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175 26 Sadie decided the quickest way to get to Fayetteville was to cut over to Highway 10 and go north. When she hit the Cherokee Turnpike, she raced east toward Siloam Springs, a small town that straddled the state line between Oklahoma and Arkansas. As she passed the Cherokee Casino, her steady pace slowed to a crawl as every stoplight turned red at her approach. Then an alarming smoky steam began to seep from under the front of her car. She quickly pulled into the first parking lot she could find. It belonged to Mama’s Chicken House. She eased into the last empty space and killed the engine. As she pulled the hood-release lever and got out to inspect the problem, a middle-aged man and two young boys came out of the restaurant. The man hurried to help her, waving his arms. “Stand back,” he cautioned. “You’ll get burned.” Sadie heeded the man’s warning and helplessly watched as a puddle of green liquid began to form on the asphalt at her feet. After a few moments, the hissing slowed and the man and the oldest boy together pushed up the hood, releasing a huge hot cloud. “I’ll bet it’s your water hose,” said the oldest boy. His younger brother inched closer to get a better view. “Oh, I don’t have time for this.” Sadie limped in a small circle. “Besides, this is a new car. It can’t have a bad water hose.” The man pulled a handkerchief from his back pocket, wiped his hands, and cautiously craned his neck for a better view. “Wait here,” he commanded, and jogged to a nearby truck where he dug under the seat, then returned with a fistful of tools, a roll of silver duct tape, and a red oil rag. His head disappeared under the hood and Sadie could hear him talking to his sons. “Wow, look at that,” remarked one of the boys. All Sadie could see were elbows and bottoms as the trio worked on her car. She realized her cell phone was ringing. She rushed to her purse, dug it out, and answered. It was Charlie McCord. 176 “Charlie, I’ve been trying to call you. What happened? How’s Lance?” “Well, we got into a little shoot-em-up. But it looks like he’s going to be all right. He’s asleep right now and I’m on my way out to get a bite to eat. Thought I’d try to call you again since they won’t let me use my cell phone in the hospital. It interferes with the heart monitors or something. Anyway, some lady at your café gave me your number. She said you’d already found out about Lance and took off. Where are you?” “Right now I’m standing in the parking lot of Mama’s Chicken House in Siloam Springs, Arkansas, with a broken water hose.” About that time, the man backed away from Sadie’s vehicle. “It looks like your hose might have been cut.” “Who’s that?” asked Charlie. “A man and his two boys stopped to help me. He thinks my radiator hose was cut. I’ve got to go, Charlie. I’ve got to get this car somewhere to be worked on.” “Where’d you say you were?” asked Charlie. “Mama’s Chicken House in Siloam Springs,” she repeated. “Stay put. I’m only thirty miles away. I’ll be right there.” The younger boy had lost interest in Sadie’s ailing vehicle, but the older boy and his father finished wrapping tape around the leaking hose and added a liter of water one of the boys had retrieved from their truck. Sadie snapped the phone shut, shoved it into her pants pocket, and tried to see what the two were doing. “Are you sure it was cut?” “Pretty sure.” The man wiped his hands on the oil rag and nodded to his son to close the hood. “I guess it could have been a defective hose, but it would definitely have caused a lot more trouble if you hadn’t pulled over when you did. I noticed your Cherokee Nation license plate. You live around here?” “No. I’m from Liberty, just a few miles north of Tahlequah, going to Fayetteville.” “Well, we wrapped it up best we could, but I wouldn’t drive it that far.” He pointed with his head. “You might get...
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