The pompom wobbled on top of Mom's head as she studied the secret message. I sniffed it, looking for a way to nyoink it off her head. I decided that I couldn't run far enough inside the car-house for it to be worth the chase.
"What's that on your head?" I asked instead.
"He was so nice to give me directions that I had to buy something." Mom turned her head and the pompom wiggled fetchingly. "What do you think?"
"It makes you look more interesting than you actually are."
Mom turned her attention back to the treasure map in her lap. "I know that there's a campground in Greenville, so I figured we'd aim there. But it's farther than I thought. We'll have to backtrack."
The sun was gone from the sky by the time the forest loosened enough to make room for cabins. There was just barely enough light to see the sign when the car-house slowed for a landing.
Mom slumped in the driving chair.
"What does it say?" I asked.
"That the campground is closed, but there's another one a few miles ahead."
The next time the car-house slowed, there was another sign. This one only had a few words on it. "What does it say?" I asked.
"It says closed for the season," Mom's eyes looked as full of rain as the clouds. Then she sat up straight. "Look, Oscar! A light! There's somebody here!"
We followed the light toward the truck-sized house glowing underneath. When our car-house stopped outside, a door opened on the truck-house's flank.
"Howdy," Willy Nelson shouted over the rain.