“Good. I want to see.” Journey hopped off the couch and pulled a large pillow near, so she could sit at Myra’s feet. “What happened to Saul’s dad and mom?” Journey knew the pain of losing a parent. She’d lost both of hers.
Myra bowed her head as she lifted the lid to peer inside. “Fever. Saul wrote how his mother traveled to help a neighbor deliver a baby. While she was there, she became ill. Her husband went to fetch her, but he fell sick also. They both died, as did the entire family they were trying to help. Saul and the other children didn’t come down with the disease, thank God.”
Journey waited patiently as Myra took her time, glancing at every photo. “The girl Reno rescued, was she okay?”
Nodding, Myra kept thumbing through the pictures. “Yes. Her name was Amelia. I think she had a hard time of it for a while. I mean, who wouldn’t? Her parents were murdered, and she was taken captive. There’s no telling at the horrors she endured.” Myra sighed. “She probably didn’t even know if her little brother was alive until after she was rescued. His name was Ace. The folks at King’s Ransom took him in after they caught the little rascal trying to steal a pig.” She laughed at the thought. “There’s probably more about her in Saul’s journal. It’s been such a long time since I read it. I can’t remember everything.” Suddenly, she stopped and smiled. “I found the picture.”
Journey went up on her knees to gaze at her relatives from long ago. “Oh, look at them. They’re so cute.” The children looked stilted. Their eyes were large, and none wore even a hint of a smile. “So, this is Saul.” She pointed at the older boy. “He looks like my dad when he was young.”
“He does,” Myra agreed. “And this is Buck and Emory.” Her finger grazed the surface of the tintype. “And Tess.” She lifted her head and looked out the window toward Enchanted Rock. “One of Reno’s good friends was an Englishman. A nobleman named Gentry Nelson. He’d left his home county and moved to America because he was entranced with the idea of adventure and the wild west. He fought in Reno’s unit and came with the group when they moved to Texas. Somehow, he managed to juggle being a cowboy and a member of the peerage.”
“What’s that?” Journey asked with curiosity.
Myra waved her hand. “Sorry. A member of the peerage is someone who has a title – like Baron, Marquess, or Viscount. Gentry was an Earl until his father died, then he became a Duke.” She patted Journey on the hand. “Anyway, the man loved to tell stories about English society. Lords and Ladies. Camelot type stuff. Saul said Reno was fond of one tale Gentry told about Sir Walter Raleigh placing his cloak across a mud puddle so Queen Elizabeth wouldn’t get her shoes wet.”
Journey giggled. “How romantic.”
“Sir Walter Raleigh was a gentleman and Reno wanted to be just like him. From all accounts, he succeeded. Saul wrote how Reno loved little Tess so much he bought her beautiful dresses. Anytime it rained, he would carry her around to keep the boys from splashing mud on her skirt.”
“Aww, that’s sweet.”
“Yea.” Myra agreed with a sigh. “They don’t make men like Reno Black anymore.”
“They don’t?” Journey asked all wide-eyed and innocent. “What do you mean?”
“Well, he put others first. He was brave. Honorable. A knight in shining armor. And for the short time he spent with them, he was a good father to those children.”
“Short time? What do you mean? Did he die?” she asked, her voice holding a sense of panic.
Myra shrugged. “No one really knows. Everyone assumed so.”
“When?”
Seeing Journey’s dismay, Myra tried to soothe her. “Honey, he was born in 1843. He wouldn’t be alive now, no matter the circumstances.”
“I know.” Journey looked distraught. “I just wanted him to have lived a good life. What happened?”
“Well, Reno Black disappeared in 1869. During an Indian attack, he led a war party away from the Stanton children and vanished. His body was never found, and no one ever saw him again.”
Reno at 15 – 1856
“No. Please, Pa. Don’t go.” Reno ran behind his father as he hitched up one of the horses to the buckboard. “Don’t leave us.”
“My mind is made up, son. I’m sorry.” Silas Black didn’t even look up as he fastened the halter to the lead. “Cole, bring your things!”
“Do something, Mama.” Reno turned toward the door of the cabin where his beautiful mother stood stoically. “Stop him.” When she said nothing, he ran to her. “Please, I don’t want them to go.”
“Nor do I, beloved.” Sojourner placed a tender touch on Reno’s shoulder. “We can’t stop them. I saw this in the waters. The future is written in stone. Your grandfather demands your father leave us and return home or he will receive no inheritance.”
Pulling away, Reno ran into the yard, turning in a circle. He didn’t know what to do. His life was falling apart – and he didn’t understand what was going on. “Why does Cole have to go with him?”
“Do you mean…why do you have to stay?” she asked with sorrow.
“No. I don’t want to go to Boston. I want to be here with you. I want us all to be here. Together!” Reno was
