"He's been sick," I added quickly.
"Oh, that's too bad with this breakdown and all."
"I can ride in the back." Heyden said. "You go get Unc
le Linden."
I turned away from the big man and made a face.
"We can't drag Uncle Linden someplace." I told him under my breath.
"You have any better ideas?" Heyden said. "Look where we are and what's happened.-
"He's so confused as it is." I moaned. "Calling me Willow instead of Hannah."
"Confused is better than stranded," Heyden said. "But what if he gets confused in front of strangers?"
"We'll have to take the chance. Hannah. We don't have much of a choice."
I looked back at the man.
"You need any help with him?" he asked, seeing my hesitation. "No, sir. Thank you."
"Y'all don't have to call me sir. My name is Charles Anderson Dawson, but folks round here have always called me Chubs, except for Mrs. Stanton, that is. She won't call me anything but Charles. My own momma got so she called me Chubs. I was a big baby. My mamma said I weigh close to eighteen pounds when I was born."
"Eighteen pounds!"
"I believe it," Heyden said. "Course, that was more than eighty-one years ago now." Chubs added.
"Eighty-one?" Could he be telling the truth about anything? I wondered.
"Yes, ma'am. I can name all the Presidents during my lifetime. too."
"Go on, get Uncle Linden." Heyden said sharply, It could start raining hard again any minute,"
"Chances are it will. She ain't finished dumpin' her load yet." Chubs said, looking up and into the inky sky.
"Oh. I'm Heyden Reynolds, and this is my cousin Hannah. My uncle Linden is in the motor home."
Chubs nodded.
I went back in and nudged Uncle Linden. His eyes fluttered open. He looked up at me so strangely that for a moment I thought he was so confused, we were going to have new problems. Then he smiled,
"Time to eat?" he asked.
I released my trapped breath. At least he wasn't calling me Willow, and he'd remembered where we were.
"No, Uncle Linden. Someone came by and is willing to help us with the engine problems. We're going in his pickup truck back to his house to make some phone calls. We can't leave you here, and with our electric out, too, it makes no sense to stay here at the moment."
He just stared at me.
"You understand?"
"Oh. Sure. Let's go," he said, rising out of the seat.
"Wait." I said, turning before we stepped out. "I had to tell him you were my father, so just call you Daddy in front of him and anyone else we meet. okay?"
"Of course you will," he said, smiling again.