The+Story

//This page is a quick overview of the story of where the red fern grows. // The story starts out when an old Billy Coleman is walking home from work and stumbles on a dog fight where the town dogs have ganged up on a old coon hound who somehow got into town. as the coon hound is losing Billy steps in and scares the other dogs away, and brings the coon hound home to heal its wounds. Seeing the dog brings up old memories of his own 2 red bone hounds, Old Dan and Little Ann.then the story changes to a young Billy telling the story. It starts as young Billy describes his wanting for the dogs. you can tell this is the one thing he wants most in the world. farming with his father takes the stage for a little bit, but the urge for a loyal companion persists. His father then buys Billy 3 traps. Billy is over joyed and sets them up around the farm. All he catches is the family cat, repeatedly. this does not go well with the cat, Samie.Billy starts to catch more than that, though. Soon he discovered that coons could outsmart his traps. And, being a hunter to heart, was absolutely determined to catch them. He explains his troubles to his Grandpa, and learns of a new way to catch coons:Make a hole in a log, and put a piece of tin in. Drive nails into the sides of the hole at an angle. Put the log in the forest and check it often.Having many doubts, Billy tries this multiple times, and catches his first raccoon.A few weeks later the trap's ability to heal him of his puppy love wears off and he starts refusing to eat again until he finds and article in a sportsman's catalog saying there was a company selling all types of dogs, including coon hounds. After asking his grandpa if he can buy the dogs (once he has saved enough money), Billy starts saving up. This takes him two years. After buying the dogs, he go's to Talequa to pick them up. It is a long walk but Billy still craves his dogs madly enough to walk 25 miles to pick them up. With his new dogs in tow Billy reaches home and names them Old Dan and Little Ann. Soon their adventures are known all over the county, and Billy knows with his faithful dogs behind him he can do anything. After a while, Billy starts to train his dogs to hunt raccoons. He then gives stories about special hunts where Old Dan is in danger and Little Ann saves him or the other way around. These tell of the bravery and the brains of the two heartwarming dogs. At one point, the two boys from the Pritchard family challenge Billy that his dogs can't tree a "ghost coon" and they place a bet with Billy's grandfather. After the ghost coon is found and treed, Billy's hounds get into a fight with the Pritchard's bluetick hound. This scene ends with Rubin (the eldest Pritchard present) trips with Billy's axe in his hand. It turns up in his stomach. After Rubin is buried, Billy puts flowers on his grave. Later on, Grandpa signes Billy up for the state hunting championships. Billy, his father and his grandfather depart shortly afterward in a long journeey that takes them deep into the thick forests and winding trails of the Ozarks. When they reach the campground Little Ann is entered in a beauty contest and wins Billy a little silver cup. Billy, Dan and Ann spend the next few days listening to the sound of hunting dogs andd the disqualification of many teams. Finally the big race is up and billy and his dogs hunt thruought the night in a