Ruth takes her car to drive to Cape Girardeau to purchase Missouri Belle. She returns to "Bagnell" with Cade towing Missouri Belle. Her car has been left behind.
Ruth is sent to Cape Giradeau to buy and transport Missouri Belle. Cape Giradeau is on the Mississippi River south of St. Louis. To get the vessel to Lake of the Ozarks it would have go north around St. Louis, west on the Missouri River to Jefferson City thence south to its mooring in the Ozarks. This would take several days and be impossible to tow with Cade's little boat.