by Sable Hunter
“Sure. I can’t wait.” He gave her a weak smile, then took off his hat with a shaking hand. He was going to have to do a better job with the kids than he’d done with his friends.
He didn’t have to wait long. About a half minute later, a sleepy Tess came pitter-pattering down the hall with the doll Amelia made for her under her arm. She spotted him, stopped, rubbed her eyes, then squealed at the top of her lungs. “Reno!”
Her shriek alerted her brothers and they also came running. They all dove on top of him like ants on a cookie. He’d never received so many hugs and kisses in his life.
Except from Journey. Stop. Stop. You can’t do this to yourself right now.
“Oh, Reno. I knew you weren’t dead; I just knew it.” Emory hiccupped the words through his sobs.
“Hush. I’m here now. It’s okay.”
“Where have you been?” Saul asked. “We thought we’d never see you again.”
“Yea, we’ve missed you something terrible.” Huck sat down on the floor to hug Reno’s leg.
“I’m so sorry. I got held up. I came back as soon as I could. I hate so much that I worried you. It wasn’t my choice. I wouldn’t have hurt you for anything in the world.”
Luckily for Reno, the children were easier convinced than his friends. Even Amelia and Ace bought his sketchy story. He was glad to see Amelia looking more at ease. She even gave him a welcome back hug. Reno knew that was hard for her. She was pretty scared of men. “It’s good to see everyone. You’ll never know how much I missed all of you.”
Or how much he missed his Journey.
When Fancy called the children to eat, Reno finished his own plate of food. Just as he stood to take his plate to the dishpan, he saw King standing in the door. He crooked one finger to indicate he was to follow.
“Oh, hell. Another moment of truth.” Frankly, he didn’t know how much more of this he could handle.
As he left the kitchen to go into the back room that King called his office, he felt a rising sense of panic. He felt like the damn walls were closing in on him. Everything seemed darker than it used to be. The last month of living in an electrically lit world made him notice how dim the log cabin seemed with its small window and kerosene lamps. Each step he took seemed to echo his heartbeat. What was he going to do? How would he return to Journey? What would he tell her in the letter he promised?
So sorry. Stuck in the past.
Oh, hell no. He’d figure something out. He had to.
“Come in and sit down, Reno.”
When Reno darkened the office door, he saw Gentry waiting on him also. “Hello, fellows.”
“You look like hell, Reno.” King sat down in his chair and propped his feet up on the desk. “I understand you’ve had quite an adventure. Did I understand you say you were kidnapped?”
Reno looked from one to another, then bowed his head. He felt totally defeated, not because his friends were giving him a hard time – that he could take. No, it was Ela’s death and its unthinkable consequences that had thrown him for a loop. “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”
“That’s what Clay said,” Gentry muttered.
Reno raised his head. “Clay talked to you?”
“No.” King sat up, leaning over his desk. “He just said we needed to talk to you. That you’d been through something traumatic and he was worried about you.”
“Hell, I’m worried about me.” Reno stood and walked to the window. Ironically, he could see his own grave from this vantage point. “If we are going to talk about this, I’d like Clay to be here. I know I didn’t make much sense earlier, maybe I can do better this time.”
King motioned for Gentry to go fetch Clay. When he was gone, King waited for Reno to find his seat again. “We held a funeral for you. Clay gave a decent sermon considering he didn’t have much to work with in the praise-worthy deceased department. Hell, we buried an empty pine box and I even wore a damn suit. If for no other reason than that, you should’ve had the decency to stay dead.”
Reno returned King’s stoic stare. “Sorry to disappoint you, Cap.”
“Oh, I’m glad you’re not dead. I just wish we hadn’t gone to so much trouble. Do you know how much that headstone cost?”
“I can reimburse you.”
“No. I guess we’ll just fix the date when you do kick the bucket.”
“That’s mighty generous of you.”
Both looked toward the door as Gentry returned with Clay.
Reno noticed his best friend looked a mite guilty. “It’s all right. I intended to tell these two anyway.”
“I think that’s wise,” Clay muttered as he found a seat next to Gentry.
“Why don’t you start from the beginning, Reno? Clay watched you ride off from the Stanton cabin with a band of Indians on your tail. That was the last any of us ever saw you. When we didn’t hear from you, we assumed you’d caught the stage in Waco. Of course, when you never showed up in North Carolina, Wallace sent Gentry a telegram. That was when we started looking for you.”
Gentry took a knife and a whetstone from his pocket. “The trail was cold by then. There was no sign you had been killed. Sure, we knew the buzzards and the coyotes could have done away with the evidence. To rid my mind of doubt, I went to Waco. When Traveler wasn’t at the stable where you planned on boarding him, I knew something was wrong. I thought maybe you decided to ride all the way on horseback. To be sure, I took the stagecoach, just to make sure you hadn’t been detained somewhere for God knows what reason.”
Reno listened patiently. He didn’t blame them for their consternation.
King picked up where Gentry left off. “When we found neither hide nor hair of you, we could come to no other conclusion other than you were killed by the same Indian raiders who are terrorizing the countryside.”
At that point, Reno spoke up. “The raiders are white men. They are attacking and killing innocent people in order to make the Apaches and the other local tribes appear to be guilty.”
“What makes you say that?” King asked, a look of curiosity on his face.
“When I was watching them loot the Stanton cabin, I could hear them speaking English. They were white men. I know three of their names. Kinsella, Roberts, and Taylor. When I led them away, they didn’t even try to hide the fact they weren’t Indian. When they were chasing me into a box canyon, they called me a redskin.”
“Are those names familiar to either of you?” King asked Gentry and Clay.
“Maybe.” Clay rubbed his chin. “Let me ask around.”
“There’s more.” Reno began unbuttoning his shirt.
“What are you doing?” Clay asked.
Reno shook his head. “Hold on.” When he could, he reached in and tore out the envelope that Myra had sewn into his shirt. “I have some more information.” With a hand that shook slightly, he tore a narrow strip off the top of the envelope, then proceeded to pull out a plastic Ziplock bag filled with papers. “I found this information in a history book.” He unzipped the bag, took out the folded papers, going through them to find the ones about the supposed Indian raids. “Okay, here goes.” Reno read a few passages to his friends. When he was finished, he glanced up at them. “I think this John Taylor is behind the raids. He’s wanted to exterminate the tribes for years. I think he’s up to his old tricks.”
“Let me see those pages.” King held out his hand and Reno gave them to him.
“If we don’t do something to stop him and his raiders, the Cavalry is going to wipe out the tribes the night of the full moon in June, just a month away. The battle will become known as the Leaf Moon Massacre. Thousands will die. Thousands of innocent people will die.”
“Where did you get this information?” King asked as he felt of the paper between his fingertips.
“These are notes from a history book I found in the Fredericksburg public library.”
“There is no public library in Fredericksburg.” King appeared puzzled as he examined the notes.
; “There is one in the future.”
“Oh, boy. Here we go.” Clay leaned back in his chair, stretched his legs out, and jammed his hat farther onto his head.
Reno felt like he was flailing in quicksand. “The important thing to focus on is to stop this massacre. The Indians aren’t responsible for the killings.”
“I know you’re upset about Ela, Reno,” King began but Reno stopped him with an upheld hand.
“I am upset about Ela. Until I arrived, I was convinced she died in the massacre. That’s one of the reasons I was determined to return in time to stop it from happening.”
Gentry swiveled in his seat as if his body was buffeted about by Reno’s words. “Wait. You thought Ela died in a massacre that hasn’t taken place yet?”
Reno didn’t answer right away. “I know I’m having trouble explaining all of this. I tried with Clay and I know it sounded stupid.”
“You got that right, brother,” Clay retorted with a snort.
“I understand your viewpoint, Clay. I felt the same way when Lou, Journey, and Kota began explaining these things to me.”
“Who are those people?” Gentry asked. “Your kidnappers?”
“No. I wasn’t really kidnapped. I was taken where I didn’t intend to go, but not by a person.” Reno felt so frustrated. “Anyway, Lou is a professor, a very smart woman. Kota is Ela’s descendant. And Journey is my wife. My pregnant wife.”
King smiled at Reno’s revelation. “Well, congratulations. That was fast. When can we meet her?”
“You can’t. I left her in the future. In the year 2019.”
“See?” Clay pointed at Reno. “He ain’t right. He’s been through something awful and it’s left him addled. The man thinks he’s traveled to the damn future and back.”
King waved his hand for Clay to hush up. “Hold on a minute. We’ve all known Reno for years. The man has his faults, but he’s no liar. And the last time we checked – he was in his right mind. Let’s give him a chance to explain.”
“Thank you.” Reno leaned forward with his elbows propped on his knees, rubbing his eyes. “All the scientific jargon and highbrow talk made more sense coming from Lou and Kota than it will from me.”
“Do your best. We’ll withhold judgment.”
“All right, Cap. I’ll try.”
Reno began to relate his experience, starting from the moment he entered the box canyon with Kinsella on his heels. For the next three hours he told them everything. He described in detail how he’d ridden Traveler through a seemingly solid rock wall to emerge in another century. Next, he related some of the strange stories and theories Lou shared with him. He also spoke of Kota and how Ela passed down her prophecies and what his own role in them was perceived to be.
“And this,” he urged them to consider what he held in his hand, “look at this...” Unfolding the remainder of the documents from the bag, Reno was taken aback when a folded piece of brightly colored paper fell out onto his lap. Opening it, Reno was stunned to see a note from Journey. The sight of her handwriting sent a sharp pain knifing through his gut. Refolding it quickly, he placed it to one side to save for later.
“What do you have there?”
“Nothing. This is what you need to see.” Reno began to review the information used to clear Cole’s name years after his execution. “Saul grows up to be a lawyer, you see. He did what was necessary to prove Cole’s innocence. He did this for me. The only problem is that Cole was long dead at this point. Now, since I’m back, we can use the information contained within these legal documents to win my brother’s release.”
When he saw that the men were still staring at him blankly, Reno almost walked out. His friends still thought he’d lost his mind. Frustrated, Reno moved on to speak of Journey, what she meant to him, and how hard it had been to leave her side. “I promised to return to her, but I’m very afraid my chance to do so could’ve died along with Ela.”
King held Reno’s gaze. “That’s the most fantastic tale I’ve ever heard.”
“Well, it’s true. Every word of it.” Reno’s gaze moved from one skeptical face to another. “Look, it doesn’t matter if you believe me or not. I still need your help. Please, King, I beg you to speak with someone about John Taylor. At least find out if he could be involved with these raids. We need to do something before a war is triggered and many innocent people are killed.”
“Fine. I’ll look into it.” King picked up the notes from the history book and put it in his drawer. “Tomorrow, I’ll ride into Austin and speak with Governor Pease. He’ll know if Taylor is up to no good. You can go with me.”
“Thank you.” Reno felt like a weight had been lifted from his shoulders.
Gentry held out his hand. “Give me what you have concerning Cole.”
Reno gladly handed the documents to his friend. “The drummer boy will be willing to testify. His name is Jerome Grassley and he lives in Fairfax, Virginia. There is also details there explaining Jubal’s part in the affair. He framed Cole for a crime he committed himself. Pierce was the one responsible for passing the strategic information.”
“I’ll send a telegram to Wallace to expect us and you and I can take this information to him.”
Reno’s shoulders sagged in relief. “Thank you. I owe all of you a great debt of gratitude.”
“Don’t worry, we’ll collect our pound of flesh.” Gentry tapped the folded papers on his knee. “For what it’s worth, I’ve heard of this type of thing before.”
“You’ve heard of what thing?” Clay asked with curiosity in his voice.
“People traveling through time.” Gentry lifted one eyebrow and gave them a small smile. “One day my mother was walking through the gardens behind our estate when she looked up to see a whole garrison of Roman soldiers marching across the field. She said they looked as real as anyone she’d ever seen. Fascinated, she moved closer to them. She could hear their breathing and watch as their sandaled feet parted the high grass. As she drew closer to get a better look, they slowly faded from sight.”
“Well, they must’ve been ghosts,” Clay spoke in a near whisper.
Gentry laughed. “Would you rather believe in ghosts or time travelers, preacher?”
Clay put on his preacher’s hat. “Ghosts are scriptural, to a degree. I mean, you have the Holy Ghost or the Holy Spirit, but there’s also that strange story in the Old Testament when King Saul commands the Witch of Endor to call up Samuel’s ghost. Now, that one is a little controversial, I’ll admit…but I don’t remember any time travelers in the scriptures.”
Gentry smiled a sneaky smile. “Well, it depends on how you look at it. The prophet Elijah departed in a whirlwind in the days of Jezebel, 9th century B.C. Remember? He later shows up at the time of Christ. Plus, according to scripture, he’s scheduled to return again at the end of days. Next, there’s John, the disciple who was closest to Jesus, he walks through some type of spiritual door and travels to the future, then returns to record what he witnessed in the book called The Revelations of John.”
Clay bowed up and frowned. “Yea, but that’s the Bible. You can’t…” Clay let his words trail off, knowing he was beat before he began.
Gentry graciously let him off the hook. “Funny thing about the soldiers, my father always told us there was an old Roman road behind the estate. If you looked hard enough, you’d still find some of the stones they’d laid.” He looked up at the ceiling in deep thought. “And I’ve also heard of people who’ve gone to sleep and when they wake up a few hours later, they feel like they’ve been gone for years. They can tell you people, places, and things they’ve seen – just like Reno.”
“Yea, but I wasn’t’ asleep or dreaming,” Reno stated emphatically.
Gentry shrugged. “Debatable. For all we know, you’ve been holed up in a cave somewhere after being knocked unconscious by a falling rock.” Seeing Reno’s offended expression, he continued his original train of thought. “And there are others who say people have stepped into fairy cir
cles and vanished into thin air.”
King held up both hands. “Okay, okay. Let’s not wander down that garden path.” He rubbed his hand through his hair, making the ends stick up like straw. “Reno, I know you’ve been through something. I don’t know exactly what, but we’ll help you with these two tasks with no more questions asked.”
“Thank you.” There was nothing more he could say.
All of a sudden, Clay stood to peer at what lay in front of Reno. “What is that thing?”
At first, Reno didn’t know what he was referring to. Then, it dawned on him that Clay was asking about the plastic bag. After living with Journey for a month, he’d become used to seeing them. They’d packed sandwiches in plastic bags to take on picnics. She used them to hold open bottles of essential oils. Produce from the grocery stores was packed into the bags for transport. “This?” A smile came to his face. He’d been so upset he hadn’t considered there was something in his possession to prove he’d visited the future. “Oh, this is a plastic bag. A very common item in the future. People use them for all sorts of things. They put food in them to keep it fresh. Sometimes the bags are just used for storage, like Journey used it to protect these papers. She was probably afraid I might ride through a rainstorm and the bags are waterproof.” With a tiny smirk on his mouth, he passed the bag to Clay.
Clay accepted the oddity, rubbing it between his fingers. Mystified, he held it up to peer through the clear plastic. With wide eyes, he moved the zipper across the top, sealing and unsealing the bag.
“Give me that.” Gentry took it from Clay and repeated the thorough examination. “What is this made of? I’ve never seen anything like it.”
“I don’t know what it’s made from. That was one of the few questions I never got around to asking Journey.” Reno felt a bit vindicated as King took his turn examining the item in question.
While they were busy with the bag, Reno couldn’t help but unfold Journey’s note. He was so hungry for any contact with her that the few sweet words made him so homesick he could’ve cried. With a gentle thumb, he traced the closing salutation she’d written. Your loving wife.
