CHAPTER FIFTEEN
I never thought I’d see the day. I’d given up hope of you ever settling for anyone who wasn’t Reno Black.
Journey just let that thought hang in the air for about thirty seconds.
“What? Journey? Why aren’t you saying anything? Who is this paragon of virtue?”
Another ten seconds passed by.
“Journey? What is his name?”
Finally, Journey took a deep breath and just went for it. “Reno Black.”
Now, it was Myra’s turn to be speechless.
“Aunt Myra, did you hear me?”
“I heard you. Is this a joke? If it is, it’s not funny.”
“It’s not a joke. But it is a miracle. I was running in the dark from those men and he…just rode up out of nowhere and saved me. It’s him. He looks identical to the tintype. He knows Saul and the rest of the children. He knows Kingston and Fancy. He had a pocketful of twenty-dollar gold pieces. And just like the story said, he led bad men away from the kids, and he just disappeared. Because he came here. In our time. To be with me.”
“Oh, Journey…”
Her Aunt Myra’s voice just faded to nothingness.
“What are you thinking? Don’t you believe me?”
“I don’t know. You’ve always been so obsessed with him, maybe you’ve just slipped around the bend.”
“I am not crazy. Lou’s been here. She’s seen him and talked to him. She believes me. In fact, she’s trying to figure out a way for him to go home.”
“Go home? Back in time? Why would he want to do that?”
“His brother will be executed if he doesn’t find the evidence needed to exonerate him – and get the evidence to the lawyer in time. There’s also an Indian war he needs to stop.” Wow, when she said all of that out loud, it was quite unbelievable.
“Well, I don’t know.” Myra sounded at a loss. “This is hard to swallow.”
At that moment, someone tapped Journey on the shoulder. She turned and found Reno holding out his hand. “Let me talk to her.”
Journey’s eyes widened. “Did you hear everything?” she whispered.
He nodded. “I did. Now, let me talk to her.”
“Aunt Myra someone wants to speak to you.”
“Who?”
She didn’t get a chance to answer her aunt, but Reno did. “Mrs. Weiss, this is Reno Black. I believe you’ve heard of me.”
Journey backed away and found a place to sit down. She couldn’t hear Myra’s side of the conversation, but hearing Reno was enough.
“Yes ma’am. Well, it was a shock to me too. I was in the past one minute and here the next. Coming here and finding Journey has been the wildest experience of my life.”
Journey was shaking. With everything that had been going on, she’d lost sight of what this information might do to Aunt Myra. “God, I hope she doesn’t have a heart attack.”
“No ma’am. I am completely in love with your great niece. I know it’s hard to believe, but I’ve always been connected to her in some way.” There was a pause. “Well, it was things my mother would say, and things Ela Blue would say. Yes ma’am. The Ela who’s related to Mr. Kota. Well, he didn’t tell you because he and I haven’t discussed that particular fact yet.” He looked at Journey and shrugged, saying with body language that he wasn’t so sure he was helping the situation.
“Hmmm, let me see. Let me think.”
“What does she want?” Journey whispered.
He covered the bottom end of the phone with his hand. “She wants me to tell her something that only I would know. Something she would recognize as being true.” He removed his hand, then waved it in the air. “No, Miz Myra, she’s not feeding me information.”
Journey rolled her eyes. “I don’t think there’s anything you could tell her that would satisfy her.”
“I think I’ve thought of something.” His eyes held Journey’s as he spoke. “Is your brother the oldest son in the family?” He nodded and winked at her. “Only son. Okay. Do you know or could you ask him if he was given an unusual bequest from his father?”
“Okay, so you know about the letter.” He bit his lower lip, giving Myra time to speak. “Oh, you just found out about its existence. All right. Yes, I’ll give you the details. The letter was written to a Mrs. Laura Bixby by President Lincoln on November 21, 1864.”
“All right.” He held out the phone. “She wants to talk to you.”
Journey winced but put the receiver to her ear. “Yes?”
“I’m not sure what kind of magic you’ve cooked up with those oils and herbs, but something very strange is going on. There’s no way a stranger could know anything about that letter. It’s been handed down through our family for generations. Myles thinks it may be worth seven figures.”
“Why hasn’t it been sold or given to a museum?”
“Because, it’s become part of the accepted truth. A rosy story with little basis in reality.” She sighed loudly. “Although, after talking to Reno Black, I’m beginning to question my own reality. Anyway, copies of the letter appeared in many newspapers at the time and both Lincoln and the woman he wrote the letter to were lauded. Heck, it’s still going on. Steven Spielberg used the Bixby letter in Saving Private Ryan. The experts are torn between saying if Lincoln wrote the letter or if his secretary did. Nevertheless, the crux is that the President was given erroneous information.”
“What kind of erroneous information?”
“The note Reno Black’s father attached to the letter states how he came by it and explained the real facts. Not to minimize the loss of two, but the woman didn’t lose five sons
