Where the Red Fern Grows

by Wilson Rawls

  I could see that Little Ann’s jaws were glued to the throat of the big hound. She would never loosen that deadly hold until the last breath of life was gone.

  Old Dan was tearing and slashing at the soft belly. I knew the destruction his long sharp teeth were causing.

  Again Rainie yelled, “Rubin, they’re killing him. They’re killing Old Blue. Do something quick.”

  Rubin darted over to one side, grabbed my ax from the ground, and said in a loud voice, “I’ll kill them damn hounds.”

  At the thought of what he was going to do with the ax, I screamed and ran for my dogs. Rubin was about ten feet ahead of me, bent over, running with the ax held out in front of him. I knew I could never get to them in time.

  I was screaming, “No, Rubin, no!”

  I saw the small stick when it whipped up from the ground. As if it were alive, it caught between Rubin’s legs. I saw him fall. I ran on by.

  Reaching the dogfight, I saw the big hound was almost gone. He had long since ceased fighting. His body lay stretched full-length on the ground. I grabbed Old Dan’s collar and pulled him back. It was different with Little Ann. Pull as I might, she wouldn’t let go of the hound’s throat. Her jaws were locked.

  I turned Old Dan loose and, getting astraddle of Little Ann, I pried her jaws apart with my hands. Old Dan had darted back in. Grabbing his collar again, I pulled them off to one side.

  The blue hound lay where he was. I thought perhaps he was already dead, and then I saw him move a little.

  Still holding my dogs by their collars, I looked back. I couldn’t understand what I saw. Rubin was laying where he had fallen. His back was toward me, and his body was bent in a “U” shape. Rainie was standing on the other side of him, staring down.

  I hollered and asked Rainie, “What’s the matter?”

  He didn’t answer. He just stood as though in a trance, staring down at Rubin.

  I hollered again. He still didn’t answer. I didn’t know what to do. I couldn’t turn my dogs loose. They would go for the hound again.

  Again I hollered at Rainie, asking him to come and help me. He neither moved nor answered. I had to do something.

  Looking around, my glance fell on the old barbed-wire fence. I led my dogs to it. Holding onto their collars with one hand, I worked a rusty barbed wire backwards and forwards against a staple until it broke. Running the end of it under their collars, I tied them up. They made two or three lunges toward the hound, but the wire held.

  I walked over and stopped at Rainie’s side. I again asked, “What’s the matter?”

  He said not a word.

  I could see that Rainie was paralyzed with fright. His mouth and eyes were opened wide, and his face was as white as chalk. I laid my hand on his shoulder. At the touch of my hand, he jumped and screamed. Still screaming, he turned and started running. I watched him until he disappeared in the darkness.

  Looking down at Rubin, I saw what had paralyzed Rainie. When Rubin had tripped, he had fallen on the ax. As it entered his stomach, the sharp blade had sunk to the eye of the double-bitted ax.

  Turning my back to the horrible sight, I closed my eyes. The muscles in my stomach knotted and jerked. A nauseating sickness spread over my body. I couldn’t look at him.

  I heard Rubin whisper. Turning around, I knelt down by his side with my back to the ax. I couldn’t understand what he was whispering. Kneeling down closer, I heard and understood. In a faint voice, he said, “Take it out of me.”

  I hesitated.

  Again he pleaded, “Please, take it out of me.”

  Turning around, I saw his hands were curled around the protruding blade as if he himself had tried to pull it from his stomach.

  How I did it, I’ll never know. Putting my hands over his and pressing down, I pulled the ax from the wound. The blood gushed. I felt the warm heat as it spread over my hands. Again the sickness came over me. I stumbled to my feet and stepped back a few paces.

  Seeing a movement from Rubin, I thought he was going to get up. With his hands, he pushed himself halfway up. His eyes were wide open, staring straight at me. Stopping in his effort of getting up, still staring at me, his mouth opened as if to say something. Words never came. Instead, a large red bubble slowly worked its way out of his mouth and burst. He fell back to the ground. I knew he was dead.

  Scared, not knowing what to do, I called for Rainie. I got no answer. I called his name again and again. I could get no reply. My voice echoed in the darkness of the silent night. A cold chill ran over my body.

  I suppose it is natural at a time like that for a boy to think of his mother. I thought of mine. I wanted to get home.

  Going over to my dogs, I glanced to where the blue hound was. He was trying to get up. I was glad he wasn’t dead.

  Picking up my lantern, I thought of my ax. I left it. I didn’t care if I never saw it again.

  Knowing I couldn’t turn my dogs loose, I broke off enough of the wire to lead them. As I passed under the branches of the bur oak tree, I looked up into the dark foliage. I could see the bright eyes of the ghost coon. Everything that had happened on this terrible night was because of his very existence, but it wasn’t his fault.

  I also knew he was a silent witness to the horrible scene. Behind me lay the still body of a young boy. On my left a blue tick hound lay torn and bleeding. Even after all that had happened, I could feel no hatred for the ghost coon and was not sorry I had let him live.

  Arriving home, I awakened my mother and father. Starting at my grandfather’s mill, I told everything that had happened. I left nothing out. My mother had started crying long before I had completed my story. Papa said nothing, just sat and listened. When I had finished, he kept staring down at the floor in deep thought. I could hear the sobbing of my mother in the silence. I walked over to her. She put her arms around me and said, “My poor little boy.”

  Getting to his feet, Papa reached for his coat and hat. Mama asked him where he was going.

  “Well, I’ll have to go up there,” he said. “I’m going to get Grandpa, for he is the only man in the country that has authority to move the body.”

  Looking at me, he said, “You go across the river and get Old Man Lowery, and you may as well go on up and tell the Bufords, too. Tell them to meet us at your grandfather’s place.”

  I hurried to carry the sad message.

  The following day was a nasty one. A slow, cold drizzle had set in. Feeling trapped indoors, I prowled from room to room. I couldn’t understand why my father hadn’t come back from the Pritchards’. I sat by the window and watched the road.

  Understanding my feelings, Mama said, “Billy, I wouldn’t worry. He’ll be back before long. It takes time for things like that.”

  “I know,” I said, “but you would think he would’ve been back by now.”

  Time dragged slowly by. Late in the afternoon, I saw Papa coming. Our old mule was jogging along. Water was shooting out from under his feet in small squirts at every step.

  Papa had tied the halter rope around the mule’s neck. He was sitting humped over, with his hands jammed deep in the pockets of his patched and worn mackinaw. I felt sorry for him. He was soaking wet, tired, sleepy, and hungry.

  Telling Mama, “Here he is,” I grabbed my jumper and cap, and ran out to the gate and waited.

  I was going to ask him what had happened at the Pritchards’ but on seeing his tired face and wet clothes, I said, “Papa, you had better go in to the fire. I’ll take care of the mule, and do the feeding and milking.”

  “That would be fine,” he said.

  After doing the chores, I hurried to the house. I couldn’t wait any longer. I had to find out what had happened.

  Walking into the front room, I saw my father had changed clothes. He was standing in front of the fireplace, drinking coffee.

  “Boy, that’s bad weather, isn’t it?” he said.

  I said it was, and asked him about Rubin.

  “We went to the old tree and got Rub
in’s body,” Papa said. “We were on our way back to the Pritchards’ when we met them. They were just this side of their place. They had started to look for him. Rainie had been so dazed when he got home, they couldn’t make out what he was trying to tell them, but they knew it must have been something bad. They wanted to know what had happened. I did my best to explain the accident. It hit Old Man Pritchard pretty hard. I felt sorry for him.”

  Mama asked how Mrs. Pritchard was taking it.

  Papa said he didn’t know as he never did get to see any of the womenfolks. He said they were the funniest bunch he had ever seen. He couldn’t understand them. There wasn’t one tear shed that he could see. All of the men had stayed out at the barn. They never had been invited in for a cup of coffee or anything.

  Mama asked when they were to have the funeral.

  “They have their own graveyard right there on the place,” Papa said. “Old Man Pritchard said they would take care of everything, and didn’t want to bother people. He said it was too far for anyone to come, and it was bad weather, too.”

  Mama said she couldn’t help feeling sorry for Mrs. Pritchard, and wished they were more friendly.

  I asked Papa about Rainie.

  Papa said, “According to what Old Man Pritchard said, Rainie just couldn’t seem to get over the shock. They were figuring on taking him into town to see the doctor.”

  In a stern voice, Papa said, “Billy, I don’t want you fooling around with the Pritchards any more. You have plenty of country around here so you don’t have to go there to hunt.”

  I said I wouldn’t.

  I felt bad about the death of Rubin. I didn’t feel like hunting and kept having bad dreams. I couldn’t forget the way he had looked at me just before he died. I moped and wandered around in a daze. I wanted to do something but didn’t know what it was.

  I explained my feelings to my mother. She said, “Billy, I feel the same way and would like to do something to help, but I guess there’s nothing we can do. There are people like the Pritchards all through the hills. They live in little worlds of their own and are all alone. They don’t like to have outsiders interfere.”

  I told my mother I had been thinking about how dangerous it was to carry an ax while hunting, and I had decided I’d save a few coon hides and get a good gun. Boy, I just shouldn’t have mentioned getting a gun. My mother got “sitting-hen” mad.

  “You’re not getting a gun,” she said. “I won’t have that at all. I told you a long time ago you could have one when you are twenty-one years old, and I mean just that. I worry enough with you out there in the hills all hours of the night, running and jumping, but I couldn’t stand it if I knew you had a gun with you. No, sir. You can just forget about a gun.”

  “Yes, Mama,” I said, and sulked off to my room.

  Lying on my bed, still trying to figure out what I could do to help, I glanced over to the wall. There, tied in a small bundle, was just what I needed.

  Some time back my sisters had made some flowers for Decoration Day. They had given me a small bouquet for my room. Taking them down, I could see they had faded a little, and looked rather old, but they were still pretty. I blew the dust off and straightened the crinkled petals. Putting them inside my shirt, I left the house.

  I hadn’t gone far when I heard something behind me. It was my dogs. I tried to tell them I wasn’t going hunting. I just had a little business to attend to, and if they would go back, I’d take them out that night. It was no use. They couldn’t understand.

  Circling around through the flats, I came to the hollow above the Pritchards’ place. Down below me, I could see the graveyard, and the fresh mound of dirt. As quietly as I could, I started easing myself down the mountainside.

  Old Dan loosened a rock. The further it bounced, the louder it got. It slammed up against a post oak tree and sounded like a gunshot. I held my breath and watched the house. No one came out.

  I glared at Old Dan. He wagged his tail, and just to show off, he sat down on his rear and started digging at a flea with his hind leg. The way his leg was thumping in the leaves, anyone could have heard it for a mile. I waited until he quit thumping before starting on.

  Reaching the bottom, I had about twenty yards of clearing to cross, but the grass and bushes were pretty thick. Laying down on my stomach, with my heart beating like a trip hammer, I wiggled my way to Rubin’s grave. I laid the flowers on the fresh mound of earth, and then turned around and scooted for the timber.

  Just as we reached the mountaintop, my foot slipped and I kicked loose a large rock. Down the side of the mountain it rolled. This time the blue tick hound heard the noise. He came out from under the house bawling. I heard a door slam and Mrs. Pritchard came out. She stood looking this way and that way.

  The hound ran up to the graveyard and started sniffing and bawling. Mrs. Pritchard followed him. Seeing the flowers on Rubin’s grave, she picked them up and looked at them. She scolded the hound, and then looked up at the hillside. I knew she couldn’t see me because the timber was too thick, but I felt uncomfortable anyway.

  Scolding the hound again, she knelt down and arranged the flowers on the grave. Taking one more look at the hillside, she started back. Halfway to the house, I saw her reach down and gather the long cotton skirt in her hand and dab at her eyes.

  I felt much better after paying my respects to Rubin. Everything looked brighter, and I didn’t have that funny feeling any more.

  All the way home my dogs kept running out in front of me. They would stop, turn around, and look at me. I had to smile, for I knew what they wanted. I stopped and petted them a little and told them that as soon as I got home and had my supper, we would go hunting.

  XIV

  A FEW DAYS LATER, ON HIS WAY BACK FROM THE MILL, ONE of the Hatfield boys stopped at our place. He told me my grandfather wanted to see me. It was unusual for Grandpa to send for me and it had me worried. I figured that he wanted to talk to me about the death of Rubin Pritchard. I always enjoyed talking to my grandpa but I didn’t want to talk about Rubin’s death. Every time I thought of him, I lived the horrible tragedy all over again.

  After a practically sleepless night, the next morning I started for the store. I was walking along deep in thought when Little Ann zipped by me. She was as happy as a young gray squirrel. She wiggled and twisted and once she barked at me. I looked behind me. There was Old Dan trotting along. He stopped when I turned around. Little Ann came up to me. I scolded them and tried to explain that I wasn’t going hunting. I was just going up to the store to see what my grandpa wanted. They couldn’t, or didn’t, want to understand.

  I picked up a small stick and slapped my leg with it. In a deep voice I said, “Now you go home, or I’m going to wear you out.”

  This hurt their feelings. With their tails between their legs and trotting side by side, they started back. Every little way they would stop and look back at me. It was too much. I couldn’t stand it. I began to feel bad all over.

  “Well, all right,” I said. “Come on, you can go, but, Dan, if there are any dogs around the store, and you get in a fight, I won’t take you hunting for a whole year, and I mean that,” although I knew I didn’t.

  They came running, tickled to death. Little Ann took one of her silly spells. She started nipping at the long red tail of Old Dan. Not getting any reaction from him, she jumped over him. She barked at him. He wouldn’t even look at her. She ran around in front of him and laid down in the trail, acting like a cat ready to spring. Stiff-legged, he walked up close to her, stopped, and showed his teeth. I laughed out loud. I knew he wouldn’t bite her any more than he would bite me. He was just acting tough because he was a boy dog.

  After several attempts to get him to play, Little Ann gave up. Together they started sniffing around in the underbrush.

  As I walked up in front of the store, Grandpa hollered at me from the barn. I went over to him. Right away he wanted to know all about Rubin’s accident. He listened while I told the story over again.r />
  After I had had my say, Grandpa stood looking down at the ground. There was a deep frown on his face, and a hurt look in his eyes. His quietness made me feel uneasy. He finally raised his head and looked at me. What I could see in his friendly old face tore at my heart. It seemed that there were more wrinkles than I had ever seen before. His uncombed, iron-gray hair looked almost white. I noticed that his wrinkled old hand trembled as he rubbed the wire-stiff stubble on his chin.

  In a low voice that quivered as he talked, he said, “Billy, I’m sorry about all this. Truly sorry. I can’t help but feel that in a way it was my fault.”

  “No, Grandpa,” I said, “it wasn’t your fault. It wasn’t anyone’s fault. It just happened and no one could help it.”

  “I know,” he said, “but if I hadn’t called Rubin’s bet, nothing would have happened. I guess when a man gets old he doesn’t think straight. I shouldn’t have let those boys get under my skin.”

  “Grandpa,” I said, “Rubin and Rainie could get under anybody’s skin. You couldn’t help that. Why, they get under everyone’s skin that gets close to them.”

  “Yes, I know,” he said, “but still I acted like a fool. Billy, I had no idea things were going to turn out like they did, or I wouldn’t have called that bet.”

  Wanting to change the conversation, I said, “Grandpa, we won that bet fair and square, but they took my money anyway.”

  I saw the fire come back to his eyes. This made me feel better. He was more like the Grandpa I loved.

  “That’s all right,” he said. “We’ll just forget the whole thing.”

  He stepped over and laid his hand on my shoulder. In a solemn voice, he said, “We won’t talk about this again. Now, I want you to forget it ever happened because it wasn’t your fault. Oh, I know it’s hard for a boy to ever completely forget something like that. All through your life you’ll think of it now and then, but try not to let it bother you, and don’t ever feel guilty about it. It’s not good for a young boy to feel that way.”