The train slowed with a shudder and hiss of hydraulics, then the car erupted in a rustle of restless feet as passengers stood and squeezed into the aisle. Sophie had jumped to up at every other stop along their journey, but now she sat with uncharacteristic patience.
"We'll wait until a few of the others get off," Robert said needlessly.
When the aisle was finally clear, he stood and picked up his bag. With a little sigh, Sophie grabbed her satchel and slung it over her shoulder as she followed. At the foot of the steps, Robert turned and reached a hand to her, but Sophie kept her head down and wouldn't meet his eyes.
As she stepped to his side, Robert looked around the milling crowd that had gathered on the platform. It took him a moment to recognize Amalia, even though she had warned him that her hair was now fully gray. She was standing off to one side, searching the crowd as anxiously as he was, and he gave a little wave.
They didn't have far to go because Amalia met them half way. She hesitated as if torn between keeping matters all business and laughing for the sheer joy of reunion. Joy won out and she threw her arms around him. "It's so good to see you."
Robert pulled her close. "It's good to see you, too. We should've done this sooner."
"And under better circumstances," she agreed.
He let her go and took a small step back so he could draw Sophie into their circle. "I don't think this young lady will need an introduction."
"Of course not." Amalia turned fond eyes upon the girl. "Hello, Sophie."
"Hi." Sophie ducked her head.
Robert frowned and was about to chide her for poor manners, but Amalia gave a slight shake of her head.
"You've had a long trip," she told the girl. "How about we go get your horse?"
Sophie nodded eagerly.
"I know where they take them after they're unloaded. Come with me."
Sophie stuck by Amalia's side like a shadow while Robert brought up the rear in wry amusement. He had first met Amalia during the civil war and was struck from the beginning by her intelligence and insight. Had she not had two wards to raise, she could have made her mark as a diplomat during those chaotic years. Now watching as she deftly overcame Sophie's shyness, he was glad to see that some things never changed.
As they waited for the horses to be unloaded, he studied Amalia, comparing her now to how she had looked when he decided, against all the dictates of reason, to resign his influential position with Unitas and follow Diana to Kentucky. Amalia's residence in the mountains outside the town of Estrella was a rare safe haven from the war, and his last chance to change his mind.
Amalia had been approaching fifty then, but although her blonde hair was fading and years of hard living had etched their lines in her skin, on a good day one could still see the attractive young woman she had once been. Now though, no one could mistake her for anything but old, even though she still carried herself erect and had the sure strides of one not yet given over to old age. And when she glanced over her shoulder at him, as she now did, there was still a spark of mischief in her eye.
"I'm afraid I've gotten old, haven't I?"
She could still read him like a book. "As do we all," he said.
Amalia looked like she wanted to say more, but Sophie spotted her horse being unloaded and tugged on her sleeve. "There she is - the buckskin."
Dutifully, Amalia followed the girl's gaze. "She looks just like the sketch your mother sent me. I'd recognize that tail anywhere."
"She carries it high like an Arabian," Sophie said knowledgeably. "That's why Mom named her Bandera. It means flag."
Amalia gave a small frown. "Diana didn't let you name your own horse?"
Sophie twisted her body noncommittally, so it was Robert who answered. "Sophie tried calling her Firefly, but Diana didn't think much of that name and called her Bandera instead. After a while, we started calling her Bandera, too." He gave a little shrug. "What else could we do?"
"Bandera was the right name," Sophie said. "Firefly was dumb. I was only seven and still just a kid."
"I see." Amalia put a hand on the girl's back and guided her toward the front of the line. "Have you got your ticket? Let's go get her, and your father's horse too, so we can go home."
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