[He was about to wave her over anyway, and so when she comes to sit he loops his arms around her waist and rests his chin on her shoulder. The whole scene is oddly comforting - an old rocking chair in an old house, a little fire going in a wood stove, his girl in his lap. The town outside might as well not exist.

Cruz gives an annoyingly vague response, but at the same time, he addresses Johnnie's real concern, which isn't the politics of it. And maybe he's imagining it, but it sure sounds like Cruz has some too-personal experience with the exact issue he mentions.]

Shit, man. Well, we're not planning to stick around any longer than we have to. You know, though? Not just about people not staying gone when they die, but I mean, time an' all that? We've met other ghosts, but never ones who, uh, are kinda un-stuck from any particular time.

[Satisfied with the fire, Cruz stands up and takes one of the other chairs, which creaks as he sits down in it.]

Can't say I know much, just that you're not the only ones I've ever seen. Long time ago there was another, a young little thing, too young to be on her own. She looked real lost. Never did hear her whole story, but we got her fed and got her some clean clothes. She vanished before I got to check up on her again. All I heard was she was from California but over a hundred years in the future, and didn't know how she got here.

[He rubs fingers against his chin, then shakes his head.]

Wasn't sure what to make of that, I'll be honest, but she never gave me a reason to think she was making it up, or that she'd lost her poor little mind either. Hope she found wherever she was going.