Just a few years before, there was a massacre that wiped out almost all the local tribes.”
Journey felt Reno stiffen at her side. Obviously, the information Benjen revealed meant something to him.
“Do you know more details? Who attacked whom? Where did it take place? How many died?”
Benjen and Apple appeared to be a little taken aback by the rapid firing of questions.
“I’ve forgotten a lot of the details…” Benjen began.
Seeing their confusion, Journey chimed in. “We’re planning on doing some research of our own on the area. We’ll make a point of looking into that incident. Won’t we, Reno?”
He blinked, as if he he’d been lost in his thoughts. “Yes. Of course.”
“We will too,” Apple stated. “Benjen’s mom kept everything.”
“That would be good.” Journey took Reno’s arm, then moved one step toward the car. He resisted. She realized he was reluctant to leave. “I’m getting hungry. How about you, Reno?”
“I could fix some lunch,” Apple offered.
“Thanks for the kind invitation, but I want to take Reno to one of my favorite places.” What she really wanted to do was get him away from the Blackhawks before he said something that would make them suspicious. She was relieved when he perked up and offered his hand once more to Benjen.
“I appreciate you letting me look around. You’ve got a really nice place here. That horse was a good buy.”
“You’re welcome and come back.” Benjen pointed toward Packsaddle. “When you do, we’ll take a ride; you can tell me how much the place has changed since you saw it last. Maybe we could do some fishing in the river.”
“I’d like that,” Reno said sincerely as he followed Journey to the car. “You two take care.”
After waving a final farewell to Apple, Journey put the Subaru in reverse and retraced their path back to the highway. “What do you think now?”
Reno let out a long breath, pulling off his hat to place it on his knee. “Well, I have to admit I’m here in the future. This is real. Everything I knew is gone. All my friends are long dead.” He chewed on his lower lip and shook his head in disbelief. “I just don’t know how it happened. Or why? What did I do to set this into motion?” He turned to lock eyes with Journey. “And how do I get back? Can I get back?”
Journey felt guilty. She could see how this was affecting him. She couldn’t imagine how it felt for his whole existence to be upended this way. Well…maybe she could. She’d fantasized about living in his time often enough. “I’m sorry. I don’t have any answers for you, but if we can figure out a way to change things for the better, I’ll do everything I can to help you.”
“I know you will.”
After that they fell silent for a time, both deep in thought. As she headed south from Kingsland to Marble Falls, a troubling possibility occurred to her.
What if she’d done this? Wished for Reno for so long and so hard that she’d somehow brought him forward in time.
As wild as it would be to have such power, Journey hoped she was giving herself too much credit. She didn’t want to be responsible for the pain Reno was going through.
Finally, he spoke. “Are we going to eat? I am hungry.”
“We are.” She pointed at the city limits sign. “I’m going to take you to one of my favorite places. It’s just up ahead a few miles.”
The closer they drew to town, the thicker the traffic became. And there were more businesses. Gas stations. Convenience stores. Grocery stores. Drive-in restaurants. Dollar stores. Reno tried to see everything, looking from the left to the right. “There are so many different kinds of cars. Different shapes. Different colors. And I can’t believe how much is going on. The whole town is working with people, like a big ant colony.”
“Just wait. When we get through eating, we’ll drive on down to Austin. You won’t believe what you’ll see there.”
He nodded his agreement, then thoughtfully repeated the name of the town. “Marble Falls. I remember an actual waterfall being on the river somewhere close. Is it still here?”
She shook her head. “No. It’s a shame. When they built the dam on the river, the falls were submerged beneath the lake. I’m not sure what year that was, sometime in the 1950’s or 60’s. I do know the town was founded by a man named Adam Rankin Johnson.”