“Really?” This seemed to interest Reno a great deal. “Now, you’re making sense. I saw the Northern lights once on a battlefield in Virginia on December 14, 1862.”
“Wow,” Journey marveled. “Virginia is way far south to be able to see the Northern Lights.”
“It happens periodically,” Lou mused. “The geomagnetic activity rises, and the lights can be visible as far south as Missouri or even Tennessee.”
Reno nodded, a faint smile on his face. “I’d always heard about the lights; never thought I’d see them. The Confederates took the strange sight as a sign from God, that he was on our side.” He sighed loudly. “I guess we were wrong.”
“Yea, but it was still a miracle of sorts,” Journey murmured. “If the lights are actually the evidence of a time travel portal – wouldn’t that be something?”
Reno eased his horse closer to the solid wall. “You know, this place glows on some nights. A pale green, golden glow. Ela always said it was the spirits of the mountain.” He locked eyes with Lou. “Maybe the glowing colors are the result of one of those magnetic disturbances you’re talking about. Maybe they’re evidence of a portal.”
“Yea,” Journey pointed high to the massive pink granite mountain next to them. “And Enchanted Rock has to be a source of power, its one big piece of crystal quartz.”
Lou didn’t laugh. Instead, she rubbed her arms. “You two just gave me chills.” She looked to the large wall at the end of the box canyon. “I think you may be onto something.”
* * *
Later, back at the ranch, there was a different spirit to their discussion. Lou was still excited and determined, but now Reno was involved and animated.
Journey didn’t feel quite the same.
Until the moment when Lou brought up the Northern Lights and they began to piece together the puzzle, she’d held out some hope that Reno would never be able to return to the past. Part of her was ashamed of the way she felt, but her heart refused to see reason. So, while Lou and Reno poured over research and scientific articles, she did her best to put on a brave face.
“Tell me, Reno, do you remember how you felt in the seconds leading up to your going through the portal?” Lou asked, sitting on the edge of her seat. “Was there anything strange about the weather?”
Reno gave her question some serious thought. “No, I didn’t notice anything different in the temperature or the cloud patterns. I did feel something around me, though. Something that seemed to worry the air. I could feel an unrest, not really a breeze, but a quavering or a tremor like the vibrations from the rattle of a rattlesnake.”
“That’s good.” Lou considered his observation. “Very good description. I can almost feel it myself.”
Reno rapped his knuckles lightly on the table. “Might I ask a question or two?”
“Most certainly.” Lou looked pleased that he wanted to make some inquiries. “Go right ahead.”
“You said you’ve done research into people who’ve vanished under mysterious circumstances. Can you give me some examples?”
Having finished their evening meal, they were relaxing in the living room. Lou and Reno faced one another in the chairs that sat in the front of the fireplace. Journey was on the couch with both dogs. She felt like an observer instead of an active participant.
Lou settled back in her chair like she couldn’t wait to share her fantastic tales. “I most certainly can. Speaking of those sacred sites constructed on ley lines, there’s a carving of a door in a solid rock face in the Hayu Marca mountain region of Peru. It’s called The Gate of the Gods. The wall of rock is solid and there is no known way to open the door shaped carving. In the center of this immovable door is a depression that makes you think of a socket. Now, legend has it that in the midst of the European invasion, one Incan priest was able to avoid the coming destruction and desolation. His name was Aramu Muru and he served in the Temple of the Seven Rays. To escape his imminent death, he placed a golden disc known as the Key of the Gods into that socket to open the solid door. The old stories say that an unearthly blue light lit up the stone as it transformed into a tunnel. The priest entered the tunnel and the door closed behind him. Aramu Muru walked through the door never to be seen again. It’s said he is now living in the Land of the Gods.” Lou let one or two heartbeats of silence go by before she added. “People who visit Hayu Marca say there are times when they feel an unusual energy, a pulsating energy emanating from the rock.”
“What was the golden disc?” Reno asked with an intense expression on his face.
“No one knows. You weren’t carrying a golden disc when you went through the stone, were you?” Lou asked in a low teasing tone.
“No.” Reno shook his head. “Some gold coins, but no golden disc.”
Journey was listening. Intently. She didn’t even realize she was speaking until the words came tumbling out. “What if there was something like that in Ela’s medicine bag?”
Reno and Lou looked at one another in amazement.
“But how can I know?” he yelled, sitting back hard against the chair.
Neither Lou nor Journey had an answer for him.
In a few moments, Lou started speaking again. “To continue my train of thought, I’ll tell you about the lost Sandringham’s.” Seeing their curious expressions, she smiled. “The British 5th Territorial Battalion of the Royal Norfolk Regiment all came from the same region of England, many of
