Twisted Roots (DeBeers 3)

"I thought von said the name was Montgomery. This here card says Hannah Eaton?"

My heart sank.

Uncle Linden smiled, "This is my daughter." he said. "but my wife has remarried. This trip is a way for us to get to know each other again, if you get what I mean."

Heyden smiled. I had to admit to myself that Uncle Linden's quick thinking was impressive. I guess Heyden's right. I thought. Uncle Linden didn't need to be under any doctor's microscope.

"Oh. Oh, yeah, sure," the owner said, nodding, but he still looked suspicious. "Okay, let's do the paperwork. I've rented this baby out ten times without a single problem." he added, sounding more threatening now. "She has a rebuilt Ford engine under the hood. Should give you no trouble if you don't abuse her."

"We won't do that." Uncle Linden said with a calm sense of assurance that obviously impressed the owner.

He grunted. "I was just in there checking every appliance and everything else. Nothin's broken. You can go in there and confirm that while I go get the paperwork,' he said and headed for the house.

"Thank you." Uncle Linden said.

He nodded and walked off.

Heyden looked at me and then at Uncle Linden. "You're doing great. Uncle Linden. Thanks."

"Piece of cake." Uncle Linden said, still looking quite amused and excited. "Shall we?" he asked, gesturing toward the coach door.

"Right." Heyden opened it, and we all stepped up and in. The first thing that struck me was the odor. It smelled like stale beer and cheese. Of course, there was no linen of any sort, not that I would want to use it if there had been. Heyden and I checked the refrigerator, the stove, the microwave, and the sink. Everything did appear to be working despite appearances that would suggest otherwise.

"I hope the toilet works." I muttered to myself. All the faucets were rusty, stains in the sinks. The floor of the coach had a cheap linoleum broken in many places. The layout was simple with a bedroom in the rear. The sofa opened to produce another bed, the one Uncle Linden would have.

It suddenly occurred to me that Uncle Linden would know Heyden and I had slept together and would be sleeping together now. When I gazed at the one real bed. I felt myself flush with the realization. What would we do?

Heyden came up beside me, anticipating my thoughts.

"I'm sleeping in the cabover." Heyden whispered. "Don't worry about it."

I looked back at Uncle Linden, who was still smiling as he moved through the coach and then went to the driver's seat.

"It's been a long time since I drove!" he shouted back to us. "I'd better let you get it under way. Maybe later I'll take a turn at it."

"Right," Heyden said, smiling at me. "He's like a kid again." We heard the door open and the owner stepped up.

"Well?" he said. "Everything's in order. right?"

"Yes." Heyden said quickly.

The owner handed my card back to me.

"I copied all the numbers down." he said and turned to Heyden. "You folks break anything, you folks fix it."

"We understand." Heyden said, trying desperately not to appear too anxious. He reminded me of a horse. chafing at the bit.

The owner held his gaze steady, "I hope so." he said.

Heyden handed him the cash, and he counted it out and then he gave Heyden the keys.

"I got the time marked down. The deal is six months to the day. You bring it back late, you pay for an extra day."

"Okay," Heyden said. "Thanks."

The owner looked at Uncle Linden, who was sitting in the driver's seat and gazing out as if he could already see the beautiful scenery.

"Yeah. well. mind everything I told You. The manuals are all here."