- Bud eats breakfast alone and sets his stuff under the Christmas tree. Then he visits the same librarian who helped him before.
- Inside the library, Bud borrows a pencil and paper. The librarian remembers him and his momma and says she has a surprise for him.
- At a little table, Bud figures out that it will take him about twenty-four hours to walk from Flint to Grand Rapids.
- The librarian surprises Bud with a big book about the Civil War, which he spends the whole day looking at.
- Later, the librarian notices that Bud never left to eat, so she gives him a cheese sandwich.
- Bud says that ideas are like seeds, starting as tiny seeds and growing into giant trees.
- Bud remembers that his idea about Calloway being his father began when Bud saw the flyers and grew while Bud was being teased by Billy Burns, the Home bully. Billy Burns bet Bud that he didn't know who his dad was, and Bud lied and said that his dad was a big fiddle player.