as possible.” Visiting the place of his birth only made him more determined to see his mission through to the end.
That was how he’d begun to think of all this. His mission. His quest. Completing this Herculean task was his destiny.
“You want to drive home tonight?” Journey asked.
Hearing the weariness in her voice made Reno realize he was making a mistake. “No, I want to stop somewhere.”
“No, you don’t. If you want to drive straight through, we will.”
“Absolutely not. We’re tired and there’s no use risking an accident.”
Journey was truly too tired to argue. She couldn’t be sure what ailed her, but she felt a little off. Hopefully, she wasn’t coming down with something.
Tonight, she didn’t take time to be picky about where they stayed. The first decent motel she spotted, Journey pulled in and paid for a room. Once they were inside, she performed the very minimum she could get by with before going to bed. “Will you just hold me tonight?”
“Gladly. Watching you sleep is one of my favorite things.”
“You’re sweet. If you’re hungry you can order room service.” She showed him how, then curled up on her side to rest.
While Journey dozed, Reno took care of the cats, ordered some food and milk, then debated whether to wake her to eat or not. Fearing doing without food would only make whatever was bothering her worse, he kissed her awake. “Eat something for me. Okay?”
Journey glanced at the soup and cherry Jell-O. “Am I in the hospital?”
“Yes, mine, Reno Black’s Infirmary for Wayward Women.”
“I am not wayward!” She picked up the gelatin and a spoon. “Doesn’t that term apply to ladies of the evening?”
“No, I think it means an unpredictable woman who is difficult to control.”
She gave him a playful frown. “I’ll have to Google that.” At his blank stare, she laughed. “That’s just a way of saying that I’m going to look it up on the internet.”
He nodded, taking a big bite of his burger. “Your phone rang while you were asleep, but I didn’t answer it.”
“Why not? You should have.” She stretched over the side of the bed to dig in her purse.
“Who was it?”
“Aunt Myra. Hold on.”
In a few moments, Journey was speaking to her aunt. “I’m sorry. I thought he was doing better.”
“Well, they say you always get better right before you die.”
“Do they?” Journey’s mind was racing. “We’ve stopped for the night, but we’ll be on the road first thing in the morning.”
“I’m leaving early too, but I’ll tend to the dogs before I go. Do you think they’ll be all right until you get here?”
Journey could envision cleaning up tons of pee and poop. “If you would, put their water bowl and food dish in the sunroom. No access to carpet in there.”
“Good idea. Reno didn’t get a chance to answer the questions Myles left him.”
Journey glanced at Reno. “He can do it as soon as we get home and I’ll email you the answers. Will that do?”
“It will. I don’t know if he’ll be alert enough to know the difference, but I wouldn’t want to disappoint him.”
“We don’t want to disappoint him either,” she assured her aunt.
“You’ve got to promise me one thing, Journey.”
This was her aunt’s serious voice. “Okay. What?”
“Don’t you even think about leaving without letting me know. And I mean leaving for…good.”
“I won’t. I promise. I’ll want to see you before then. If nothing else works, I’ll come visit you in Wichita Falls.”
“I’m relieved. Thank you, sweetheart.”
“I love you, Aunt Myra.
“I love you too.”
Once the call ended, she looked to Reno. “You heard?”
“Yes. I’m sorry about your uncle.”
“Thanks.” She lay back down, feeling like she should be doing something.
“You forgot to tell her about the cats.”
“I did.” She put her hand over her eyes. “She has enough to worry about now, I’ll spring that surprise on her later.”
“Good idea. Now, eat your food. You need your strength.”
“All right.” She wiggled around to sit up, forcing down the soup, and the remainder of the gelatin. “Are you trying to rally my health in order to seduce me?”
“No, smarty pants. I want you healthy because I love you. Isn’t that reason enough?”
“Good answer.” Journey yawned and curled to one side.
She knew no more until she woke up in his arms the next morning.
* * *
The drive home was made in record time. Knowing the dogs were shut in the sunroom was incentive enough, but both seemed to feel an urgent need to return to the shadow of Enchanted Rock.
They were nearing Austin when he asked for the umpteenth time. “How do you feel?” Reno studied her face, trying to decide if she was pale or not.
“Fine. My answer hasn’t changed from the last ten times you asked.”
“Just so long as you give me the same answer the next ten times, then we’ll be both be fine.
“Worry wart,” she muttered, then gave him a tender look. “How about you? How do you feel?”
Reno tried to put his mood into words. “Anxious. Excited. I feel prepared to do what I need to do, and I have you to thank for that.”
His gratitude warmed her heart. “Hey, I’m part of this. These people are my family, just like you are.”
“Thanks.” Reno noticed the pink in her cheeks. “You are feeling better. I’m relieved.”
“Like I said, you worry too much.”
“Get used to it. That’s my job.”
As soon as they arrived at the ranch, Reno carried the kittens indoors while Journey released the hounds to see to their needs. “I think the best place for Blackie and Spot to be is in our bathroom for now. Later, I’ll work to introduce the gang to one another, but this will give them a chance to get acclimated.”
“Excellent. I will prepare their litter box and see to getting them some food and water.”
As soon as this was done, Reno helped Journey bring their bags in to her room. The hour was late, already past midnight. Both were so tired; sleep was their only thought.
…An odd noise brought Reno
out of the bed. What did he hear? He listened intently. It sounded like someone being sick. Wheeling around, he saw he’d been sleeping along. “Dammit.” Padding to the bathroom, he saw a sliver of light beneath the door. “Journey? Are you okay?”
“Yea. I’m fine.”
“You don’t sound fine.” He tried the door, it was locked.
“I am. I must have a twenty-four-hour bug or something.”
“A bug? What kind of bug? And why is the door locked?”
He heard the toilet flush and water running in the sink.
Finally, his patience was rewarded with her appearance. “Sorry. I don’t like an audience when I’m retching.” She leaned her head on his hard chest and sighed when he wrapped his arms around her. “In this case, the bug is some little virus or something. We call it a bug because most diseases are caused by tiny little microorganisms or germs that look like squirmy bugs under the microscope.”
He laughed at her description. “I understand the analogy.” His voice sobered quickly. “What I don’t understand is what’s wrong with you. I insist that you seek medical treatment.”
“No. I hate doctors.” She pushed out of his arms. “I’ll be fine. You’ll see.”
“If you are not, young lady, I will insist that you see someone qualified.”
“Ack!” She fell on the bed, burying her face in the pillow. “There can’t be anything wrong. I’m healthy as a horse.”
Reno came to sit by her to rub her back. “I’ve seen horses get pretty sick. Boone owned one once that had worms. He’d drink water, then cough them up.”
“Reno!” She jumped up and ran back to the bathroom.
“Sorry. Sorry.”
…After the worm fiasco, Reno tried to make up ground by preparing Journey’s breakfast. He scrambled eggs and fried bacon. When she came in to eat, she took a few bites, then beat a hasty retreat to the toilet.
He watched her go, possibilities running through his head. When she returned, Reno didn’t have to say a word. “Okay. Okay. I’ll call and get an appointment.”
“Good. Let me know when you’re to go in and I’ll go with you.”
