“Like everything else you’ve encountered?” She tapped her temple. “Let me put on my thinking cap. I’ll tell you one thing; you sure have put my knowledge to how things work to the test.”
“I guess it’s good practice for when our baby comes.”
Our baby.
Journey’s heart jumped in her chest. “We don’t even know if we’re pregnant yet. Some couples have a very difficult time with fertility issues.”
“We’ll know as soon as you use your little pee stick.”
“Yes. As for how it works, I think there is a chemical in the stick that reacts to the presence of a certain hormone in a woman’s urine. A hormone that’s only present if the woman is pregnant.”
“Hmmm. Okay. Sounds perfectly…impossible.” He laughed. “Just like everything else in this crazy place.”
As Journey kept the course toward home, she let her mind wander to the possibilities. “What are we going to tell people, Reno? About where I came from?”
“I don’t know. What do you want to tell them? The truth?”
She glanced at him with concern in her face. “Not really. Most people wouldn’t even try to understand. They’d say we were crazy. Or lying.”
Reno folded his hands and looked out the window. “That’s probably why there’s not more evidence of this happening to other people. Time-travel or going through a portal – or whatever you want to call it – probably happens. But no one wants to be put in a circus cage and gawked at.”
“You’re probably right.” She frowned, pondering what this might mean. “Considering what you’ve been through, it makes you think doesn’t it?”
“Yea, it does. I do trust, Lou, though. She’ll make the right decision.”
As they pulled into the driveway the sun was going down behind the mountain. “How about that moonlight ride? Are you ready to go?”
“I am.” He picked up the sack from the convenience store. “I’ll put this inside and meet you at the barn.”
“Tell the dogs we’ll be back soon.” Journey watched him walk across the yard as she ambled to Myra’s flower garden to smell the roses. As she breathed in the heavy scent, she wondered at the peace filling her heart. So much was still up in the air, yet she founded grounded and secure in Reno’s love.
By the time he joined her, she’d saddled the horse she normally used. “What’s your name?” She patted the roan mare. “I ought to know it.” Journey thought for a minute. “I remember, it’s Cinnamon. How would you like to take a trip with me soon? Reno arrived on a horse; I presume I’ll need one when I go back in time.”
“That’s a good idea,” Reno spoke up as he came to her side. “The ride from here to King’s Ransom will be more comfortable if we both have a mount. She’ll serve you well, I’m sure.”
In a few minutes, Reno and Traveler were ready to go. Once through the gate, they rode out into the park. Night came on quickly as stars began to twinkle in the sky.
“Enchanted Rock has been designated as an international Dark Sky park. It’s one of the few places where the view of the night sky isn’t spoiled by light pollution.”
“How can light be polluted?”
“It’s the lights of the cities, industries, and residential communities that’s doing the polluting. Mankind has lit up the world to such a degree that we can’t see the stars anymore. Did you know that eighty percent of people have never seen the Milky Way?” She pointed at the distant hazy band of light.
“At least the sky is the same here as it is in my time.” He pointed at a moving point of light. “Except for the occasional plane.”
“Or satellites. Or the International Space Station.” She pointed those things out to him. “Did you know people are up there on that little pinprick of light?”
Chuckling, Reno lifted his shoulders. “I’m not surprised. What are they doing up there?”
“It’s a research laboratory.”
“Are they studying portals and wormholes?” he asked, staring up at the wide expanse of celestial beauty.
“I don’t know, we’ll have to ask Lou.” Urging Cinnamon to walk a little closer to Traveler, she held out her hand and when he took it, she sighed with contentment. “She told me something once about the night sky that makes me feel really strange now.”
“Ha!” He laughed. “Somehow that doesn’t surprise me. What did she say?”
Journey waved her free hand in the air momentarily, then grabbed hold of the saddle horn to stabilize herself. “She said that we’re looking back in time when we gaze at the stars. Some are so far away that it takes hundreds or even thousands of years for their light to reach our eyes. Some may have already died and faded away, but we just don’t know it yet.” All of a sudden, it seemed imperative that she look at him. Tightening her grip on his hand, she was on the verge of tears. “I don’t want to lose you!”
“Oh, baby.” He moved Traveler close enough to pull her off her horse and into his arms, facing him. “You’re not going to lose me.”
She wrapped her arms and legs around him, burying her face in his chest. “I couldn’t stand it. I just couldn’t go on.”
“Shhh.” He rubbed her back and kissed her cheek. “We’re going to figure this out. I promise.”
He held her close while they continued their way to Enchanted Rock. She took comfort in the beat of his heart, memorizing the steady, strong sound. As she closed her eyes, absorbing his strength, he kissed her neck. “Listen. Listen.”
Journey sniffed and raised her head. For a second, she thought she was still hearing Reno’s heartbeat. “What is that?”
He paused to listen again.
Boom. Boom. Boom.
